Written by Sarah Huerter
A nightly routine or ritual can become your own personal ceremony to let your mind and body know it’s time to wind down and prepare for rest. Creating a bedtime ritual invites higher quality beauty sleep, which is the foundation for better overall health. When your mood is improved, you are also likely to experience increased energy and immune function. This leads to easier decision making, improved learning, and increased performance. These are but a few reasons why we think that prioritizing a sleep routine is so important and should be implemented nightly.
Just like brushing your teeth before bed, these suggestions can become a second nature habit with some upfront effort and commitment. Make it your priority to establish your own unique evening practice. Here’s what we’ve found works best for us…
Early morning sun
An optimal nights’ sleep starts first thing in the morning, getting early morning sun exposure. When full spectrum light (not the same as lights in our home, only real deal sunlight) hits our eyes, face, and skin, information gets sent to our brains, informing our body to “wake up” with hormones to follow suit. Melatonin gets suppressed while a healthy amount of serotonin and cortisol kick on. Morning serotonin is the precursor to evening melatonin, which is the rhythmic release to help regulate sleep. The process is wildly intelligent and it’s true… better sleep starts when you wake.. get outside and soak up the rays.
Magnesium
This essential and vital mineral and co-enzyme is key for metabolic processes including sleep. Magnesium has been shown to have therapeutic value in treating sleep disorders and insomnia. It not only helps us snooze but it impacts and supports nearly all the systems of the body, including energy production, building hormones, cellular growth and reproduction. Ancient Minerals topical magnesium is one of the highest quality sources we’ve found and is our go-to. The whole tribe uses it. Just spritz a couple times on the tops of your feet before crawling into bed, it's easily absorbed and is a simple and straightforward step that your body will thank you for.
Unplug
Our ancestors followed nature's cues, rising and resting according to the sun. Being exposed to harsh blue lights and wifi can really dysregulate the body’s circadian rhythm. Stay off screens for 1-2 hours before bed, and use blue blocking glasses if you cannot. Remove or block any light sources in your bedroom, such as digital clocks, lights on humidifiers, street lights out your windows, everything. Invest in a nice eye mask to ensure total darkness, mine usually falls off by sunrise to allow waking with the sun. Unplug the wifi router. Use candles or salt lamps to slowly lessen the brightness of lights during the moonlit hours. Swap out phone use for a good book and see how quickly you drift asleep.
Gratitude prayer
Reflecting and showing thanks for another day of life can offer peace and mental wellbeing. It helps us shift our perspective from constantly doing to what we so humbly receive. It’s a simple act, with high value. Pausing and focusing on moments from your day that you’re grateful for, sets the tone for the dream state you enter and how you begin your new day. When we have a grateful heart, this brings and invites more love and appreciation into our lives.
Nasal Breathing
Breathing through the mouth all night can be detrimental to the quality of our sleep. Our nose is our body’s natural filtration system that protects dust, pollen, and mold from getting into our lungs. Gently taping your mouth at night directs, promotes, and trains breathing through the nose, rather than the mouth. Nasal breathing while sleeping assures deep and successful sleep throughout all the stages and cycles in a night. This level of relaxation is achieved because breathing from our nose balances and maintains homeostasis. We sleep a third of our life, nasal breathing allows for the recharge and restore our body’s so deeply need.
Lather Up
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention a solid bedtime beauty routine. Our skin is our largest organ, absorbing what we apply to our face and body… It's essential to be mindful of what we lather up in. To maintain your natural beauty with only clean ingredients, we love tallow based balms. Krowa Beauty is the pioneer with pristine pasture raised tallow, from top of the line cows in New Zealand. Check it out here.
Consistent sleep time
A consistent sleep-wake schedule helps to maintain the body’s circadian rhythm. This is your body’s 24-hour biological clock that regulates your day and night processes. Creating and sticking to a sleep routine and pattern helps your body run smoothly and efficiently. Our bodies thrive on sticking to the same sleep schedule and function to follow the pattern from the day and night before.
Sleep is extremely important and we know you think so too. Give the list a shot and see how a sleep ritual can impact and improve the rest of your resting and waking life.