HEALTH

 

You may have heard of white noise before—with its high-pitched, static-like sounds, it's meant to shut off your mind and relax your thoughts. You may have even tried playing white noise to help you avoid any frantic, before-bed worries when trying to fall asleep at night, but to no avail. If you're struggling to get enough rest, it could be affecting you in more ways than you realize. 

Sleep is essential for regulating your appetite, keeping your skin bright, clear, and dewy, as well as retaining memories. (That's why pulling an all-nighter before an exam is not a good idea!) If you manage around eight hours of it every night, you'll probably experience better moods, sharper concentration, fewer visits to the doctor and an easier time managing stress. 

"Well, that's great," you might say, "but I'm still having problems falling asleep at night."

Introducing pink noise, the more soothing cousin of white noise. It uses a mix of high and low frequencies, unlike white noise, in order to sound more balanced and natural. When you hear it play through your headphones, it might resemble a rush of water—noticeable enough to have a calming effect, but not distracting, or pulling your mind away from your sweet dreams. It has been proven to help people fall asleep, and stay asleep.

Thinking about it from a human perspective, it makes sense that listening to a steady rainfall or a flowing brook (both examples of pink noise) would be more useful for rest. In our daily lives, we usually only hear white noise when irritating static sounds interrupt our music on the radio. Pink noise, on the other hand, mimics what we might hear all the time—leaves rustling through the trees in our backyards, for instance, or even the constant thumping of our own heartbeats.

What do you do when you're having trouble falling asleep? Let us know in the comments!    

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Photo credit: Pinterest.

by Bridget Curley | 5/5/2017