Going to bed is literally the last thing you do every day. Unfortunately, you have spent all day either maintaining a home, working, or dealing with all of what life throws at you. When you finally get the opportunity to relax and start resting for the next day, your mind takes over. It starts recounting every decision that was made that day or preparing for events or decisions that are coming the next day. All of this distraction or contemplating really disrupts your sleep schedule and reduces the amount of restful sleep you'll have.
Podcast have become increasingly more popular month after month. It's topic specific audio programs delivered right to your favorite device. One of the greatest additions to the podcast world are "sleep podcast" or "Sleep meditation podcast". This genre of has become extremely popular amongst adults and kids. They can vary in soothing storytelling, breathing exercises, or just soft music. All are geared towards reducing distractive thoughts, slow your heart rate, and get you to a deeper sleep quickly.
We have personally used the "Sleep Tight Stories" podcast for our own children. They range anywhere between 15-20 minute episodes that focus on being calm, wonder, creativity and helps our kids drift off to sleep. We've noticed their bedtime routines became much calmer and they even looked forward to listening to a story.
Like mentioned earlier, the podcast approach isn't only for kids. There are several adult focused podcast that achieve the same environment of a calmer approach to sleep. Some of the most popular options are "Nothing Much Happens" or "Get Sleepy"
If podcast stories are not your thing, there are several other options to help achieve a better sleep environment. Sound meditation or soundscape podcast take a different approach to calming your thoughts and reducing your heart rate. These are great ways to introduce ambient type sounds into your bedtime routine which helps drown out noises that might be disrupting your sleep routine that you don't even notice. Podcast like "Deep Energy Podcast" or "Sleep Meditation Music" are both recommended.
It might seem weird at first to introduce new sounds or even add to your bedtime routine, but there have been incredible results achieving a more restful sleep with this type of approach. It's great to utilize the podcast approach because it's something that can easily travel with you, it's free, and allows your mind to rest. Give it at least a week doing a podcast or ambient sound each night. You'll likely see yourself fall asleep faster than before and quite possibly waking up more rested each day.
Here are some of the supporting websites:
The Best Podcasts for Sleep | Sleep Foundation
7 Podcasts for Sleep & Sleep Science 2021 (healthline.com)