I use an app to help me fall asleep every night, and it's the best money I've spent during quarantine

Once I do fall asleep, it's smooth sailing. Even in my current bedroom that sits just two floors above a rather loud street corner in Brooklyn, it takes something extreme, like an inopportune garbage truck horn honk, to potentially rouse me from my dreams.

Getting there can sometimes be easier said than done, though, and the events of the past few months have certainly not been helpful for the sake of sleep. Especially in early spring, floating around my head at night were visions of news notifications, unanswerable questions about the pandemic, and worries — but I know I'm far from the only one who felt or feels this way.

People have reported having especially vivid or strange dreams since the pandemic led to lockdown orders around the US and globally. Additionally, people have also dealt with an influx of information and emotions in the last few months. When new information is processed during sleep, it can alter people's shut-eye schedules, which may explain people's quarantine-related sleeping woes or changing habits, as Insider's Senior Health Reporter Anna Medaris Miller previously wrote.

I'm greeted with the serene sound of a light storm in a rainforest and a few small mindfulness exercises.

The app requires Wi-Fi or cell service, but there's an option to download meditation soundtracks or sleep melodies, and they can then be accessed without internet.

I know what you're thinking: Does one really need to pay for an app to practice deep breathing?

Well, not necessarily. That being said, Calm's breathing tool is especially serene, and I find it helpful because it uses visual cues to guide users through inhales and exhales. For me, it's become an easy reminder to practice deep breathing, even if that means just taking a few long breaths once a day.

Plus, there are proven benefits to this style of breathing that emphasize its importance. Most of the time, people take shallow breaths instead of engaging in "diaphragmatic breathing," or belly breathing, according to experts at Harvard Medical School.

Practicing deep, belly breaths for 10 to 20 minutes a day is one way of invoking the "relaxation response," which was developed by Harvard Medical School cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson in the 1960s and 1970s as a healthy way of responding to stressors.

Deep breathing is one technique of invoking the relaxation response, which could help to decrease heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure, and even be beneficial for the immune system, according to Harvard Medical School.

The melodies make me feel like I'm going to sleep at a beach house with the windows open, or sitting by a glowing fire at summer camp. There are tons of other options, too, like soundtracks that mimic an oscillating fan, or rain in a bustling city street during nighttime.

As I close my eyes, the sound of a light thunderstorm (see: the kind that's cozy, not anything too severe) perfectly drowns out my urge to add something to my grocery list, mentally re-read a random email I sent that day, or scroll through Pinterest for no good reason.

While the concept of white noise isn't anything groundbreaking (hence sleep machines and YouTube videos that play hours of fan noises), one way I think the Calm app is convenient is its feature that turns off all sleep melodies after the desired amount of time.

This way, I'm not awoken from the sound of an abrupt advertisement, and the app isn't blaring campfire crackles at 6 a.m.

Very rarely am I still awake after the sound fades into silence at the 20-minute mark. Even if I'm not fully asleep by the time the soundtrack ends, I'm usually close to falling completely asleep.

Calm's "Sleep Stories" are an innovative take on the classic bedtime story, in my opinion. The audio stories take users on everything from slow railroad rides through the countryside to imaginary worlds that are perfect for kids.

Personally, I've found that the dialogue-filled soundtracks can be more distracting than calming to me. I guess there's something about visualizing Matthew McConaughey or Laura Dern reading to me before bed that feels just a tad too unreal to relax.

Some of Calm's sleep meditations are 2-minute exercises, while others can span 30 minutes or longer.

There are also collections of soundtracks that are meant to be followed consecutively for a period of time — like the "7 Days of Sleep" series (which, as you can see, I haven't been very committed to continuing).

I'm certainly nowhere near calling myself a mindful maven, but I have found that occasionally using Calm's guided tracks helps me feel a sense of peace after a long day before I switch to my favorite white noise soundtracks.

Prior to purchasing Calm, the last time I paid for anything on the App Store was when I bought $0.99 songs from iTunes circa 2010.

As of now, though, I think that being able to fall into a stress-free slumber is worth well beyond the $15/month subscription cost.

Since I'm not currently paying for a gym membership or fitness classes (as in-person workouts in the New York City region are on hold for the forseeable future), the Calm app is one way I'm investing in my overall health.

I don't think twice about paying for the convenience of online shopping via Amazon Prime, or streaming unlimited music, movies, and TV — so subscribing to a service that's helping me sleep and promoting positive habits in the long run seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

• Read more:
• I tried the pretty weighted blanket that's all over Instagram, and it actually did help me sleep better
• I tried melatonin-infused beauty products, and they made my skin look less irritated than it's been in weeks
• 8 of the best YouTube channels to relax to and help you sleep
• 7 benefits of meditation, and how it can affect your brain