According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention approximately 1/3 of Americans report not getting enough sleep. That’s a lot of people. You might be one of them!
Sleep has never quite been easy for me as I’m personally a pretty light sleeper. You can imagine how difficult it was to adjust to the incessant street noises living in NYC. Luckily, I’ve found a few things that help.
One of them, ironically, is more noise. White noise.
Have you ever met someone who could not sleep without a fan on? While it’s not that extreme for me, a lot of people need a fan on to sleep well. That’s typically due to the cooling factor, but one often overlooked factor as well. THE NOISE.
Fans and air conditioners can produce a sound similar to white noise, which has been found (research here and here) to help produce better sleep. Mainly, the constant source of noise gives your ear a bit of a focus (subconsciously) and makes all other noises sort of fade into the background. That is, in your bedroom white noise could block out the random car horns of your neighbor or semis driving down the avenue closest to your home in the middle of the night. And for those of us in apartments, white noise can also reduce the opening and closing of doors in nearby apartments which can, unfortunately, sometimes be heard all too often.
White noise is naturally created by some appliances (like fans, air conditioners, and static-filled radio or TV channels) but you can also purchase noise machines that have white noise among many choices to produce relaxation and block out other noises.
For those of you who don’t have the means to purchase a noise machine, and want to sample what white noise sounds like listen to the clip below:
Give it a couple of minutes and see how you feel. Does the sound feel comfortable? Does it help you “zone out”? If so, try it as a part of our bedtime routine. Who knows, it might just be the missing link to get more (and more restful) sleep.
Author: Jor-El
Jor-El is Co-founder of Viva Wellness and a foodie and film buff. He most often writes about mental health, relationships, food and mindfulness. When he’s not busy working, he typically can be found lounging or walking around NYC with his pup Nomi.
