Nature’s Lullaby: How Birdsong Can Help You Fall Asleep

In this episode of The Science of Happiness, Drew Ackerman, also known as Scooter from Sleep With Me Podcast, shares his personal struggle to fall asleep. He has always had trouble calming his mind, especially as a child when worries would keep him awake at night. For the show, he tried a science-backed practice to help ease stress: listening to the twitter of birds. Drew found that the recordings of birdsong reminded him of peaceful summer afternoons, transporting him to a different time and place. Research shows that different sounds can have varying effects on us, with birdsong often lowering our body’s stress responses. For Drew, this relaxation helped him become sleepier.

Joining Drew in today’s discussion are Emil Stobbe, a post-doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany, Jesper Alvarsson, a professor of Psychology at Södertörn University in Sweden, and Eleanor Ratcliffe, a professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey in the UK.

For more episodes like this one on ways to improve sleep quality and appreciate the outdoors, listeners can check out “The Science of a Good Night’s Sleep” and “Why You Should Snap Pictures of Nature.” Other related Happiness Breaks by The Science of Happiness include “Restore Through Silence” with Tricia Hersey and “Feeling the Awe of Nature from Anywhere” with Dacher Keltner.

Listeners are encouraged to share what sounds relax them by sending recordings to happinesspod@berkeley.edu or using the hashtag #happinesspod. Additionally, leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and sharing the show with others can help spread the word about The Science of Happiness. A transcription of this episode will be available soon.