The 'perfected' sleep routine
Sleep.
The most essential function of living, yet something so many of us struggle with. Whether it’s getting enough of it, staying asleep, or even just drifting off in the first place, restful sleep doesn’t come easily to everyone. Personally, I’ve always had a tricky relationship with my sleep routine. The moment my head hits the pillow, my brain seems to go into fight-or-flight mode, as if it can’t quite tell the difference between bedtime and a life-threatening situation. As soon as the lights go out, my mind fills with the unknown—what will happen, what won’t happen, what might happen—and before I know it, I’m wide awake, caught in an anxious spiral. On particularly stressful nights, even when I do manage to fall asleep, staying asleep is another challenge entirely. High levels of anxiety have often left me tossing and turning, struggling to get the deep, restorative rest I know my body needs, causing further fustrations.
Sleep shouldn’t feel like a battle, but for many of us, it does. Understanding why this happens and finding ways to calm the mind before bed has been a journey, and one that I know I’m not alone in.
Sleep hygiene: a set of pratices and good habits to enhance your sleep
Sleep hygiene.
Working on my pre-sleep routine (sleep hygiene) has been the greatest beenfit to falling swiftly into a deep restful sleep. There are many microtrends around the internet and social media of ‘morning sheds’ and ‘sleep hygiene routines’ that can often overload your patterns, making it difficult to decipher from the facades. Keep it simple, understand your steps and personalise it to your mind.
My ‘perfected’ sleep routine.
The setup (bedding and mattress) - Gillian Anderon will be the first to tell us the importance of a good mattress for better sleep - but as a girl on a budget let me put you on THE BEST foam mattress topper.
I also find that weighted blankets and the feeling of being ‘cushioned’ soothes my night-time anxieties. I love a thick weighted throw that has both the functionality of a restful sleep and the aesthic during the day - personal favourites are John Lewis’ faux fur throw and Feather&Ball’s pill velvet thick throw. I also cannot sleep without a pregnancy/V-shaped pillow.
Screen-time - It is a well known fact now that minimising your screentime/blue light consumption before bed will improve your sleep and overall health. Like all things health related they are often true yet tricky (tricky for Gen-Z atleast okay!), so instead I am to utalise this screentime in healthier ways - no social media an hour before sleeping and logging off socials (not literally just say your goodnights). I have always found that music reduces my anxiety, particuarly before bed when all you can hear is your own thoughts.
https://www.calm.com/ - the calm app is my go to meditation app from white noise to helpful guides.
Although, I initially created this playlist to help me study - I also find Jazz eases my nervou system and is a great playlist for bed too.
Night-time Anxiety - Sometimes no matter how much rainwater or jazz you listen to beneath your weighted blanket, anxiety has a habit of creeping in. I find that writing down your personal worries and emotions can be an easy yet effective way of removing those internal feelings and putting them on the shelf to reflect on in the morning. I would highly reccomend leaving a notebook, journal, or even block of post-it notes on your bedside table - being able to wake up in the middle of the night and quickly splurge my heart out has been salient to clearing my mind in preparation to restore my sleep.
(In general: I will forever reccommend journaling as process that helps both through healing and self-reflection).
This Works - Deep Sleep Pillow Spray - £24 - This quite literally works (pun intended) the deep sleep pillow spray filled with Lavender, Camomile & Vetivert instantly makes gives the luxurious feeling of ‘hitting the pillow’.
Aery - Before Sleep reed diffuser - £20 - This is by far the best reed diffuser I have ever purchased and 100% worth the price - I reccommend this to absolutely everyone, as it’s calming scent helps me to sleep so much. The ‘before sleep’ scent also comes in a candle, roll on fragrence, oil and bath salts (I will be trying all of these).
Bonus points to Aery for creating refillable pouches for all reed diffusers <3
Mouth-tape - The only part of the ‘morning shed’ routine that I will stand-by, it has been scientifically proven that mouth taping can improve both your sleep and overall health as it promotes nasal breathing. Mouth-breathers suffer with both dry and bad smelling breath due to their openess for extended periods (night) which can cause long-term health issues such as gum disease and cavitites. Nasal breathing promotes a greater oxygen exchange, promoting a more restorative sleep and can leave you feeling refreshed.
I have been using mouth-tape for a month now and within a few days noticed the difference in my deep sleeping - I have felt more refreshed in the mornings and no longer have as much puffiness (or the bad breath). Although it can feel weird to start with, in general mouth-tape is a great short term solution to training your body to nasal breathe.
