Shut down the phone.
Ideally, you should be shutting down your devices at least an hour before you go to bed to give your eyes a break from the screen and start preparing your body for restful sleep. Studies have found that the blue light that your phone screen emits can mess with your circadian rhythm. This can cause your body to have a harder time falling asleep and can make your sleep, once it does happen, less restful. We love a good bedtime Instagram scroll just as much as the next person but save it for earlier in the evening to make sure your sleeping time is reserved for just that, sleep!
Stretch it out.
Give your body the recuperation it deserves by spending five or ten minutes doing some light stretches before jumping into bed. Slowing down and giving your body time to relax will ensure you have a better sleep and you will feel better when you wake up the next morning. Stretching before bed can also help your muscles repair any damage that may have been done to them if you overexerted your body during the day. If you did sustain any muscle damage during the day, stretching will also prevent muscle cramps in the middle of the night. Stretching relaxes your mind and body and creates an overall more enjoyable bedtime experience.
Check out some super easy yoga poses you can do from bed. No mat required!
Pamper yourself with a skincare routine.
We get it. At the end of a long day, all you want to do is throw on something comfy and jump into bed. But it’s so important to get into the habit of developing a skin care routine and sticking to it every night. For a couple reasons.
First of all, taking care of your skin is just a good habit to have. Washing away the dirt and grime from the day and making sure all your makeup is thoroughly removed is crucial. An unwashed face before bed can increase the likelihood of acne and can even transfer harmful microbes into your unwashed bedding that could get you sick.
Secondly, getting into a pre-bedtime skincare routine is good for the mind. The ritual of spending that time to take care of yourself before bed will condition your brain to associate that time with sleep and comfort. It helps get you into a more relaxed mindset before your head even hits the pillow.
Take time to decompress in bed.
Have you ever noticed that it’s harder to fall asleep when you go straight from being up and about (eating dinner, watching a movie, or chatting on the phone) to bed? Your body needs time to decompress after the day is over to send itself off into sleep more peacefully. Our favorite ways to decompress in bed before sleeping (and when the phone is turned off!) are relaxing activities like reading a chapter in a book, meditating, or journaling. Give your mind the space it needs to shut out the outside world and turn inward for a restful sleep.
Make your bedroom a positive sleeping environment.
While internal cleansing through things like meditation is important, external cleansing is important too. A cluttered bedroom makes falling asleep much more difficult, so we recommend making sure you’ve created a calming environment to put your mind at ease before bedtime. Before your other nighttime rituals, give your bedroom a quick tidy by putting extra clothes away and making up your bed if you didn’t in the morning. Fun fact: the act of getting into a made bed (even if you just made it) actually sets your mind up for a better sleep. So, we always recommend not skipping that step first thing in the morning!
These are just a few of our top things that you should be doing before bed to put your mind as ease and better transition your body from daytime-mode into sleeping-mode. Giving yourself this space will result in a better, deeper sleep and ensure you feel more restful the next day.
Want to know more about the benefits of a full night's rest? Check out 6 Ways a Good Night's Sleep Actually Keeps You Healthy on our blog!