Morpheus, in Greco-Roman mythology is one of the sons of Hypnos (Somnus), the god of sleep. Morpheus sends human shapes of all kinds to the dreamer, inducing him into a deep sleep. We bring to you the Morphée sleep aid, a small and remarkably effective little sleep device that’s becoming increasingly popular all over after seeing huge success in its native France. And now we have it in the UAE too! Their website says that over 100,000 people already own one and we tell you why you should have one too!
What is Morphée?
Morphée is a speaker with a functional “clock”-design face. You must use the three golden dials on the front, to select one of up to over 200 music and meditation programs created around the principles of sophrology –exercises that calm the mind and promote “active relaxation”, ultimately leading to a restful state and a sound sleep.
The main feature that attracts me to Morphée is that every Sleep app that you try to use, is on the phone, exposing you to blue light just before you go to bed! Now how is that helpful? Developers of Morphée thought through this and devised this little gadget that uses a totally analogue experience, with no distracting screens! You simply switch it on and click the dials to choose a programme (think breathing exercises, guided visualisation or relaxing music), select your time (eight or 20 minutes) and decide if you’d like a male or female voice to talk you through it and hit the play button.
Morphée comes with a lovely wooden beech case, which can also be used a stand for the main gadget. At just 10cm diameter, it’s compact and looks good on your bedside table and is also small enough to store in a bedside drawer when not in use. It has a cable for powering up the unit. When it’s fully charged and/or in use a small golden LED in the middle of the user interface delivers a soothing glow. The perceptible design allows you to manage those handles even in the dark and you can easily click through the settings and restart or change to any of your favourite sessions.
We try out the Morphée
I begin my journey with a body scan in a soothing female voice (my choice) that drew my attention to various areas of the body from head to toe, asking me to relax my muscles, and reduce tension. If your partner gets disturbed by this and does not need a sleep aid, you can even use a headphone and use the Morphée. I chose to try it out for an eight-minute session and realized that within a few minutes I did feel the tension ebbing and my body relaxing into the mattress. The voice asked me to continue relaxing until I was lulled into a state of slumber.
If you prefer music or meditation, you have over 200 tracks to choose from and you will definitely find something you love!
The next night I tried a guided breathing exercise, led by a calming voice that asked us to inhale and exhale while relaxing completely with each exhale. Midway through I felt all my tension ebbing and my body relaxing completely. On successive days I experimented with the other settings in eight – and 20-minute sessions, like the soothing music, nature sounds (we loved the thunderstorm in Japan! :)), cardiac coherence, guided meditation, muscle contraction and relaxation, power of calm and more! The relaxing music was like a gentle lullaby that lulled me into a dreamless state. The cardiac coherence cleverly was all about reducing the number of breaths and therefore your heart rate, gradually drawing you into comfortable state of slumber. According to Morphée, a team of sleep professionals created these sessions, with guidance coming from sophrology expert Florence Binay.
The more you get used to this cute device on your bedside, you realise that you have been spending lesser and lesser time with your phone before going to sleep and that is a definite plus for all of us who need that digital detox at night!
Our verdict:
if you’re looking for something that promotes mindfulness, rest and a better quality of sleep, the Morphée with its clever and compact design is what you need! The digital detox is an added advantage.
Price and availability
Morphée available for €79.95 direct from Morphée, with worldwide shipping. There’s also a Mon Petit Morphée variant for children available for the same price.