Creating a consistent, meaningful evening routine with rituals can help reduce anxiety and stress, and signal to your brain that it’s time to transition to sleep mode.
If your idea of a nighttime routine is changing into comfy clothes, brushing your teeth, and scrolling on your phone, you’re not alone.
But be honest with yourself, is that cutting it? Are you able to fall asleep easily and get a good night’s sleep? Or do you have trouble shutting your mind off, maybe even feeling stress in your body as you toss and turn? Evening rituals, or consistent intentional habits, can help you ease into the evening with less stress and prepare you for better sleep.
Here are 9 ideas for simple evening rituals.
Think of this as an a la carte menu to create your ultimate bedtime routine.
Certain drinks, such as herbal teas and warm milk, may help you get better sleep by calming the mind and body. Teas such as chamomile, ashwagandha, valerian, and peppermint are good ones to try.
Some people find warm milk helps. Almond milk is also a choice as it’s high in sleep-promoting hormones and minerals, including tryptophan, melatonin, and magnesium.
Not interested in tea or milk? Tart cherry juice has been shown to significantly increase sleep quality and duration.
By the end of the day, your brain has a bunch of “open tabs.”
Write down all the things you didn’t get done that day.
It sounds counterintuitive, but in a study at Baylor University, it was found that people who listed what they didn’t get done, and would maybe go on tomorrow’s to-do instead, helped people get to sleep 9 to 10 minutes faster than those who wrote a list of what they did accomplish that day.
Tabs closed for the night.
Your evening skin care routine may be simple or complex, but as long as you follow it each night around the same time, it sends a signal to your body and mind that bedtime is near. You’re removing any makeup and grime from the day, and preparing for sleep.
Instead of rushing through washing your face and applying any hydrating products afterward, take your time, pamper your skin, and breathe deeply. Maybe even include a little face massage.
This may be part of your skin care routine, but taking a warm bath is a way to soothe the nervous system, ease symptoms of anxiety, reduce tension, and relax your breathing.
Studies show that taking a bath is more beneficial to mental and physical health than taking a shower, but not wanting to or having time to run a full bath every single night is understandable. You might opt for a weekly or biweekly bedtime bath instead.
And even a simple
You’ve likely heard before that looking at screens before bed isn’t great for your sleep, and it’s true.
Another way to help transition your body to bedtime? Turning off any bright overhead lights or any cool-toned ones and instead using soft, warm-toned lights in the hour before bed. These are gentler on the eyes and mimic the sunset, cuing your circadian rhythm that it’s time to wind down.
Evening stretches, or meditation, don’t have to take long. Even just 5 minutes can help. Meditation can help decrease ruminating thoughts, blood pressure, and heart rate, and may increase melatonin and serotonin production in your body — both of which help you sleep.
This fun little tool can be used in tandem with almost any other tips on this list. They’re small candles, usually made from beeswax, that burn for approximately 20 minutes, and that’s it. An analog timer that’s been around for thousands of years!
Put your phone away and burn a 20-minute candle while journaling, bathing, meditating, or reading before bed. Just be sure they’re in a safe place away from children and pets.
When the brain hears a sound, it sends a signal to the limbic system, which attaches memories or emotions to the sound. Sounds are also processed faster than visuals.
A sound can be a powerful tool that helps cue your mind and body that it’s time for rest. This may have little effect the first few times, but after it becomes a habit, a ritual, your brain will associate the sound with bedtime.
Consistent sound examples are white noise, pink noise, or nature sounds. But a short noncontinuous sound can also work, such as gently striking a low frequency tuning fork.
Reading before bed can improve the quality of your sleep. It can also increase how long you stay asleep and ease stress. According to an older study by Mindlab International at Sussex University, reading (for fun) for as little as 6 minutes has been shown to reduce stress levels by 68%.
And unless you have an e-reader that doesn’t emit blue light, it’s best to opt for good old paper and ink. Audio books are also a great option, as you can close your eyes while you listen and get sleepy.
One or more evening rituals, in addition to practicing other elements of good sleep hygiene, can help you fall asleep happier and wake up feeling more rested.
Choose a sequence of rituals that works for you. How many you choose depends on what makes you feel good and what you can keep to consistently.