Does your bedtime routine involve shutting down your laptop or sending that last text and expecting to fall straight to sleep? How's that working for you?
Experts call that behavior bad sleep hygiene. It's when you skip past the time needed to help your body properly prep for sleep, and so often you'll toss and turn.
What really gets the body ready for a good's night sleep, experts say, are a handful of wind-down practices, like what our parents did for us as children—bath, jammies, milk, bedtime story. What can we do as adults?
1. Turn off the screensSleep specialists say turn off your laptop, iPad, and even turning down the room lights at night is important for getting to sleep and staying that way. Both daylight and the blue element from screens suppress melatonin, which is our body's natural sleep aid. Give yourself some time between Facebooking on your laptop and hitting the hay, so your melatonin levels don't deplete right before sleep..
2. Boil water for a cup of teaMaking the time to have a cup of tea before bed eases us into a calm sleep. Of course, you'll want to stay away from stimulants such as sugar and caffeine. Straight up chamomile tea wins as the most calming before-bed cuppa.
3. Draw a bathBring back bath time and create space before sleep with a calming lavender bath. This aids with insomnia and reduces emotional stress and anxiety." (No tub? A shower witha great aromatherapy shower gel can work, too.) This simple act is not only relaxing, it's also a high-level self-care practice, a way to nurture ourselves. And when was the last time you really did that?
4. Wear an eye mask to bedEven a little bit of light in your bedroom—the glowing cable TV box, phone charging, your alarm clock—can affect your pineal gland’s production of sleep hormones, and therefore disturb your sleep rhythms. The most crucial thing for good sleep is a completely dark sleeping environment—or use an eye mask when that's not possible.
5. Get into the spirit of sleep
Ever wish you didn't need to sleep, so you could get caught up on work or be way more productive? Well, stop right there! Getting to sleep is a spiritual practice that should be honored for its own sake, not just as an interfering biological necessity. With good sleep, it's not just what we do, but how we do it. Sleep hygiene supports us in surrendering. Good sleep is learning to let go on a deeper, spiritual level.
6. Practice bedtime gratitudeHow we fall asleep is how we wake up, so think twice about stressing over tomorrow's to-do list. At the end of the day, remember to acknowledge what we're grateful for. Recognizing gratitude is a gorgeous way to end the day. We wake up in a sweeter and happier space when we are grateful the night before.
7. Use aromatherapyNot going to draw a bath? Can't be bothered to boil water for tea? Then how about you using an aromatherapy oil that's designed to help you unwind? High-quality essential oil blends can activate the limbic system and emotional centers of the brain. And this sets off chemicals that can make you feel relaxed and even sleepy.
—Thanks to Jennifer Kas
What you eat can greatly affect Better Sleep, even during the early half of the day. Eat breakfast first thing in the morning to Better Sleep at night, and make sure it's a big one. After eating well throughout the day, avoid eating spicy or junk foods at night for Better Sleep, and instead choose something that will help you drift off. And remember: no booze! Not only will it not help you get to Better Sleep, it'll cause you to snore all night, too.
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