Amidst the chaos of daily life, it can be challenging to find moments of peace and tranquility, let alone a good night’s sleep. However, with the emergence of sleep sounds and relaxing auditory experiences, many people have been able to achieve calm states of mind, improved mental health, and better sleep quality. You’ve probably heard of white noise, but its sister sound, brown noise, offers an even deeper effect for relaxation. If you’re curious about brown noise and its benefits, read on. In this article, we’ll explore the qualities of brown noise and similar sounds, as well as how to use them for relaxation and sleep.
Brown noise is characterized by a blend of sound frequencies, with a heavy emphasis on the lower tones on the sound spectrum. These lower frequencies lend to a rumbling quality in brown noise. Brown noise has an intensely calming effect and is favored by people who want to block out disruptive external noises in order to wind down, relax, focus, or sleep. Brown noise is the deepest sound on the spectrum of frequencies including white, green, and pink noise. Examples of brown noise are thunderstorms, ocean waves, underwater sounds, and heavy waterfalls.
Brown Noise Benefits
What does brown noise do?
Promotes a Calm State of Mind
One of the benefits of brown noise is that it promotes a sense of peace and tranquility, inducing relaxation, and reducing stress and anxiety. The deep, rumbling sound frequencies present in brown noise offer almost instant relief of anxiety for some people as the sound can mimic the sensation of being in the womb or immersed in a peaceful natural environment. Brown noise is also helpful for blocking out stressful sounds in one’s environment, such as traffic, chatter, or construction, lending to the calming effect of this sound frequency.
Improves Quality of Sleep
Sleep deficiency is leading to a wide range of health problems for large populations of people around the world. This study looks at the various health implications of sleep deficiency and gives science-based recommendations for how much sleep you should be getting.
Brown noise is especially effective as a sleep sound, with its deep tones offering one of the most relaxing bedtime experiences for those looking to fall asleep and sleep through the night. The immersive, constant, rumbling qualities of brown noise are helpful in drowning out racing thoughts and external disruptors to create a calm environment that is perfect for sleep.
Brown Noise vs White Noise
While white noise expresses equal intensity from all frequencies on the sound spectrum, brown noise emphasizes the deepest tones. Its low, rumbling frequencies provide an intensely calming effect because its deep tones are played at higher decibels than its high tones and avoid the harsher quality sometimes experienced with white noise. This difference can help you decide whether you should choose white noise vs brown noise.
Brown Noise vs Green Noise
What about the difference between green noise vs brown noise? Brown noise expresses the deep tones even more strongly than green or pink noise. Because of its deep and rumbling quality, some people find that brown noise offers the most grounding ambient sound experience. Others find that green noise offers a pleasant balance in the middle of the sound spectrum.
Brown Noise vs Pink Noise
How is brown noise different from pink noise? Pink noise is quite similar to brown noise in that it accentuates the lower tones more than white noise or green noise, but with slightly less emphasis on the low tones compared to brown noise. When choosing between pink noise vs brown noise, try each separately and close your eyes to feel the difference.
Brown Noise vs White Noise vs Pink Noise vs Green Noise
To choose which ambient sound is most helpful for your individual needs, try listening to each while you engage in different activities. For example, if you’re trying to fall asleep, try listening to white noise, then green noise, then pink noise, then brown noise. You can find all of these sleep sounds on the Rest app. Notice the varying depths of tones, and see which one relaxes you the most.
How to Use Brown Noise
You can explore various brown noise tracks on the Rest app. Try listening to brown noise when you’re getting ready for bed, going to sleep, studying, working, or meditating. Brown noise can be a wonderful background sound experience for all of these activities. Rest offers curated custom playlists including brown noise and other sleep sounds to help you relax, focus, or fall asleep.
To get you started, try this Calming Brown Noise for Deep Sleep.
