What do you do when you can’t fall asleep? Watch a TV show, read a book, or listen to a thunderstorm? This might sound outlandish, but a large number of people listen to a crashing downpour to help them sleep, a new study has revealed.
In fact, the research also found that some people actually use the sound of their partner’s snoring to fall asleep through breathing and mediation.
Sleep experts at Bensons For Beds have examined what helps Brits to nod off. During the study, the team looked a Spotify data to find the most popular sounds on sleep playlists, plus sounds used in sleep ASMR tracks on the platform. They also collected data on sounds featured in YouTube’s most popular sleep videos with at least 10 million views, to determine the most effective noises that help us drift off.
These are the most popular sounds people use to fall asleep
Thunderstorm
Rain
White Noise
Whispering
Waves/Waterfalls
Massage sounds
Airplane cabine
Fans and ventilators
Stroking brushes
Forest and rainforest.
The sleep experts say the ASMR phenomenon is an innovative way to drown out unwanted noise. It’s known to activate regions of the brain associated with calming, sleep-inducing hormones.
Thunderbolts and lightning don’t really scare us any more, as the data reveals it’s the sound of thunderstorms that aid most people to sleep. White noise ranks as the third most popular sound, with whispering at 4th and stroking brush noises at 9th.
If you’re having trouble sleeping, why not give these sounds a go?