If you’ve ever tried to put a young human to bed, you know how important a bedtime routine is.
Bath. Massage. Jammies. Book. Song. Cuddles. Sleep.
It’s easy as pie, right?!
While experts say that a simple bedtime routine is the key to getting babies to sleep without a struggle.
(Unfortunately, this wasn’t true in my parenting experience. For all of the many gifts my children were born with, sleeping on their own is NOT one of them!)
Alas, the advice still bears merit.
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Bedtime routines aren’t just for babies!
A bedtime routine helps the body and mind slow down and prepare for rest. While we gently guide babies through this transition, adults need help, too! Adults often struggle with the day-to-night, work-to-rest transition just as much as babies do.
There might be a combination of factors contributing to sleep challenges. A snoring partner. Hot flashes. Feeling tired but wired. A racing mind that won’t stop until it goes through the whole day’s failures and tomorrow’s gauntlet of a schedule. All of these issues are common in women in perimenopause.
For women over 40, sleep may be elusive. The hormonal rollercoaster of perimenopause often leaves women fighting for sleep. The good news is that common sleep problems often have surprisingly easy solutions.
Whatever the cause, sleeping troubles have a profound effect on all aspects of your life. Certainly, not sleeping well causes fatigue and slow mental processing. But lack of sleep affects your immune system negatively as well. Not getting quality sleep also likely makes you snappy and crabby, which has sour effects on your social life.
On the other hand, getting quality sleep on a regular basis has the potential to make profound positive effects on your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Having a bedtime routine may seem like a silly way to get yourself on the path to better sleep. A study in the Journal of Gerontology found, however, that much like babies, adults like predictability.
Your body recognizes the calming process of the bedtime routine. Gently guiding your body from work to rest is an easy and cost-free way to improve your overall wellness.
Even better, an effective bedtime routine need not be long and elaborate. It simply needs to be done in the same sequence every night for your body to get the message that it’s time to slow down.
My favorite cue to begin a bedtime routine is turning down the lights. This is a simple but effective way to signal to your body that it is time to slow down. Turning down the lights taps in to the primal part of our brain that is wired to make us diurnal (daytime awake/nighttime asleep) creatures. Give your body the clue that the day is ending, and it’s time to prepare for rest.
Here are three options for sleep rituals that will take no more than ten, twenty, or thirty minutes before bedtime:
A (less than!) ten-minute bedtime routine
- Turn down the lights in your bedroom and bathroom
- Wash your face, brush your teeth, and use the toilet
- Change into your pajamas—light, silky ones are best if you’re prone to night sweats
- Sit on the side of your bed. Close your eyes and take three-five deep breaths.
- Grab your gratitude journal off your bedside table. Quickly jot down five things from the day for which you are grateful.
- Turn off the lights. The darker your room, the deeper your sleep.
- Lie down in bed. Close your eyes. Consciously relax each muscle group, from the head all the way down to the toes. Breathe deeply and fully.
A twenty-minute bedtime routine
- Turn down the lights in your bedroom and bathroom
- Wash your face, brush your teeth, and use the toilet
- Change into your pajamas
- Sit on the side of your bed. Close your eyes and take three-five deep breaths.
- Grab your gratitude journal off your bedside table. Quickly jot down five things from the day for which you are grateful.
- Lie down in bed. Is your pillow comfy? (A pillow that suits you is key to a good night’s sleep! This pillow is my fave.)
- Turn off the lights.
- Do a 10-minute guided meditation, like my Body Blessing Meditation
A thirty-minute bedtime routine
- Turn down the lights in your bedroom and bathroom
- Grab your yoga mat and set it out
- Wash your face, brush your teeth, and use the toilet
- Change into your pajamas- Ladies, if you feel uncomfortable moving around without a bra, try the Coobie for sleeping.
- Sit on the side of your bed. Close your eyes and take three-five deep breaths.
- Grab your gratitude journal off your bedside table. Quickly jot down five things from the day for which you are grateful.
- Pull up one of Yoga with Adriene’s relaxation or restorative sequences (If your phone, tablet, or laptop doesn’t have a blue light blocker, you could wear these sexy glasses if you need to watch the video. Blocking blue light waves Experienced yogis can probably follow along with audio only—Adriene is an excellent verbal instructor.)
- Turn off the lights.
- Slide into bed, stretched and relaxed.
My final tip for starting new sleep rituals:
Before you enter your bedroom, dock your phone for the night outside your room. Having a media cutoff time (with the exception of a guided meditation or yoga practice) is a great way to start a bedtime routine. Allow your body the chance to shut off and restore! Sleep tight!
The Well Balanced Women blog is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please discuss your health issues with a licensed medical practitioner.
