If you don’t Master Your Sleep and get enough rest, you may notice that it affects you in ways other than feeling tired. It can wreak havoc on your mental and physical health and lead to feelings of irritability or poor work performance.
Stress and busy schedules every day can contribute to overwhelming feelings and make it challenging to calm down when it’s bedtime. But getting enough quality sleep is necessary to ensure you maintain good health.
So, how can you master your sleep? Here are some helpful tips and daily practices you can start incorporating within your habits to build a bedtime routine that provides better rest so you wake up refreshed each day.
Establishing a Bedtime Routine
Establishing a good bedtime routine involves many different factors. Developing one that works best for you may require you to make some adjustments and experiment to find what provides a calming atmosphere at night.
Trying to master your sleep routines involve specific activities as you prepare for rest. The routine ensures that you work to improve the length and quality of sleep. Just incorporating one or two of these many steps can help you on the journey to better rest.
Creating a Set Time for Bed
The first thing you should try to work toward is getting to bed at the same time each night. Your brain typically begins to wind down a few hours before resting as part of your body’s internal, natural sleep-wake cycle.
Creating a specific bedtime each night is going to help you stick to your schedule and train your brain to feel out of that natural cycle, so you can start to feel tired each night around the same time. Setting an alarm is one of the best ways to ensure you create and eventually stick to this time period.
It’s easy not to remember what time it is when you’re wrapped up in a show or a book at the end of the day, so having that reminder alarm to set at bedtime and to wake up will be a great tool. But set the alarm so that you can begin your bedtime routine about a half hour before your determined bedtime.
Setting the alarm means you must be done with other chores and prep prior to starting your routine. Take an extra fifteen to thirty minutes before your routine begins to ensure you’re ready for the next day, be it putting out the clothes you need to wear, preparing your kid’s lunches for school, or preparing the coffee pot to turn on in the morning.
Set Up Your Sleep Environment in the Bedroom
To get yourself in the mood for sleep, there are a few things you can do to set up your environment. Consider turning off screens and devices before you start your set bedtime routine since those are stimuli that will keep your mind (and body) awake.
If you want an area that’s calming and relaxing, you might want to set the mood in other ways. Spraying a linen spray over your bed with a gentle lavender scent or investing in a stress relief weighted pillow or blanket can be helpful for setting yourself up to have a good night’s sleep.
When creating your bedroom atmosphere, consider whatever will help you fall asleep more easily and feel the most relaxed. Some soft sounds or even a white noise machine might be things you could consider to help calm your mind and put you right to rest.
Have a Light Snack or Tea
If you’re used to having your dinner right before bed or having a couple of alcoholic drinks to wind down in the evening, you may want to rethink this for your bedtime routine. Heavy meals and alcohol create digestive issues that are more disruptive to your sleep cycle.
If you are hungry in the evening, consider having a small, light snack such as a piece of fruit or some nuts. Non-caffeinated teas, like those with lavender or chamomile, are also great beverages to help calm the mind and set the mood for rest.
Stretch and Meditate
Light exercise is another option you may want to consider to improve your quality of sleep. Deep breathing exercises, meditation, and other mindfulness exercises can work with your brain to help you relieve the stresses of the day.
Slow and easy stretches before bed can be helpful to prevent soreness and cramping by relieving muscle tension and improving blood flow. They provide muscle recovery and help you feel relaxed for an effective night’s sleep.
Journaling
Another practice you could try and incorporate within your bedtime routine is journaling. Writing things down can help you sort through thoughts and feelings by getting them out on paper. And, what better to have them there instead of in your head when trying to master your sleep?
You can start with an easy to-do list for the next day to keep yourself on task moving forward so you’re not stressing about it at bedtime. You can also do a thankful journaling practice of writing things that you were grateful for throughout the current day to stay positive and find the good in each day.
Find a Good Book to Read
Reading is a common bedtime routine, and it often stems from childhood, when your parent(s) may have read a bedtime story. People find reading to be soothing, and it can be a good way to help allow the mind to go somewhere else, an escape from anxieties.
Find a book with a simple plot, and consider reading it at the start of your routine before you head off to bed with a soft, warm lamplight or book light. When you start to feel tired, it’s a signal that your body is ready for sleep.
Take a Warm Bath
Scientists have found that a warm bath mimics a nighttime drop in body temperature, triggering a sleepy reaction. If you take a warm bath before you begin your bedtime routine, it will help signal your body with a sensation to help you feel more tired.
Build A Better Bedtime Routine
Pick just one of the activities above as part of your new routine to start, and there are more ideas you can research and try. You can eventually add a few more or adjust and only do two or three in total. Eventually, you should find which routines work best to help you feel prepared for a good night’s sleep.
Your body and health will thank you, and you’ll be able to see that it doesn’t have to be difficult to master your sleep. You’ll wake feeling more energized each day, and your body will get used to calming itself more naturally at night to help you prepare for rest.
