A bedtime podcast for parents who want calmer nights, happier mornings, and children who drift easily into sleep.
Created for families with children aged 4–7, Max & Lumi blends soothing storytelling, gentle mindfulness, and sleep science into a 7–12 minute nightly ritual that helps young minds slow down and feel safe before bed.
Pediatric sleep studies show that predictable, calming bedtime routines can help children fall asleep up to 30% faster and reduce night wakings by nearly half.¹ Max & Lumi is built entirely around that science — offering a consistent, screen-free way to end each day with connection, learning, and calm.
Every Magic Word of the Week unfolds across three softly connected episodes — The Listening Glow, The Learning Glow, and The Living Glow — released on alternate nights. Families are encouraged to replay each episode on the days in between, using repetition to deepen comfort, memory, and emotional regulation.
✨ The Listening Glow – helps children settle and focus their attention through slow breathing and mindful cues.
✨ The Learning Glow – gently revisits the story, building vocabulary and understanding through calm repetition.
✨ The Living Glow – guides children to use the week’s word in a tiny act of kindness or reflection before sleep.
Each episode features:
• Lumi’s warm welcome and the Magic Password of the Week — a “think it, don’t say it” word that quietly grows your child’s vocabulary.
• Gramps’ glowing storytelling — reimagined tales that nurture empathy, imagination, and emotional security.
• Max’s sleepy goodnight — modelling relaxation and closure, supported by soft, 60–75 BPM lullaby tones proven to slow heart rate and breathing.
Parents love that Max & Lumi is:
• Screen-free and ad-safe — perfect for winding down without blue light or overstimulation.
• ADHD- and neurodivergence-friendly — predictable pacing, silence, and rhythmic cues for self-regulation.
• Guided by sleep psychology — Inspired by research from Lurie Children’s Hospital, Sleep.com, and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute on how calm bedtime storytelling improves sleep, mood, and learning retention.
Rooted in science, wrapped in imagination — Max & Lumi helps families end each day in peace.
Press play, breathe softly, and let the Storylight glow.
Join the Storylight community on Instagram and Facebook, or visit www.maxandlumi.com for bedtime tips, new episode updates, and a little extra evening calm.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A bedtime podcast for parents who want calmer nights, happier mornings, and children who drift easily into sleep.
Created for families with children aged 4–7, Max & Lumi blends soothing storytelling, gentle mindfulness, and sleep science into a 7–12 minute nightly ritual that helps young minds slow down and feel safe before bed.
Pediatric sleep studies show that predictable, calming bedtime routines can help children fall asleep up to 30% faster and reduce night wakings by nearly half.¹ Max & Lumi is built entirely around that science — offering a consistent, screen-free way to end each day with connection, learning, and calm.
Every Magic Word of the Week unfolds across three softly connected episodes — The Listening Glow, The Learning Glow, and The Living Glow — released on alternate nights. Families are encouraged to replay each episode on the days in between, using repetition to deepen comfort, memory, and emotional regulation.
✨ The Listening Glow – helps children settle and focus their attention through slow breathing and mindful cues.
✨ The Learning Glow – gently revisits the story, building vocabulary and understanding through calm repetition.
✨ The Living Glow – guides children to use the week’s word in a tiny act of kindness or reflection before sleep.
Each episode features:
• Lumi’s warm welcome and the Magic Password of the Week — a “think it, don’t say it” word that quietly grows your child’s vocabulary.
• Gramps’ glowing storytelling — reimagined tales that nurture empathy, imagination, and emotional security.
• Max’s sleepy goodnight — modelling relaxation and closure, supported by soft, 60–75 BPM lullaby tones proven to slow heart rate and breathing.
Parents love that Max & Lumi is:
• Screen-free and ad-safe — perfect for winding down without blue light or overstimulation.
• ADHD- and neurodivergence-friendly — predictable pacing, silence, and rhythmic cues for self-regulation.
• Guided by sleep psychology — Inspired by research from Lurie Children’s Hospital, Sleep.com, and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute on how calm bedtime storytelling improves sleep, mood, and learning retention.
Rooted in science, wrapped in imagination — Max & Lumi helps families end each day in peace.
Press play, breathe softly, and let the Storylight glow.
