Sleep is a bodily requirement that is essential for rest and recovery. We spend almost 16 hours awake every day and at most 8 hours asleep every night. However, several people find it difficult to fall asleep. These are people with insomnia. Usually, insomnia music for sleep helps them in achieving that desired slumber. 

     Insomnia is usually described as when a person has difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or not sleeping enough. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (2020), roughly 14.5% of adults have difficulty falling asleep at night and 17.8% have trouble staying asleep. However, recent studies have shown that listening to insomnia music for sleep can reduce the time one can fall asleep and increase the chances of staying asleep longer. This is because insomnia music for sleep can help a person feel relaxed by lowering cortisol (the stress hormone).

     Insomnia music for sleep usually has very light rhythms and is often repetitive. Its goal is to relax your body enough for it to fall asleep. Here are five Insomnia music for sleep:

     White noise, an insomnia music for sleep is a combination of all frequencies that people can detect. When all of these sounds blend they create a humming sound which blocks out all other sounds in the environment. It is like a huge shushing sound that lulls you to sleep.

     White noise has been popularly used as insomnia music for sleep. It is used for relaxation since it has this soothing impact that makes it easier for someone to fall asleep. White noise also has this tendency to pacify our overthinking minds. Most of the time, people cannot fall asleep because their minds are busy thinking about things they did the day or things they will do the next day, so the quieting effect of white noise can help calm down our inner thoughts.

     Apart from white noise, there are other noises associated with the spectrum. There are pink noise, brown noise, green noise, blue noise, violet noise, and even black noise. All of these insomnia music for sleep vary in intensity of frequencies but still promote sleep and relaxation.

     The sound of the rain pouring is a natural pink noise for people. Pink noise, an insomnia music for sleep is similar to white noise since it contains all audible sound frequencies, however, it varies in its intensity which is quite softer as compared to white noise. It shushes other unwanted sounds without sounding harsh like a gentle quiet shushing voice.

     The repetitive sound of rain can act as a piece of insomnia music for sleep. It helps in balancing serotonin (a chemical in our body that controls our moods) and dopamine (the chemical that makes us happy and contented). Being a natural part of our environment, rain sounds make it more comfortable for people to sleep due to their familiarity. When it rains, our automatic response would be to stay warm and cozy. This kind of response makes us more attuned to staying in bed and falling asleep when listening to rain sounds as insomnia music for sleep. 

     Those people who suffer from insomnia or stress, are most often affected by even slight disturbances when they try to fall asleep. According to Healthline, when our bodies go into relaxation mode, we produce alpha waves which lessens our stress levels and makes us feel calmer. This is how insomnia music for sleep helps your body cope with stress.

     Ocean Waves is another natural sound that can be an insomnia music for sleep. The sound of ocean waves has this calming and soothing effect that can help in promoting relaxation to fall asleep faster. The repetitive sound of the crashing of waves on the shore creates a soothing sound that would reduce stress and insomnia.

     The sound of ocean waves also helps induce deep sleep. Deep sleep is the state in which our bodies start to self-repair. It is an important time in sleep wherein our glucose levels go down. It is also noted that sleeping with ocean waves as background insomnia music for sleep helps in higher sleep quality.

     Classical music is one of the sounds that is considered insomnia music for sleep. The relaxing and slow instrumental music helps calm the nerves. It lowers stress levels and encourages a slower heart rate and breathing – all of which constitute a peaceful night’s sleep.

     Classical music can help shut down our thoughts for the night by letting us focus only on the melody rather than the lyrics. Insomnia music for sleep with 60-80 beats per minute relaxes our body and lulls us to a relaxed state which is followed by our heart and our breathing.

     Classical music by Debussy or Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata can serve as insomnia music for sleep. Of course, higher-tempo classical music like Mozart’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons will have a different effect as compared to softer-tempo music.

     Although it is not considered a form of music, podcasts have been offering various options for people with insomnia. It serves as a distraction to people who overthink since it provides them with an alternative to their obsessive thoughts. Of course, like insomnia music for sleep, it would depend on the type of podcast you choose to listen to. If you are listening to podcasts that are stimulating like crime stories or panel discussions, your brain will certainly be active, however, if you listen to relaxing podcasts like sleep stories, ambient noise, adult bedtime stories, and even ASMR podcasts. These shows make it so that podcasts can be categorized as insomnia music for sleep.