The Story of How I Learned to Sleep Again with Journey Sleep App: Personal Review

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I decided to write a review of the app that has changed my life significantly. I hope this article will help you if you are facing the same problem as I was.

Backstory

Have you ever had trouble sleeping? I first encountered that problem six months ago. Firstly, I should clarify that I realized it only after a month when the negative effects on my body became obvious: I lost my appetite, I could not concentrate, and my overall efficiency dropped to a minimum. After analyzing my daily routine, and in particular sleep, I realized that was spending more time preparing and trying to fall asleep than actually sleeping.

So, the problem was found and I began to look for solutions.

What did I do to learn how to sleep again?

Those who have faced this problem have probably realized that there is no universal cure here. Some are helped by the right physical conditions, such as the ratio of humidity to air temperature, or a climate that is too hot in the summer. However, since I haven’t moved anywhere in the last 5 years and the climate in my area hasn’t changed much, I have realized that the problem is mental in nature.

It’s known, that sleep disturbances can be acute (transient), short-term (up to 6 months), and chronic (more than half a year). Acute sleep disorders may occur in any person under the influence of stress, overstimulation, or due to a change of time zone. Chronic insomnia develops in people who are predisposed to it. Usually, elderly patients, especially females, people who for one reason or another do not sleep more than 5 hours a day, as well as those who suffer from the long-term absence of work, marital divorce, psychological and psychiatric trauma, and patients with chronic diseases are prone to this condition.

My job does overlap with a lot of stress, but it was a condition I could not change in that period of my life. So during my research, I found the following tools that would help me:

Seeking guidance from a sleep specialist;
Selecting an individual sleep rhythm (length and time to fall asleep);
Choosing the right audio environment (for some people, complete isolation from outside sounds can help);
Meditation

I should mention that these are the tools that helped me personally, but the effect of each of them was rather short-term and lasted for a maximum of 2 weeks. Moreover, my overall condition did not improve. But one day, as I was scrolling through the Apple Store looking for a new meditation app, I came across Journey: Sleep Insomnia Helper which included all the features I needed.

Is Journey really unique?

The first thing I noticed was that the developers were guided by cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

Unlike pharmacological treatment, therapy for insomnia does not cause any unwanted side effects and does not disrupt the central nervous system. With a competent approach, the result of CBT is the restoration of the normal natural sleep mechanism. The effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy is not as fast as pills but is stable. This was critical for me because all the remedies previously had solved my problem only for a short period of time. In the end, I realized that I was ready to give it a try.

Another thing I liked about the app was the free access to the premium version of the app. This access includes a real-time one-on-one consultation with an expert.

Last but not least, this app has a large library of sounds for meditation and sleep. And this is exactly what I was originally looking for.

In any case, I decided to try the 30-day course from the app and see what the results will be in a month, because CBT-I is not intended to achieve the desired goal in the short term, but can let you forget about insomnia forever.

How Journey helped me within 30 days

When I signed up, I took a starter survey that asked me to describe exactly what kind of sleep problems I was experiencing. It wasn’t hard and then I got access to an online consultation with an expert.

During the initial counseling session, the sleep expert of Journey: Sleep Insomnia Helper asked me a lot of questions about what environment I was falling asleep in, what remedies I was already using, and what I thought was keeping me from falling asleep. The sleep coach also carefully studied all of my answers and based on these, a unique course was put together for me personally. I won’t dive into the details of my sleep schedule, but here are 2 key points that were recommended to me.

Try to relax and calm down before going to bed

Avoid bright lights and activities that have a stimulating effect, such as strenuous exercise or difficult work-related problems. Try to stick to the same calming and relaxing activities before going to bed. You can take a hot shower or bath before bedtime, write notes in your journal, read, do light stretching exercises, or do yoga.

Try to master relaxation techniques

Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, and acupressure (pressure on specific areas of the body to relax) can help manage anxiety and improve sleep. And that’s where a library of sleep music has helped me. It’s really varied and everyone can create the right unique atmosphere. Since I am a musician myself, my ears are sensitive to sound. It is really a critical point for me.

I would also like to mention a few applied tips that have helped me specifically:

Going to bed and waking up at the same time (even on weekends). If you don’t feel sleepy, it’s better to wait for it and go to bed only when it appears;
Get up and go to another room to read or listen to quiet music, if you can’t fall asleep for 20 minutes;
As much as possible, deal with problems and worries before going to bed;
Create a soothing environment in the bedroom shortly before bedtime (dim the lights, turn off light sources);
Use the bed for its intended purpose: sleep and sex – no work, food, or movies in bed.

Conclusion: what are the results and what I was able to learn with the help of Journey

I can’t say that my sleep problems have magically disappeared. But I would definitely say that with the help of the Journey app I could get back to my regular rhythm of life and become as effective as before. It is necessary to mention that developing modern psychotherapeutic methods of treatment with an evidence base really helped me.

Various relaxation techniques (which you can find in the app), and body-oriented therapy methods are important. Non-pharmacological strategies provide long-term improvement in sleep and are recommended as first-line therapy and long-term treatment strategy. They are also effective in the prevention of sleep disorders. Remember, however, that if your condition worsens, you should contact your doctor who is treating you.

Good luck and good night!

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