Lack of Sleep and Aging

We Can't Sleep Well, Can You?

Enter SLEEP STORIES!

Nowadays, there is something called: Sleep Stories (a term I've never heard before). 

Oddly enough, my sister-in-law had asked for a YouTube channel with people reading books to adults... she thought that might help her sleep.  There are plenty of audio books, but they didn't seem to help.

TV wasn't working well as she would hear big bangs, and other startling noises, or the commercial would come on, and it's always a louder volume. 

Boom -- Don't sleep out there, watch us!

Here are a few SLEEP STORY resources to try if you need sleep: 

YouTube for Bob Ross -- He is so softly spoken, and you might find a new appreciation for painting (or even choose to try this yourself)! Bob might be the perfect sleep-noise for you! Some are only a few minutes long, but at the bottom of his page, videos are longer. He has 4.4 million subscribers (despite being deceased for many years now).

You Tube Sleep Stories on CALM -- These stories are read by a super-calming Bob Ross type of voice. You can find Sleep Stories on CALM, scroll down a bit to find the Sleep Stories, You will see some that are an hour-long -- others only one minute (usually fans talking about Calm or Sleep Stories). 

Stephen Fry's 'Blue Gold'  -- This is one I listened to -- so good! On this specific audio below, they say: "Trouble Sleeping? We challenge anyone to stay awake for all 24 minutes of this sleep-inducing masterpiece, Blue Gold, narrated by Stephen Fry and written by Phoebe Smith."

They are challenging us -- try this  one and tell me in the comments if you stay awake past 24 minutes! I'm curious if this doesn't help you sleep.

Sound Machines for White Noise

Click to view on Amazon!  #ad

As I thought more about SLEEP and it's importance in our lives, I decided to take action in a different direction, I ordered several Sound Machines from Amazon. 

This one I purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband, Terry, was the Magicteam Sound Machine.

What I like about this machine is:

• It's a little heavy, meaning it won't easily get knocked off the side table, when searching for it in the middle of the night.

• There are only a few buttons along the bottom so easy peasy to operate.

• There are 20 Sounds: white noise, brown noise, pink noise, blue noise, a fan, brook, rain, ocean, bird and bonfire... so you can choose one that appeals and soothes you. Who knew there were "colors" of noise? Grin! Very subtle differences but you find one for you!

• You can set for a few hours or continuous, depending on what you want.  We choose continuous and it runs all night long.

I also purchased SonTech White Noise Sound Machine  for my mother and my sister-in-law.

I purchased a white version, not black as shown to the left... doesn't really matter, but just saying.

So WHY not the first choice? Well, several reasons:

• My 94-year old mother would never find the buttons in the dark, in the first machine. I wanted everything spelled out for her to not frustrate her  (more than she often already is).

• My sister-in-law was sleeping really badly, so I thought she might need more visible options -- so she didn't hit the volume or a wrong sound in the middle of the night and scare herself. 

• There are 10 sounds available, so plenty to choose from, and yet, not overwhelmingly so.

• This machine can be played on a timer, and continuous, like the machine above. 

I was also surprised to read different reasons people use White Noise Machines:

• Sleep, but also Relax and Focus 
• Soothes adults and also kids
• Creates a disturbance free atmosphere
• Keeps conversations private
• Blocks undesirable noise

I will begin to use White Noise when I work on my website here... if it brings me FOCUS, that's certainly what this senior brain needs! :)