Having few bedtime practices may seem a luxury to many but it’s actually a necessity. Many pieces of research have revealed that insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders. Pressure from a demanding workday and vigorous and often challenging private life can cause sleep angst. Crafting a few soothing bedtime practices helps your body and mind to float in a relaxed and unperturbed mode. By the time you’re done with your regular practices, your body and mind should feel peaceful and ready for deep unhindered sleep.
No two bedtime practices can be similar. So, we’ve gathered a few doable practices below. Your bedtime practices should feel stress-free and should be all about nurturing and pampering yourself. It may demand some time to set in, but be tolerant. Weekends can be complicated and messy with social demands and callings. But if your practices are simple, it’s going to pay off in a major way. So, continue reading more for knowing about achievable bedtime practices.
- Fix and Set a Bedtime Alarm
You understand your resting requirements much more than anybody else. Decide for yourself how much sleep you require to wake up completely refreshed and rejuvenated the next day. Then set the bedtime alarm accordingly.
Why set a bedtime alarm? We have a bad habit of delaying bedtime to devote time to more enjoyable activities like texting, social media and internet surfing, watching movies, listening to music, and others. Even when you promise yourself that you will spend a minimum amount of time on these fun activities, you eventually slip past your bedtime. This cuts down on your overall necessary sleep time.
So, setting up a bedtime alarm, and abiding by it, is a fabulous way to ensure that you’re giving importance to sleep. But it also offers you ample time to enjoy your nightly activities after work and pre-bedtime. You’re able to maintain a seamless balance.
- Go For Light Supper
Eat a very healthy and light supper before bedtime. Anything contrary to this like eating late and heavy dinner and consuming unrestricted amount of alcohol can create irregular sleep patterns and lead to unhealthy weight gain. Try regulating your eating gap to 10 hours per day. This will certainly enhance your metabolism and sleep quality. In case you do get the late-night hunger pangs, try healthier food options like oatmeal, nuts, etc.
- Design a Pre-Bedtime Playlist
Maintaining and listening to a pre-bedtime playlist can help you to get detached from mental worries and attachments. Many studies regarding this show that listening to music prior to bedtime can boost sleep and better sleep pattern and quality. So, listen to your pre-bedtime playlist, lessen your workday burden, and experience a restful night.
- Take Relaxing Bath
Go for a shower one or two hours before bedtime and you’ll be absolutely ready for a good night’s sleep. This night-time shower lowers the body temperature and prepares you for healthy and peaceful sleep.
In the morning you’re always in a hurry and overburdened by thousand worries. But at night you can take your own sweet time to rub off all the accumulated dust and dirt from your body. The night-time bath helps to relax both your mind and body.
- Switch off Electronic Devices before Going to Bed
Try switching off electronic devices like laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc. at least 30 – 45 minutes before you try to go to sleep. Various studies show that these electronic devices emit a kind of blue light that excites the body’s internal clock. This keeps you active long after your time for bedtime.
If you want to have a tranquil night’s sleep, you have to strike a balance between sleep and the use of technology. Wait for the morning to enjoy your favourite shows and for making those long and stressful phone calls.
- Meditate
Another bedtime practise that can help quiet the noise in your mind for sleep is meditation. Meditation assists you to stay in the present without drifting into the unknown, calms your mind, eases uncertainties and contemplation, and reduces any stiffness that may exist in your physique. There’re numerous studies that propose pre-bedtime meditation for dealing with insomnia symptoms and improving sleep quality.
- Practice Journaling
Often we’re grateful for little things that take place throughout our workday. Small wins, public show of emotions or gratitude, etc., we feel great about. You can conclude your day on a more fruitful note by recounting those incidents by journaling them. Without just being grateful mentally, write down your feeling of thankfulness and happiness in a diary or digital notepad.
There’re studies that show that performing gratitude journaling might just enhance physical, psychological, emotional, and sleep health and well-being.
- Enjoy Drinking Something Warm
Try drinking some kind of warm beverage before bedtime. It’ll not only warm you up but will also help ready you for bedtime. Take for example; giving your children warm milk, drinking it will encourage sleep. Again, turmeric is considered a superfood that assists in sleeping. Try turmeric with milk during bedtime as it will help you relax and sleep peacefully.
- Chalk out the Next Day’s Activities
Chalk out your own to-do list for the very next day at night before your bedtime only. This list actually helps you to feel relaxed which ultimately results in a great night’s sleep. Listing your next day’s activities makes it look manageable and it’s a practical thing to do.
If you don’t list these activities, you may feel overwhelmed particularly when you contemplate them at a time when you cannot do anything about them. Specialists call this phenomenon “bedtime worry” and confirm that this is a major contributor to the sleep disorder.
Whatever your night-time practices may be, ensure to make it your own habit. These habits knock on your body and mind to let you know that bedtime is approaching. This lets you get exhausted naturally on time, so sleep approaches with ease and without complications.