Join the Storylight community on Instagram and Facebook, or visit www.maxandlumi.com for bedtime tips, new episode updates, and a little extra evening calm.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome back to Max & Lumi — The Storylight Jar, the calm bedtime podcast that helps children and parents unwind together through gentle storytelling, mindfulness, and imagination.
🐇 In this week’s dreamy adventure, The Rabbit Hole of Wonder, Lumi opens the Storylight Jar to release a soft amber glow — the Listening Glow, first of the Three Glows. The Magic Word of the Week is Curiosity, meaning a kind and gentle desire to know or learn something.
✨ What This Episode Is About
Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, this soothing reimagining follows Alice as she drifts down a sleepy rabbit hole filled with floating clocks, invisible tea, and softly snoring teacups. Guided by the White Rabbit and the kindly Mad Hatter, she learns that real curiosity isn’t about rushing to find answers — it’s about listening until they quietly arrive.
💤 Why It Helps With Sleep
Each Max & Lumi episode blends slow pacing (100–90 wpm), soft lullaby soundscapes (60–65 BPM), and mindful breathing cues to help children relax. The Listening Glow encourages calm attention — helping young minds focus gently, slow racing thoughts, and drift into deep, natural sleep.
🌙 Educational and Emotional Benefits
• Introduces the Magic Word Curiosity — exploring gentle learning and wonder
• Reinforces mindful listening and emotional self-regulation
• Builds vocabulary and imagination through story-based context
• Supports bedtime routines and healthy sleep associations
👂 Listening Guide for Parents
Play this story as your child settles in bed, lights dimmed and screens off. Encourage them to listen quietly with Max, breathe softly with Lumi, and imagine the glowing Storylight drifting into Gramps’s silver beard. Replaying this episode builds familiarity and calm, strengthening bedtime routines night after night.
🌳 Inside Nocternia
In the Dreamtree’s realm, every question shines like starlight. Tonight’s Listening Glow begins the journey of Curiosity — the spark that helps Nocternia’s Dreamtree grow one new glowing leaf.
Press play, breathe slowly, and follow Alice, Max, and Lumi down The Rabbit Hole of Wonder — a gentle bedtime story for children aged 4–7 that turns curiosity into calm.
💫 Follow @maxandlumi on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, or visit www.maxandlumi.com for more peaceful bedtime adventures.
💫 Loved this episode? Follow Max & Lumi for more peaceful bedtime stories, ADHD-friendly sleep podcasts, and gentle night-time tales that help children drift into restful sleep.
🎧 Subscribe and download to enjoy calming storytelling, vocabulary-building adventures, and consistent bedtime routines – perfect for children aged 4–7.
🌙 Visit maxandlumi.com for free bedtime resources, the full Max & Lumi storyworld, and tips to make bedtime the most peaceful part of your child’s day.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to Max & Lumi — The Storylight Jar, the calming bedtime podcast that helps parents and children build peaceful, consistent sleep routines.
In this final chapter of the Serenity cycle, The Living Glow, Lumi releases the last golden light from the Storylight Jar. It rises slowly, ready to return to the Dreamtree. Tonight, Max and Lumi travel through Nocternia one last time — not to listen, but to live what they’ve learned.
🌞 What This Episode Is About
Guided by Lumi’s wings, Max follows a trail of warm sunlight through the Dreamgate and finds the Wind and Sun again. The Wind drifts in calm circles; the Sun glows gently on the horizon. Both have kept their promise to live with serenity — not rushing, not boasting, simply shining and breathing together.
Max joins them in a quiet moment of gratitude. When the Sun thanks Max for helping it understand calm strength, Lumi smiles: “That’s the Living Glow — when serenity stops being a word and starts being you.”
✨ The Meaning of The Living Glow
The Living Glow completes the Three-Glow cycle — Listening, Learning, Living. It’s the moment when understanding becomes action, when children feel serenity in their own hearts and bodies. Through Lumi’s breathing cues and Gramps’ closing words, listeners practise small acts of calm: a steady breath, a gentle smile, a thought of kindness. These simple rituals help children internalise calm routines that support self-regulation and sleep readiness.
