How Alexa can help you sleep better: 10 tips

how Alexa can help you sleep

Unless you’re one of the lucky ones who can fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, you’ll want to find a way that will help you drift off to sleep. Thankfully technology can help. It’s worth discovering how Alexa can help you sleep well and wake up feeling rested.

 

No one wants to struggle to sleep, yet we all experience the odd restless night where it feels impossible to fall asleep or simply remaining asleep. There is plenty of research into improving your sleep quality and lessening the effects of a restless night.

 

A solution that many use when striving to wind down and fall asleep is to play white noise. These familiar sounds, such as crashing waves and steady traffic noise, can provide a safe and healthy sleep remedy.

 

If you’re already own an Amazon Echo device, then Alexa can help you by playing and looping white noise while you sleep. But that’s not all Alexa can help you with at bedtime. Let’s discover how Alexa can help you sleep better and wake up refreshed, ready for the day.

 

 

#1 Night Light

night light alexa skill

 

It’s fine to admit that you don’t like sleeping in the dark, regardless of your age. Thankfully, Alexa offers a fantastic skill that’s ideal if you want to add some light to your night. Simply download the Night Light skill and say: “Alexa, open Night Light”.

 

By activating this skill, you can turn your Amazon Echo smart speaker into a light, with a dull, pulsing glow on the top. Luckily, it’s bright enough to aid you, should you need to get up but dull enough to not disturb your sleep.

 

What makes this skill ideal is that you can leave it on for as long as you like, perfect if you want a light on the whole night or just a few hours.

 

 

#2 Sleep Buddy

Sleep Buddy alexa skill

 

Another way that Alexa can help you sleep is by using the Sleep Buddy skill. Once downloaded, say: “Alexa, ask Sleep Buddy when I should go to bed to wake up at 06:00 am”.

 

By using this appealing skill, you can take control of your sleep pattern. It will also help you with simple recommendations as to how to get into a healthier routine. Use this skill to optimise your day as it’ll help you pinpoint the best sleep and wake up times.

 

The skill uses REM sleep properties to calculate recommended timings. Overall, it’s a useful tool for those that want more control over their sleep routines.

 

 

#3 Short Bedtime Story

Short Bedtime Story alexa skill

 

If you have little ones, then you must download Short Bedtime Story skill. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Simply say: “Alexa, launch Bedtime Story” and it’ll begin!

 

You and your children will hear a superb, personalized short story to relax them before you go to bed. The real appeal of this skill is that you can customize each story to you or your kids. Excellent!

 

What more could you want? A story, with your son, daughter as the hero in their very own adventure. We can’t think of a better way to prepare us for a night of solid, deep sleep.

 

 

#4 Ambient Sounds

Rain Sounds skill

 

One of the better Alexa skills is the ambient sound function as you can use it to play an array of fantastic sounds such as fog, rain, fireplace, and clock. A particular favourite of ours is the Sleep Sounds: Rain Sounds skills. Simply say: “Alexa, open Rain Sounds”.

 

Activating these sounds is very easy as you simply can say: “Alexa, open this sounds”. Of course, replace ‘this’ with the sound of your choice. By default, the sound will run on an hour-long loop. By the time it ends, you’ll be fast asleep!

 

That said, if you would rather have a continuous sound all night, you can ask Alexa to loop it. You can choose to stop it at any point or set a sleep timer to turn the sounds off.

 

The best part of this Alexa skill is nothing will interrupt the white noise sound. You will simply be able to listen to the sound of your choice undisturbed.

 

 

#5 Sleep and Relaxation Sounds

Sleep Relaxation Sounds

 

By asking: “Alexa, open Sleep Sounds”, you’ll soon be relaxing with this highly-rated Alexa Skill. Called Sleep and Relaxation Sounds, this white noise generator will ensure you have peace and tranquillity within minutes.

 

Offering over 50 free sounds you can select from sounds including rain, babbling brook, fountains, underwater, ocean sounds, and wind chimes. You will find yourself spoiled for choice. No matter your mood, you’ll be able to select the ideal relaxing sound.

 

After choosing the perfect sound, you can set automatic timers that will turn off after a set time. You could simply leave it to play, on loop until you manually turn it off yourself, perfect for falling asleep.

