Santa isn't real, but insomnia is. I’ve learned this the hard way. Now I believe that sleep is a gift and should be on your Christmas list. Here's why.
Waiting for Santa. An easy job for an insomniac, right? If there is one thing insomniacs can do, it’s this: stay up all night.
I recall being a naive young kid with a mind full of fantasies, a Christmas list full of toys, and waiting for Santa to come on Christmas Eve. But Santa never showed up. My uncle Tom did, with a fake beard. Santa? Not even a trace of him. I wonder who ate all those cookies. Old Uncle Tom probably did.
Like most children, it took me some time to realize that Santa wasn’t real. And, like most insomniacs, it also took me some time to realize I was one. However, as the years go by, I’ve come to realize that sleep is a gift. Now that I think about it, sleep changes you. It really does. It changed me. Since I started to sleep better, a lot of things have gotten better.
“Like most children, it took me some time to realize that Santa wasn’t real. And, like most insomniacs, it also took me some time to realize I was one.”
First, I feel like a better person. Now that I have more energy, I also feel like I have more potential. Second, I look better. My lack of sleep was affecting my skin and my hair. I woke up with dark circles under my eyes and my hair was super thin. Beauty sleep is a real thing, my guys. Third, my brain works better (which means I work better). I used to forget a lot of things and was always tired (both mentally and physically). Sleep is very important for your brain’s function. Finally, my relationships are better than they have ever been. My lack of sleep was making me grumpy and emotional, and that was affecting the way I related to others. I’m much better now that I sleep. Sorry for repeating the word "better" 9 times in this paragraph. It will get better, I promise. And that’s 10.
Back in the day, I used to ignore insomnia. My agenda was jam-packed with work, side-projects, hobbies, family time, dog time, and me time! But not enough bedtime. I would go to bed, super tired, but sleep wouldn’t come. The more I did, the less I slept. How was it possible? When I reached the bed, my mind was still racing. Those sleepless nights were terrible, hours and hours of tossing and turning, or just staring at the void. I ignored my insomnia because I felt like I was strong enough to get through the day with only a few hours of sleep. Now that I think about it, that's such an "idiot-stoic" mindset. The price? Mine was a burnout.
But that was quite a while ago. Nowadays, I see that sleep is a priceless gift. One that I’m happy to share with my loved ones. Which brings me to
HoomBand, and why the best gift this holiday is a good night’s sleep.
I started looking for sleep aids after realizing that most of my physical and emotional problems were related to a persistent lack of sleep. Sleeping pills were not an option. I wanted something natural and with no side effects. I tried to improve my bedtime routine: less screen time, reading books, herbal teas, meditation... But there was a problem: my mind. I just couldn’t stop it. When I closed my eyes, my thoughts wandered back to events from ten years ago. Just focusing on my breathing was a challenge. I felt hopeless.
But then a friend told me about this audio headband designed to help you sleep. He told me it was like the Netflix of sleep, with all these immersive travel stories, guided meditations, and transcendental ambience sounds. Besides my friend, a lot of people on the internet were talking about it. I decided to give it a go. In any case, I'm used to binge-watching. Why not attempt it in a way that makes me sleep, rather than the other way around?
I finally found the perfect item to help me fall asleep after years of sleeping with my earphones. The app is really smooth and the selection of sounds and stories is perfect ! I really recommend it !
I’m the type of person who needs some sort of white noise in order to sleep—not to be mistaken by the disruptive sounds from my neighborhood. I need something calming and continuous/consistent. So when I heard about HoomBand I was intrigued to learn more.
At first I was worried about how comfortable the band would be on my head. But to my surprise, it fits quite well and is almost as if I’m not wearing it at all sometimes.
Both my friend and the internet were right. The HoomBand gave me back all those lost hours of sleep that binge-watching took away.
Who? Why? How? Hoomband was invented by a group of ex-insomniacs at Livlab in Paris, in collaboration with a team of sleep specialists, hypnotherapists, and mindfulness practitioners. You won't just be listening to birds chirping or boring guided meditations; the sound is actually rather good. All of the stories and ambiances were developed by a team of sound designers, scenographers, and sound engineers with the voice of great storytellers, so everything sounds fantastic. When I “visited” Halong Bay, I was blown away by the degree of auditory detail. They also have noise-canceling sounds, such as rain or air conditioner white noises. Since my downstairs neighbors had a baby, I've been using this a lot. At least for me, there will be no more crying. Bliss.
With the headband, I gained access to the exclusive HoomBand app with over 100 hours of audio content. And the best part? There’s no subscription. When I bought the band I also bought lifetime access to unlimited content for free. Although, if you already subscribe to different audio apps, you can still use the band to listen to those. That’s what I call fair play.
But back to the band itself: it’s really comfortable and stretchy. And since the phones are ultra-flat, this is perfect for side-sleepers like me. It was love at first night. I usually take almost an hour to fall asleep, but the first time I used it, I picked my travel story, turned on my side, and I don’t remember falling asleep. It was so nice, like if someone was telling me a bedtime story. I just had to put it on and drift off to Dreamland, or in this case, Halong Bay. Isn’t that something you wish to give to someone you care about?
Back to where we started. Insomnia is the real thing this Christmas, not Santa. And if you, or someone you really care about, suffers from it, it’s time to get real and get a Hoomband.
For yourself or a loved one, and you can try it risk-free for 100 nights. Dreamland, here we go.
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Comfortable, great sound, and soothing
I really loved this. I’ve spelt with headphones on for my entire life because I need to listening to music or audiobooks to sleep. But obviously, headphones aren’t the most comfortable option for sleep. This headband fits really well around my head (I got the medium/large size), and the headphones align well with my ears. They have great quality sound and my partner sleeping right next to me can’t hear it, even if I have the volume high, so it’s perfect for us. I’m able to sleep 100000x more comfortably now.
Also, the app is wonderful, with some great stories to fall asleep to, just the right amount of boring and engaging to fall asleep too. As I said, I sleep to audiobooks all the time, so I have a strangely high bar for sleep stories. Overall, a really excellent product!