My Bed Time Ritual For A Nice Sleep

To have an efficient day, it’s important that you have slept well the previous night. Sleeping better ensures your body is fully charged to take over the next day. I am a stay at home mother and my prime duties revolve around my son and home. My blog is like my second baby who is still like an infant and demands my entire love and attention leaving no time for myself. Sometimes, I really have to give up my sleep to keep everything else going smoothly…. I know, very bad. Here are my tips to sleep better.

When I don’t Get Enough Sleep…

Every week there are some nights when I am sleep deprived. I might be working on my blog, and would not realize when the clock stroked 1 Am or 2 Am. I find it more fruitful to write on my blog at night because there is complete silence and no distractions. But my body clock definitely go crazy with such routines. I so wish we never had  to sleep. And we could function 24 hrs every day.

So the next morning after a long night at work, I would get up with a heavy head. I call it a kind of hangover. I curse myself for not going to sleep earlier. Now there is a row of tasks planned for the day that looks like an impossible thing to do with a dizzy head. I take a big mug of my regular milk tea. But no, it does not cure the heavy head feeling.

Somehow, I am trying hard to sail through the day with all the energy I have left in me and by afternoon, my migraine would get triggered. My eyes refuse to open. Doing a simple chore seem like a big task. I again curse myself for not getting enough sleep.

By the evening I am performing my duties but like a zombie. It hurts to utter a word. I promise myself, I will go to sleep right after finishing the dinner. Not happening. By the time, I am done with the day, It’s already 12 O’Clock. and the cycle continues.

Tips To Sleep Better! What Works For Me?

Behind every bad day, almost every bad day, lack of sleep is involved. I anyway get 5 or 6 hours sleep every day, but when the sleeping hours go down 5 hours in a row, I am screwed. When my sleeping routine is disturbed, my body kind of stops respecting my terms. I would want to sleep, but my mind won’t shut off.

How do I correct my sleeping routine? What calms down my body & mind?

Fix A Routine

Body loves to stay organized. It wants everything to happen at same time every day. So I set a time like 11 PM to goto bed to finally sleep. I go to bed every day at same time. It kinds of re-wires my mind that yes she is willing to sleep. No more goof ups.

Take A Shower

Taking a shower really takes the day off your mind and body. A clean body feels nice. I don’t take a cold shower though that will totally negate the benefits of having a shower at night. During winter, I just wash my face, hands & feet with lukewarm water. I feel very light and good.

Change Into Comfortable Clothes

Now it’s time to change into comfortable but beautiful night wear Changing clothes at night is actually very important. When I change from my day clothes to night clothes, I am kind of programming my mind that I am going to sleep now. Also I make sure that the night clothes are comfortable. I generally like to use satin nightdress. Satin looks quite stylish yet comfortable to skin.

Set The Scene

It’s important you set your bedroom to night mode. I turn off lights, switch off TV and other electronic things so my mind is relaxed. When I am cold I find myself falling asleep easily as compared to when the temperature is bit high. So I make sure to set bring down the room temperature a bit.

Also I like my bedroom to smell fresh. Sometimes, I use a diffuser with few drops of aromatic oil -mostly Lavender.

Make My Bed

Never go to sleep on a messy bed. It’s important that you sleep on fresh and clean sheets. It actually has health & beauty benefits too. Make sure pillow covers are clean too. A freshly made bed kinds of stimulates nice sleep.

Read My Favorite

I love to read. When I find myself not able to sleep, I would pick up a piece of fiction. It kinds of work every time. It induces sleep very fast. Sometimes, I would just go Quora.

Sprinkle Some Lavender

I really thank myself for trying out Lavender Essential Oil. It has numerous benefits. For me the most favored is the fact that Lavender induces nice sleep. It really helps me to go to sleep easily. The unique Lavender fragrance, is so pleasant yet has a magical effect on senses. It calms down my mind which is always thinking in fast lane. I apply few drops on my inner wrist. Sometimes, I sprinkle few drops over my pillow case. No it does not stain my pillow case as it’s an essential oil and not particularly oil.

Cuddle Time

I co sleep with my toddler. I just can’t sleep if he is not next to me. Kissing his innocent sleeping face really makes me forgets my worries. My mind slows down, does not overthink. If it still does not work, I literally wake up my hubby and ask him to hold me. He starts stroking my hair drifting me to sleep.

Afternoon Nap

I have noticed that taking an afternoon nap, not only makes me work more efficiently afterwards, but also helps me sleep at night easily. I don’t have the luxury of time to take a nap daily, but sometimes, I do cheat and can’t thank myself enough.

What does not work for me?

Sadly music never works for me. I can go on listening to music non stop for hours but sleep will stay away from me. It’s because, I love music and my mind kind of gets active.

Meditation is something that can help anyone with anything. but I never got lucky. I find it hard to really practice it. To meditate you must know the right procedure. I never gave it a serious thought. I find it to take a lot of efforts. to really start practicing it.

Things To Avoid To Sleep Better.

• Never take caffeinated drinks during evening. Also limit the quantity as much as you can.
• Don’t undertake heavy exercise routine during evening. Walks after dinner is fine, actually quite helpful for a better sleep.
• Don’t lie over bed until your sleep time.
• Don’t overthink. Pay your gratitude to God for the day & close your eyes.
• Don’t forget to shut down all the electronic devices. Put your phone to aeroplane mode.

These were my few cents to get a better sleep if you find it hard to sleep. I hope you might find it useful. You might also let me know what works for you.  I would love to have more tricks to get a better sleep at night.

 

Much Love

Nisha ❤