How To Get Restorative Sleep: Part II

How to get Restorative sleep: Part II

With stress running high in 2020, the importance of restful sleep is imperative for staying healthy. But just because you slept for 8 hours, doesn't mean it was restorative. In a somewhat personal experiment, I have put what I have learned into 5 different categories that I wil break down in a 5-part-series. I used a sleep tracker called the Poar Vantage M to show us the results. Turns out, the amount of deep sleep and REM sleep greatly increased when we did these 5 tips. This is Part II:

Use Sounds

White and pink noise have been shown to promote REM and deep sleep in humans. Not only does it help you stay in deep sleep, it drowns out extra noise that could potentially wake you up. The more sleep disturbances you have, the less rested you will feel in the morning.

•       White noise uses a mix of sound frequencies to create a static-like sound. It can be intense and high-pitched, like a fan or a vacuum.

•       Pink noise uses a consistent frequency, or pitch, to create a more even, flat sound, like a steady rain, wind rustling through trees, or waves on a beach. Its added depth and lower waves filter out higher sounds. As a result, you hear more relaxing, lower-frequency sounds.

Pink Noise:

It turns out that pink noise is scientifically proven to actually improve the deep phase of sleep.It allows indeed for better memory formation and the re-energization of the brain. One study played sounds consistent with slow oscillations, or pink noise. It found that these sounds actually enhanced the brain’s analogous slow oscillatory activity, which is a fancy way of describing deep sleep.

Another study tested 11 people in a sleep lab for two nights. Some participants were played pink noise as they approached deep sleep on the first night. The second night, researchers played pink noise for those who missed it the first time. Before bed each night, participants viewed 120 pairs of words. When they awoke the next morning, they were asked how many of the pairs they could remember. Ultimately, the participants remember almost double the number of words after the pink noise night, as opposed to the silent one.

What I Have Done

I have messed around quite a bit with sounds and sleep since March. I personally have discovered the best thing that has worked really well for me:

• I sleep WAY better if I have a sound going all night, rather than just part of the night. I used to throw on The Office in the background on a sleep timer because I had seen it so many times that it would just lull me to sleep. I would wake up either when the tv would turn off, or by other subtle sounds. The sound of the fan helps me stay asleep by drowning out those smaller noises that might cause me to become awake.

Go SMAC!

Julian