5 Simple Steps To Create A Calming Bedtime Routine
The way you end your day influences the quality of your sleep which is crucial for your health and well-being, so having a bedtime routine is essential to help you switch off and get the restful sleep your body and mind need.
Incorporating a calming bedtime routine in your evening helps you wind down at the end of the day. It helps release tension and stress, both physically and mentally while ensuring you’re feeling relaxed and prepared for a good night’s sleep by the time you go to bed.
Benefits of establishing a bedtime routine:
- improved sleep quality
- reduced stress and anxiety
- enhanced productivity
- improved focus and alertness
- feeling calmer and peaceful
- being more present and balanced
- connected to your inner self
The secret of a successful bedtime routine is to slow down and turn your attention back to yourself. To really focus on soothing yourself, and releasing mental and physical tension so you can go to bed feeling relaxed and ensure a good night’s sleep.
So let’s see how to end your day for a good night’s sleep.
5 simple steps to create a calming bedtime routine
1. Eat a light dinner
Food habits are a tricky topic because everyone’s different and thus reacts differently to a same habit. So there’s no universal advice that will suit everyone. However, eating a large and heavy meal before bedtime can make it difficult to fall asleep.
Eating a light dinner instead may help improve your digestion and make it easier to sleep well at night and wake up feeling well-rested and refreshed (especially if this is something you’re struggling with).
Tips:
- Try to focus on nourishing your body with whole and nutritious foods if you can.
- Try to eat at least two – preferably three – hours before going to bed so that you won’t go to sleep with a heavy and upset stomach.
2. Journaling
Any sort of journaling works here, but two methods particularly help with releasing tension and stress.
1. Brain dumps
Brain dumps are important to declutter your mind and get all your problems out. They’re like a mental cleanse after a stressful and busy day.
After you’ve spent your day filling your brain with mental clutter, now is the time to get rid of it all. And to do that, simply write it down. Put everything on paper and let it all out. It doesn’t have to be pretty or organized or even make sense – just get it out.
2. Self-reflection
Taking the time to reflect back on your day is also a good way to release stress and tension while giving you a chance to go back over what happened throughout the day.
- Was it a good day or a bad day?
- How did you feel?
- What made you happy today?
- What made you unhappy?
- Is there anything you would do differently if you could?
- Did you accomplish something of which you’re proud of?
- Were you kind to yourself?
- Could you have been kinder to yourself?
- Have you done something good for your body today?
(These prompts are just ideas, don’t hesitate to come up with your own.)
Also, another benefit of self-reflection journaling is how it helps tremendously with self-awareness and self-discovery as it forces you to assess your reactions, feelings, and behavior.
I like these two methods but feel free to choose any other journaling type that suits you better.
3. Turn off electronics one hour before sleep
Another good habit to implement in your bedtime routine is to turn off your screens at least one hour before sleep. Screens emit blue light – which may interfere with your sleep, so avoiding them will help your brain regulate your melatonin levels to ensure a good night’s sleep.
I know, this is something you might not be inclined to do, but try it just for a couple of days and notice how you feel.
Turning off electronics before bed is one of these instances where you need to push yourself to get results. It might feel inconvenient or tough to stay away from your phone or TV at first, but give it a try – the efforts are well worth the results.
4. Soothing activity
Now that you’ve decluttered your mind and turned off your screens, let’s focus on “You” time.
“You” time is the moment when you slow down and shush the outside world to turn your attention away from external matters and return to yourself.
This time is for peaceful and calming activities that help you wind down. The key to this relaxing-activity bedtime ritual is to soothe yourself, slow down, and relax.
Soothing activities ideas:
- Read a book
- Meditate
- Draw or write
- Listen to music
- Have a cup of your favorite drink
- Yoga or pilates
- Have a bubble bath with scented candles
The point is to come back to yourself. To reconnect to your body and inner self while trying to find that inner peaceful awareness and balance. It’s important to take the time to turn your awareness within after a day spent focused on the outside world.
This is the secret to maintaining balance on a daily basis. From the outside to the inside.
5. Breathe and stretch before bed
It’s important to take the time to prepare your mind and body before going to bed, and practicing mindfulness and breathwork while stretching is the perfect way to achieve this.
It doesn’t have to be a long practice. Just give it 5 or 10 minutes. Stretch your body while focusing on taking long, deep breaths and releasing tension from your muscles.
Sun Salutations are a really nice way to do this. The flow of the practice helps your body slow down, and connect your breathing to your movements while taking note of how you and your body feel.
Last Tips:
1. Stay away from caffeine
Stay away from caffeinated drinks before bed. Focus instead on soothing bedtime drinks like honey milk, golden milk, chamomile tea, etc…
2. Create a healthy sleeping environment
Sleeping in a healthy and comfortable space is crucial. Your sleeping environment is one of the key factors to a good night’s sleep.
To set it up, focus on these three main elements:
- a clean and tidy room
- not too hot / not too cold
- dark environment (or at least avoid unnatural light exposure which perturbs sleep)
Final word
Establishing a nighttime routine may be helpful if you often feel stressed, unbalanced, and disconnected at the end of the day and need help to release tension and switch off.
A successful bedtime routine helps let go of stress and slow down to ensure you get a good night’s sleep.
The key is to return to yourself and find that center, that stillness.
Remember, this guide is intended to provide you with guidance. These 5 steps offer a solid foundation for a calming bedtime routine but feel free to alter it to suit you as best as it can. Always listen to yourself and what you need first.
Please, don’t hesitate to share your own tips and ideas, and what works for you in the comments.
Have a nice day, and remember to take care of yourself. You deserve it.