Preparing for a restful night sleep starts the day before. It’s a cycle after all, and my plan is to maintain between six to eight hours of nightly sound slumber before waking up early the next morning. If I wasn’t lucky sleeping early, I would still try my best to wake up early and get out of bed – already done with morning meditation, intention setting, breathing, gentle in-bed stretching and whatever follows in my morning routine– by 6:30 am.
Waking up early allows my body to get a higher and stronger light exposure which stimulates my biological clock and allow the related chemistry inside the body to flow on point. If I feel tired, I can always have a nap, or practice a longer meditation session, then aim to sleep earlier the night that follows so by the next morning my body is fully rested and my energy is restored. Sleeping before midnight generally have the most rejuvenating effects. Therefore, if you are sleeping eight hours between 10 pm and 6 am, you will feel more rested than sleeping eight hours between midnight and 8 am for example.
During the day, I make sure to have a walk in the day light regardless the weather. Ten to twenty minutes of mid-day sunlight exposure, helps the body align with the natural rhythms and again, keeping the biological clock in-check. I try to exercise in the mornings, and my second best timing is early in the evening. Same thing applies to my meditation practice. Keeping a routine and an active lifestyle helps regulating the biology for the best results. I try to keep enough time between exercising, meditating, dinner or any food intake, and my sleeping hour. If I don’t, I could end up feeling excited, stimulated or sleep on a full stomach which will not allow me maximum rest.
I don’t usually nap, if I do, it’s a 25 min “power nap” before 4 pm. This rule applies to having coffee or tea in the afternoons; as well as any vitamins or supplements. I love my morning coffee, yet having the same cup of coffee in the afternoon will cost me a night of restlessness and insomnia. No, thank you! Once it’s past mid-day, I usually switch to herbal — caffeine free drinks and enjoy them instead. Keeping alcohol at a minimum and not having a drink within two hours of bed time, affects the quality of my sleep and how fast I fall asleep.
Once the sun sets, I design my activities to be more soothing and less aggravating to my body and mind. I plan social activities with friends, sunset or after dinner walks. Less time on electronic devises (smart phone, tablets, laptops, etc ..) including TV, and more time away from it all. Nothing I do, have, watch or read after sunset should have a stimulating, upsetting or irritating effect.The blue light emitted from screens and some light bulbs, is stimulating and suppresses the body’s natural release of melatonin —a substance which helps with day-night regulation. Browsing your phone while it’s getting dark outside affects your biological clock and messes it up.
About an hour before bedtime, I usually prepare myself a hot bath with a few drops of calming aromatherapy essential oil. I love Ylang-ylang, jasmine and orange blossom. Explore and choose the relaxing aroma of your preference. My other favorites are lavender, chamomile, vanilla, and sandalwood. You can diffuse the same scent in your bedroom, using a scented candle or an incense. This helps you calm and soothe yourself before sleeping. Lighting up a candle and putting on soft music helps me relax even more, as I’m soaking in the hot bath.
Being a fan, practitioner and an advocate over the past 11 years for the Ayurvedic self administrated oil massage practice (abhyanga). I usually perform an invigorating self massage in the morning to get the body activated, and a slow massage at night, using mostly sesame oil, which works best with my mind-body constitution (Dosha). Coconut, olive and almond oils work well with me too. Choose your massage oil depending on what suits your mind-body constitution and preference best. You can always add few essential oil drops to your oil massage bottle, to nourish and calm the mind while you’re workin and relaxing the body. After the massage, I allow myself ten to fifteen minutes of complete relaxation in the bath while soaking in the warm water.
After the bath, I would drink something warm. Usually Chamomile, Anise or another relaxing herbal infusions. Ayurveda recommends a cup of warm milk with honey and nutmeg and/or cardamom. In my “Golden Milk” recipe, I use non dairy milk with honey, turmeric, cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon. It makes me feel deeply grounded. Valerian root, lemon balm and passion flower are particularly calming and would help in further relaxation.
For nourishing sleep, I worked my bedroom into becoming a haven for rest. With no clutter or electronics near or around my bed. I only keep a journal, along with an inspirational or spiritual book or two to read for few minutes before sleeping. I use the journal to dump what happened throughout the day that passed, sketch and plan the day that’s coming, organize my thoughts and declutter anything I’m holding on that doesn’t belong to me anymore. Whether it’s a thought or a feeling that needs to be shifted or simply disregarded, processing it before sleeping have helped me sleep deeper, with more ease.
Once in bed, I start by closing my eyes, taking couple slow and deep breaths while scanning my body for any tension. Wherever I notice tension, I consciously allow further relaxation to soothe that area. Finally, I practice recapitulation. I try to repeat the day’s events in reverse, from the moment I’m on my bed at night backwards till the moment I opened my eyes in the morning. Most days I still sleep half way.