Bedtime stories for adults are growing in popularity. Like the coloring books for adults trend, bedtime stories harken back to a soothing childhood ritual. These habits of childhood don’t have to be limited to kids. Adults can benefit too.
Who Benefits From Bedtime or Sleep Stories?
The bedtime story is a classic childhood ritual. Getting tucked into bed and hearing a story as you drift off to sleep is a memory many adults have from happy childhoods. For parents and children, storytime is a bonding experience and a way to build literacy.
According to research, bedtime stories also help children sleep better. Kids who listen to bedtime stories sleep longer during the night. Research has also found that adults benefit from reading before bed. A study of several hundred adults found that those who read a book before bed reported better sleep than those who did not.
Bedtime stories are not the same as reading a book, but they are certainly similar. If reading from a book can help you sleep better, how much more beneficial could it be to listen to a carefully selected, soothing sleep story?
How Bedtime Stories Help Adults Sleep Too
The use of bedtime stories for adults has not been studied much, so it isn’t possible to say exactly how they help us sleep better. As reported by people who use them, the most likely reason is that bedtime stories calm and distract a racing, stressed-out brain.
Many adults go to bed with a storm of thoughts about the day and worries about tomorrow. There are problems to solve and to-do lists to consider. Quieting these thoughts to get to sleep is challenging. The role of a soothing story is to distract from these thoughts and calm you into sleep.
Some sleep experts also suggest that bedtime stories can do much more than that. They might lower anxiety levels and decrease heart rate and blood pressure. In other words, it relaxes the body and mind, preparing you better for sleep.
Choosing Bedtime Stories to Improve Sleep
Travel stories are popular, like those with train rides or spaceship journeys across the universe. People like these stories for providing a sense of location and a focus on the present moment.
Sleep stories should be interesting but not too stimulating. Look for stories with a soothing narrator whose voice you like.
Harnessing the Online Relaxation of BetterSleep Stories
You can find stories in many places, but turn to an app that produces stories specifically designed to improve sleep for the best results.
BetterSleep offers a wide range of story types and lengths so that you can listen to something different every night. Choose from male or female narrators, genres ranging from fairy tales to mysteries, and short or long stories.
BetterSleep stories have been created with your best sleep in mind. This means they are more than just stories. They include long story arcs to help you settle in and relax, ASMR sounds, and sounds that reduce brainwaves to mimic sleep.
Bedtime stories are no longer just for kids. While the research still needs to catch up, adults who use these stories at night know the benefits. If you’re looking for a new sleep tool, consider listening to a soothing story.
