We’re here to help you sleep. Whether that’s thanks to our Eucalyptus sheets that wick away moisture to keep you cool, our soft-as-tuck, breathable comforters, or the knowledge that every order results in the planting of a new native tree, our goal is to give every customer the best night of their life.
Everyone occasionally lies awake at night thinking about work, finances, or that time we walked around all day with a giant piece of broccoli in our teeth (why didn't anyone tell us!). A great way to distract your mind and help you switch off is by putting a podcast on to help you drift off.
So we’ve put our heads together and come up with a list of our top ten podcasts to help you on your way to a good night’s sleep.
1. I Can’t Sleep: A Boring Podcast
We’ll start with one that wins the truth in advertising award. This podcast by Benjamin Boster publishes regular episodes in which he "bores you to sleep" by reading out random Wikipedia articles in a soothing voice, with topics including fences, plate tectonics, and clouds.
The description of the episode about the internal combustion engine says: "you may think this is an exciting, educational episode, but you’re wrong. It’s a boring, educational episode. Happy sleeping!" We're already drifting off.
2. Sleep Cove: The Podcast To Get A Good Night’s Sleep
This one is a bit less frivolous than our first pick. A podcast by Christopher Fitton, it describes itself as "guided sleep meditation and sleep hypnosis." It mixes up bedtime stories, meditation, and relaxing hypnosis techniques to help you switch off and enjoy a good night’s sleep.
3. Deep Sleep Sounds
Deep Sleep Sounds on Apple Podcasts
Deep Sleep Sounds on Spotify
Again, a different approach from the first two for this podcast. There are no stories or narration with this offering from Slumber Studios - episodes are a mixture of nature soundscapes, calming white noise and binaural sleep music. (Binaural beats are listened to separately, one through each ear, and are a fascinating idea that harnesses the brain's responsiveness to sound. The idea is to move you into a state of deep relaxation, relieve anxiety, and help you sleep better.)
Some of the episodes last for over 8 hours which could be useful if you want white noise or nature sounds to continue through the night.
This podcast is a good one to try if you have a baby struggling to sleep as well.
4. Nothing Much Happens
The idea here is that a 30 minute story can help distract your brain from chasing thoughts with gentle stories where"nothing much happens" so there’s no danger of missing anything when you do fall asleep! A nice touch with this one is that each episode tells the story twice, with the second time a...bit...slower...as you...drift...away...zzzz
5. Sleepy
Host Otis Gray reads listeners to sleep with a selection of old books, including classics such as Middlemarch, the Count of Monte Cristo, and, erm, the must-listen "2 hours of Webster’s Dictionary." We feel sleepy already.
6. The New Yorker: Fiction
www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction
This is a more intellectually stimulating option than some of the white noise productions presented in this article, and it may be the case that you have to revisit episodes again the next day if you fall asleep during your first listen at night.
‘The New Yorker’ fiction editor Deborah Treisman is joined by a guest each month for a reading of and discussion about a short story. This series has been going since 2007 so there are a LOT of episodes to choose from. Hundreds of interesting guests and equally interesting stories.
7. Sleep With Me
We love the idea of this one - host Drew Ackerman takes listeners on a rambling, ambling journey to stop minds racing and encourage sleep. He tells bedtime stories that are dull, overlong and go off on lots of tangents, getting progressively more boring, all in a dull monotone. They’re so effective, we don’t know how he even stays awake long enough to record them.
8. Sleep Whispers
It would be remiss of us not to include a podcast that represents the ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) genre. ASMR is a pleasurable, tingly feeling that can be triggered by certain sounds, like whispering or cutting hair. Many people find it very soothing and for lots of people, it’s a good way to calm the mind and help them into a more relaxed frame of mind. This podcast is all about generating that feeling, as host Harris (author of Brain Tingles) whispers trivia, or talks about dreaming.
9. Daily Meditation Podcast
thedailymeditationpodcast.libsyn.com
Offering regular guided meditation, this podcast offers "mindfulness and visualisations, body scans and loving-kindness." It’s a great podcast to listen to in order to focus, manage anxiety or live a more examined life - all of which can contribute to a healthier night’s sleep.
10. Life Kit
www.npr.org/podcasts/510338/all-guides
To end our list, we have this series from NPR - a podcast to help you get it together. While on the face of it, it’s not a podcast to help you sleep per se, at least not in the way some of the others are (the intention is not to lull you to sleep). We think that listening and learning from it can contribute to a sense of wellbeing that will help improve sleep quality. Its blurb states "everyone needs a little help being a human. From sleep to saving money to parenting and more, we talk to the experts to get the best advice out there."
It has episodes on a huge range of issues, from how to harness anger; advice for the housing market; how to be a better bystander (if you see someone being attacked, for example); and one to help you change habits in your own life to help slow climate change. Essentially, lots of things that may cause people anxiety, which, through discussion, can be processed and understood better for a happier and more productive life - and better sleep.
That concludes our list of top ten podcasts to help you sleep. We hope that you find something in there that, when combined with your Sheets and Giggles bedding, helps you get a solid 8 hours.
Add YOUR favorite sleep podcasts in the comments below and you're already asleep, aren't you?