When you come home after a long day of work, school, responsibilities, children, stress, and about a hundred other things encompassed in your day-to-day life, all you really want (and need) is a restful night’s sleep in the personal sanctuary known as your bedroom.
When things get in the way of that, your supposed-to-be evening recharge quickly becomes more stressful than your daylight hours. Nip those restless nights in the bud by creating a proactive, intentional bedtime routine that includes these three valuable relaxation tools.
#1: Nightly Meditation Apps
Maybe the monks and yogis are onto something when they stress the importance of daily meditation—the Dalai Lama didn’t become a renowned, global figure for nothing, after all.
The monks practiced meditation for enlightenment, but it can do wonders for relaxation and restful sleep, too. Luckily, you don’t need to take a vow of silence when you have access to convenient, 21st-century smartphone apps:
- Headspace – Browse through hundreds of guided meditations of various lengths, with soothing sleep sounds and helpful information from Headspace.
- Calm – Choose sessions anywhere from three to 25-minute in length with different focuses: calming anxiety, practicing gratitude and mindfulness, breathing exercises. Calm also features sleep and nature sounds for an easy come down after a long day.
- Aura – This is another meditation app with plenty to choose from. When you open the app, it asks, how are you feeling? Choose “Can’t sleep” or “Anxious” for the perfect nighttime relaxation routine.
#2: Breathing Exercises
Some people scoff at the idea of guided meditation—it’s this “New Age mumbo jumbo” that they can’t wrap their head around.
If it’s not your thing, that’s okay. You can still glean the benefits specifically associated with deep, intentional breathing (which often plays a role in meditation as well). Lay down on either your back or stomach to get started with these calming breathing exercises:
- 4-7-8 breathing – The name is an apt description of the breathing pattern you’ll repeat: inhale for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight seconds. Repeat five times or until you feel your heart rate start to slow.
- Roll breathing – As you breathe in, make a conscious effort to fill your lungs from the bottom first, while your chest remains completely still. Repeat this ten or so times before moving onto the second phase: fill the lower lungs first, then continue filling your upper lungs into your chest. Exhale with a whoosh each time.
Just make sure you don’t become so relaxed that you fall asleep on your stomach. Wait, is it bad to sleep on your stomach?
Actually, yes. It can lead to sore, achy neck and back muscles, pinched nerves, and poor circulation to your extremities. Don’t let a bad sleeping position ruin all the hard work you’ve put into your relaxing nighttime routine.
#3: Natural Supplements
There are plenty of great ways to supplement your restful rituals like meditation and breathing. Try one of these natural supplements for an easy way to unwind before bed:
- Take one or two CBD gummies about an hour and a half before bed—adjust accordingly depending on how long they take to kick in.
- Opt for melatonin, the hormone most notably responsible for the “time to sleep” signal in our natural circadian rhythms.
- Use lavender in your essential oil diffuser and humidifier. It’s known to slow the heart rate, lower the skin temperature, and overall, induce relaxation.
Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Nighttime Jitters Bite
Why is it so hard to get good sleep when it’s such a fundamental part of our daily existence and has been for thousands of years?
The stress of the day can make it hard to actively unwind, which is why it’s your responsibility to shut your mind off before you can shut your eyes for the night—these three tools are a great place to start.
