Our Story
DREAMSLEEP began with a problem. My problem. My sleep difficulties had started affecting my cognitive abilities at work. I had for many years just gotten along somehow despite my chronic sleep deficit. Perhaps due to age or maybe because the debt finally had to be paid back, but for whatever reason I was no longer able to maintain at my usual pace. I also noticed that my mood was becoming consistently depressed, not just Monday through Friday, then coming back to life on the weekends when I could catch up a little of the lost sleep. No, I was staying down and beginning to believe that there was no hope for me. I had tried drugs, hypnosis, lifestyle changes, exercise, meditation, sleep doctors, TV or reading before bedtime, and so on. Many of these did work for a time, but the underlying problem was that I was too active too many hours of the day to be able to just switch off my buzzing mind at bedtime.
Then I tried a new bedtime relaxation technique: the good old bedtime story. And night after night, it actually worked! When I would wake up at 2 a.m. my bedtime stories would put me back to sleep. The only problem, I noticed, was hearing the same story too many times. It had to stay somewhat fresh. The other requirement for my ability to relax was the quality of the audio -- if it was poorly recorded my critical mind just couldn't relax and let go. Of course the story content was important. Some podcasts I tried were far too exciting, too stress-inducing, to help me relax. Others were too heady -- too much to think about just kept my mind engaged. No, the perfect bedtime story has to be a bedtime story. It has to be created with bedtime in mind.
And these stories still help me sleep. They really have changed my life. I hope they do the same for you.