Do you toss and turn, struggling to get sleep in your bed at night?

And by the time you are about to fall asleep, it is already time to wake up. This, in turn, makes a slow start to our morning and affects our productive work ahead.

Unhealthy daytime habits and lifestyle choices are the main reasons that leave you tossing and turning in bed at night.

This adversely affects your mood, immune system, creativity, vitality, and weight.

A good night’s sleep helps you recharge your energies that help us have a great and productive morning.

A good night’s sleep is just as vital as eating healthy nutritious food and exercising.

A good night’s sleep is extremely essential for a healthy mind and a healthy body.

Try to sleep by 10 PM, so that you can get up early in the morning, and plan your day ahead.

By trying out 5 easy evening rituals, you can enjoy better sleep at night.

1. Have early dinners.

Try having your dinner by 8 PM.

Sleeping early is considered beneficial for your body because it allows you to get your required hours of sleep.

By getting your required hours of sleep, you will wake up more refreshed and energetic the next morning.

Most nutritionists swear by the notion that dining early is beneficial for health because it prepares the brain to wrap up the day’s gustatory activities early.

Having a meal just before bedtime can hamper your sleep because your digestive system will be functioning, which can hamper your sleep.

Our body programs its major body functions according to its internal body rhythm, called the “Circadian Rhythm”.

This “Circadian Rhythm” adjusts your body to all the environmental changes like eating, digestion, and sleep.

So, the timing of your meals will affect your body functions, like metabolic regulation, heart health and the sleep cycle.

Try to have your dinner by 8 PM, so that, you can sleep by 10 PM.

2. Go for an evening walk

After a nice dinner, you can plan for an evening walk around 9 PM.

Walking is considered to be one of the easiest and healthiest exercises.

Evening walks will give you a nice workout.

A 30 – minute evening walk, will help you digest your dinner well. It will not only boost your energy levels but will also clear your mind and help you relax.

An evening walk will help you relax your body and mind.

Evening walks can help you sleep better as you will feel relaxed and free of any stress or tension.

3. Listen to soothing music

During your evening walk, if you listen to soothing music, it will help your body relax faster.

Slow music is more relaxing that can help you sleep better.

Soft soothing music can slow the pulse and can decrease the levels of stress hormones in the body.

Relaxing music prompts the mind and the body to get into a relaxing and simulates a sleepy state.

Slower breathing, slower heart rate, and lower blood pressure are all physiological changes that enhance the process of falling asleep and staying asleep possible.

Music also has a soothing effect that helps the mind to clear out the thoughts and lowers the stress and anxiety levels.

Listening to soothing music before going to bed, helps your body to tune into sleep mode, both psychologically and physically.

Researchers have suggested that choosing soothing songs with slow rhythms, between 60 to 80 beats per minute, are best for inducing sleep mode.

There are many soothing music apps available on your mobile. There are many YouTube videos –  that have soothing relaxing music.

4. Have a nice shower

A lukewarm shower, taken an hour before bed, is best to help you sleep.

The cold and hot showers have their own benefits, but they are not ideal to enhance the sleep mode.

A cold shower activates your mind and body, which is the opposite of what you want before bed. Hence, cold showers are best suited for mornings.

A too-hot shower too like the cold shower energizes your body and can keep you awake all night.

A lukewarm shower is like steam which helps you breathe easier at night. As it is easier for you to breathe, the quality of your sleep becomes healthier.

To boost the stimulating or relaxing effects of your lukewarm shower, you can add in some essential oils.

For your night’s sleep, opt for sleep-promoting oils like Sandalwood oil, Lavender oil, Chamomile oil or peppermint oil.

You can add a few drops of any of these essential oils to your shower gels.

The fragrance of your essential oil and a lukewarm shower will help you relax and get a good night’s sleep.

5. Read a light-hearted book

 Reading in bed, before going to sleep, is an age-old tradition.

Some people cannot sleep without reading. But, for others, the bedtime stories they read last were during their childhood days.

Reading is also a better option than watching TV or scrolling through your mobile phones.

These electronic gadgets emit blue lights which tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime. Thus making you stay awake all night, and hampering your sleep.

Reading in bed, before you sleep, can relax you considerably, as reading helps reduce stress levels.

Reading can distract your mind from daily stresses and worries that causes tension.

Reading stories gives your mind an outlet to be somewhere else for a little while. Which means you can be relieved of your own troubles.

Reading also relaxes your muscles and slows down your breathing, which will make you feel calmer.

Reading is an activity that reduces stress, which is the main requisite for a good night’s sleep.

Read a light-hearted book and avoid reading horror books at night.

I personally like reading fairy-tales!!

Takeaway

• Fix a time to go to bed and stick to this timing every day. This will help your body get adjusted to the bedtime routine.

• Decrease the light in your room. A dark bedroom will activate the body’s natural rhythms towards sleep.

• Avoid drinking caffeine before going to bed.

• Make sure your bedroom is cool, as the body temperature plays an important in your sleep routine.

• Keep your bedroom for sleeping purposes only, do not use your computer, phone, or television as it will keep you up late at night.

These 5 simple and easy evening rituals will help you sleep better at night

and

will make you feel more energetic and productive the next morning.