The babbling of brooks, the pitter-patter of falling raindrops, the crashing of ocean waves – the calming effects of water sounds on the mind are undeniable. Given their powerful sleep-inducing effects, many people rely on these sounds to help them fall asleep and stay asleep.
What is it about the sound of flowing water that makes you sleepy? This guide explores the answer to this question and more.
Why Do People Find Water Sounds for Sleep Drowsing?
To answer this question, you must first understand how the brain interprets different sounds. The brain constantly works to process noises in the environment when you’re awake and sleeping. It analyzes different sounds to determine whether you’re in imminent danger.
The brain cannot ignore screams, loud alarm clocks, and other startling sounds it interprets as threats. On the other hand, it tunes out the sound of trees rustling in the wind or ocean waves lapping gently on the shore since it doesn’t perceive these sounds as dangerous.
The brain doesn’t interpret the slow, whooshing, or babbling sound of flowing water as threatening, which is why it works so well to help calm people.
It is almost as though it’s telling your brain to “calm down” and “relax.” That “everything’s going to be alright.” Water sounds put you at ease, letting you quiet your mind long enough to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.
In general, it is much harder to sleep through loud noises. Those with an alarming tone, in particular, trigger the brain’s threat-activated vigilance system responsible for jolting you from sleep in the wake of a perceived threat. The brain processes the character of the noise and how loud it is to determine whether you should wake up.
Water sounds, particularly when loud, can also provide an acoustic camouflage to drown out sounds that may otherwise trigger the brain’s threat-induced vigilance response.
It masks noises that may be keeping you up at night and that you have no control over, such as loud music from a noisy neighbor, honking horns from traffic in a busy street nearby, or the sound of a flushing toilet in the middle of the night from a different part of the house.
Recommended: Autumn River – Relaxing Water Sounds for Sleep
Benefits of Water Sounds for Sleep
Here are some reasons why listening to water sounds might just be the thing keeping you from catching those all-elusive Zs.
Stress and Anxiety Reduction
Stress and anxiety are two of the most common causes of insomnia. Falling asleep and staying asleep can be difficult when your mind is racing. Listening to water sounds at bedtime can generate a sense of mental tranquility, allowing you to clear your head and calm your mind long enough to fall asleep.
The soothing sound of flowing water can act as white noise to drown out your thoughts and wash over you to melt away any lingering stress and worries to put you into an ultimate state of total relaxation.
Soothing Effect
Certain sounds trigger the brain’s threat-activated vigilance system, which responds by jolting you awake so you can deal with whatever perceived threat you may or may not be facing.
Depending on how loud and frequent those sounds are, you may have difficulty getting some much-needed rest since there’s always something waking you up at different points throughout the night.
On the flip side, water sounds for sleep don’t activate the brain’s vigilance system. Instead, the brain processes these sounds differently while you’re sleeping. They are soothing in nature, allowing you to sleep deeply and wake up refreshed and energized.
Hypnotic Effect
Humans are hard-wired to associate the sound of flowing water with relaxation. Whether it’s the sound of raindrops pitter-pattering against the window pane, babbling water in a brook, or waves ebbing and flowing ashore – the rhythmic nature of these sounds puts you into a sort of light hypnosis, which transports you to your “happy place.”
It pushes your body to enter into a state of deep relaxation, allowing you to fall asleep and stay asleep. Deep relaxation is the key to unlocking deep restorative sleep.
Acoustic Camouflage
Listening to water sounds at bedtime and while you sleep is remarkably effective in masking unwanted noise from your external environment.
If you live in a particularly noisy side of town or have loud neighbors or roommates, water sounds can drown out those noises and help you relax so you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep for longer.
Find the Best Water Sounds for Sleep
It’s worth noting that listening to water sounds alone won’t do much to improve the quality of sleep you’re getting if you don’t practice proper sleep hygiene.
Ensure you cut down on screen time, go to bed at the same time every day, keep your room cool and dark, and incorporate relaxing activities like yoga and meditation into your daily routine as part of your relaxation ritual. Only then will you reap the full benefits of water sounds for sleep.
Bring the relaxing sound of flowing water into your bedroom tonight and get the deep, restorative sleep you crave. Download Spotify and check out our list for inspiration.
