Why Rocking Helps You Sleep Faster and Better
It also improves your memory and mood.
Rocking babies to sleep is older than history. And it turns out this practice is a matchless sedative for adults as well. But it wasn’t until recently that this millennia-old practice got an explanation.
Rocking makes perfect sense when you look at our history.
There are many theories on why rocking puts us to sleep. The most plausible explanation is the “travelling mother hypothesis”.
For thousands of years, hunter-gatherers carried their babies while moving around. A baby that slept when moved gave her parents the chance to gather tools and sneak on prey. As a result, she boosted the survival rate of the family.
In contrast, babies that stayed awake or cried when moved doomed the entire family. By natural selection, rocking-loving babies survived, grow old, then passed on their genes. Rocking-averse babies, however, perished.
Fast-forward thousands of years, and our brains perfectly connect rocking with sleeping. Even as adults, rocking still affects us (same as adult cats going limp when you pinch their neck).
Rocking to sleep has significant health benefits.
In a study, researchers recorded the brain activities of 18 adults while they slept. Some nights, they slept in slowly rocking beds; other nights, their beds were stationary.
After two weeks, scientists looked at the results. When rocked, participants fell asleep faster and slept deeper. They even stayed asleep most of the night, waking up fewer times than usual.
But that was not the end of it. In the second round of experiments, researchers asked participants to memorise words sequence. Once they did, they had to sleep on either a rocking bed or a stationary one, then try to recall the sequence once awake. Lo and behold, those who slept on rocking beds recalled three times more words than the rest!
Yes, rocking improves both sleep and memory. According to neuroscientists, some brain waves synchronise to the rhythmic motion of beds. As a result, rocking stimulates brain regions linked to sleep, memory, learning, and even mood.
No wonder rocking hammocks make us feel relaxed and happy.
Still, scientists warn that rocking should be gentle and smooth. For instance, the rocking beds used in the experiments swayed gently in a lateral motion, tracing a square every four seconds. Saccadic or fast rocking will do more harm than good to your sleep.
Rocking is as good for adults as it is for babies. It helps us fall asleep faster, sleep better and longer, and boost our memory and mood.
The long term effects of rocking (over months and years) remain unclear. As such, we need more studies. Still, these findings can already help us create drug-free treatments for sleep disorders and stress. Who knows, maybe rocking adult beds might soon be trendy.
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