Relaxnews
As we head to the end of the year, the strains of work and modern life could be taking a toll on your sleep schedule. With the importance of a good night’s sleep at the forefront of health this year, here are some of the ways in which the latest technology releases can help, not hinder, your shut-eye, and help you set some set some restful resolutions for next year.
FITNESS AND SLEEP TRACKERS
Although virtually every fitness tracker now also monitors sleep, Fitbit’s added in an extra feature for its new Charge 2 fitness tracker, released back in August. By including guided breathing sessions based on your heart rate, the Charge 2 helps to manage stress and promote relaxation, in addition to an auto sleep tracking feature to monitor and improve rest.
SLEEP ACCESSORIES
Although some already favor a sleep mask to help promote a more restful night’s sleep, tech company Neuroon decided to take things a step further this year by releasing the world’s first smart sleep mask. Designed for those with sleep problems, frequent flyers and shift workers, together with its mobile app Neuroon tracks sleep patterns so you can understand and improve your sleep schedule, and uses light therapy to help promote more restful sleep and make waking up easier.
CHANGE YOUR PILLOW
Investing in a new pillow is always a good idea for better sleep, as it will help support your neck and spine, reduces movements during sleep, and is more hygenic. However thanks to its sleep technology the Dreampad pillow will also help to reduce night-time wakings, according to a recent study by Columbia University. The small preliminary research showed that the pillow could trigger the body’s relaxation response by playing music using vibrations that travel through the body.
CHANGE NETFLIX TO NAPFLIX
And finally, Spain came up with a more novel way to help us all get more shut-eye this year, launching video platform Napflix. Whereas screen service Netflix chooses the most popular TV shows to keep you up binge-watching, Napflix offers around 60 videos from YouTube, all designed to put people to sleep and chosen for their “monotony and repetition.â€