Until recently, being rocked to sleep was a privilege that only infants and those who own hammocks could enjoy. Not anymore. Ensven, a sleep-tech company, has created a way for any adult with a bed to enjoy the soothing sensation of swaying their way to dreamland.
The "system" consists of separate gliders that go under each leg of your bed frame. When turned on, the gliders slide from side to side, bringing your bed with it.
Ensven can even sense your movement, and will turn itself on if it picks up on you tossing and turning during the night, Lisa Viani, co-founder of the company, explained in an interview to Furniture World.
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It may sound a little out there, but science has revealed that being rocked to sleep is just as beneficial for adults as it is for babies. In two studies published in the journal Current Biology, researchers found that people who took a nap in a bed that swayed fell asleep faster and slept better than those who snoozed in a regular bed. People who were rocked to sleep also seemed to boost memory consolidation, the process by which memories are "cemented" into the brain.
The motion was found to affect people's brain waves. “What was surprising…is that we clearly showed that specific brain oscillations of non-REM sleep are synchronized and entrained by the rhythm of the bed motion,” Laurence Bayer, PhD, of the University of Geneva in Switzerland, who led one of the studies, explained to Scientific American.
The researchers also believe that rocking stimulates the "vestibular system," which plays a role in the body's sense of balance and spatial awareness, in a way that promote sleep. Viani, seems to agree, saying Ensven, "stimulates the vestibular system in the inner ear, promoting recuperative deep sleep.”
You can't purchase the life-changing piece of sleep technology just yet, but you can add yourself to the waitlist — and my sleep-deprived self might just sign up. Until then, I'm stuck trying to figure out how to squeeze a hammock into my bedroom.