Want to Hear Some Great Bedtime Stories? Look in These Five Places!

Right now, it's pretty much common knowledge that reading bedtime stories to children is good for them and for you. Of course, you should make sure you're reading stories to your own children, because breaking into strange bedrooms and loudly reading a Curious George book is frowned upon in most civilized nations. What you may not know, though is just how good reading is for grown-ups! A recent study at the University of Sussex showed that reading a story for as little as six minutes a day can reduce stress by as much as 68 percent. That, folks, is an amazing return on a small investment of time and attention.

The problem most of us have is that, no matter how much we may want to read, we only have so many hours in a day and we don't get a lot of time to sit down with a good book. We do, however, have another option. Bedtime stories. Specifically, bedtime stories someone else will read to us thanks to the magic of the internet. There are, quite literally, thousands of podcasts, YouTube channels, and websites from which you can get wonderful stories to put you in the perfect relaxed mindset you need at bedtime. We thought we'd share some interesting story sources with you here. Keep in mind we didn't always run to the most popular places for audio stories, such as the main audiobook stores (such as Audible and Librivox). We decided to point you to places you can get something a bit different from the usual fare, something you might just love and want to share with your friends and family.

Ready? Here we go.

1. Sleep Stories by Calm: You may be familiar with the Calm app, but not quite so familiar with the original stories it has, narrated by some quite-familiar voices. The Calm folks put a few of their stories on a YouTube playlist where you can listen to them for free. Of course, you'll have to pay their subscription fee if you want the full library, but the four stories offered in the playlist are worth hearing more than once. 
2. HorrorBabble: While we're on YouTube, let's wander over to the scary side of town. The folks behind HorrorBabble have built an impressive library of stories from well-known authors, mostly taken from the public domain. You will get a healthy dose of Poe, Lovecraft, Hodgson, and others, but that's not all. They've begun to build a collection of original stories, written by up-and-coming authors and the channel's main narrator, Ian Gordon. 
3. Sleep With Me Podcast: Drew Ackerman used to go to sleep listening to late-night radio comedies, which led him to create his own podcast, full of funny and calming stories. The show, which you can find here, isn't your traditional bedtime story fare, though. Drew rambles through his thoughts on the day, his sleeping issues, television shows or movies he's watched, or different business ideas he's cooked up while trying to get to sleep in a voice that'll remind you of Ben Stein. At some point, he ties everything together in a nice little package, but you'll probably be asleep before he gets there. But why not try?
4. Scare You to Sleep Podcast: I found this show while looking for solid scary stories made just for bedtime. The stories can be uneven at times, as the host pulls in tales from reddit creepypasta boards and original stories written by listeners, but you'll get some top-notch tales here as well. The host, Shelby Scott, has an amazing voice and does fantastic work weaving in sound effects and background noises to immerse you in the story she's telling. It might just be your kind of thing! 
5. The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio: Do you like detective stories? Great! This show will be your nighttime slumber-maker. Host Adam Graham presents the adventures and exploits of characters like Boston Blackie and Joe Friday in stories guaranteed to pull you in and make you forget the worries and cares of the day. The only issue you may have is getting so engrossed in the stories that you won't want to sleep right away!

What do you think? If you like these, let us know. Also, if you have a favorite place for bedtime listening, share that with us in the comments. We'd love to hear from you! We'd also love for you to check out our pillow, which lets you listen to whatever story you want in cozy and comfortable privacy thanks to our Night Owl speakers!

(Photo Credit: Ramdlon on Pixabay)

Good Night; Sleep Tight; Get Your Bedtime Playlist Right!

In his 1697 play The Mourning Bride, William Congreve wrote "Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast, To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak." But music has one more charm -- the charm to help you sleep.

According to a recent analysis of several sleep studies, listening to music as you go to sleep "caused significant improvements in sleep quality". The benefits take time to work -- the two studies that showed little to no improvement lasted less than three weeks -- but they do exist. The studies did have some holes in how they were designed, which means they were not conclusive. That is, you can't say "science says sleeping with music will cure all your ills". The best we can say is "listening to music as you sleep helps you sleep better, though how much better or what types of improvements you see can vary", which isn't bad. What's more, none of the studies showed that music made sleep worse. So, according to the analysis, music can help, won't hurt, and is, as this 2008 study concluded, "safe, easy, and cheap".

