These Lullabies for Adults Are Everything Our Hearts Need Right Now

We women, especially us moms, don’t always make intentional restorative spaces for ourselves. We always remember something else that needs to get done, or we just don’t have the energy to think of something restorative and truly peaceful to do so we just end up on our phones or on Netflix. There’s a constant hum in the background of our minds, a playlist that loops over and over. It sounds something like, “Did I do X? Did I finish Y? What about A,B,C, and D?”

But what if we carved out time to just breathe, to be still and calm, to press pause on that playlist and give our hearts a minute to refill? What if we made a pocket of peace for ourselves in the middle of the day during the kids’ naps or in the evening once we’ve closed our work computers for the day? Maybe it’s just 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. Maybe it looks like infusing peace into the mundane moments of folding laundry or cooking dinner. It doesn’t have to be something elaborate. Just something simple, something that doesn’t take a lot of prep time.

Enter JJ Heller.

JJ Heller has been making music for over 17 years. Her mission is to make “songs of peace for the child inside all of us.” Songs of peace — what a simple way to infuse calm into a chaotic day. Music has the power to soothe us, calm us, even re-focus us, but we to pause long enough to quiet our minds and really listen.

JJ Heller is best known for her lullabies, particularly her 2014 album I Dream of You. Millions of parents and grandparents play her songs in their hospital rooms, living rooms, nurseries, and minivans.

I’m one of those parents. I welcomed my first child into the world in 2020 and played her songs on repeat during those first few months of rocking, feeding, and adapting to motherhood. Her songs I Get to Be the One and Keep You Safe will be part of the soundtrack to my little boy’s childhood.

But what’s funny is that I’ve found myself playing these songs even when I’m not with my baby. I started playing them during my evening shower or in the morning with my hot tea, because they were so calming and inspiring. And now I know I’m not the only one. In an Instagram post, Heller shared how a mom with grown children told her that she hadn’t…