Alexa Sleep Sounds: How to Rest with the Best of Them

Maybe you’ve put in a full day at work and need to recharge before going once more into the workplace breach the next day, Alexa Sleep Sounds are here to help you out.

Maybe you share a place with others or live near a freeway or subway stop, and all that external noise by others keeps you up at night.

Maybe your mind starts racing the moment your head hits the pillow and simply won’t stop (and who among us hasn’t had to deal with that before?)

There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to get a good night’s sleep, but whatever the answer may be, there’s no question who to ask for help: “Alexa, play…”

Well, play what? Amazon’s Alexa comes programmed with a whole host of ambient sounds and music that can help you block out external noise, put your mind at ease, and send you drifting off to Dreamland.

Even if you aren’t looking to sleep, these sounds can provide a soothing backdrop to your daily meditation, help “put you in the zone” while working, or simply help you relax.

So let’s take a look at how to make Alexa play relaxing sounds and music as well as some of the most soothing options.

Activating Alexa Sleep Sounds

Making Alexa play relaxing sounds or music is quite easy. All you have to do is say “Alexa, play…” followed by the type of music or sounds you want.

However, without more specific instruction, this will typically trigger only a single song or a few minutes’ worth of ambient noise.

You’ll thus usually want to get Alexa to play a playlist instead. To do this, say “Alexa, play…” and then a general category or specific playlist of sounds or music.

For example, you can say “Alexa, open Sleep Sounds” to trigger a playlist that, true to its name, contains 125 different sounds to sleep by.

To choose a specific sound, open the playlist and then say, “Play Rain,” “Play Thunderstorm,” “Play Wind Chimes,” “Play Native American Flute,” etc.

Alexa Sleep Sounds is by far one of the best, most comprehensive sleep and relaxation options offered by Amazon, and has been ranked as one of its best skills.

Other options perfect for relaxing ambient background music and noise include “Relaxing Sounds: Music of Peace,” “Relaxing Music: Sleep Music,” “Relaxing Meditation Sounds,” and “Classical for Sleep.”

You’ll also want to make sure to set a timer so Alexa knows how long you want the music or sounds in question to play or how long it should cycle through the playlist — for example, “Alexa, set a sleep timer for four hours.”

Sounds, Songs, and Playlists for Sleep and Relaxation

Among the Alexa Sleep Sounds options offered are:

1. Rain Sounds

Few sounds are more relaxing than the soft rhythm of raindrops sluicing through treetops and bushes or pitter-pattering on the pavement.

Part of the beauty of Alexa sleep, relaxation, and meditation playlists is the sheer wealth of choice offered to you. Think one rain sound or playlist is the same as the other? Think again.

With Alexa, you can choose from a whole host of settings that can affect the nature, volume, and force of the rain.

Maybe you’d like to hear some soft rain filtering through treetops. Maybe you’re more enamored with the jazzy noir vibe of rain and cars rumbling through city streets.

You can even choose the kind of structure you want the rain to hit, with everything from the rain on tents in the woods to rain on a tin roof available.

From “The Rain in Spain” to soft pattering on the plain and everything in between, rain playlists give you the soothing force of a full thunderstorm without you getting wet.

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2. Jungle Sounds

As long as things don’t go wild and crazy a la Kramer’s jungle tape on Seinfeld, this can be an incredibly relaxing option.

The sound of steady rain, the rustle of foliage, the cawing of birds of paradise — the best jungle sounds sleep and relaxation playlists offer all that and more.

Of course, to avoid the kind of loud sounds that startle everyone on that Seinfeld episode, you’ll want to be careful about how much animal noise you want and how loud it should be.

Thankfully, the best jungle and rainforest playlists allow you to choose different tracks and alter the volume with ease.

If you’ve had enough of the sounds of stress that accompany city life, simply close your eyes, ask Alexa for a jungle or rainforest playlist, and let yourself be transported to Madagascar, the Amazon, or any number of tropical paradises with their natural abundance of beautiful sounds.

