A simple sound bath playlist to fall asleep to

I get asked roughly twice a week if I can share the playlist from the Friday evening sound bath. The short answer has always been: kind of. The version I play in the studio is built around live bowls, so a playlist version is never going to be identical. But here's a recorded version that's about 85% of the way there, and it's the one I personally fall asleep to most nights.

Some notes on how to use it

This isn't background music. If you put it on while you're folding laundry, you'll just end up with cleaner laundry, not better sleep. The way I'd use it:

• Phone face down, do-not-disturb on.
• Lights off or very dim.
• Lying on your back, blanket up to your collarbones.
• Earbuds if your partner is already asleep, speaker if you can.
• Volume low enough that the quietest parts almost disappear.

The whole thing runs about 58 minutes. Most people fall asleep somewhere in track 4 or 5. That's the whole point.

The playlist

1. Anouar Brahem — Vague — The oud and piano set the tone. Slow, unhurried, no real melody to grab onto.
2. Nils Frahm — Says — Builds very gradually. The pulse is what carries you in.
3. Hania Rani — Glass — Piano with a lot of room around it. This is where your shoulders should start to drop.
4. Brian Eno — An Ending (Ascent) — The classic. There's a reason it's in everything.
5. Max Richter — On the Nature of Daylight — Strings. Some people cry the first time. That's fine.
6. Ólafur Arnalds — Near Light — Quieter than you remember. Stays out of your way.
7. Harold Budd — The Sailing Ship — Almost not there. By now you probably aren't either.
8. Stars of the Lid — Requiem for Dying Mothers, Part 1 — Holds the silence the rest of the way down.

If you'd rather come in person

I teach the sound bath on Friday evenings at 7:30 pm. It's $24 as a drop-in, included in the unlimited membership. Bring a blanket, an eye pillow if you have one, and the willingness to be horizontal for an hour.