Create a nightly power-down routine
Sleep is one of the most important components of our health. Without good quality sleep, every aspect of our health will suffer. This week, create and implement a nightly power-down routine to help you get the best quality sleep possible.
Importance
We all know that sleep is important. When we sleep, our bodies and brains recover from the previous day and get ready for the following day. Our muscles recover, waste and debris are cleared from our brains, and memories are consolidated. Sleep underpins everything; if you’re not getting enough quality sleep, you’re going to start to suffer across all areas of your life. A lack of sleep leads to reduced immune functioning, increased systemic inflammation, increased blood pressure, and weight gain, among many other detrimental consequences.
Creating an effective power-down routine will ensure that your body and mind are optimized for sleep.
Implementation
Your power-down routine ideally needs to start a few hours before sleep. Try to follow these guidelines as many nights as possible this week:
No exercise at least 4 hours before bed
No food or liquids (except water) at least 2 hours before bed
No alcohol at least 90 minutes before bed
No screens or other blue light at least 1 hour before bed
No mental stimulation or stress at least 1 hour before bed
Now that you have taken things out of your nightly routine, we can add some powerful strategies into your routine:
Utilize scents: Find a scent and create an anchor from it - Aaron Alexander, the author of The Align Method, describes anchors as, “The association of an external stimulus with an internal response. With time and repetition, it can become a powerful tool to be accessed at will.” An anchor will cue your physiology to get ready for sleep. I use lavender oil which I drop into a diffuser each night, and as soon as I smell the lavender, I feel safe and relaxed. My body and mind become calm. Find a scent that works for you.
Have a hot shower or bath: For quality sleep, we want our core temperature to drop a little bit. Having a hot shower or bath leads to your blood moving toward your extremities, which results in a lowered core temperature, ideal for sleep. Initially, our core temperature will increase, but as we exit the bath or shower, our bodies rapidly cool which stimulates the production of melatonin.
Gentle movement: Try incorporating some gentle movement into the final hour before sleep. Some bedtime yoga or foam rolling are powerful ways to connect with the body and relax before getting into bed.
If you utilize these techniques and still end up having a bad sleep, don’t stress. Just try again tonight. You can read this article to find out how to support your body after a bad night of sleep:
7 Ways to Support Your Body After a Bad Sleep
For further information on sleep and evening routines, you can check out the following articles which I have attached free links for:
5 Ways to End Your Day Mindfully
How to Improve Your Quality of Sleep in 10 Minutes
Improve Your Sleep Using These 6 Methods
5 Practices to Include in Your Evening Routine
A nightly power-down routine is a great practice for increasing sleep quality, and subsequently increasing your overall health. This week, try to create and implement a power-down routine. Find what works for you and play around with these practices. It will be well worth your time.
One last thing before you go. I am in the process of writing an ebook and would love your input! I’d be hugely grateful if you could fill out this short survey, which should only take about 30 seconds.