Pre-Sleep Rituals

If you’re tired of sleepless nights, a pre-sleep routine can help shift your mind from being busy to at ease. Training your mind to prepare for sleep requires discipline and consistency. There is not a one-size fits all routine, just the routine that works best for you. Working your way backwards can help you determine the amount of time you need to unwind (usually around 1-1.5 hours).

Grab a journal and a pen and write what your favorite evening rituals are + what a perfect pre-sleep routine would look like for you.

Some evening ritual ideas:

Warm Baths

Warm baths and showers help raise your body’s temperature and make you feel drowsy. Next time you take a bath, try adding Epsom salt to reduce inflammation and relax your muscles. The magnesium in Epsom salt helps relieve stress and can also release a migraine or headache.

Dim the Lights

Limit the use of overhead lights at night. Replace overhead lights with dimmers, table and floor lamps, or even fairy lights. Add a sense of naturalness by burning wood in a fire.

Log Off

Set boundaries on your computer and phone to avoid zoom-scrolling and answering that oneeee more email. Most cell phones also now allow “time limits” on certain apps which helps us from getting “stuck”. Allow yourself at least an hour or two before crawling into bed to set your phone on “do not disturb” mode. Having these healthy boundaries will let you focus on the present moment and help you wind down your mind.

Declutter your Space

Make your bed during the day so that your bed is inviting when it’s time for sleep. Clear out any dishes or put away any clothes. Make your bedroom feel clean and like a sanctuary, so that you can feel more calm and peaceful. What is something you can add to your bedroom or even just to your nightstand that will make you feel good when you walk into that space?

Cooler Temperature

Set the temperature to be really cool. Whether that means adjusting your thermostat, turning on a fan, or cracking open a window. Researchers say that the best temperature to get optimal sleep is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Plus, you get to avoid waking up with night sweats in the middle of a deep sleep!

Gratitude Journal

Allow yourself the space and time to journal to clear your mind before shutting your eyes. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, perhaps just a few sentences on how your day was and writing an affirmation. What happened to you during your day that made you grateful?

Skin Care

Your evening skin care routine is important. For an evening routine, we recommend: cleansing, toning, and applying a facial oil (or a sleep mask). Part of keeping your skin fresh means making sure you have fresh sheets on your bed. Silk pillow cases are less likely to trap bacteria and can reduce chaffing or irritation.

Cup of Tea

Sipping some tea that’s infused with calming properties can help you ease in to those zzz’s. Look for teas with Chamomile + Valerian. Chamomile contains antioxidants that can promote sleepiness and act as a tranquilizer. Valerian is a type of root with sedative and sleep-enhancing properties. Lavender, Rose, Passionflower, and Lemon Balm are also known to have anxiety + stress reducing effects.

Stretching or Yoga

If it’s not too stimulating, moving your body in the evening might help you sleep better. Avoid activities like cardio and HIIT, and replace them with yoga to help relax tense muscles + release stuck energy.

Guided Meditation or Rhythmic Breathing

Taking even just 5 minutes before bed to draw awareness to your breath can reduce anxiety and stress significantly. Try a simple Box Breathing technique: inhaling for a count of 4, hold top of inhale for 4, exhale for 4, and hold bottom of exhale for 4. Repeat this exercise as many times until you experience a calming effect. Some of our favorite guided meditation apps are Headspace and Calm. You can find sleepcasts (storytelling), sleep music, and guided “wind down” meditations.

Like any new habit, you may not start to see the benefits for a few weeks or even months. One of the most important parts of your routine will be going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning.

Pre-sleep rituals will not only prepare you to unwind for a more restful sleep, but they will also set you up for a quality morning and next day.

Resources

“Bedtime Routines and Sleep Rituals for Restful Sleep.” Retrieved from https://www.verywellhealth.com/bedtime-routines-and-sleep-rituals-for-restful-sleep-3014947.

“How To Create An Effective Bedtime Ritual For Better Sleep.” Retrieved from https://thesleepdoctor.com/2018/09/23/how-to-create-an-effective-bedtime-ritual-for-better-sleep/.

“The 7 Best Teas to Help You Get a Better Night’s Sleep”. Retrieved from https://www.oprahmag.com/life/food/g25604298/best-tea-for-sleep/.

“How Valerian Root Helps You Relax and Sleep Better.” Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/valerian-root#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2.

