Having Trouble Sleeping? Harry Styles and the Calm App Are Here to Help

“Hello. I’m Harry Styles. And tonight, I’m going to help you drift off to sleep.”

Undoubtedly, there are many thousands of humans who have longed to hear the One Direction singer whisper this sweet nothing to them at bedtime. But earlier this month, Calm, the meditation and sleep app, made it a real-life possibility.

As part of the app’s Sleep Stories series, Styles has recorded a 35-minute reading in his reassuring, Northern English lilt, titled “Dream With Me.” Backed by soothing piano, flute and strings, Styles gently tells a winding story that encompasses elements of guided meditation and visualization. And it is remarkably hypnotic.

“Now we snuggle on a raft and drift for endless hours,” he lulls at one point, “as willow trees sway in the breeze and blossoms fall in showers. Gently swaying to and fro, we look up at the sky, and watch the clouds above us forming shapes as they pass by.”

Styles describes everything from chirping crickets and twinkling stars, to glistening snowflakes and toes in sand. It’s a half hour of non-stop soothing that is so effective that getting through the whole thing without falling asleep poses a genuine challenge.

i’m only 8 minutes into #DreamWithHarry and this is already the most serotonin i’ve had all week pic.twitter.com/IEQckOEgfX

— shreeya¹ᴰ (@shreeyavol6) July 8, 2020

This is not the first time Calm has employed a celebrity to rid us of our waking woes. Earlier this year, Ellie Goulding composed a “Calm Mix” of music from her Brightest Blue album and LeBron James provided a very thorough guide to mental fitness and focus. If you have the app, you can also hear Laura Dern read “The Ocean Moon,” Kelly Rowland read “Myth of a Baby Dragon,” Matthew McConaughey read “Wonder,” and Lucy Liu read “Festival of the First Moon.”

Of all of the celeb stories though, Harry’s is—in this insomniac’s opinion at least—the most relaxing to date. (Dern’s is a close second.) And though hearing Harry Styles talking about “rainfall as a mesmerizing gift” probably wasn’t top of your to-do list this week, it is a exceptional stress buster. (No wonder Calm has seen a 94% increase in app downloads since Styles’ reading was added.)

So next time you find yourself awake at 3am, mind swirling about COVID-19 and racial injustice and unemployment and business closures and not seeing enough other humans and, well, everything in 2020, know that there is absolutely no shame in turning to Harry Styles for comfort. “We’re heading somewhere special,” he will tell you. “Beyond the world of consciousness, to places more celestial.”

And… relax.

Copyright 2020 KQED