Sara Flower Kjeldsen

Self-Care Sunday – Cozy Evening

A Cozy Evening Routine To Help You Relax Before Bed

I’ve decided to do self-care Sunday blog posts once per month. I hope you enjoy these and find them helpful! I find these tasks can help me unwind before sleep time:

Do a light workout and stretch. One of my new year goals is to stretch more before bed. I usually do exercise in the morning and stretch close to bed time. It signals your body’s cues that it’s time to slow down and get ready for sleep (This is why you often see animals stretching before they curl up for sleep).

Stay off your computer, tablet, or phone at least 1 hour before bed. It’ll help you wind down and prevent you from scrolling mindlessly – or getting into an unexpected conversation when it’s a time you should be relaxing your mind. Being online stimulates the brain, so if you have trouble sleeping, cutting out the Internet browsing before bed can help a lot.

Take a hot shower or bath. While I don’t do this every night, sometimes you just feel the need to relax tense muscles and the heat can help you feel more drowsy. Steam is very therapeutic.

Organize what you’ll need the next day. Depending on your lifestyle, preparing certain items before bed, such as your outfit for the day, work-related items, food prep, etc. can help you feel less tense prior to bed, and you won’t need to rush as much in the morning.

Put away clutter before bed. Sometimes loose ends such as unwashed dishes, unfolded clothes, etc. can eat away into our sleep time, especially if you’re sensitive to clutter – it can actually make you feel restless or “heavy”. Ensuring everything’s neatly put away and cleaned before sleep can help clear your mind.

If you’re tossing and turning, get yourself a glass of water and do a little stretching. If you’re feeling sleepless, waking up and doing a little stretching to relax some tension in the body and mind can help save your sleep. I mean, you’re awake anyway. You might as well do something productive that will help you get more shuteye before the next day ahead.

If something’s weighing on your mind, write it down. I admit I haven’t done this too often in recent years, but I’m starting to write things down in a notebook if I feel wound up about something – it can help save you from lying in bed ruminating all night.

Drink an herbal tea. There are teas such as chamomile that naturally help you feel more sleepy. These are worth a try.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post today. Have a lovely week ahead, everyone! 🙂

12 comments

  1. This is right down the list the sleep hygiene plan I have for all of my patients! Great post! My personal favorite is the writing it down and having that mindful time before bed. Being able to be in your body without the distraction of screens and outside stuff is so good for your mental health. Great post!!

    • No way, Antonio! That’s super amazing! I didn’t realize this was a good universal plan for everyone. Aw thanks so much for your kind words – and you’re right about the writing things down. It really releases those thoughts so you can rest properly.

  2. I always feel heavy when there is clutter leftover on my bed when it’s time to sleep and in general. I also am trying to get into the habit of preparing all my items for the next day so that I can feel ahead in a way. But with both of these examples, there are LOTS of days where I get lazy.

    Great post!

  4. There’s just something about stretching before bed that helps me get to sleep faster. I probably should adopt less screen time, as some nights I find myself laying in bed for an hour, scrolling through all sorts of social media. Thanks for the suggestions!

  5. Smart tips here Sara. I have experienced insomnia a bit recently. I will keep the glass of water and stretching tip in mind. Good idea too for staying off of glowing screens before bedtime.

    Ryan

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