💤 Why It Helps With Sleep
This episode uses slower phrasing (~95 wpm), extended pauses, and music that fades toward silence, guiding listeners from awareness to rest. Research shows predictable bedtime rituals and mindfulness techniques lower heart rate and help children fall asleep up to 30 percent faster.¹
Each familiar cue — Lumi’s whisper, Max’s soft voice, the closing chime — signals safety and completion. Replaying this Glow across nights reinforces these associations and deepens comfort in the bedtime routine.
🌿 Educational and Emotional Benefits
• Reinforces the Magic Word Serenity — calm, gentle confidence
• Models gratitude and mindfulness in action
• Encourages emotional reflection and kindness before sleep
• Strengthens routine through repetition and predictability
• Supports neurodivergent children with slow pacing and low sensory load
🎧 Listening Guide for Parents
Play this episode as the final step in your child’s bedtime routine. Dim lights, lower voices, and invite them to close their eyes as Lumi whispers the day goodnight. Encourage one quiet thought of gratitude — something small that made them smile. These peaceful reflections promote relaxation and smoother sleep transitions.
📖 Inside the World of Nocternia
As Max and Lumi breathe with the Wind and Sun, the Dreamtree’s ghost-leaf fills completely with light. A soft chime rings through the branches — the sound of a new Runebud forming. The leaf glows gold-white, its rune spelling the week’s word: Serenity. The Storylight drifts home to the Jar, and Gramps’ beard fades to silver once more. The Dreamtree sighs contentedly, ready for the next word.
Rooted in child-sleep research and inspired by ancient fables, Max & Lumi turns bedtime into a ritual of calm, kindness, and imagination.
Press play, breathe softly, and feel The Living Glow settle around you.
💫 Follow Max & Lumi on Instagram and Facebook
💫 Loved this episode? Follow Max & Lumi for more peaceful bedtime stories, ADHD-friendly sleep podcasts, and gentle night-time tales that help children drift into restful sleep.
🎧 Subscribe and download to enjoy calming storytelling, vocabulary-building adventures, and consistent bedtime routines – perfect for children aged 4–7.
🌙 Visit maxandlumi.com for free bedtime resources, the full Max & Lumi storyworld, and tips to make bedtime the most peaceful part of your child’s day.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome back to Max & Lumi — The Storylight Jar, the calming bedtime podcast for families who want gentler evenings, happier mornings, and children who drift easily into sleep.
In The Learning Glow, the storylight rises again, carrying Max and Lumi across the Dreamgate into the heart of Nocternia. This is the second chapter of the Dreamtree’s first word, Serenity, and the moment when the listeners truly enter the tale first told by Gramps in The Sun Who Smiled First.
🌞 What This Episode Is About
Guided by Lumi’s shimmering wings, Max finds himself beneath a golden sky where the Sun hums like a lullaby and the Wind dances in playful swirls. The two old rivals from Aesop’s timeless fable are alive once more, but softer now — their contest turned into conversation. The Sun worries it may lose its glow if it stops trying so hard to shine; the Wind wonders whether it can still be heard if it learns to hush.
Together, with Max’s gentle curiosity and Lumi’s calm guidance, they discover that serenity isn’t silence — it’s balance. It’s the warmth of light and the whisper of air working together, not against each other.
✨ The Meaning of The Learning Glow
The Learning Glow is where understanding deepens. Children hear familiar images from the first story and recognise them in a new, comforting way — a repetition that builds both memory and emotional safety. As Max listens and reflects, young listeners are invited to think quietly too, exploring what serenity feels like in their own hearts: the soft warmth after a hug, the quiet moment before sleep, the calm between breaths.
💤 Why It Helps With Sleep
The Learning Glow uses slow pacing, gentle re-entry into known sounds, and low-frequency musical tones around 65 BPM — a combination shown to reduce bedtime anxiety and help children fall asleep up to 30 percent faster. The return to familiar imagery triggers relaxation through predictability, while the subtle differences keep curiosity softly engaged without overstimulation.
🌿 Educational and Emotional Benefits
• Reinforces the Magic Word of the Week: Serenity — calm strength in motion
• Shows how listening and empathy create cooperation
• Encourages reflective thinking and emotional vocabulary
• Supports focus and self-regulation through mindful storytelling
🎧 Listening Guide for Parents
Play this episode as your child settles for bed or nap time. Encourage them to picture Max and Lumi drifting between the Sun’s golden rays and the Wind’s soft currents. Suggest they take a slow breath when the Wind does and smile when the Sun smiles. Replaying this Glow on alternate nights strengthens familiarity — a cornerstone of every successful bedtime routine.