How, though, do you pick the right music? Should you use headphones, earbuds, or a speaker? Where do you get the music? Hey, I'm glad you asked all those questions! As it turns out, we here at MyButterflyPillow love listening to music as we sleep (and steaming videos and lectures and audiobooks too, but let's just stick to music for now). We have a couple of tips for listening to music as you drift off to dreamland. Let's go!

1. Speakers are better than earbuds or headphones. You know how you move around as you sleep? Try that with a set of headphones on or a pair of earbuds stuck in your ears. If you winced, well, join the club. You're far better off connecting to a speaker, either directly or through a Bluetooth connection. Our Smarter Pillow comes with speakers that will let you listen to whatever you like without disturbing anyone sleeping next to you. Cool, right? 
2. Pick the music you like. This is usually where a web site suggests you listen to classical music or soothing ambient sounds. That's fine if you like those things. What if classical music drives you up the wall? What if listening to rain sounds makes you...antsy? If you listen to music, listen to music you like. That's where you'll find relaxation. However, you should know that you'll get your best results from choosing music with a tempo that most closely matches the average human resting heart rate (60 to 80 beats per minute). Maybe start with the music of Ed Sheeran or anyone else on this Spotify playlist. 
3. Be patient. The analysis earlier in this article suggests it can take more than three weeks to see the benefits of bedtime tunes. Don't sweat it if you don't see immediate improvement. Relax. Enjoy the good music. Remember that good sleep begins with comfort and relaxation. You won't get either one if you're worried about your inability to relax and be comfortable. Don't put that stress on yourself! Just lie back, hit the "play" button, and sleep tight. 

(Photo Credit: minka2507 on Pixabay)

What in the World is Tinnitus and Why in the World Does It Matter?

Before we get too deeply into the subject of Tinnitus, let's all stop for a moment and give thanks we don't live in ancient Egypt roughly 2500 years before the birth of Christ. According to a document called the Ebers papyrus, people who suffered from a condition known as "a bewitched ear" would be treated with an infusion of "balanites oil 1 portion, frankincense 1 portion, and sekhopf 1 portion". I don't know about you, but I don't have 1 portion of balanites hidden in my medicine cabinet behind the tweezers. Let's not even talk about trying to get some sekhopf at 11 P.M., especially if you don't happen to live in a big city in close vicinity to the Nile and some pyramids.

The interesting thing about this papyrus is that it may be the oldest description of a common, but debilitating condition called tinnitus. Tinnitus, most simply, is a persistent steady sound such as a buzzing, clicking, or whistling that is audible without a source of sound. Nearly every adult has suffered from at least a mild and temporary incident of tinnitus, most often caused by prolonged exposure to loud noises. If you've ever spent too much time too close to the speakers at a rock concert and got that ringing in your ears that lasted a few hours after the show, you had a mild form of tinnitus. In that case, what happened was the noise damaged certain fine hair inside your ears that transmit signals to neurons in your brain. Once the damage heals, the signals get to the neurons in the right ways and the tinnitus goes away.

However, some people endure lasting tinnitus that affects them in a number of ways. According to a recent paper published in The Lancet, 10 to 15 percent of people suffer from chronic tinnitus. Most who have the condition are able to function well enough with it but roughly 1 to 2 percent of people report a severe effect on their quality of life. To put that in perspective, New York City has an approximate population of 8.5 million people, which means 170,000 people have a bad enough case of tinnitus that it negatively affects their life. That's a lot of people. Spread that out over a whole nation and the numbers get a bit mind-boggling. For example, the American Tinnitus Association estimates that 20 million or so Americans have what it calls "burdensome chronic tinnitus".

