Light and sound therapy are supposed to make it easier to fall asleep, and have a more restful sleep. The blue light of television and computers are supposed to make sleep more restless, but a more curated light and sound can have a much better effect on sleep. iHome has released the Zenergy Dream Mini as a bedside sleep therapy machine and alarm clock.
The iHome Zenergy Dream Mini has independent light and sound settings. There are 14 light settings that include aurora, glow, color, pulse, energy, breath, dawn, and more. According to iHome, light therapy works by “Circadian Rhythms, our internal clocks, are linked to changing wavelengths of light throughout the day. Color Light Therapy simulates these wavelengths, triggering subtle biological responses that can help improve sleep, energy, and mood.” These light effects can be set for a long or short duration to help relax and fall asleep before turning off.
The sound settings fall into three categories, sleep, relax, and nature. Sleep is mainly common sounds to fall asleep to, relax is very calming sounds, and nature are streams and other nature sounds to fall asleep to. Sound therapy works by “Distracting noises or a racing mind can make it hard to sleep at night or focus during the day. Sound Therapy uses specially recorded and engineered sounds to cancel out these distractions and allow your mind to calm.”
One of the modes for both light and sound is 4-7-8. This is a guided meditation for those people who like to have that option. I did try it and it was good, but found that I personally preferred a more general sound that required less focus when falling asleep.
After listening to the different sounds and viewing the different lights, I found ones I thought worked for me. It took a few nights to adjust to falling asleep to the iHome Zenergy Dream Mini, but after about a week, I found I was able to relax easier when going to bed and falling asleep faster than I had been. The Dream Mini also has a setting to allow a sound to play when the sleep timer finishes, allowing for white noise or a soft sound to play all night until the alarm goes off.
The iHome Zenergy Dream Mini has two alarm settings. As someone who has a little trouble waking in the morning, I like to use two alarms, and on the Dream Mini I set the first alarm to a calming light and sound and the second alarm to a bright light and buzzing sound, to help get me up refreshed and ready for work.
For music, the iHome Zenergy Dream Mini can connect to any phone or bluetooth enabled device to play music or apps through it. While it sounds good, I found that I liked waking up to the fm radio on my previous alarm clock, so it was the only feature missing for my personal taste.
The hardware for the iHome Zenergy Dream Mini is very sleek and stylish. The Dream Mini has a sliver finish on the plastic and white covering for the light and speaker on the front. The orange display on the front is easily readable and shows all the active timers and alarms, so there is no guessing what is or isn’t turned on. The buttons on top are sturdy are require a little pressure to stop any accidental pressing.
I found the iHome Zenergy Dream Mini definitely lived up to expectations for me. While I cannot speak for the science, the soothing lights and sounds helped me fall asleep easier and the alarms helped for a relaxing, gradual wakeup in the morning. I highly recommend the Dream Mini for anyone looking for a solid alarm clock, especially if they want a light and sound therapy machine.
