Mind-Sync monitor and treatment table. Photograph by Daniella Byck. Lying on a treatment table at the Four Seasons spa, I’m convinced I must be the least relaxed person in the Georgetown facility. My desperate pursuit for sleep has landed me on a zero-gravity bed with vibrations running up and down my back. Through headphones, I’m listening to a combination of a chanting woman, ambient noises, and the occasional piano. It’s the spa’s newest treatment, the Mind-Sync “Delta Dreams” meditation, billed as a technique using specific sounds and a special vibrating table to give the recipient six hours of REM sleep within an hour. Five minutes in, I’m thinking it’s a pipe dream. According to the National Health Interview Survey in 2020, more than 25 percent of adults don’t get seven hours of sleep a night, as recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Furthermore, nearly 15 percent have trouble falling asleep most nights, while almost 18 percent struggle to stay asleep. I fall into the latter category: While I’ve easily dozed off on planes, couches, and even my desk once or twice, I tend to wake up around 3 every morning. If I’m able to get back to sleep, I’ll wake up every hour after that until my alarm goes off. Needless to say, I could use the sleep. When the Four Seasons spa completed a renovation this spring, it unveiled its Mind-Sync treatment table, the first available at a spa in North America. The meditations ($115 for 30 minutes, $205 for an hour) can be paired with a massage for maximum relaxation and an additional price. According to Jill Carlen, VP of business development for Earthlite, which manufactures Mind-Sync, the technology was created through a government program and designed to relax fight-or-flight syndrome in veterans with PTSD. In Delta Dreams, the noises and movement are supposed to bring cells vibrating at different frequencies into alignment, lowering brain activity to the delta and theta states, which promote sleep. The goal is to calm mind and body, priming you for a REM cycle that’s deeper—and more rejuvenating—than the typical power nap. I was wary I’ve essentially paid $200 to experience what I suffer for free every night. Which is how I found myself under a sheet with a towel over my eyes and noise-dampening headphones connected to the Mind-Sync screen. The treatment table—now sending pulses up my leg—is set to a cooler temperature, after an attendant asks if I run hot or cold while sleeping. But what do night sweats matter when the thoughts racing through my mind are getting louder, competing with the sounds and sensations engulfing me? I’m wary I’ve essentially paid $200 to experience what I suffer for free every night. As I talk myself into another 53 minutes of reclining supine, the vibrations begin to ebb into a softer hum. The voice fades into a rushing waterfall punctuated by an occasional gong. Suddenly, I slip away, my consciousness surrendering to the steady flow of water. When I return to the waking world, my eyes are still covered and my first thought is that I’ve slept through my morning meeting. After getting my bearings, I realize I have no idea how long I’ve been asleep. My thoughts and time seem to move with a buttery slowness, meandering up and down with the waterfall and lightly dissolving into space with each dull tone. Emerging from the moody purple room, I notice that the symptoms that plague me during a rough sleep—headache, breathlessness, muscle fatigue—have subsided, though it’s hard to tell if it’s the result of the treatment or just taking a midday siesta. If you want to realign your sleep long-term, says Carlen, six sessions are required. However, a one-off treatment is supposed to help reset for a couple nights of healthy rest, depending on the individual. The next morning, I’m just as confused when I wake up in my own bed. As I pull off my eye mask, it’s already light outside: For once, I’ve slept through the night. RelatedIn Need of a Relaxing Vacation? Try a Sleepy Staycation in the DC Area. This article appears in the December 2024 issue of Washingtonian.The post Can a Spa Treatment Cure My Sleep Troubles? first appeared on Washingtonian.