Introduce mindfulness and sail them off to sleep more easily with Moshi.

Image by press 👍 and ⭐ from Pixabay

Picture this. It’s 8 pm. Your offspring are careening off corners and crashing into one another. There’s a screeching noise you can’t quite identify that you think might be coming from one of their mouths but it sounds inhuman so you’re really not sure.

Your heart rate is increasing as you bark orders to “brush your teeth” and “settle down.” It’s all in vain. They can’t hear you over their ruckus and even if they could, we both know they wouldn’t listen.

On top of that, you know with grim certainty that simply getting them into their beds is not nearly enough. Some kids fall asleep in an instant. But others flop around like fish in a valiant effort to keep sleep at bay. I have one of each.

Why is it that the second you tell sleep-challenged kids that it’s time to get ready for bed, they start churning things up instead of calming them down? It’s like they know they are tired but they want to fight it with all their might. FOMO is real AF in the school-aged set.

What’s a parent to do when they want to wind down those rowdy bairns and send them off to bed without the stress and chaos that often accompanies bedtime? I considered stockpiling tranq darts but in the asbence of a steady, legal supplier I moved on to a more ethical and mutually-beneficial soution.

A storytelling app called Moshi was just the fix we needed and it became a major gamechanger for our family. It also served as an excellent introduction to mindfulness for my sons so basically, it was a big win all around.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Here’s how it works.

Moshi is an app that has a catalog of sleep-inducing stories to stream from your phone or tablet. The characters are adorable little Moshlings that go on adventures together to far and wide places, always ending up tired and ready to snuggle down to sleep.

The stories are voiced by a team of talents, most of which are unknown. However, as Moshi grew in popularity some very noteable actors signed on to do the voice work, including Goldie Hawn, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Brain Blessed.

CEO of Mind Candy, the company behind the app, said of Goldie’s participation in the storytelling, “We’re thrilled that Goldie Hawn has joined us by voicing our latest Sleep Story. Our Moshi Twilight tales — including Goldie’s journey of discovery — subtly allude to qualities we’d all hope to possess, from kindness and gratitude to self-belief and optimism, while helping kids relax and fall asleep. Goldie’s commitment to mindfulness and helping combat the growing issues of bedtime anxiety and sleeplessness is second to none. ‘Goldie the Mindful Moshling’ provides little listeners with a comforting way to drift off to sleep while reminding them of the positive power of mindfulness in their waking lives.”

Moshi stories can be integrated easily into established bedtime routines. We always seem to be running behind schedule to get to bed so we usually opt to listen to a story instead of, not in addition to, a read aloud book. Other families may choose to perform their regular routine and then let the Moshi story play with “lights out” while the little one drifts off to sleep.

Stories have an average length of 30 minutes, which is plenty of time to obtain the desired effect. I cannot tell you how many times I have drifted off myself, lulled to sleep by the ultra-relaxing music and soothing voices. Just talking about Moshi makes me sleepy! It’s that effective.

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

Music and Meditation Tracks, Too

Bedtime stories are the app’s bread and butter, but they offer more to those interested in mindful parenting. Kids can listen to music or meditation tracks, too. The meditations are perfectly bite-sized for kids and can be chosen for such purposes as: Easing Anxiety, Calming Down, Self-Confidence, or Breathing Exercises.

The catalog is regularly updated so there is always ample content from which to choose. There is a free version that gives users a handful of choices, but a subscription is required to gain access to the whole thing. We tried the free version first and upgraded to an annual subscription after experiencing its powerfully sedative effect.

If your bedtime routine is full of aggravation, sighing, begging, or yelling, do yourself a favor and look into Moshi. It turned our bedtime around and it could help yours, too.