Good meditation/sleep app?

M1

I'm asking for myself.  Chronic insomnia is my curse and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with an app you like? I've done white noise machines of various sorts in the past but am ready to try something different. Thanks for any suggestions-

dayn2nite2

I use Insight Timer.  Free and has free form or guided meditation, sounds or spoken, even silence.  You can also meditate with people all over the world at the same time.

Lorita

Hi M1,

 After I lost Charles, my husband,  six years ago I often had trouble going to sleep. I tried different things, too, to no avail.  Finally I typed in Chinese Zen Music in Google to see what I'd get.  I tried different options in it and found a couple I really liked.  One was a row of several roundish rocks with a rolled up towel and another was a picture of either peach or cherry blossoms - the music was pretty much the same with a few differences.  It worked beautifully.  I'd listen to it and before I knew it I'd be asleep.  I set it to go off in ten or twenty minutes and never knew when it stopped. 

 Try it, I'm sure you'll find a song you really like and will put you to sleep.  I still listen to it when I can't sleep or if I'm stressed.  Hope it will work for you, too.

David J

I use a combination of mindfulness and a muscle relaxation routine. For years I had problems with night cramps, and I developed an ability to consciously relax the muscle. I later found out that there is a similar technique to aid sleep, by consciously tensing and relaxing your muscles limb by limb. I am able to skip the tensing part and go right to relaxation. 

Mindfulness fits right into this, and I use it several times a day to calm myself. I close my eyes and concentrate on all the other senses while taking deep breaths and letting it out slowly. I try to think of nothing but the breathing, what I feel, hear, smell, and taste. With my eyes closed there are still images, light patterns really, transmitted to the brain. If errant thoughts pop into my head, I consciously let them go. 

Sounds a little strange, but it works for me. Also helps if you work yourself to exhaustion during the day!

Rescue mom

There are 3 apps I use for insomnia, and mostly for one method I never thought in a million years would work—but it does: Sleep stories, AKA bedtime stories, read in extremely soothing, calm, low voices.

First, the apps (which also have music for insomnia, and other relaxation techniques): Calm, Headspace, and Relax Melodies, which is more than music. I have Apple devices, unsure if others offer them.

But all  3 offer dozens of sleep stories, you can choose fiction or nonfiction. Many many nonfiction topics—travel, animals, night skies, gardens, mythology, etc. They walk that fine line between not being simple-minded, yet not verbal “page turners”. Most are about 30 minutes long but I’ve never made it to the end. I think the real trick is how soothing the readers’ voices are.

Those apps also offer music designed to put you to sleep, and other sleep inducing techniques.

If you stream music, there’s a “group” called Marconi Union that works with a big sleep institute in Britain to develop music (in the ambient genre) that will get you to sleep. Another group that puts me to sleep is Liquid Mind, also the ambient genre. Both via Apple Music, unsure about other sources.

M1

These are all great suggestions, thanks again.  Am getting ready to try tonight!!

aod326

Big fan of Liquid Mind! I listen to it - or fall asleep to it - on Pandora.

Jo C.

Hello M1, it dawns on me that I do not know whether you are male or female and if you are of what decade in life; that all can make a difference.

Could change of hormones be affecting things?

Do ypu stop using all computerized machines long, long before bedtime?

No caffeine after early afternoon?

Most of us who lie awake find that we have too much on our minds and the brain spins and spins and refuses to sleep.   Despite caregiving, are there ways for you to simplify other areas of your life and get  some of the other stressors removed?  

Is your work satisfying or is it a drag yourself in and can't wait for the weekend sort of deal?

If you need someone to pick up some of the care matters with your spouse, can you afford to have someone step in and give you a consistent break?

Do you feel that you want to take a break and get far away from where you are now?

Any depression or anxiety needing to be addressed?

Some people find they like the sounds on special apps; some are fine, but others are for me just annoying.   For myself, I cannot abide electronic music or electronic rain, etc.  Electronic just does not sound relaxing and grates on me.

I have heard several people say that using weighted blankets are very helpful to defeat insomnia.  I have never tried them.

This will sound funny, but I have recorded various old episodes of the, "Great Britain Baking Show." I will turn on an episode and begin to watch . . . . BUT within a short time, I am fast alseep with TV going.  Does it every time. Do not know why; perhaps because it is so peaceful in content.   When I cannot fall asleep which is rare, I put one of the GBBS episodes on and off I go. Silly.

