All my life I’ve had trouble sleeping. By now most nights are better, but there are nights I’m up to see the sunrise, and not because I slept like a baby all night. The problem is that my mind races the second I turn out the light, and I can’t stop it. At some point I learned to concentrate on breathing, using a relaxing breath that ends just about every Yoga class.
That’s the concept behind NightWave. Thought at first you have to wonder, how is a light going to help me get to sleep? NightWave is a device that projects a blue light on the ceiling or wall of your bedroom. Set for sleep mode, it runs for seven or 25 minutes. A blue light brightens and dims at a regular pace that suggests a rate for you to breathe. In addition to the light being suspect, you keep your eyes open to watch the light for this time interval.
Last night I turned it on the normal sleep mode, which runs for seven minutes. I kept my breathing in time with the light, though I found that a little faster than I might time my breaths. I also tend to close my eyes to breathe, and kept wanting to do so. For the first night I found my mind a bit distracted by the device. I think it will be easier to focus tonight. I also plan to try the 25-minute mode, which has slower light intervals for longer breathing.
Once my seven minutes were done it took me a few minutes to fall asleep. Rather than turning the NightWave back on I just kept concentrating on my breath. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep.
The NightWave aims to solve many problems that keep people awake at night:
- Overstimulation from an active mind
- Environmental and lifestyle stress
- Pain or pharmaceutical-induced sleeplessness
- Jet lag and unfamiliar sleep surroundings
In addition to the two sleep modes, there’s three other modes. You can use the NightWave as a bedroom flashlight that will stay on for three minutes, about the time it takes to get up, go to the bathroom, and get back into bed. There is a “mood softener” mode that simulates a heartbeat for seven minutes. NightWave suggests you can use this mode during the day to calm down. If you look into the light and watch the beats that are timed to simulate a heartbeat, it will have a calming effect. There is also a mood light, which runs for 30 minutes. The mood light is a steady light, but possibly dimmer than the flashlight mode.
NightWave runs on a 9-volt battery and is about the size of an Altoids tin and weighs just over 3 ounces. This device is easy to slip in your suitcase for use in hotels.
I still want a few nights to get used to NightWave before a final verdict, but I think there’s some help for me and a restful night of sleep yet.