What's Your Nightly Routine?
As so many of us are self-isolating or quarantining ourselves, we are able to develop new habits which we may have been wanting to for a while. During times of upheaval and uncertainty, routines and schedules can be truly helpful for keeping us on track where work is concerned and keeping our minds off of things which breed anxiety and a host of other negative emotions.
I’m sure in the course of wanting to better yourself you’ve come across articles and books touting the importance of establishing a morning routine. The most successful men and women in the world have methodical morning routines which they adhere to in order to accomplish the things which they want to before their workday even begins.
However, I have seen very few articles devoted to one’s nightly routine. Given the importance of sleep to our mental health, the habits we have leading up to bedtime are equally as important as those we have in the morning.
While in the morning we focus on rousing ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally for the day via such avenues as exercise and time in prayer or meditation, in the evening, we need to shift that focus to quieting ourselves in preparation for a good night’s sleep.
I’m not an expert at this by any stretch of the imagination, but there are several things which I know help me relax my whole being before I climb into bed.
FELLOWSHIP: Sitting down to dinner with the family where we break bread together. Conversing and unwinding our day together in fellowship really goes a long ways to settling me for the evening. Now, if you’re quarantined away from your family and/or friends, I would encourage you to make a digital date. There are a wide variety of programs that allow for us to meet face to face digitally, such as Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangout, Skype, etc. Make a date with a friend or a few friends, pick a time that works for all of you, and have dinner together. Talk about the things that occupied your time and mind during the day. Fellowship is essential for the health and wellbeing of our spirits and our souls.
DECLUTTERING/CLEANING: When I say decluttering, I don’t me to do an extensive analysis of all that you own for the purpose of parring things down; that’s a huge project preferably allotted a chunk of time exclusively for the task. I mean a quick tidying. Cleaning the kitchen. Empty the sink. Load the dishwasher. Wash off the countertops. Prepare the coffee pot or tea pot for the next morning. Put away any laundry you’ve stacked. Tidy the countertops in your bedroom- your nightstand, your bureau, your dresser top. These sorts of menial tasks make me feel like I’m taking the first steps for a good morning, which relaxes me. There’s something very important about waking up to things being neat and tidy. Especially in the kitchen.
BATHING: Take a hot bath or shower an hour before bed. In my post A Few of My Favorite Things: Taking a Bath, I talk about different ways you can take your bath to the next level to fully help you unwind and detox.
READ: Read a good book. When you get into bed, one of the surest ways to throw off your circadian rhythm is by picking up your phone. Unless you’ve invested in special glasses that block out the blue light that our devices emit, scrolling on your phone can actually disrupt your sleep. So, once you’ve had your bath or shower, don’t pick up your phone again. It’s too tempting to just start scrolling. And Lord knows we don’t need to be scrolling through the negative news feeds that are popping up on so many sites and social media apps. Instead, read a book. My preferences are fiction, but you can read whatever you want. Just make sure it’s something that doesn’t make you anxious or overstimulated. If you need any recommendations, I have numerous ones at the bottom of this post in the section called Books to Love.
TEA: A cup of tea. My mother swears by chamomile in the evening. I prefer peppermint. But a delicious non-caffeinated herbal tea can be immensely soothing to the body and mind. (If you’re a breast-feeding mama, Traditional Medicinals has a great tea called Mother’s Milk. It’s really quite good straight up or with a little honey.)
TAKE A BREATH: Practice your breathing. I’ve already written about this in this post Tune Out the Noise, Turn Up the Quiet, but there is an art to breathing. Following the techniques laid out in this post will help to relax your body, particularly if you’re already laying down in bed.
FIND OUT WHAT BOTHERS YOU: For me, it’s any light sources in the bedroom after the lights have been turned out. I simply can’t abide them. For my husband, it’s more a noise factor. What do we do? While my husband sleeps with ear plugs, I make sure that all charging lights and whatnot are covered up.
TEMPERATURE: And, on that note, find the right room temperature for yourself. We like our room on the cooler side. Regardless of what time of year, we always have the ceiling fan going. And while we do have a space heater for the evenings when it gets really cold outside, we tend to keep the thermostat in our room around sixty degrees in the evening. I’d rather add another blanket or two to the bed than have the room too hot.
EXERCISE: Perhaps this one ought to have been first, but I’ve only just recalled it. During the day, whether it’s part of your morning routine or something you squeeze in throughout your day, get at least 10-15 minutes of exercise in. This post A Few of My Favorite Things: My Pilates Practice has links to all sorts of workout option that fit nearly every preference.
While I don’t do all of these things every night, I do at least half of them nightly, and I can tell you that by the time I climb into bed, I’m ready to sleep and sleep deeply. (Right now, my nightly routine is a little out of wack as I have a newborn son, but we’re getting into a rhythm and establishing some healthy nightly routines even if they are between feedings.)
Oh, here’s another thing that I do. I take my calcium and magnesium supplement right before I go to sleep.
And, one final note. This is something I highly recommend NOT doing both right away in the morning and right before you go to sleep. DO NOT CHECK THE NEWS. In general, and particularly right now, there’s nothing but negativity in the news. Certainly there are a few stories out there that aren’t all bad, but the predominant headlines now are all tinged with fear. You don’t need to start or finish your day with fear. Rather, be intentional. I start my day with a devotional- YouVersion’s Holy Bible app has many you can choose from- and I finish my day with another devotional. If devotionals aren’t your cup of tea, may I recommend two apps that are excellent for meditation daily. Calm is a fantastic app that invites everyone to do a Daily Calm exercise. You can also search out meditations based on what your feeling in the moment- anxiety, depression, etc. Calm also has sleep stories, one of which is read by Matthew McConaughey. And there’s nothing like a good bedtime story to put you to sleep. Headspace is also a great meditation app which touts itself as the gym membership for the mind. With the bi-line Mediation and Sleep Made Simple, Headspace encourages you to exercise your mind with various courses and classes all of which promote a good night’s sleep. The app also offerings guidance through various techniques such as how to quiet rampaging thoughts and still your mind. There’s also access to sleeping soundtracks and soundscapes. Both of these apps allow for a 7-day free trial; the membership for both is $13 monthly or a one time $70 annually.
Your nightly ritual is very important. What are some things you do to endeavor to have a good night’s sleep? What are some of the things you know you can improve on? (For me, it’s my phone. I do pick it up and scroll about before I turn out my light. And I don’t have those special glasses either.)
