The Ultimate Guide To Better Sleep: Upgrading Your Bedtime Routine
Our bedtime routine helps get us in the groove for sleep.
Establishing a consistent bedtime routine is a powerful tool for improving sleep quality and overall well-being. By creating a series of relaxing activities that you perform each night before bed, you signal to your body and mind that it's time to wind down and prepare for rest. This routine helps regulate your body's internal clock, reduces stress and anxiety, and creates a transition period between the busy day and the calm of sleep. A well-crafted bedtime routine can lead to falling asleep faster, experiencing deeper and more restorative sleep, and waking up feeling refreshed and energized.
In this blog, we'll examine the ways we can perform our Best Bedtime Routine to set ourselves up for a good night's sleep. From counting sheep to drifting off to la la land- our pre-bed ritual can have a mighty effect on how we drift into slumber.
Here are 5 Bedtime Rituals to Transform Your Night:
Gentle Stretching/Restorative Yoga
Invigorating exercise is best saved for the early part of the day. However, gentle stretching and restorative yoga can have a beneficial and calming effect when done at night. Slow and gentle movement can communicate to our nervous system that we are winding down as well as releasing tension from the day.
Mindful Breathing/Meditation
Breathing exercises can help shift the body into the parasympathetic system, or the rest-and-digest mode.This can be as simple as taking 5-10 mindful breathes to downshift out of stress.
Example exercise:
Aiming for diaphragmatic breathes- with your hand on your belly, visualize you are breathing into it, feeling it move in and out with each breath.
Make sure your exhales are generally twice as long as your inhales.
An easy rule of thumb is: 5 count inhale, hold for 2, and a 10 count exhale, slowly through the nose.
Repeat 5-10 times.
Additionally, there are many apps on the phone that have user-friendly guided breathing and meditation.
Take a Warm Bath/Shower
Taking a warm bath or shower can be a great way to soothe the nervous system. Adding magnesium salts (Like these Deep Sea Minerals by LA Salt Co) to a bath can provide additional relief, calming muscles- as well as having the benefit of detoxification. Adding clays and essential oils can really up the ante of a bath, creating calm for the senses. We love Osea's Vagus Nerve Bath Oil. A splash of this aromatic soother to a bath, provides a direct line to relaxation through the body's vagus nerve. A system that we're learning more about and just how much it factors into our regulatory body systems.
Journaling/Gratitude Practice
Keeping a journal can be helpful for a variety of reasons. Whether it's a brain dump of to dos from the day, solutions-based writing, or an assist to help with emotional processing. Writing it out can help clear your mind and prevent racing thoughts at bedtime. A practice of keeping a gratitude journal can help foster a sense of well-being and relaxation. Focusing on the positive, no matter how small- can help us have a better outlook. We like the cute and functional journals by Papier.
Read a Physical Book To Mitigate Screen Time
We've arrived at the point that it's necessary to differentiate between a REAL book and its blue-lite cousin. Getting into the habit of reading a (paper) book at bedtime can be a great way for us to put down the devices. Plus, it's a trade-off from what can become an endless scroll at bedtime. (Guilty.) You'll receive sleep-hygiene-bonus-points if you can keep the devices out of the bedroom all-together.
Bonus Section: Supplementation
Some of us may need additional support to achieve a solid night's sleep. There are many natural supplements that one can experiment with. Magnesium is a great place to start. Magnesium in all it's forms, from ingestible to topical-has a calming affect on our minds and body. Additionally, many people are inherintly deficient. Try adding it to your routine and see if you notice a difference.
There are also many other natural sleep supplements that take a comprehensive approach and include ingredients like L-theanine, GABA, and Valerian Root. Melatonin supplementation varies greatly by individual experience. Some have a melatonin "hangover" the next day. We carry Moon Juice's Sleepy Magnesium-Om that actually has a micro dose of plant-based melatonin- that keeps it reliably in the natural range of our own melatonin production.
Final Thoughts
Optimizing your bedtime routine is a powerful tool for achieving quality sleep. Remember, the key is consistency and personalization. Experiment with different activities and find what works best for you. With time and dedication, your optimized bedtime routine will become a natural and enjoyable part of your day, paving the way for restorative sleep and more energized, productive mornings.
In our final sleep series blog, we'll cover how to create the sleep sanctuary of your dreams.