Those negative effects, those burdens, are not trivial. Tinnitus is linked, at least in surveys, to depression, sleep disorders, social isolation, and anxiety. At its worst, it can drive people to attempt suicide. Though detailed medical studies are thin, scientists are finding the condition affects many parts of the brain and may, in fact, change how a tinnitus-sufferer's brain actually works. Imagine 20 million people, all over this country, enduring a persistent noise that simply will not stop. Imagine how miserable those people must be.

Now imagine some of those people are your friends, family, and loved ones. There's a very good chance you know at least one person with tinnitus, especially if that person is a soldier.

The most common cause of tinnitus is noise, though age runs a relatively close second. Because of the nature of their jobs, soldiers are especially prone to to it. In 2012, tinnitus and hearing loss were the two most-reported disabilities connected to service.  This year, the AARP noted some 2.7 million veterans receive disability benefits due to tinnitus or hearing loss. That's a lot of soldiers, and more get diagnosed every year.

Despite its prevalence, there is no sure cure for tinnitus. The ATA says that sound therapy, especially sound masking devices -- devices that make steady and pleasing noises louder than the sounds of tinnitus -- can provide temporary relief. As of right now, no one can say for sure that a certain course of treatment will work for a certain person, but a recent survey of clinical trials has shown some hope that with the right device and the right therapies, people who suffer from the worst effects of tinnitus can find at least consistent temporary relief.

And that sounds a lot better than an infusion of ancient Egyptian schmutz, now doesn't it?

Warning: This guy may be responsible for a few bewitched ears.

(Photo Credits: @chairulfajar_ on Unsplash and ArtsyBee on Pixabay)

Head Tingles and Quiet Whispers: A Quick Guide to ASMR

You are getting sleepy. Sleeeeeeeeepy.
Oh, and tingly too. Tinglyyyyyy. *crackle*

Very recently, you may have seen a beer commercial called "The Pure Experience", in which sound plays a huge role. In it, Zoë Kravitz pours a beer in near-silence, whispers into microphones set on either side of her table, and taps her fingernails against the bottle. The very intimate and "close" experience is designed to cause a very particular reaction.

When you saw it, did you get a little pleasant tingle along your scalp that ran down your spine? If so, congratulations! You just experienced something called autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR for short. That tingle was an involuntary response your body has to sensory input from the outside. You may have had a similar sensation while getting your hair cut or listening to someone leaf through a book or magazine. You may have even experiences a reaction while watching Bob Ross paint his happy little trees. Ross' show, in fact, was one of the first places people began to notice their reactions. It wasn't until they could gather on the internet to talk about what they were experiencing that people began to connect the sensory inputs to the reactions and found that they weren't rare nor were they accidental. Something for sure was happening to people, though what that is (as the song goes) ain't exactly clear.

ASMR got its name in 2010, which gives you a pretty good idea about how little time scientists have had to study what it's all about. What we do know is that ASMR is one of those things that you either feel or you don't. Lots of people do. Some people have an adverse reaction. Some people just wonder what all the whispering and microphone brushing is about. We also know that the most popular way to stimulate the response is through videos, namely videos on YouTube. One of the more popular ASMR channels is ASMR Darling, who has over 2 million subscribers and reportedly earns a thousand dollars a day in advertising. Most popular ASMR channels belong to women, usually women with accents who split their videos between whispering soothing scenes and making ambient sounds with their fingers, brushes, and crumpled paper. You can also find plenty of ASMR videos that have nothing but nature sounds as well or environmental noises like typewriters or people reading books quietly, as if you were sitting in a library.  

It's enough to make you nod off right now, isn't it? And that's really the point. Most folks who have a positive reaction to ASMR "triggers" feel more relaxed after they experience that tingly sensation. Some even report nodding off before they even know what's happening.

Now, if only you could find a way to get those sounds quietly into your ears while you were comfortable in bed, possibly with Night Owl Speakers™. That would be pretty handy, wouldn't it? Pretty handy indeed.

This is not the optimal ASMR setup.
Try something softer, with fewer wires.

(Photo Credits: PublicDomainPictures and LOC on Pixabay)