HOW TO
Wake up happy
Go to bed stressed and a disrupted night and miserable morning are likely to be on the cards. Soothe your mind before you slumber, however, and you’ll wake up feeling more relaxed, refreshed and ultimately happier. Especially if you upgrade your alarm in the process.
With these apps both you and your overworked snooze button will get a much-needed rest.
Clear your mind and body
Your journey to waking up happy starts as soon as work ends. It’s all too easy to plonk yourself in front of the TV as a distraction from the thoughts of the day, but take a few minutes for a yoga session and you’ll reduce your stress levels, energise your body and clear your mind.
Offering classes for all tastes and abilities, Yoga Studio features easy-to-follow video tutorials to guide you through each move and series.
With the app letting you schedule your sessions at suitable times, you’ll progress from the beginner’s essentials to specialist hip hop yoga classes in no time.
Listen to a soothing sleep story
It’s all too easy to let your thoughts wander as you get into bed. Freeing your mind from looming bills and impending deadlines, sleep stories give you a bit of thought-free escapism, distracting you from your worries while calming your mind.
And what better way to soothe yourself to sleep than with the dulcet tones of Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, who has narrated stories for meditative app Calm. With new stories added weekly, the relaxing narratives help you block out the pressures of daily life. And with McConaughey’s Texan twang you’re guaranteed to wake up feeling alright, alright, alright.
Add a bit of background noise
Disjointed sleep is sure to lead to waking up irritable. And while you can’t stop those sleep-disrupting sirens, squeals and rumbles that jar you awake, with Sleepiest you can block them out with something more relaxing.
As well as being filled with relaxing background noises – from forest rain to a lakeside campfire – Sleepiest lets you make your own soothing sounds. Using the Composer tool, you can mix these calming collections together to make your own bespoke track – who’s in for a bit of rain on window with a side of purring cat?
Employ a smart alarm
Getting out of bed isn’t the hardest part of the morning; that honour is reserved for the jarring shock of your timed alarm. Your alarm doesn’t need to act like a form of blunt force trauma to your consciousness, however. Sleepzy’s smart alarm can rouse you to the land of the living in a far more soothing manner.
By monitoring your sleep patterns throughout the night, Sleepzy wakes you at the optimum point in your sleep cycle. Even if it’s before your scheduled alarm.
Now, while waking up early might sound counterintuitive to those striving for a happy morning, the difference between a pleasing stirring from light sleep and being roughly shaken from a deep slumber is enough to have a huge effect on your overall outlook.