Whether you lie in bed for hours past bedtime with your mind racing or you have a habit of waking in the night unable to fall back to sleep, BetterSleep has the tools you need to enjoy a more restful night and feel refreshed in the morning. Try these five tips for a sweeter slumber.
Set up a soothing bedtime routine
Kicking off a regular routine at night-time can help you improve your overall sleep habits. Head to your profile in the app to schedule your ideal bedtime and set up daily reminders to nudge you to go to bed. Then, choose one of the app’s many wind-down activities, which include breathing exercises and meditations, to clear your mind and get your body ready for rest. We enjoy the app’s gentle yoga practice, SleepMoves, which can be done either standing up or lying in bed.
Create the optimal atmosphere
Imagine your perfect sleep set-up: it might be a cool, dark room complete with the soft sound of ocean waves. Or perhaps you prefer the steady beat of rain or the hum of an oscillating fan? The sounds that soothe us are highly individual, which is why BetterSleep lets you customise your own soundscape, mixing everything from white noise to bubbling magma – it all works to muffle outside noise or your snoring partner. Or try one of the special frequencies designed to induce dreams or deep meditation.
Drift off to a dreamy tale
Need help letting go of worries from the day? Try turning your attention to a bedtime story. The app’s SleepTales combine soothing sounds and narratives designed to help you drift off before you reach the end. And with a range of genres to choose from (some of our favourite stories include Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Story of Tea), you can try a new tale every night.
Have help on hand for wake-ups
When an unexpected 3am wake-up has you feeling like you’ll never get back to dreamland, rather than staring at the clock, turn on Return to Slumber, Back to Sleep Hypnosis or one of the other meditations designed to lull you to sleep. A gentle guide will help you let go of the frustration that insomnia brings and slip back into slumber.
Analyse your sleep
Spending lots of time in bed but still not feeling refreshed in the morning? It’s time to take a closer look at what’s happening when your eyes are closed. Turn on the Sleep Recorder and BetterSleep will track your REM, light and deep sleep, enabling you to observe patterns and record sounds, so you can review your rest in the morning and learn if, say, yesterday’s workout helped you get more deep sleep or your snoring is keeping you from getting the rest you need.