3. Ocean and Flowing Water Sounds

Whether tu aimes “La Mer” or find solace somewhere “Beyond the Sea,” ocean sounds are a natural choice for restful sounds.

With Alexa Sleep Sounds, you are able to choose from a wide variety of different options here as well.

Maybe you want to fall asleep to or meditate to the majesty of roaring waves crashing onto the shoreline, or maybe you would prefer smaller, softer waves and beach sounds instead.

Maybe instead of the beach, you’d rather substitute the power of a waterfall or a smooth babbling brook.

4. Wind and Wind Chime Sounds

Still can’t sleep after all those playlists? Well, perhaps the answer, dear friends, is “Blowin’ in the Wind,” or Alexa’s approximation thereof, anyway.

As with other nature sounds, with Alexa Sleep sounds, you can choose from a wide variety of different types of wind and wind chimes.

Do you like the sound of wind chimes tinkling outside your window or door? Do you find a heavy whistling wind more soothing than a lilting little breeze?

Do you prefer the sound of wind slipping through evergreen forests or rainforests? If you don’t believe that there’s a difference, you will after you hear the different variants offered by this Alexa Sleep Sounds playlist.

The wind chimes in particular are quite gentle, with their tinkling tones creating the perfect backdrop to meditation and sleep.

5. Fireplace Sounds

Nothing warms the heart and soul come wintertime like a roaring hot fire — incredible sounds of crackling embers and wood and all.

If you’re a fan of TV’s classic Yule Log, you can replicate that with Alexa as well and pair the sound of the fireplace with ambient visuals.

6. Household Sounds

Maybe the sounds of raindrops aren’t quite as soothing to you as a nice, hot shower.

Of course, you don’t want to leave your shower running just to fall asleep, which is why you might want to let Alexa replicate the sound for you.

There are a whole host of household sounds that she can bring to your bedside as well.

Like the sound of a fan but don’t want to run one all night, particularly in winter when it’s already cold?

Alexa can simulate the sound of one for an extended period of time. Love the sound of sizzling pans and kitchen utensils at work?

Alexa can whip up a recipe for some kitchen-style ASMR for you as well.

7. Airplane and Space Sounds

If you’re the kind of person who routinely nods off on long plane flights, you can replicate that with Alexa Sleep Sounds.

The long droning sound of airplane engines can sound a lot like white noise, and can thus be a “sleeper” hit among sleep sounds.

Then again, maybe you dream of flying beyond “The Wild Blue Yonder” into “Space, the Final Frontier…”

The chances of you actually going into space are obviously slim to none, but if you’re a fan of Star Trek and adore the droning sound of the engines, the Alexa Sleep Sound equivalent could help you warp off to sleep.

8. White Noise

This is by far the simplest option on this list, but perhaps that’s just what you need to sleep.

If you don’t want to deal with any special sounds but simply want to block everything out, white noise may be your best bet.

Alexa Sleep Sounds offers brown noise, white noise, pink noise, and several variations thereon.

9. Relaxing Piano

From the dulcet tones of Chopin’s nocturnes to Mozart’s soothing sonatas to the lilting Impressionistic tunes of Debussy, you choose from countless piano classics that are perfect for everything from relaxation to study to sleep.

One of the best subsets of Alexa Sleep Sounds is its Relaxing Piano playlist. This subset offers different long loops of piano music at different tempos and styles.

10. Clock Sounds

Big Ben may still be under maintenance, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t have Alexa toll the time for you in a variety of different ways.

Whether you prefer the deep tones of a grandfather clock or some quick tick-tick-ticking, there’s always time to fall asleep to the rhythm of your favorite clock sounds.

Whatever sounds or songs soothe your nerves and get you ready for sleep, you’re a simple request to Alexa away from the restful night’s sleep or meditation you deserve.

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