I have to come clean right away-there are very few nights when I have trouble sleeping. I am a working self-employed mother who squeezes a full time job into a part time schedule. Sometimes I'm called into work in the middle of the night and my two year old only recently started sleeping all night long.
On most nights, it doesn’t take long for sleep to set in. But on the nights when it does…
There are few things like the angst of being awake when you don’t want to be-laying there tossing and turning while everyone else in your house is asleep. The world seems so cruel in those moments.
“Why am I awake? Why can’t I go to sleep? How long will I be awake?” and so it goes, my anxiety mounting with each sleepless minute. The next day, I am unhappy and short tempered, eating everything in sight, and worried it will happen again.
I have learned what works for me-a magic blend of essential oils, a new place to sleep, a special tea, and best of all, music.
Research has shown music helps improve the quality of sleep in students and in adults with insomnia. However, it’s important to use the right kind of music.
You could find plenty of albums advertised as good for sleep, but many of them mistakenly assume classical music is sleep-inducing or start out with a few soothing songs, but ruin it with a peppy piece a few tracks in.
But you can avoid that by using the steps below to create a fantastic sleep playlist for yourself. First, some basics.
Sleep music is not what you think it is. For example, classical music is NOT sleep music. Dramatic rhythms, changing tempos, dissonant melody lines are used in classical music to entertain audiences-not put them to sleep.
Sleep music is different from relaxation music. Some classical music can be great for relaxing-I use piano pieces composed by Debussy, Satie, and Liszt in my Classical Piano Relaxation Playlist . They help me replace my daily obsessions with beautiful and interesting melodies. It's great to use during your bedtime routine-listen while you take a bath, read a few pages, or just listen and let your thoughts get quiet.
When you’re ready to shift into sleep, your music needs to shift with you. You want your sleep music to be consistent, steady, even boring. I love a sustained low tone. I can feel my body shift down a gear as soon as I hear it. From there, my breathing slows, my body relaxes, and I know I'm on my way to sleep.
The following steps will help you create a playlist that will help you go to sleep and stay asleep. After creating your perfect playlist, you'll be dreaming away in no time.
1. Figure out what you enjoy.
No playlist is going to help you sleep if you hate it. So figuring out at least one thing you enjoy will give you a jumping off point for your playlist. Jazz, classical, electronic, indigenous? Sparse or layered? Nature sounds or just music?
Use search terms in an online music program to find albums where you will get individual pieces. Using words like "relax," "classical," "nature," etc, you can find soothing music in a wide variety of styles. Pick one and start a playlist.
2. Choose songs that are similar.
Within a sleep playlist or album, there should be consistency between the songs. If you’re using sparse acoustic piano music, then the whole playlist should have sparse acoustic piano. If you like pieces with rain, choose pieces that all have rain (and the same instrument.)
Listen to 10-30 seconds of the piece, then listen to a few seconds from the middle of the piece to figure out if it fits your playlist. If you run out of appropriate pieces on a single album, use the "related artists" option to find more music.
3. Chose "boring" songs.
Avoid music with percussion or a distinct melody. You could look for music with sustained and slow moving tones, a sparse melody, and repetition.
Pay attention to what happens when you listen to the music. Do you feel as if you’re “powering down” or is it blocking out other noises that are keeping you awake? Either is great depending on your needs.
4. Start using your playlist.
Once you get around one hour of similar, calming music, add it into your nightly routine. It may take a few nights for your mind and your body to link the music with sleep, but it will happen.
You may find mistakes-one particular piece that wakes you up or something that doesn't fit the playlist. It's so simple to either delete that track or put it earlier in the playlist. Before long, you'll forget what the end of that playlist sounds like (because you'll be sleeping through it.)
The best thing about music is that it's so flexible. You can use your perfect playlist during occasional restless nights or every night as a part of your routine. You can take it with you and use it even when you're out of town. Whatever works for you also works with the music.
Don’t want to create your own playlist? I love using Dr. Jeffrey Thompson’s sleep albums or you can subscribe to my Piano Sleep Music or Synth Sleep Music playlists on Spotify.
Sweet dreams.