Do you know just how important sleep is to your overall health? With nearly 1 in 3 Americans not getting enough sleep, it’s safe to say that many of us seriously underestimate just how crucial a good night’s rest is to our health. When’s the last time you had a good sleep? What do you do before bed on the nights you get the best sleep? Your bedtime routine has a huge impact on your sleep quality, and if you don’t have one to begin with, your sleep will suffer.
Luckily, Green Prophet is here to help. This short guide will help you create a bedtime routine that will last and that can seriously improve your overall sleep quality. We’ll cover everything from a consistent bedtime to spiritual matter, to what activities you should and shouldn’t do right before you sleep. Let’s dive in!
First and Foremost: What Do You Do Now?
First, we have to look at your daily bedtime ritual—or lack thereof. What do you do during the last hour before bed? Do you even have a set bedtime, or do you put on Netflix and wait until your eyes are too heavy to stay open to go to sleep? Do you watch screens, your TC, scroll on social media, or read a book before bed?
Most of us overworking snack at night or drink a late caffeinated drink to help stay awake during the evening hours or maybe a last-minute work Zoom call or meeting for school, but this can have a negative effect on sleep. Analyze your routine and look closer at what things might be keeping you awake. Even green teas have caffeine, so research a but to make sure your diet isn’t keeping you awake.
Step 1: The Bedtime You Choose
The time that you go to bed is a crucial part of the routine. Staying up late is fun, and you might feel like you’re getting more done or more time to yourself, but you’re just making it harder to perform the next day. So, instead of putting off sleep or not listening to Siri telling you when it’s bedtime, it’s time to embrace sleep. Because it can be a wonderful thing.
Set a bedtime for yourself and stick to it every night. You’ll have nights where things come up, and that’s fine—as long as you don’t make a habit of being late. Think of bedtime as being just as important as getting to work on time.
Step 2: Relaxing Your Mind And Body
Obviously, if both your mind and body are tense, or full of anxiety it’s significantly more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. So, the next thing you need to do is figure out how you’re going to relax before bed. Put aside at least half an hour each night to relax before sleep. During this time, it’s incredibly important to protect both your environment and your brain from distractions. That means relocating to a room free of electronics, as blinking blue light from phones, air conditioners, humidifiers, and TVs actually keeps you awake.
What things help you relax? Is it reading a good book? Snuggling up with a partner, pet, or child? Writing? Maybe you can start keeping a gratitude journal so you can track all of the things you’re grateful for each day. A few years looking back you will be grateful that you did this.
Some people include spiritual practices in their bedtime routine, to great effect. Bedtime prayers, simple meditations or intentions, or even just taking deep breaths and asking for a good night’s sleep can help calm you down and prepare you for rest. Remember those old wave machines from the 90s? You can find apps that simulate the sound of the sea.
Don’t forget your spirituality as part of your overall health standard. Prayer and spirituality both can have a positive impact on your overall attitude, your sleep, your good dreams and your quality of life.
Step 3: Try To Be More Active
It’s far easier to fall asleep at night when you’ve been active all day. Getting plenty of exercise like yoga or going for a run or parkour trail and eating healthy foods can put your body into a healthier natural rhythm, and once you’re there, sleep should come much easier for you. Ditch the high-fat and sugary foods that are the staple of American fast-food diet. These foods not only damage your body, but also cause extra stress with their ill effects and long-term financial effects.
Getting exercise is easy when you think about it. You don’t even have to go to the gym. A simple daily walk can have positive effects, and when you’re more active, you’ll feel better, too. If you take a walk each day, come home and eat healthily, and stick to your bedtime routine, you’ll find that your overall sleep patterns become much more consistent and healthy. Health is not a single-facet pursuit; there are several factors to consider, and you have to make sure you’re hitting all of them.
Final Thoughts on Zzzzzz
An effective and lasting bedtime routine can improve your overall quality of life, your self-esteem, and so much more. Don’t underestimate the power of a consistent good night’s rest! People that get better sleep are happier, more productive, and tend to perform better in all aspects of their life. Ready to get started? It’s time to set up your nightly routine.