📖 Inside the World of Nocternia
As the storylight threads through sky and breeze, the Dreamtree’s ghost-leaf begins to fill with colour. Understanding spreads through its branches, and the hum of serenity rolls like distant thunder made of comfort. When Max and Lumi return through the Dreamgate, the glow within the jar flickers softly — half complete, half dream — ready for the final Glow still to come.
Rooted in child-sleep research and inspired by Aesop’s wisdom, Max & Lumi turns each bedtime into a shared ritual of calm learning and imagination.
Press play, breathe softly, and feel The Learning Glow warm the night.
Follow Max & Lumi on Instagram and Facebook, or visit www.maxandlumi.com
💫 Loved this episode? Follow Max & Lumi for more peaceful bedtime stories, ADHD-friendly sleep podcasts, and gentle night-time tales that help children drift into restful sleep.
🎧 Subscribe and download to enjoy calming storytelling, vocabulary-building adventures, and consistent bedtime routines – perfect for children aged 4–7.
🌙 Visit maxandlumi.com for free bedtime resources, the full Max & Lumi storyworld, and tips to make bedtime the most peaceful part of your child’s day.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome back to Max & Lumi — The Storylight Jar, the calming bedtime podcast that helps parents and children unwind together and build peaceful sleep routines.
In this first story of the season, The Sun Who Smiled First, Lumi introduces the week’s Magic Word: Serenity — a beautiful word meaning calm that feels warm, safe, and steady inside. It begins the Dreamtree’s first journey through the Three Glows, starting with The Listening Glow.
🌞 What This Episode Is About
Inspired by Aesop’s fable “The Wind and the Sun,” this gentle reimagining follows a bright young sun who thinks strength means shining the loudest. When the boastful Wind challenges the Sun to a contest, both learn that warmth, patience, and serenity can achieve what force cannot.
As Lumi opens the Storylight Jar, a golden light hums softly and drifts into Gramps’ silver beard. The glow pulses with Max’s breathing, inviting listeners to settle, breathe slowly, and let calm fill the room. Through Gramps’ storytelling, children hear how quiet strength — the heart of serenity — helps even the sun find peace.
✨ The Meaning of The Listening Glow
The Listening Glow marks the first stage of Max & Lumi’s bedtime rhythm — when children learn to quiet their thoughts and listen with calm attention. As Lumi guides soft breathing and Max listens beside them, young listeners match the rhythm, slowing heart rate and easing into rest. Serenity becomes not silence, but comfort — a calm that shines from kindness rather than control.
💤 Why It Helps With Sleep
Each episode is designed for gentle wind-down: slow narration (~100 wpm), 60–75 BPM lullaby tones, and mindful breathing cues. Research shows predictable, calming bedtime rituals help children fall asleep up to 30 percent faster and reduce night wakings by half.¹
The Listening Glow builds that safe, repetitive pattern that tells mind and body it’s time to rest.
🌿 Educational and Emotional Benefits
• Introduces the Magic Word Serenity — calm, comforting strength
• Reinforces empathy and the idea that gentleness can be powerful
• Encourages mindful listening and self-regulation
• Builds vocabulary naturally through context and repetition
🎧 Listening Guide for Parents
Play this story as your child settles, lights dimmed and screens off. Encourage them to listen quietly with Max, breathe with Lumi, and picture the Storylight glowing softly above them. Replay on alternate nights to deepen comfort and routine as the meaning of serenity quietly takes root.
📖 Inside the World of Nocternia
In Nocternia, light itself can learn. The young sun’s lesson in serenity becomes the Dreamtree’s first ghost-leaf — a shimmering sign that listening leads to understanding. As the glow fades, Max yawns, Lumi whispers goodnight, and peace returns — the first step toward restoring the Dreamtree’s Lost Lexicon.
Rooted in child-sleep research and inspired by timeless storytelling, Max & Lumi turns Aesop’s wisdom into a peaceful family ritual.
