I’ve never been a good sleeper. Sometimes I suffer from insomnia and stay up all night. I also sleep with her spouse, but her spouse has her own sleep schedule and don’t tell her, but she snores sometimes. Additionally, our toddler and her older brother very often come to bed at night kicking, coughing, and asking for water.
Wanting to develop better sleep habits despite outside forces I can’t control, like my little kicking feet, I turned to Briethe, a wellness app co-developed with one of North America’s top meditation teachers, Lynne Goldberg. I turned to It not only teaches meditation but also claims to help improve sleep quality. I was particularly looking forward to trying the app’s meditation, sleep music, and sleep stories, but I was also eager to try sleep hypnosis, which I had never seen in an app before or tried before. I did.
I’ve tried other meditation apps in the past and failed, but I found sleep music soothing, especially on restless nights. I had only heard one story about sleep so I thought it was time to branch out. I’ve been using Breethe for about a month and found some of the app’s programs to be very useful. Read below for more information.
How I started exploring apps
I liked the look and product of Breethe, but the price tag quickly turned me off.
Free trial and pricing
A 14-day free trial is offered, but the monthly fee is $13, which seemed high to me. The annual membership also seemed expensive to him at $90, so he didn’t want to spend $156 for a lifetime subscription.
Although I was hesitant about the monthly fee, I appreciated the ability to easily cancel my subscription, take a break, and pick up where I left off if I decided to return to the app. I also found out that if you cancel your subscription, $1 will give him one month of access.
As soon as I opened the Breethe app, I was greeted with soothing music and cool blue tones, and asked to choose a reason for using the app.
The Breethe app has meditation options, but I focused on improving my sleep habits. The interface is user-friendly and suggests goals and programs that are easy to navigate. For example, when I clicked on “Sleep Stories,” several photos appeared with different names and story lengths. Clicking on a particular story provided a little background about the story and narrator. These services range from a few minutes to over an hour.
I was happy to find a program focused on sleep health on their website. Examples include “relaxing after work,” “enhancing my night time,” and “falling to sleep.” “Fall Asleep” featured sleep meditations, sleep stories recommended by Breethe, and soothing music and sounds of nature. I wanted quick access to Breethe’s sleep tools, so these categories were helpful.
sleep stories
I’ve heard sleep stories that have helped me before, so I thought I’d try a few out on Breethe and compare. Sleep stories on the app range in length from 30 to 90 minutes. I thought that there are many different storytellers in a story.
First, I chose the story “A Walk in Central Park.” Because I was familiar with the place and wanted to see where the story would take me. The narrator spoke clearly and slowly, much more slowly than I am used to in my fast-paced life. I got distracted and moved on to something else after a few minutes.
travel story
However, I also enjoyed other travel stories featuring places like Petra, Ireland, and Japan, to name a few.
I also tried Whisper Stories, but it didn’t work for me.Narrator read the next section little women, But I was distracted by her whispering and couldn’t concentrate. When I chose to leave the program early, I was asked why. I chose the first option, “I didn’t like the voice.” This didn’t happen every time I exited the program, and there didn’t seem to be any changes in the offerings presented to me. I believe it’s just to improve the app.
hypnotherapy
I became interested in hypnotherapy because I was skeptical about it from the beginning. I often have problems concentrating on meditation or other exercises that require me to calm my mind and body, and I thought I would have similar problems with hypnotherapy.
Very Well Mind / Teladoc
The first time I tried the app’s hypnotherapy session, I was out late at night and wasn’t sure if I would be able to settle down to sleep quickly. However, during the hypnotherapy session, he immediately nodded off and it seemed to be a success. I tried it again on an average night and again fell asleep during the session. The session I tried was led by a strong, deep-voiced narrator who warned me not to listen while driving the vehicle. The narrator also suggested that users listen using headphones, but I wasn’t able to do that. Because headphones are uncomfortable for sleeping.
The hypnotherapy session is at least 30 minutes long, so you may have fallen asleep naturally.
But I did enjoy being able to focus on something specific as I fell asleep, rather than letting my brain do its thing.
One night when I was suffering from insomnia, I tried a hypnotherapy session specifically for insomnia with a female narrator. I was guided to imagine myself on the beach and then trying to climb the stairs. The hypnosis affected my sleep because I fell asleep during this hypnosis and the next thing I knew I was dreaming within a dream. I think the fact that I slept even a little had a positive effect.
guided tapping
I also tried guided tapping via the app, a technique that combines acupressure and psychology to treat things like anxiety and stress. This involves tapping the endpoints of the body’s meridians, such as the collarbone, and several different points on the face while saying specific statements, such as repeating a mantra or affirmation related to what is causing stress. It is called. I thought it would work if I used it for a long time, but I’ve only tried it once. If you go back to it, I think you’ll see the benefit of it and how it focuses directly on a specific idea.
Very Well Mind / Teladoc
meditation and music
Breethe’s sleep meditations range from 2 minutes (for example, “Getting Ready for Sleep”) to 1 hour (“Deep Sleep Meditations”) to guide users toward better sleep habits. Meditation was difficult for me, so I stuck to short meditations like “getting ready for sleep.” This 2 minute meditation of hers instructed me to calm my breathing and relax my body.
Thanks to a simple exercise, I was able to calm myself while preparing for sleep.
Very Well Mind / Teladoc
This app also has “music and sounds” to help you fall asleep. Options include “Gentle Harp,” “Mysterious Flute,” “Rain Sounds,” and “White Noise,” to name a few. Each of these offers lasts a few hours. I don’t like white noise, but I did enjoy the sounds of whistles and rain. I left it on until I fell asleep, and the sound was very soothing.
Advantages and disadvantages
I started using Breethe thinking that since I share a bed with my spouse, I was unlikely to use the app every night. But this feels like a gentle, natural backup plan for those nights when you’re up too late, too tired, or just find it hard to unwind. Here are the pros and cons of this app:
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Choose from a wide range of programs and options
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Meditation options available for beginners
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Different narrators for meditation and sleep stories
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Program times range from short to long
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Visually soothing with spa-like acoustics
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Goal orientation with personal profile
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At $13/month, the app is expensive
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Too many options can overwhelm users
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It may take some trial and error to find what works best for you
final thoughts
I downloaded the Breethe app in hopes of finding sleep stories for those nights when I need a little help falling asleep. After doing some research, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there are bedtime options I hadn’t considered before, such as hypnotherapy and meditation.
As someone whose skin gets tingly every time I try a guided meditation, I was happy to learn that there’s a short two-minute option to help me get into the right mindset before bed. A short meditation took the pressure off and helped me relax.
I also had fun trying out a lot of sleep stories. I have a new understanding of why we read to young children before bed.
Focusing on the simple act of listening is calming and grounding.
I also appreciated the profile feature where I could save my goals and previously listened to shows. This feature allows you, for example, to easily return to a meditation that you found helpful.
We recommend the Breethe app, which combines elements from various apps into one.
Some apps focus solely on mediation, others add a few stories about sleep, but Breethe allows users to find the program that works best for them and choose from a variety of programs. Masu.