When it comes to feeling well rested in the morning, it’s often what you do the night before that contributes to that quality of rest. Waking up tired, despite getting only eight hours of sleep, can be frustrating, and it’s a common cycle that happens for many.
Morning energy isn’t just decided by when you wake up, but it’s built up the night before and determined by how much good, quality sleep you get.
Small and intentional physical and mental shifts before bed help to prime your body for deep recovery. By optimizing your environment and clearing your mind, you can unlock a truly restorative sleep that benefits you greatly.
The Digital Sunset
As you wind down for bedtime, it can be typical for many people to want to go on their phones or engage in content on their tablet, laptop, or television screen.
However, all of that blue light from screens when you’re trying to unwind and get ready for bed isn’t helpful. It actually tricks the brain into thinking that it is still daytime and suppresses melatonin production as a result.
Setting a digital curfew is a good idea so that you’re keeping out that blue light before your head hits the pillow. Sixty minutes should do it.
Swap any scrolling for analog activities instead. Whether that be listening to a podcast or reading. These are great alternatives to help avoid blue light. Be sure to use dim, warm lighting in the bedroom to help signal your nervous system that both safety and sleep are coming.
Brain-Dumping and Mental Decelerating
It’s always good to clear your mind before clearing the room. Cortisol and racing thoughts can often be the ultimate enemy of deep sleep stages.
Whilst decluttering your space physically is also helpful, doing it mentally should be the first step you take.
First and foremost, keep a notebook on your nightstand for that nightly brain dump so you’re unloading everything from your mind before going to sleep. It’s also good to write down your to-do list tomorrow so that it physically overloads any anxiety from your working memory.
Spending three minutes practicing box breathing helps to activate what’s called the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you to lower stress levels. You can do this breathing technique by inhaling for four, holding for four, exhaling for four, and holding for four again.
Optimize Your Airway for Deep Sleep
To help improve the quality of sleep you’re getting, it’s helpful to optimize your airway so that you’re getting a deeper sleep as a result.
Oxygen delivery is a crucial part of entering deep sleep and restorative REM cycles. Mouth breathing can improve sleep quality and prevent you from waking up with a dry mouth or grogginess.
To help improve your airways and increase the quality and length of deep sleep, it’s good to look at nasal strips. You’ll want to read up on how to apply nasal strips correctly so that it’s being productive to your sleep routine, rather than causing a nuisance.
Drug-free nasal strips are something to add to your nightly skincare or washing routine. Physically lifting the nasal passages helps to reduce airway resistance and encourages more nasal breathing than mouth breathing when you’re asleep.
Aside from the deep sleep quality, you’ll also notice a lower chance of waking up in the middle of the night. Your partner or family members may notice reduced snoring, and for your body, it provides a steady flow of oxygen.
The Physical Cool-Down
The body will naturally need to drop its core temperature by around 1 to 2 degrees in order to initiate and maintain a deep sleep.
Therefore, it’s useful to take a warm shower or bath around 90 minutes before bed. This helps heat. The vasodilation is what helps heat escape from your body and cools your core faster afterwards.
It’s also useful to set your thermostat to what’s considered an expert-recommended sleep sweet spot of 15-19°C.
When heading to bed, you should opt for breathable and loose-fitting cotton or bamboo pyjamas. This ensures you get a well-rested sleep with your body being cool and comfortable throughout the night.
The same goes for anything else you wear to bed; try to do the same with things like an eye mask and the sheets you put on your bedding, too. Everything should be breathable and made out of materials like cotton or bamboo.
Create the Right Environment in the Room
In general, the environment you create in your bedroom is essential. It all contributes to how quickly you fall asleep and the quality of that sleep throughout the night. With that in mind, here are a few more considerations to think about implementing:
Blackout blinds
Blackout blinds can be great for dealing with the lighter nights during the warmer months, when the days are longer. Any sort of light can end up waking you up, especially early in the morning.
It’s good to look at eye masks too, whether this is an addition to the blinds or an alternative if you don’t currently have blackout blinds.
Earplugs
Earplugs can be great for blocking out noise from outside or from inside the home, like the washing machine timer activating in the early hours of the morning.
White noise machines
If you prefer noise in the space to fall asleep, then white noise machines or playing white noise on your phone or on an Alexa is a good way of helping block out external noise and providing a gentle background noise to fall asleep to.
Incorporate Evening Rituals for Rested Mornings
To help ensure your mornings are more restful, be deliberate in your efforts to create a calm evening. No single habit can do it all, but compounding all of the efforts above can help to create a perfect sleep environment.
Start by adding just one or two of these suggestions to tonight’s routine, and soon enough, you’ll be feeling more well-rested than previously.