Press play, breathe softly, and let The Listening Glow bring serenity to your night.
💫 Follow Max & Lumi on Instagram and Facebook, or visit www.maxandlumi.com for bedtime tips, new episodes, and sleepy surprises.
💫 Loved this episode? Follow Max & Lumi for more peaceful bedtime stories, ADHD-friendly sleep podcasts, and gentle night-time tales that help children drift into restful sleep.
🎧 Subscribe and download to enjoy calming storytelling, vocabulary-building adventures, and consistent bedtime routines – perfect for children aged 4–7.
🌙 Visit maxandlumi.com for free bedtime resources, the full Max & Lumi storyworld, and tips to make bedtime the most peaceful part of your child’s day.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to Max & Lumi — The Storylight Jar, the calming bedtime podcast for parents who want gentler evenings, happier mornings, and children who drift easily into sleep.
This first episode, The Night the Storylight Awoke, is where it all begins — when Max meets Lumi, the Storylight Fairy, and the first glow shines from Gramps’ silver beard.
🌙 What This Episode Is About
In this ten-minute introduction, families are invited into the safe, glowing world of Nocternia. It’s the night Max first sees the Storylight Jar shimmer awake — the moment that turns bedtime into something calm, curious, and comforting. Lumi welcomes both Max and the listener, guiding everyone to slow down, breathe softly, and think the Magic Password of the Week. When the jar opens with its gentle shhh-choo sound, the light drifts into Gramps’ beard, and the first story begins.
As Gramps speaks, Max listens — and so does every child at home — feeling the rhythm of his words guide their breathing and thoughts. By the end, the glow settles back into the jar, Max yawns a sleepy goodnight, and the sound fades into stillness.
✨ Why It Helps With Sleep
This introduction sets the structure every Max & Lumi episode follows: predictable pacing, familiar sound cues, and gentle repetition. Research from pediatric sleep specialists shows that consistent bedtime routines can help children fall asleep up to 30 percent faster and reduce night wakings by nearly half.
Each story is crafted with that research in mind — slow narration (~100 wpm), soft 60–75 BPM music, and mindful breathing that mirrors the natural slowing of a child’s heartbeat. It’s screen-free, ad-safe, and neurodivergence-friendly, offering a reliable sensory environment for focus, calm, and connection.
💡 Educational Touches
The Magic Password of the Week quietly expands vocabulary through context rather than definition, encouraging curiosity without overstimulation. Children “think it, not say it,” learning self-control and reflective listening — skills that support emotional regulation and early literacy.
🎧 What Parents Can Expect
• A peaceful transition from busy days to calm nights
• Consistent cues that help even restless minds settle
• Stories rooted in kindness, empathy, and imagination
• The comfort of repetition — the same welcome, the same goodnight, every time
📖 Inside the World of Nocternia
Nocternia is built on comfort and curiosity. It’s the dream-world beyond the Dreamgate where every child’s imagination can wander safely. Colours stay soft, sounds stay round, and nothing frightening can enter. This episode reveals how that world connects to Max’s attic bedroom — through Lumi’s light, Gramps’ wisdom, and the hush of a house preparing for sleep.
🌿 How to Listen
Play this introduction while your child is tucked in, lights dimmed, and screens off. Encourage them to listen quietly, breathe with Lumi’s gentle cues, and imagine the Storylight floating just above their pillow. Re-listen whenever you like — repetition builds comfort, focus, and faster sleep onset.
Rooted in research, wrapped in imagination, Max & Lumi helps families end each day in peace.
Press play, breathe softly, and let the Storylight glow.
💫 Follow Max & Lumi on Instagram and Facebook, or visit www.maxandlumi.com for bedtime tips, new episodes, and sleepy surprises.
💫 Loved this episode? Follow Max & Lumi for more peaceful bedtime stories, ADHD-friendly sleep podcasts, and gentle night-time tales that help children drift into restful sleep.
🎧 Subscribe and download to enjoy calming storytelling, vocabulary-building adventures, and consistent bedtime routines – perfect for children aged 4–7.
🌙 Visit maxandlumi.com for free bedtime resources, the full Max & Lumi storyworld, and tips to make bedtime the most peaceful part of your child’s day.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.