Wellness Rituals for a Good Night's Sleep

A good night's sleep is a wonderful thing! Unfortunately, for some people, it feels like an impossible dream. According to the National Council on Aging, 13.5% of people say they spend most days feeling tired or exhausted, and it all stems from not getting enough sleep at night.

Your body needs rest for recovery and to help avoid health problems like diabetes and heart disease. Doctors recommend adults get 7 or more hours of sleep per 24-hour period. Are you getting enough? Because rest is crucial to good health, establishing nightly wellness rituals is an important part of a good 5-9 self-care routine.

Set a regular routine to signal to your brain that it's time to unwind and relax. You can start by simply washing your face with a gentle cleanser and brushing your teeth. The next steps are up to you, but there's one thing to be sure to do no matter what: avoid blue light before bed. Turn the screens off early because electronics, like phones, e-readers, televisions, etc., emit blue light that is hazardous to our sleep since it disrupts our body's natural ability to make melatonin.

Other things to avoid in the hours leading up to bedtime: alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and heavy meals. All of these can interfere with your efforts to relax.

Winding down before bed can include any of the following actions. The key to establishing a nighttime ritual is to start at the same time every night, doing the same things in the same order, ending with a set bedtime.

• Yoga or gentle stretching – Ease into the routine with the cat-cow, happy baby, or child's pose. Try to synchronize your breathing to the movements, or just slow your breathing to help you relax your body and mind.
• Meditate – Meditation works to clear your mind of the day's stresses. The simplest form of meditation is focusing on taking slow deep breaths. When a thought intrudes, just acknowledge it, and let it go, refocusing on your breathing.
• Take a warm bath – Relax with bubbles or Epsom salts to soothe tired muscles. Then towel off with one of Cozy Earth's ultra-plush bath towels.
• Reading books – Thrillers and horror are not the best choices since they can affect your heart rate and dreams. Literary fiction is more likely to help your body relax, but the genre you read really is a personal choice. Additional benefits to reading before bed include boosting creativity, helping with cognitive function, and improving empathy.
  For bedtime reading, avoid e-readers because most of them emit blue light, which inhibits the body's ability to make melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep.
• Relaxing music – If reading isn't your thing, listening to soft music can help you drift off to dreamland.
• Journaling – Writing down your thoughts about the day, tomorrow's to-do list, or our favorite – the top 3 things you're grateful for in that moment – will help you clear your mind before falling asleep.

Following these tips should help you achieve that quality rest your body needs, and when you rest better at night, you can shine brighter in the morning.