Improving Sleep Through Food

When you think about ways to get better sleep, what comes to mind first? Taking melatonin supplements, limiting blue light from screens/devices, and establishing a consistent sleep routine are often some of the ways we try to intervene on our sleep patterns. We don’t often think of our diet as a place to promote better sleep, but there is interesting evidence that certain foods can help us tend to our sleep, without needing to take additional supplements or drastically change our habits. 

Imagine in your mind a traditional Thanksgiving meal. If yours included turkey, you also probably experienced sleepiness soon after the meal. While some of this tiredness is likely due to eating large meals at Thanksgiving, the consumption of turkey also had an impact on feeling sleepy. This is because turkey is a food containing high amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid that is prevalent in protein-rich foods. It is a precursor to the release of melatonin and serotonin, which both influence sleep. 

Research has shown that people with low levels of tryptophan often experience anxiety, worry thoughts, and tension, which can all lead to low moods and trouble falling asleep. By increasing tryptophan consumption via foods, we can encourage our pineal gland to naturally produce melatonin, which can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. If you’re finding it difficult to get good sleep right now, or if anxiety is impacting your ability to fall and stay asleep, consider adding tryptophan-rich foods into your diet. 

Foods High In Tryptophan:

Eggs (especially the yolks)

Cheese

Pineapple

Tofu

Salmon

Spinach

Nuts and Seeds

Turkey

Chicken

In order to get the most benefit from eating tryptophan-rich foods, it is encouraged to pair these with healthy carbs. Carbs promote the release of insulin, which leads to amino acid absorption, allowing tryptophan (an amino acid) to remain in the bloodstream. Try to include brown rice, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods with your meals to reap the benefits of eating foods high in tryptophan. By mindfully adding some of these foods into your diet, we hope you will start to notice positive changes in your sleep quality. 

References

How Tryptophan Boosts Your Sleep Quality and Mood. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/tryptophan#section7

7 Foods That Could Boost Your Serotonin: The Serotonin Diet. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/foods-that-could-boost-your-serotonin#food-and-mood

Ways to Calm an Anxious Mind at Bedtime

Whether or not you’ve struggled with anxiety in the past, you are likely experiencing an increase in stress, frequent or difficult-to-control worries, feelings of restlessness, racing thoughts, a faster heartbeat, and possibly trouble sleeping. We are in the midst of an extremely uncertain, scary time, and even if you feel like you’re coping pretty well, anxiety is likely creeping in. We want to validate these feelings and experiences, because they make sense given the context we’re living in. In order to slow down racing thoughts and cope with our heightened anxiety, a first step is to take some deep breaths, and label the emotion. Notice what the anxiety feels like, and what it’s doing to your thoughts, daily routine, sleep, etc. Once we call it out for what it is, we can start addressing it. 

For many of us, anxiety stays with us throughout the day. Even when it’s time to sleep and rest, we have trouble “turning off” our minds. Is this something you’re dealing with? You desperately want to fall asleep, but anxious thoughts and worries keep you awake? If so, here are some ideas of ways to cope with anxiety at bedtime:

• Imagine positive distractions. When we focus on the fact that we can’t fall asleep, it becomes even harder to fall asleep. Try to use your imagination to go to a peaceful or safe place in your mind. Maybe this is walking along the beach, going to a place in nature that’s meaningful to you, or picturing a memory of a happy time with loved ones. Try to imagine this scene in as much detail as possible. What do you see, hear, smell, feel, taste?

• Allow worry thoughts. Sometimes, if we can label worries as “thoughts,” they lose some of their power. As your mind fixates on different phrases, images, or thoughts, mentally say to yourself “this is a worry thought.” Take an observational stance on what your mind is doing. Imagine putting each thought on a bird that is flying in the sky, or on a leaf that’s floating down a river. Watch the worries come and go. 

• Ground yourself in the present. Anxiety loves to pull us into the future, causing us to imagine worst-case scenarios of what’s coming. One antidote is to do something that brings our attention to the present moment. This could mean practicing mindfulness of breath for a few minutes, planting our feet on the floor, repeating a positive mantra to ourselves, or doing a body scan to notice what we’re experiencing in our bodies. 

• Practice gratitude. Another way to bring ourselves away from worry thoughts and boost our mood is by thinking about what we’re grateful for. What’s something you’re looking forward to? What was the best part of today? Is there a person who had a positive impact on you recently? Falling asleep becomes more pleasant when we are filled with a sense of gratitude. 

References

“What To Do When Worry Keeps You Awake.” Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/what-to-do-when-worry-keeps-you-awake/