6 gadgets to help you fall asleep (and get better sleep once you’re there) Leave a comment
Are you thinking about pouring a fourth cup of coffee? Are the bags under your eyes too big to fit under the seat in front of you? With up to a third of adult Americans reporting insufficient or low-quality sleep, you can at least know you’re not alone… though that’s little comfort when you know you’re going to be spending the next few hours staring at your ceiling.
Since a good night’s sleep has become something of the Great American Quest, I’ve found some nifty products (gadgets), which may offer up some hope.
BedJet 3 Bed Cooling System
BedJet 3 Climate Comfort for Beds
BedJet
amazon.com
$449.00
According to sleep psychologist Michelle Drerup, our perfect sleep temperature lies between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit – considerably lower than our daytime “comfort zone.” And since most of our bodies run at several degrees warmer than that, it’s easy to accidentally get your bed just slightly out of the optimum temperature – but slight differences can have big consequences for light sleepers.
BedJet can solve this by blasting controlled air directly between the sheets, cooling (or heating) the bed as needed all night. They stress that their control unit — which can be slipped beneath most beds — is not an air conditioner and requires a top room temperature of 79 degrees to provide proper cooling. On cooler nights, the BedJet 3 provides warming air as well.
Muse S Brain-Sensing Headband
MUSE S: The Brain Sensing Headband – Overnight Sleep Tracker & Meditation Headset Device
Muse
amazon.com
$279.99
While the Muse S Headband won’t directly put you to sleep, it’s a great tool to achieving better sleep down the road because it provides real-time monitoring of what it calls your “sleep journey,” which includes your heart rate and breathing.
Muse’s Premium subscription provides you with up to 500 guided meditations — best enjoyed with optional headphones — to launch your journey to the land of blissful unconsciousness. The battery-powered headband is made from a comfortable and breathable stretch fabric, designed with bedtime use in mind.
Under Armour Athlete Recovery Sleepwear
Under Armour Athlete Sleepwear
Under Armour Men’s Athlete Ultra Comfort Recovery Short sleeve Sleepwear
Under Armour
amazon.com
$49.99
I know what you’re thinking (a lot of you, anyway): You’re neither particularly athletic, nor recovering from much of anything. Also, sleepwear isn’t a “gadget.”
Just stay with me here, okay? According to digitaltrends, this wide (and by no means inexpensive) collection of underwear and jammies incorporates “bioceramic particles” into the fabric itself. These particles absorb body heat and reflect it back into the wearer in the form of “far-infrared radiation,” or FIR.
This can improve blood flow, and therefore have a cooling effect, leading to a better night’s sleep. If it’s good enough for Tom Brady – who worked with Under Armour on the project – then it’s good enough for… well, just never underestimate the power of underwear.
Hatch Restore
Hatch Restore sound machine smart light
Hatch Restore – Sound Machine, Smart Light
Hatch
amazon.com
$129.99
To understand how this product really works, I relied on a video by Amazon influencer Kelsey Simas AKA Strawberry Blonde Mom. Kelsey gave us the lowdown on how the Restore helps her fall asleep in stages:
First, she reads in bed by the soft, warm light of the Restore. When she’s ready, she clicks her cellphone app to begin the second, “winding down” stage. That means a muted light and a “guided meditation” to prepare her mind for sleep. From the selections available, her favorite is gentle music and a soft woman’s voice.
In the third stage, Kelsey’s on the road to dreamland with her Restore a muted red glow. What once was a guided meditation is now a soft fill of natural sounds… a deserted surf, a waterfall, crickets, or another favorite.
When it’s time to wake, her device is a slowly rising sun, turning on the morning for Kelsey’s coming day. If she’d wanted, she might have risen to a sound like a regular alarm clock (she likes to keep things subtle).
For what it seems to do, and its 41/2 star average (out of more than 3,000 Amazon reviews), the price seems more than reasonable. Check it out and see what you think – and be sure to take advantage of the free trial period.
InnoGear Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
InnoGear Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
InnoGear 500ml Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser with Iron Cover
InnoGear
amazon.com
$35.99
A lot of oils, including chamomile, bergamot, clary sage, peppermint and jasmine, can be helpful when it comes to relaxing before bed, but lavender is my top choice. Not only does it work to calm anxiety and provide sedative effects, but research suggests you could spend more time in quality, slow-wave sleep.
Among the best and most practical ways for enjoying these benefits is to add the concentrated oils to water and diffuse them through the night. That’s where the InnoGear Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser comes in.
With its large water capacity (500ml), this attractive unit operates for up to eight hours in high mist mode, or 12 hours on low. It’s exceedingly quiet, equipped with a timer, and easy to refill and clean.
Dodow Breathing Light Tool
Dodow – Sleep Aid Device – More Than 500.000 Users are Falling Asleep Faster with Dodow!
Dodow
amazon.com
$59.90
This interesting tool was created (the company says), by a team of insomniacs. Well, who should know better, right? It’s really pretty simple, and the premise seems correct..
When you go to bed each evening, just tap your Dodow (not certain of that pronunciation) for it to project a faint, blue/green light onto your ceiling.
So here’s this bulky blue blob hanging out above your head, and it’s sort of pulsating – expanding and contracting as you watch. The idea is to breathe in when the blob is small and out when it’s bigger. Simple. So your breathing is controlled, and pretty soon you’re fast asleep. Check it out right here.
