SLeopards agree that going to bed at the same time every night and creating a wind-down ritual are the two most important components to getting a good night’s rest. Wave Sleep – a new app from Mason Levey and Brad Warsh, the duo who previously helped steer the ship to the Y7 yoga studio, ticks both boxes. Just as one would earlier plan a place in the yoga class to ensure they attend class (sigh, the memories!), The app aims to usher in a new era of dedication to bedtime with using a discussion platform to meditate your way to REM.
The app (free until March 11, then $ 10 per month) offers 45-minute sessions, both live and on-demand and featuring visualization-style meditations (think: walking along the beaches of Bali or floating along a lazy river in Colorado) to put your mind and body to sleep. One of the 18 guides from across the country joins the group digitally just before your experience begins, and the platform offers classes every 30 minutes to cater in every sleep schedule and time zone.
“We mix relaxation techniques with storytelling on sleep-inducing music,” says Warsh. ‘So we’ll start you with a breathing exercise; we move on to what we call a bed scan or a body scan, where you start to relax and melt into bed; and then we move on from this world to the story world where we take you on a visualization. ‘
In short, Wave is very much like you favorite pre-COVID spin class … only it will lull you to sleep rather than pumping you up.
Wave’s music director Matthew Wong even creates a symphonic playlist of delta waves, instruments and synths to provide the right atmosphere to cultivate rest. And while going to bed alone, Levey and Warsh emphasize that there is a community aspect to these sleep primers that so many of us are currently lacking. In short, Wave is very much like you favorite pre-COVID spin class … only it will lull you to sleep rather than pumping you up.
‘There’s a waiting room that opens 15 minutes before class, and when you sign up for the session, you get a message that says,’ Hey, the waiting room is open. ‘It’s a time meant to relax you. There is music, and then the sleep guide enters the waiting room five minutes before the session, and there is a bit of mockery before the session, ”says Warsh. Wave even places a quick question or question at the bottom of the waiting room to stimulate pillows (of the platonic variety).
If someone who does not exactly have a seamless relationship with mr. Sandman did not, I was eager to try a session on demand for Wave Sleep for myself. After completing my nocturnal hygiene routine and putting my phone in “do not disturb” mode, I slipped under the covers for the “Falling asleep in a bookstore” session, led by Audrey. I immediately noticed that she was speaking in a soothing, whisper-soft voice. This particular session took me to a bookstore (in my head I imagined Three Lives & Company in New York City) decorated for the holidays. Audrey then guided me through the different sections of books, from children to fiction to geography. I’m transported.
I wish I could say that I know how the bookstore story ends and that it’s delicious … but this bibliophile fell asleep while still looking through the children’s section. If you were one of those kids who always had ‘another book!’ With bedtime, Wave Sleep can make you take the joy of adulthood with the power to plan your bedtime with guided meditations. Although I may not be discussing yoga classes for a while, I will definitely plan my bedtime.
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