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5 Simple Steps To A Better Night’s Sleep

Let’s start with the simple and sweet necessities: bedtime and morning routines. Most haven’t given much thought to these pinnacle routines, yet I have found them to be one of the most influential components of a healthy and enjoyable life. Everyone knows that sleep is necessary and important. But what can we do to get deeper, better sleep?

Your body has certain biological cues that signal it’s time to go to bed. Here are a few ways to let your body know it’s time to power down.

5 Steps To Stress Less & Sleep Better:

1. Create a routine and turn it into a habit. It takes 30-60 days to create a habit. This basically means that once you have turned actions into habits, it stops feeling like work and becomes automatic. So the first step is to set a reminder in your phone, scheduled for the same time each night, for 2 months, reminding you that it’s time to power down and start your bedtime routine.

2. Set the stage for sleep. My clients tell me that they love going to bed now because they feel like they are getting to go to sleep in a spa (don’t worry fellas, I won’t cramp your style). First and foremost, just like you need to power down, so do your devices. Turning off those screens allows your body to signal your circadian rhythms, located in the hypothalamus, that it’s light’s out, literally. According to Harvard Medical School, it’s ideal to turn off all electronics one hour prior to sleep.

3. Take a warm bath or shower before bed. Your body naturally cools off during sleep, so allowing your body to cool down after a relaxing scrub sends a signal that it’s time to rest. According to Cornell Medical Center, it’s ideal to bathe 2 hours prior to sleep, but if that doesn’t work, try jumping in after you power down those devices.

4. Before you hop in that bath, turn on a himalayan salt lamp. Himalayan salt lamps naturally filter the air and positively impact the ionization in the room. Remember a million years ago in chemistry, when you learned about atom bonding…yeah it’s that stuff 🙂

5. Meditate or read a good book. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a client come in the next week (or message me the next day!) after starting their bedtime routine to say, “It was so nice to take that time before going to sleep to do something that I enjoy. I slept so much better.” From start to finish you can make this an hour-long routine that will drastically increase your productivity, decrease your stress and increase your happiness. Even better, unlike that new shirt or car you bought, this happiness will stick around for the long haul and even increase your lifespan. That’s a win-win if I’ve ever heard one!

All of my clients who have started bedtime routines — from highly stressed attorneys to busy business owners — reported greater satisfaction in their sleep quality and duration.
For more help achieving peace and quiet around bedtime, LLLLCoaching.is here to help!

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