Finding a Bedtime Routine that Works for You

According to the CDC, one-third of Americans don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis. If sleep is something you struggle with, creating a customized bedtime routine is one of the easiest steps you can take to enjoy better sleep.  

Seeing as humans are creatures of habit, regular routines can train your brain to recognize certain actions as precursors to sleep. Bedtime routines can also limit late night stress, and curb the types of thoughts that keep you awake. Following a routine will keep your mind focused on other tasks, and this will likely make relaxation easier.   

Below are some strategies to try when building your ideal bedtime routine. Don’t try to do all of these. Mix and match, pick and choose, and if something doesn’t work for you, swap it out for something else. While bedtime routines might not immediately be effective, keep at it, because eventually you’ll find the right combination of things to do before bed. Once established, bedtime routines help your brain separate the day from the night, clear your mind and body of the day’s stresses, and lead to deep and energizing sleep.

Pick a Bedtime and Stick to it

Your brain starts to wind down for sleep a few hours before your head hits the pillow, so if you stick to the same bedtime every night, you can train your brain to get tired at a consistent time every night. Then, if you also keep your wake time consistent, your body will adjust to the schedule, and you may even eventually be able to wake without an alarm. When you are first adjusting to your sleep routine, it’s a good idea to set a timer to go off an hour or two before you want to sleep, so you can be reminded to start your routine. Eventually, your routine will become automatic. 

Ditch Your Screens

At this point, it’s well-documented that screens emit blue light that stimulates your body’s internal clock, keeps you up later, and makes the sleep that you do eventually get less deep. Blue light can lower melatonin levels, which in turn can delay the onset of REM sleep, which is the most restorative part of the sleep cycle. Shut screens off 30-45 minutes before you want to go to sleep, and if you want to watch television as part of your winddown ritual, do it on a television, and not a phone, laptop, or tablet, since most of us sit far enough away from our tvs to not be affected by the light.  

Have a Light Snack or Cup of Tea

While you should not have a heavy meal before bed since digestion can negatively impact your sleep, hunger may keep you awake, so have a light snack if you’re hungry, such as a piece of fruit, a cup of yogurt, or a few handfuls of nuts or popcorn. Avoid alcohol and caffeine before bed. As a stimulant, caffeine will likely keep you awake and make the sleep you do get restless, and while alcohol may make you sleepy right after you drink it, processing it in the night will likely infringe upon restful sleep. While it’s not a great idea to drink a lot of liquid before bed, since frequent bathroom trips interrupt sleep, a warm cup of herbal tea may relax you and also lower your body temperature, which is a good way to facilitate restful sleep. 

Take a Bath

Is there anything more relaxing than immersing yourself in a warm bath? Baths also raise your temperature, and when your body senses this increase, it responds by dilating your blood vessels and directing blood flow toward your skin, which quickly releases heat. The resulting drop in body temperature is ideal for falling asleep quickly and staying that way. Feel free to listen to relaxing music while in the bath, or add a couple drops of lavender essential oil for some soothing aromatherapy. 

Read a Book 

Reading before bed is a great way to focus your mind on something other than the stresses and worries of the day. Escaping into another world for twenty or so minutes can be just the bridge that many of us need to get to sleep. As an added bonus, reading slows our heartbeat and regulates our breathing, meaning we’ll be more relaxed when we’re ready to put the book down and drift off. Just be sure to save the thrillers and mysteries for another time. You don’t want to keep turning pages, only to look at the clock and see that two hours have passed.   

Do Some Light Exercise 

While you won’t want to do vigorous exercise before bed, as this will likely increase your alertness and energy level, stretching, yoga, or pilates is a great choice before bed. Exercises like these will push stress from your muscles, meaning that relaxation will be easier. They will also regulate your breathing and soothe your mental state. People with regular yoga routines have been shown to have deeper sleep cycles, so finding a relaxing routine before bed and sticking to it will likely hugely benefit your restfulness.   

Consider Meditation

Like yoga, meditation can improve the quality of your sleep. Meditation is especially good for people with insomnia, as it teaches you to manage emotions and keep your thoughts focused and constructive. When practiced regularly, meditation clears your head of anxiety and stress, which can mean that you’re sleeping at 2 AM instead of lying awake worrying. Many meditation practices are also accompanied by deep breathing, which will further facilitate deep relaxation.    

Make a To-do List or Journal 

Taking five minutes to make a list of 3-5 things you want to get done the next day will make you feel organized and also means that you can stop stressing about tomorrow. You’ve made a plan, set some priorities, and now you can get some sleep. If you’re not a list maker, you could try journaling instead. Journaling allows you to sort through your thoughts and feelings from the day and set goals for the future. Journaling is great for mindfulness and general emotional literacy, in that journaling forces you to put words to your feelings, and this requires deep understanding.     

Consider Sound and Aromatherapy

Listening to your favorite relaxing music fosters joy and is a great way to wind down. You could also try color noise, which are audio engineered soundwaves that emit frequencies that interact with your brain. Some popular color noises are white, pink, and brown. White noise is static, pink noise is softer, like rainfall, and brown noise is deeper, such as ocean waves. Color frequencies help slow thoughts, tame anxiety, and relax our brains and bodies.

Aromatherapy is also a great way to wind down and prepare for sleep. Try diffusing some lavender, bergamot, cedarwood, sage, or chamomile essential oil. Aromatherapy has been shown to help people, especially people who suffer from anxiety, fall asleep faster and sleep deeper.   

A thoughtful, customized bedtime routine will help your nights be calmer, your mornings be brighter, and should boost your general wellbeing. While it can take some patience to get the right combo of activities, it’s well worth experimenting to find the bedtime routine that’s right for you. We often don’t carve out enough time in our days to take care of ourselves, but a routine that helps us sleep better will pay huge dividends since sleep is so important to our general health. 

Here at Jeromeo, we have a wealth of services and products designed to give you restful nights, peaceful days, and energized mornings. Book a massage or peruse our own line of high-quality essential oils. Test out our sleep aid aromatherapy diffusers, grab a whiff of our candles, incense, and soap, or sample our calming CBD products. At Jeromeo, we’re full of ideas to help make your wellness journey a little more fun.