 

With excellent sound quality and a plethora of gentle sounds, you can look forward to having an improved night’s sleep.

 

But that’s not all! Your kids can enjoy this Alexa skill too. It also offers an impressive set of ‘sleep stores’, which takes the 50 free built-in sounds and turns them into a great child-friendly short story. You and or your kids are guaranteed to be peacefully sleeping in no time.

 

 

#6 White Noise

Sleep Jar

 

If you’re in desperate need of a peaceful night’s sleep, then you’ll want to install Sleep Jar® – Sleep Sounds & White Noise. Say “Alexa, open Sleep Jar” to start it. Alexa will then ask you what sound loop you would like to hear.

 

Choose from an extensive list of sounds that includes thunderstorms, fireplace, rainforest, train and windy leaves. You can listen to all available sounds by asking: “Alexa, ask Sleep Jar for a list”, or read a list in the Alexa smartphone app.

 

By default, this Alexa skill will play your selected sound until you say “Alexa, stop”. However, you can set a custom sleep timer by saying “Alexa, stop in 3 hours” or any other time duration. And if by magic, after this period, the sound will stop.

 

If you’re feeling a little adventurous, say “random” to let Sleep Jar pick a sound for you!

 

In addition to the free version, you can buy a premium membership that offers enhanced looping with no sound gaps for up to 10 hours (instead of 1 hour). You can also mix two sounds together and enjoy one of over 5,000 unique combinations!

 

 

#7 Zen Sounds

Zen Sounds

 

Relax with the Zen Sounds collection. Once downloaded, say: “Alexa open Zen Sounds”. Made up of over 12 special sounds, you can select from Himalaya, Healing, Thunder and more. Every sound is an expertly engineered 1-hour audio stream in high quality.

 

Similarly to other Alexa skills we’ve mentioned, it’ll automatically play your chosen sound for an hour unless you request it to play on an endless loop that you can stop at any point.

 

As a fantastic alternative to traditional white noise, this app is unique yet still enables you to relax within minutes. Perfect for a good night’s sleep, study, meditation or relaxation.

 

 

#8 Sleep Tales

sleep tales

 

Enjoy all ages bedtime stories with Sleep Tales. Using a unique combination of sleep-inducing bedtime stories with soothing background sounds to help you drift off to sleep and stay asleep. Once installed, say: “Alexa, open Sleep Tales”.

 

From there, you can either ask it to “Play Random” or for a specific title. The basic free skill offers six stories, while the premium version offers an ever-expanding range of titles. All are designed to help you drift off, regardless of your age!

 

It’s worth listening to the stories before sitting down as a family as this way you can ensure it’s appropriate for your children and won’t scare them. Use Sleep Tales to find the ideal relaxing story.

 

 

#9 Guided Meditation

Guided Meditation skill

 

Another useful Alexa skill that can aid you with meditation, relaxation and rested sleep is Guided Meditation. After installing it, say: “Alexa, open Guided Meditation”.

 

Complete simple meditation practices from the comfort of your bedroom while being guided by the expertise of your Amazon Echo smart speaker. Using quick 6-7 minute bursts, you can select from a list of sessions designed to aid and promote a healthier lifestyle.

 

These sessions focus on areas including anxiety, focus, compassion, depression and, for this piece, sleep! While excellent for general relaxation, these new techniques will help you fall into a deep slumber.

 

If a particular session isn’t ticking your boxes, don’t worry, as you can ask Alexa to skip and explore a new session instead. For Alexa Smart Screen devices, either tap or say the name of the next meditations available on the screen.

 

 

#10 BBC News

bbc news alexa skill

 

News doesn’t stop when we head to bed. So use the BBC News skill to stay up to date with what’s happening around the world. Ask: “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?’ and you’ll hear a list of the most recent headlines.

 

Of course, there are plenty of other news services available within the Alexa skill department that will help keep you informed.

 

 

That’s how Alexa can help you sleep well

Having Amazon’s Alexa in your life can improve it immeasurably. As you now know how Alexa can help you sleep better, you can try some of the ideas and see if drift off quicker or notice an improvement in your sleep quality. And hopefully, this article hasn’t put you to sleep!

 

Alexa can also help you wake up as you can programme alarms. If you’re interested, have a read of How to use Alexa as your alarm clock.