White noise - In a study published in Sleep Medicine, researchers at Brown University Medical School reported that patients in a hospital intensive care unit woke up less frequently with white noise playing because it decreased the difference between background noise and "peak" noises that would often rouse them from sleep.

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Ocean waves - It’s probably the one that comes to mind first, and for many people the rhythmic and repeated crashing of water onto sand and rock can be deeply relaxing.

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Ocean waves - By combining a mental state of relaxation with a gentle focus through repetition, the waves tune out peak noises and relax you with their predictability.

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Ocean waves - It’s both innate knowledge and society’s perception of waves that make them so fundamentally relaxing, as the slow whooshing noises are non-threatening reminders of vacations or being far away from responsibilities.

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Other water sounds - It’s not just ocean waves that can soothe you to sleep. Maybe it’s the light patter of a rain shower, or the steady flow of a running stream that helps wash the day away.

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Other water sounds - The key to water's aural power is the relatively gentle, gradual variations in the intensity of its sound.

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Other water sounds - Just make sure you go to the bathroom before turning it on!

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Binaural beats - Binaural beats are an emerging form of sound-wave therapy in which the right and left ears listen to two slightly different frequency tones yet perceive the tone as one.

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Binaural beats - There are a range of binaural beats available for many specific goals, though all are designed to reduce stress and anxiety. The only downfall is that you have to sleep with headphones on, but that could also help if you're trying to sleep in louder environments.

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Nature sounds - Sound machines and apps for sleep are brimming with nature sounds, from birds chirping to wind rustling through leaves, and it's for good reason!

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Nature sounds - New research shows that when listening to natural sounds, the brain connectivity reflects an outward-directed focus of attention, whereas artificial sounds reflect an inward-directed focus of attention, the latter of which is similar to what happens in anxiety, stress, and depression.

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Nature sounds - Listening to nature sounds also encourages activity in your rest-and-digest nervous system, which is responsible for relaxing the body.

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Nature sounds - If you live in a dense urban center where you can’t open your window and let the crickets do the work, playing sounds of animals and forests could also be a good way to reconnect yourself with nature.

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Classical music with 60-80 BPM - Music is capable of lowering blood pressure and heart rate, soothing anxiety, and quieting a racing mind—all changes that can benefit sleep—but that only works for sleep if you choose songs that don't excite your imagination or memory.

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Classical music with 60-80 BPM - Research at Hungary’s Semmelweis University found that listening to classical music at bedtime helped improve sleep quality, particularly in young adults. They actually encourage nurses to use this safe, cheap, and easy method to treat insomnia.

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Classical music with 60-80 BPM - Try Claude Debussy, as he is a master of calm, melodic compositions, or Erik Satie's 'Gymnopédie No.1,' which is an hour-long composition that is relaxing and cyclical enough to distract you without piquing too much attention.

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Pink noise - Unlike white noise, which gives equal intensity to all frequencies of sound, pink noise creates a balance of high- and low-frequency sounds that mimic many sounds in nature.

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Pink noise - Some studies have shown that people exposed to pink noise during sleep spend more time in deep, slow-wave sleep, particularly since the pink noise reportedly slows your brain waves down and helps you regulate them.

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Pink noise - As an added plus, a new study by scientists at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine found that exposure to pink noise at night led to better memory recall the next day.

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Soothing voices - Remember falling asleep as a kid to the sound of adult voices floating in from another room? Or the comfort of being read to while you drifted off? Though you usually want to stay away from music with lyrics, calm voices can be just the ticket.

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Soothing voices - For some people, the sounds of human voices remain a soothing sleep aid all their lives, and it isn’t the content of what’s being said, but rather the tone and cadence of the voices that is important.

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Try a guided meditation for sleep - Guides usually have the most soothing, hypnotic voices, and they'll swiftly move your attention from the arguments you should’ve won that day to the amazing feeling of your body pressed into the mattress.

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'Sleep With Me' podcast - Alternatively, this podcast is similar to someone telling you a very long and boring story that puts you to sleep, except it’s actually designed to descend into absolute nonsense so that your mind is tricked into thinking you’re sleepier than you are.

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Sounds that are specifically relaxing to you - Our response to sound is highly individual as it’s connected to our memory and emotional state, so what’s relaxing to one person can be annoying for another.

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Sounds that are specifically relaxing to you - Perhaps it’s the sound of someone cooking, or it’s Bob Ross painting happy little clouds—pay attention to what makes you feel calm.

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If you still can’t sleep... - Worse comes to worst, bring your pet into bed with you, it may help you to snooze better.

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What about the position you're in? - Find out what your sleep position says about you.

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