• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, October 20, 2023

Listening to music is a time-tested way to change your mood -- but can it systematically help you sleep better?

To find out, I tried Soaak, an app that provides music or nature sounds with particular frequencies said not only to help you sleep, but potentially deal with 29 other physical and mental health issues -- from headache and migraine to anxiety or depression, to separate selections for male and female sexual health.

I started out with Soaak’s “Sleep Well’ music composition and found I was sleeping deeper and waking up more relaxed. When she heard about these results, my wife, ever the skeptic about wellness claims, decided to try it. She’d been having trouble waking up during the night, but her first use of the app gave her an uninterrupted full seven hours. Still, after that first night, it was back to old habits.

“Frequency therapy is a personal journey and individuals experience results at their own pace,” confirms Soaak’s co-founder and chief innovation officer Laura Widney to Pharma & Health Insider.

Soaak’s crème de la crème is definitely its Sleep Well therapy, which the company spent five years testing in its own Tulsa clinic that also offered such services as IV therapy, deep tissue massage and acupuncture. The Soaak app launched in 2019.

While sleep can be tested in clinics, Widney says that Soaak has conducted internal studies and partnered with independent researchers to assess the impact of other frequencies, including those designed for depression. “We’ve seen promising results in terms of mood improvements and reduced stress levels in our study participants, Depression and anxiety often have trackable physiological aspects, including sleep issues, nervous system, heart rate deregulation and more.”

So what exactly are these sound frequencies?

Sound frequencies refer to the number of oscillations of sound waves per second as measured in hertz (Hz).

For one frequency alone, 432 Hz, Soaak cites several scientific studies which show how the frequency can manage anxiety and stress, as well improve sleep performance.

And so, when I woke up coughing with a little fever on Monday, I turned to Soaak’s “Common Cold & Flu” frequency. My symptoms soon went away.

Which, of course, proves nothing about Soaak’s efficiency. My wife and I are still taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Widney says that the amount of time needed for lasting results varies from just a few minutes to a month or two. She tells the story of “a 45-year-old female who had not slept more than three hours a night for nine years. After completing just one session with our Sleep Well frequency, she slept 10 straight hours.”

“This is not a typical case,” she adds.

Soaak also offers 21-day immersion programs with a more structured focus. Just this week, a new one called Limitless Living was announced, led by “spiritual leader” and author Michael Beckwith.

Like the Soaak app itself and other Soaak immersion programs, Limitless Living includes meditations and affirmations along with those sound frequencies.

All of it is available for a $29.99/month subscription after a seven-day free trial.

Soaak’s marketing efforts include digital marketing campaigns and influencer partnerships, Widney says, and the app is now also “exploring collaborations with hospitality organizations, healthcare professionals and other organizations to introduce Soaak to a broader audience.”

One existing relationship that my wife and I like is with Amazon Alexa, allowing us to just tell the Echo in our bedroom to “open Soaak and play Sleep Well music.” From there, it's on to the hope of sweet dreams.