Hello love!
In this video I wanted to give you a simple night time routine that will give you the most restful sleep.
I like routines and I find it helps the body get into a relaxed calm state. This calm state is the best to get deeper sleep that is more rejuvenating.
Check out the video here:
Dinner
Start off with an easy to digest dinner. That means you don’t feel heavy, bloated or have heart burn after. Have dinner at least 2-3 hours before bed so you’re not digesting while you sleep!
After dinner you can start winding down. Maybe put your kids to bed or finish up loose ends. This is a great time to start decreasing any stimulation.
Blue Light
The first step is to start reducing blue light (cell phones, computers, lighting in the home). I have found Blue blocker glasses are great at night to help with this. Just search online. I ordered these because they go over my glasses.
Why is this important?
We get a lot more blue light at night than we need. Blue light is great during the day to keep us alert but at night it interferes with melatonin production. The less melatonin we have the less restful our sleep. Blue light blocker glasses makes all light a reddish orange hue. The reddish orange light tones disrupt us much less if we do need to do some work on devices etc.
Experiment
I would suggest experiment with a pair. I found the lights at night and on my phone to be disruptive even when using f.lux on my computer and night mode on my iPhone. These glasses bring the colour of the light to a more calming wavelength.
Closer to Bedtime
Hopefully after bed you can get showered and put on some comfy clothes. I find this to be ver relaxing. Hot showers an hour before bed helps to cool down the body and prepare it for sleep as well. You can also ‘’wash’ off the day.
Herbs + Supplements
About an hour before bed I would also suggest having a cup of Tulsi tea and/or some ashwagandha to help calm the body (you can check out my post here about it as well). As well as some Magnesium. You can have all 3 or a combination.
Clearing to Calm
The last hour before bed I reserve for reading, journalling and meditating. This helps me to process the day. For example if something happened that I wasn’t able to get to I bookmark it for this time to process. This helps me gain clarity, helps emotions move through me and this brings the nervous system back to a calm state.
You can also create a to do list and not use your mind as a notebook. It’s all on paper and this helps reduce anxiety as well.
A great bedroom is cool, minimal with ver little distractions, having a salt lamp helps with reducing blue light. I also use a sleep mask to block all the light! I have another video here you can check out with more tips.
I hope these tips have helped you! Let me know what your night time routine is below!
To restful sleep,
~Michelle
Certified Holistic Nutritionist.