My issues is, I can fall asleep very easily; I just do not stay asleep.  I pop awake after four hours - done that for years.  Don't know why, just do.

I have a disk that is of real rain and distant soft thunder now and then; I love it and it relaxes me within minutes, but alas; I now have no disk player to play it on.   I shall have to do a little research and see if I can find a private player to take it to bed with me.

Any fan that makes a good humming noise also makes me feel sleepy. I have a friend who cannot sleep without the noise of a fan.

I have never tried melatonin; according to some specialists people often tend to take too much, evidently less is more.  It can for some people cause wild dreams.

Wish I had the answer for you, but more than anything, you have so much going on in your life and with all the uncertainty, I can well understand the sleep issues.

J.

Rescue mom

One thing for Jo and other info for anyone...

Jo, you can buy very small disc players, battery or plug-in,  on Amazon, for around $25-30, IIRC. ((I use one mostly for walks). eBay also has lots, if you shop there. They are hard to find in stores these days, or back when we were going to stores.

You can also buy inexpensive earbuds made for sleeping; the outside part is very small, almost invisible. Work well for me. They also have very flat, small headphones advertised for sleeping, I haven’t tried those but reviews say music quality is not so great. LOL for me, I’m not that discerning with sleep music.

If you stream or play music/stories off an iPad, you can turn the screen off (make it black) and still get sound. All devices may do this, I don’t know about others. Most sources agree that having screens on will bother sleep because of the kind of light they put out. 

The new Consumer Reports has a major (cover) story on things that help to fall and stay asleep. Some of the apps and music mentioned here were cited. Weighed blankets got mixed reviews; I have one and it doesn’t do anything for my sleep. I think it feels nice, but it’s also notably hot (to me) even though I got one that’s supposed to be a “cool” version.

nancyj194

I have had quite severe insomnia and still only sleep 3-4 hours on a regular basis. Every few weeks or months, I will sleep 5-6 hours, which is nice. 

A little bit of stress takes me down to 1-2 hours. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKG-_ZccAug&list=RDCMUCTxBTQ9xKdasllTFfBpbTCg&index=1

That link is for 8 hours. There are others that you can see on the right hand side, that are for different times.  These work so well the first few times I use them, then they stop working. 

Taking a break for a few days/weeks usually helps my brain to accept them again. 

Sometimes my brain just wants nothing more than the fan for a background sound. 

Mint

Rescue mom I’m going to have to figure out how to blacken my iPad screen because that is an issue for me.  Like things black when I sleep.

Rescue mom

Sayra, if I remembered how, I would tell you. I don’t even remember “setting” it to do that, I thought it came like that (??). I just  close the cover, and screen goes dark while audio continues...

Added: I was poking around to see how, and pretty sure it’s the cover; the cover is not light-tight, but ads say closing the cover automatically makes the screen black. I’ve always used these same covers, get them with the iPad, and never paid much attention otherwise. Duh me!

But I know my iPhone can be set to sleep after various amounts of time (relatively short, like 3, 5 or 7 minutes) and the two devices work so similar, seems like there would be a way to make the pad dark in just a few minutes regardless of cover.

Ed1937

Sayra, try this. https://www.solveyourtech.com/how-to-put-an-ipad-in-sleep-mode/#:~:text=Step 1: Open the Settings,to turn off the screen.  

aod326

I'm having one of those bittersweet experiences that all of us get from time to time.  I brought DH home from MC a week ago, partly because his decline means he's non-verbal, can no longer stand etc. He's getting hospice care and they have supplied one of those circulating air mattresses along with a hospital bed. His room is set up in what was the study, and at night I sleep upstairs. Of course this is all awful, so where's the "sweet" in the bittersweet? As I always have the baby monitor on when I'm in bed, the constant sound of the air circulating in the mattress, is SO relaxing! I'm sleeping better than I have in many, many months!

M1

That's good news aod, if you're happy to have him home.  I saw that on several posts--must have been a hard decision, as I know it was a hard decision to place him in the first place.  For whatever reasons, enjoy that good sleep!  I'm procrastinating, have purchased the Calm app but haven't tried it yet.  I typically read at night but it doesn't put me to sleep....

Mint

Thank you Rescue Mom and Ed.  Lol why didn’t I think about closing the lid.  Tried it and as long as I do it carefully and don’t knock screen it works.