Creating a bed time ritual (to help you sleep at night)

London is SWELTERING hot these days and I am just in my ELEMENT.

(Like if your element was FIRE you’d be in your element.)

So whilst I am just loving this cooking-hot summer we are having, it does make falling asleep rather tricky when you are trying to navigate sweat dripping down your kneecaps.

The Warr is very adept at sleeping with no blankets on him (as you would when it’s 36 degrees), I have personally tried this method of ‘carefree-breezy-sleepin’ and I’m not sure on it –

Like, you need a blanket.

Husband is not into the sheet-living-lifestyle, so we have only a “summer” duvet on our bed –

So, I spend most of the night trying to have the duvet on me, but also trying to NOT have the duvet on me.

(v tricky)

“Oh well”

 

In the 4 minutes it’s taken you to even begin to figure out this complex duvet-on/duvet-off conundrum, your husband has fallen asleep.

oh good.

So now you have to just patiently lie awake trying to fall asleep, half in your duvet, half not in your duvet, trying not to sweat too much.

It’s odd, because I try so hard to fall asleep – that sometimes after 30 minutes or so of “really trying” to fall asleep – I actually realise that my eyes are not even closed.

Sometimes the husband will wake from his slumbers and hear my blinking eyes in the darkness  – And I’m all like – he hasn’t even looked at me – how does he KNOW? But anyway,

*fine*

But shortly after you’ve closed your eyes you get the thoughts –

 

* 7 minutes later *

 

 

* 15 minutes later *

 

Then you have a momentary moment of awareness –

 

And you truly have no idea – so you try and retrace your mental steps until eventually you’re so exhausted that you fall right on asleep!

The end.

So

Over the past little while, I’ve started creating some bed time rituals and a “sleep hygiene” routine after a super inspiring conversation with an Uber Driver. Here are a few things that I’ve been putting into practice lately that I’ve been noticing really make a difference to my sleeping.

• Become stricter with yourself on bedtimes
  I’ve become a little bit stricter with myself on bedtimes – (much to my husband’s delight) . I’m a natural night owl – which means that evening times are my “party-time”, it could clock well into the 11pms before I actually realise that I should be asleep. But forcing myself into bed earlier – we’ve aimed for 9:30pm over the last little while (which sometimes runs over to 10pm – but I’m working on it!) – has meant that my body has a bit more of an opportunity to wind down at night. Some nights I’ve even gotten into bed BEFORE the husband (shock!) and spend a few moments reading while he finishes up in the shower. I still end up falling asleep well after him, but it’s a good start! I’ve never before been a person who “has a bed time” but I’ve started putting a very loose guide on this and it’s (slowly) working!
• Create a bedtime “ambiance” (eg. Light candles instead of bedside lights)
  For the last few nights we’ve been lighting candles in the bedroom at night instead of having the bedside lights on. There is something really calming, romantic and soothing about having a soft candle glow in the bedroom. Basically you’re looking to create a really moody bedtime zone – if that looks like playing comforting music do that, if it means lighting incense – do that, if it means spraying some room spray – do that. This is and SHOULD be totally personal to you and what gives you that “big hug” cozy feeling when you walk into your bedroom.
• Take a cold shower right before bed
  This is something new that I’ve been adding to my routine – (thanks to Anna Marsh). Usually I shower straight after getting home from teaching, but lately I’ve been adding a (freezing) 30 seconds or so of shower onto the end of my shower – this is great in the current scorching summer we are having, but it’s also really great for the less hot nights where the cold shower then makes climbing into bed a real toasty treat. Cold showers have a great impact on the nervous system and promote increased circulation. (This is a great read on the benefit and impact this “shock” to the system has on the sympathetic nervous system and the hearts output)
• Leave your phone outside your bedroom
  I have slept with my phone next to my bed for… probably as long as I’ve had a phone. Over the last while I have been leaving my phone in the study and I’ve not only found it to be improving my sleep, but it’s also improving my morning routine as it isn’t the first thing that I have to reach for when I wake up. This is definitely worth giving a go if you’re having trouble getting some shut eye! This goes for all electronics, really.
• Meditate
  This is definitely where I most notice the difference in my sleeping patterns. When I am in a regular meditation practice – I sleep SO much better. (You can read my post about how meditation changes your brain here. You can also grab my free intro to meditation audio guides there too). Having a regular meditation practice helps to generally bring your brain down from it’s everyday Beta state to one of a more alpha state – which is much closer to the theta + delta states required for sleep. It’s just science. 😉

If you have any other great tips that I’ve not mentioned here – I’d LOVE to hear them! What helps you drift off to dream land?
Please share them in the comments below or pop me a message on instagram or facebook!

* * * * *

PS. The “how does The Lord of the Flies end?” was an ACTUAL moment of 3am thoughts, (I know right?!) – I totally would have googled it at 3am, but my phone was in the study. Well done self, lol.

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