Finding Your Best Sleep: Lessons Learned from the Headspace Guided Course

I started Headspace’s 18-session Finding Your Best Sleep course in April, looking for strategies to calm my anxiety-prone mind and fall asleep faster. The lessons, which include short videos and guided meditations, are spread across three modules: Understanding your sleep; Try something new; and Practice, practice, practice.

For about 10 minutes every night for nearly three weeks, I used all the material the program provided—even the optional bonus videos that weren’t relevant to me, including the ones on sleep comfortably during pregnancy and navigation work in shifts. This additional perspective has helped me sort out my sleep habits and what I want to improve.

Although not part of the course, 45-minute sleep TV shows are still available. included with membershipalong with other tools before bed such as:

• SOS at night: I have used this feature a few times when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. The “Racing Mind SOS” guided exercise is very helpful.
• Music and radio for good sleep: The “Cave Winds” track and Rain Radio are especially relaxing.
• Soundscape: “Indoor Fireplace” and “Cabin Downpour” are some of my favorite warm soundtracks.
• White noise and sleep sounds: The subtle frequency of blue noise active all the time
• Relax: “Deep Rest” is the song for me after a a tired day.

Headspace costs $12.99/month with a one-week free trial or $5.83/month for $69.99/year with a two-week free trial. Post-secondary students can join for 83 cents/month, which works out to $9.99/year.

By design, not every tool included in Find Your Best Sleep worked for me. For example, worry time, limiting your worries to a set amount of time each day, only makes me more restless. The goal of the course was to discover the best sleep hygiene for me, and it was. Here are five of my favorite sleep strategies I learned from Headspace.

Protect your sleep

The program encouraged me to practice something I’ve long known to be true: When I sleep better, life gets better.

Adults aged 18–60 need at least 7 hours of sleep each night, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If I get less than eight, getting through the next day is like wading through mud. With proper rest, I am a better daughter, sister, friend, and employee. Not only am I more productive at home and at work, but I am also kinder and happier.

So why is achieving this important health component so difficult? The course urged me not to prioritize sleep but to protect it—to respect it, protect it, and arrange the rest of my life to accommodate it instead of the other way around.

Sleep is a simple sacrifice when there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to accomplish what needs to be done. Sometimes I still have to force myself to put aside any task that seems like it can’t wait to put sleep first. And as if by magic, a good night’s sleep giving me time back the next day in the form of increased energy and efficiency.

The sleeping space is sacred – including the bed.

I know that a quiet bedroom environment is important for good sleep. Get some sleep. cool, dark, quiet and comfortable The CDC says this is ideal. TVs in the bedroom are not popular, and screen time You should turn it off at least 30 minutes before going to bed, especially when there is blue light.

However, Headspace emphasizes that the bed itself should not be used for any purpose other than sleeping. That means no eating, working, or surfing the web in bed. That way, your brain associates bed with sleep—not meals, email, or social media.

We’ve all been through it, but your bed also shouldn’t be the place where you toss and turn in mental anguish, thinking about yesterday’s mistakes and tomorrow’s to-do list. If trying to sleep makes your thoughts race and you’re still awake after about 20 minutes, Finding Your Best Sleep recommends getting out of bed and doing a relaxing activity in another room until you feel sleepy.

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A good night’s sleep begins in the morning

Taking time each night to prepare for the next morning has become second nature to me; laying out my workout clothes and packing my lunch makes my day less hectic. But before Headspace, I never thought about how to prepare for a good night’s sleep throughout the day.

Because of you wake up time keep your circadian rhythm or body clockunder control, merely wake up at a certain time every morning—yes, even weekends—making it easier for you to fall asleep at your preferred hour. Exposure to sunlight in the morning also helps.

I’m not someone who usually drinks coffee in the afternoon, but intentionally limiting my lattes before noon helps me wind down earlier in the evening. I also eat dinner earlier so I have more time for digestion before going to bed. I’ve been more diligent about making my bed in the morning, which has turned making my bed at night into a ritual. I’ve even started laying out my pajamas in the morning and look forward to finding other ways to help me sleep more easily during the day.

Let’s settle with a story

Thank you for always reading to me; you have kept the safety blanket of storytime close to your heart. But when I read on my Kindle or iPad in bed, even in dark or warm light mode, I am still staring at the screen with distractions just a tap away. Reading a physical book means my nightlight stays on, and when I listen to audiobooks in the dark, I find myself straining to stay awake and listen.

This is where Headspace’s sleepcasts come to the rescue. I still love reading at night, but once I’m in bed, it’s time for a sleep story, one that’s soothing enough to help me forget things but light enough that I don’t mind falling asleep halfway through. My favorite part is that each sleepcast starts with a relaxing meditation to calm my body before drawing my mind into the story.

Work hard, sleep well

I’m not saying you have to tire yourself out to deserve a good night’s sleep—although I never sleep better the night after a workout. Instead, Headspace has taught me to work hard at getting a good night’s sleep. Sleep is both a vital bodily function and a fragile goal to achieve.

It didn’t take long for my sleep habits to fall off track, and I’d be lying if I said I’ve been seamlessly and consistently integrating the tips I’ve learned into my sleep hygiene routine over the past few months. Still, the nights I manage to get by are followed by brighter days. Which reminds me, it’s time to pick out my pajamas tonight.

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