“When the mind is at ease the body can rest.”
Headspace
Hey there!
My name is Fernando! I’m in my second year studying journalism at Humber College. You may know me from the pages of IGNITE, where I bring words into articles. If you’ve been hitting the gym, I work there too. And if you’re into the Humber Hawks varsity teams, chances are you’ve seen me there with my laptop – I am the journalist covering the action!
I know this might sound wild, but I’m juggling three jobs and school at the same time. As you can imagine, that comes with weekends filled with homework and sleepless nights, especially now that the semester is wrapping up.
Looking to find a solution to get some quality sleep, I decided to give Headspace a shot.
Headspace is a guided meditation app that focuses on improving sleeping conditions and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and in partnership with Humber IT, IGNITE offers free subscriptions to all students.
I tested it out for a week, and here’s how it went:
Night one – Meditation
My first night trying out Headspace was on a Monday. Mondays are usually long days for me with work during the day and soccer practice with the Humber Hawks Extramural team in the evening.
I got home around 10 p.m. and, after doing some schoolwork, it was time for me to go to bed. Soccer practices are intense and leave me exhausted, so I thought using the meditation feature on Headspace would be the best fit for that night.
I took two meditation sessions on Headspace, both lasting around 10 minutes. The speakers in the sessions slowly talked about switching off and relaxing my brain and muscles, which was exactly what I needed. I quickly fell asleep and my mind got the rest it needed.
Night two and three – Sleep sounds and music
On my second night, I decided to give sleep sounds another shot. A few years ago, I tried using white noise, but it didn’t really work for me.
I chose the orange noise, which is their signature sleep sound, and the outcome was incredibly sleepy. My initial plan was to listen for a couple of minutes and then turn it off before falling asleep. But, before I knew it, my alarm was going off the next morning to wake me up.
For night three, I went with the sleep music feature. I was pretty curious to try it out because I didn’t know sleep songs were a thing.
That night, I was super stressed about the two major assignments that I had to work on the next day, so I picked the Slow Racing Thoughts music.
The sound of rain and nature combined with a peaceful piano quickly helped me to chill out, and falling asleep was effortless.
Night four and five – Soundscape and Sleep Radio
It was time for a trip on night four. I was born and raised in Brazil, where I grew up right by the ocean. So hearing the waves and the wind in the palm trees was always a big part of my daily life.
I went on the Soundscape feature on Headspace and chose the Ocean Pier option. The sound of waves gently hitting the pier helped me relax and took me on a nostalgic trip back home that calmly made me get some Z’s.
I couldn’t get enough of the feeling of being home, so I decided to tune in to the Headspace Sleep Radio the next night.
The Ocean Time Sleep Radio plays eight hours of peaceful ocean sounds to improve your sleeping. With birds softly chirping in the background and waves gently reaching the shore, I drifted off to sleep feeling I was back home once again.
Night six and seven – Sleepcasts and Nighttime SOS
Did you know that sleep storytelling is a resting method? I know, neither did I!
On night six, I tried out the Sleepcasts feature on Headspace, where storytelling is told in a range of different voices. I picked Blue Hammam, which is supposed to relax and make all your worries disappear.
Your experience could be different – but it didn’t really work for me. Potentially because I was too focused on what the narrator was saying, and that kept me from relaxing enough to fall asleep.
On Sunday night, day seven, I really needed to get some solid sleep to kick off the week, but my brain was buzzing with thoughts about upcoming final exams. So, I chose the Nighttime SOS feature.
I went for the Mental Chatter option, and it helped me calm down my busy mind. It created this cozy mental space that made it way easier for me to fall asleep.
My final thoughts
I think Headspace is the go-to place if you’re having a tough time falling asleep and want to find some different approaches to catch some Z’s.
Overall, after a bit of trial and error, my sleeping week became a breeze. I strongly suggest you give it a shot!
Just register with your humbermail.ca or guelphumber.ca email on the Headspace app! Current and new student subscriptions are free and will expire April 30, 2024.
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