Can Alexa play rain sounds all night?

Some people have no problem sleeping by the time they hit the sack; it’s as if they just flip a switch in their heads and they fall asleep in an instant. Then there are those who are such light sleepers that a pencil falling on the floor in the next room is enough to jog them awake. For the latter, ambient noise machines provide the needed environment to promote deep and relaxing sleep. If you have trouble sleeping as well, you actually do not need to buy a separate noise machine, that is if you already have an Alexa-enabled device in your home.

If you have an Amazon Echo, an Echo Dot, or any other Alexa-enabled smart speaker in your home, you already have a good ambient noise machine. There is a “skill” that Alexa can learn that will enable her to play dozens of different ambient sounds from babbling brooks, white noise, and even the sounds of a busy city street.

However, why is it that ambient noises, like the ones previously mentioned, can actually help many people fall asleep and stay asleep for hours? Is it true that ambient rain sounds can promote relaxing sleep?

Ambient Noises and Better Sleep

Newborn babies are easily awakened with just the slightest noise, however, why is it that when there is an ambient sounds machine beside their cribs they can sleep much better? The truth is that newborns are actually used to loud environments; the inside of the womb is actually pretty noisy, thanks to all the noises made by the internal organs of the mother and the noises that come from outside the womb.

So, having white noise blasting in their rooms do not really bother babies, they’re used to the noise anyway. In addition, having ambient noises playing in the background masks the startling sounds that wake them up. The fact is, it is not just the volume of the noise that wakes them up, it is the suddenness of the sound that surprises and wakes up sleeping babies.  And if ambient sounds are good enough for babies, then they would work for you too.

Why Are Nature Sounds So Relaxing?

Researchers from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School discovered that nature sounds had a positive effect on the brain, mainly it lowers people’s fight-or-flight response, and activates the rest-and-digest autonomous response instead.

The participants of the experiment each listened to two different sounds, nature sounds and ambient sounds from manmade environments like cities, offices, etc. They are all being scanned by an fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner that let the researchers take a peek at their brain activity.

While they listened to the different ambient sounds, they were also assigned tasks that allowed the researchers to measure the subjects’ attention and reaction time. It turned out that nature sounds caused the participants’ brains to register activity connected to outward-directed focus. Whereas, the sounds from manmade environments caused brain activities that are commonly connected with inward-directed focus.

Inward-directed focus has a tendency to manifest as worrying about yourself. This is a trait that is related to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Although not all inward focus is bad, you can actually use it to get to know yourself better, it is when it goes to excess that it becomes troublesome.

How to Make Alexa Play Rain Sounds All Night

You can activate a skill in Alexa called Ambient Noise, which is free to use for the basic features, if you want advanced features, like combining two sounds then you have to purchase the premium edition.

Once activated, just say “Alexa, open Ambient Noise” and then Alexa will reply with a list of available sounds. Just choose the type of rain sounds that you are most familiar and comfortable with. Your choices are generic rain, rain on a tent, rain on a tin roof, and rain on a window. If you are a fan of the outdoors, then rain on a tent might be more soothing to your ears, but if you are a city dweller, then rain on a window might be more to your liking.

 

If you have found the right rain sounds that make you feel more relaxed, you can play it immediately by saying, “Alexa, please ask Ambient Noise to play rain on a window”; this command will bypass the list and just go straight to playing the sound. By default, Alexa will play the sound all night, but if you want to stop the music after some time just say, “Alexa, please stop Ambient Noise after 3 hours”, or “Alexa, please stop Ambient Noise by 3:30 AM”.