We all know the many benefits of getting enough rest and sleep. If you sleep well, you’ll likely wake up feeling energized and reinvigorated. However, not getting enough sleep can contribute to tiredness, memory issues, and other problems.
Your bedtime rituals can determine how your sleep will be. For example, if you work just before bedtime, your brain will get all fired up, and it will be difficult to get deep and restful sleep.
If you don’t want to encounter problems as you drift off to dreamland, you might want to consider adopting bedtime rituals that will help you relax and unwind.
Changing your bedtime habits is not as hard as it sounds. You just have to be more conscious about avoiding certain activities to give yourself time to relax before sleeping.
It all starts with making a conscious decision to make sleep a priority. To truly understand the value of sleep, you have to realize how it contributes to your health and productivity.
It’s never too late to start a bedtime ritual. Make it a habit and stick to it until you enjoy its numerous benefits.
Bedtime Ritual Suggestions
So what are the most effective bedtime rituals that can help you? There are a lot of things you can do if you want to see results.
Here are some easy ideas that can help you.
Disconnect Or Unplug
In this day and age, gadgets and electronic devices are probably the biggest culprits in disrupting your sleep. Screen time just before sleep is known to have negative effects such as poor vision and emotional imbalance.
Resist the urge to check your email or browse through social media just before sleeping. Better yet, make your bed a no-gadget zone to force you to relax.
Create A To-Do List
Think tomorrow will be a busy day? Can’t stop thinking about all the things you need to do? Clear out your headspace by creating a to-do list.
Add all the items you need to address the following day so you don’t have to think about them as you are trying to have a good slumber. You can even schedule your activities to give you peace of mind.
Aside from helping you sleep, this will also help you become more productive and goal-oriented.
Tidy Up Your Room
It can be stressful to try sleeping in a messy area. Even if you do manage to put yourself to sleep, it might not be as restful as it should be.
A few minutes before sleeping, it’s a good idea to try and clean your bedroom. Just tidying up your things will make a huge difference.
You can call your bed a no-work and no-play area so you don’t have to worry about cleaning your bed every night. Also, make it a habit to make your bed the moment you wake up.
Stay Away From The Kitchen
Taking in sugar and caffeine during nighttime is not a good idea because it will make it more difficult for you to sleep. You might want to avoid eating anything around bedtime if you want to sleep better.
Eating a lot during the evening can also lead to weight and health problems. Try to make your dinner the lightest meal of your day.
If you must drink anything in the evening, go for a relaxing tea like chamomile, which is known to have a sedative effect on the body. Though alcohol might make you feel sleepy, it’s not advisable to drink alcohol before bedtime because it will affect the quality of your sleep.
Check Your Sleeping Environment
Your sleeping environment greatly affects the quality of your sleep. We sleep best in dark, cool areas.
Make sure your room has the right lighting and draw the curtains around bedtime. See to it that there are no loud noises and bright lights that will distract you from getting quality sleep.
Pay attention to room temperature too. Cool temperatures can help you have a much better sleep.
Use Essential Oils And Bath Soaks To Improve Your Sleep
How about enjoying a warm muscle soak in the evening? The temperature of the water and the time alone can help you relax. Plus, you can enjoy even more benefits by adding epsom salt to your regular bath water.
What is epsom salt? Glad you asked.
Epsom salt is mainly made from magnesium and sulfate. It is popular because it helps release tension and relax the body.
Soaking in warm water with epsom salt is a good ritual that you can do twice or thrice a week.
At Better Bath Better Body, we have a special Sleepy Time Bath Soak enhanced with tangerine, ylang-ylang, and orange essential oils that can help you relax and unwind. We only use 100% pure essential oils, so you don’t have to worry about using unwanted chemicals on your body.
Shop our other blends here. We hope you have a good night's rest!