A Good Sleep Ritual

Hit some z's with a good sleep ritual.

*Adapted from my upcoming ebook: How to Feel Good

A good sleep ritual = good sleep hygiene. A sleep ritual is a consistent, intentional routine you follow each night to signal to your brain and body that it’s time to wind down and prepare for sleep. The purpose is to reduce stimulation, promote relaxation, and cue your circadian rhythm so falling asleep (and staying asleep) becomes easier over time.

Spending the hour before bed at a lower level of light, putting away screens (phones, computers, and TVs), doing some gentle movement like stretching, journaling or doing a brain dump, meditation, reading, and of course, personal hygiene (toothbrushing, face washing, etc).

What you do for your sleep ritual is entirely up to you, but here’s my routine:

• Put your phone away. No screen time 1-2 hours before bed. Leave it in another room entirely while I’m sleeping.

• Drink herbal tea. Chamomile is preferred because it contains a compound called apigenin that helps us relax.

• Do some journaling. Maybe I’ll do a brain dump if I’m feeling particularly anxious or stressed or overwhelmed. My brain dumps are often just me writing down stream of consciousness style everything that I need to do or everything I’m thinking about. No grammar, no editing. Then I give myself permission to put all of it down until the morning. I either write that part down at the end or I say it outloud. Most days I ask myself four questions: 

  • What gave me energy? 

  • What drained me? 

  • What did I learn?

  • What am I excited about?

• Stretch a little bit. Nothing crazy. No hot yoga, I just do what feels good.

• Brush my teeth. Wash my face. Maybe slug. Oh you don’t know about slugging? It’s a skincare thing. Basically it just traps moisture in your face overnight to improve the quality of your skin. It’s not for the faint of heart.

• Tuck the dog in her dog bed. I actually go sit in her bed with her and pet her and maybe talk to her a bit and cuddle and just generally make sure to say goodnight to her in a good way. I often end up with dog hair in my mouth and stuck to my face (remember, I’m slugged) after this.

• So now that I’m in bed I’m really tempted to immediately read, but instead I end up talking to my partner for a minute or two about our day. Then we say goodnight (very important, don’t skip this if you sleep in the same bed as your partner).

• Still tempted to read but first I’m going to do a brief meditation or prayer. I have a mantra that I repeat to myself often. I’ll spend a moment repeating the mantra, visualizing it, and slowing my breathing down.

• Finally, I read until I fall asleep. Always fiction, never nonfiction. Nonfiction just doesn’t turn my brain off the way I need it to. While I read I continue to slow my breathing.

• As I notice I’m starting to drift off I try to catch myself and intentionally turn the light off. This doesn’t always happen, sometimes I have to wake up and turn the light off. Whoops.

Okay, that’s my sleep ritual but yours can be whatever you want it to be. It just has to be something that you feel naturally inclined to repeat every single night. So tucking my dog in, saying goodnight to my partner, meditating, reading, all of these are things I would do anyways. That makes it very easy to adhere to my routine.

What are a few things you already do? What's something you could add to your routine? Maybe try putting your phone away earlier and leave it out of your bedroom, maybe do a bit of stretching or mindful breathing.