Sleep Essentials – the best bedtime rituals

Do you have difficulty falling asleep? Do you toss and turn? Do you lay awake at night with thoughts racing through your mind? If this sounds familiar, I have some great tips for how to help you fall asleep easier and get a better quality night’s sleep.  

First of all, know that you are NOT alone. 

• sleep disorders affect up to 40% of Canadians 

• 55% of women aged 40+ report difficulty falling asleep 

• Canadians report one hour LESS sleep in 2019 than they did twenty years ago 

• Half of Canadians report waking up still feeling tired 

Does this sound familiar?  Sleep is critically important for your overall health whether you are trying to lose weight, improve the health of your skin, or manage pain better, sleep is integral to improvements in all these areas. Good sleep also allows for better cognitive function, increased productivity, better focus, and improved social interactions. On top of that, poor quality or quantity of sleep is linked to heart disease, inflammation, depression, adrenal fatigue, decreased immune function, and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and stroke.  

Who is thinking right now that they need to get better #sleep?  

My client Lori from Hawaii was trying to help her husband find deeper rest after decades of poor sleep.  Listen to his experience with doTERRA essential oils after only one night.

 

If you are a parent, you likely remember creating bedtime routines for your kids when they were young. Here’s a little secret that no one tells you….you are no different than a toddler when it comes to bedtime routines! Your body will #THRIVE on a routine and some simple rituals as much as a three year old does!  

Let’s look at some easy steps you can take TONIGHT to get a better night of sleep. 

1. Turn off the TV and ditch the screen. I know, this may be a tough one for most people. Television is by far one of the most consuming parts of our day. The average Canadian watches 30 hours of television a week! With the most popular shows focusing on crime, drama, and violence, these topics can really impact our psyche before bed. Your brain doesn’t differentiate between what you are watching that is fictitious and you actually being part of what you are watching so when you are watching a crime drama or horror movie, your emotions and your hormones are flowing along with this visual as if YOU are experiencing it so at least try switching to a brief comedy and see how you feel in the morning after a few nights.  Ultimately, minimizing this visual stimulation before bed will lessen our electrical activity and blue light in our brain before bed and better honor your circadian rhythmn.
2. Get sunlight first thing in the morning.  Exposing your eyes / face / body to outdoor light when you first wake up helps your body reset it’s circadian rhythmn so it will be easier to fall asleep later.  If it’s sunny, you only need 5 minutes exposure; cloudy weather means 10 mins exposure; and a rainy/stormy day means 15 mins exposure.  This helps our hormonal system reset too and supports a natural softening of stress hormones that tend to rise as the day proceeds to night.
3. Get some activity into your day.  I’m not suggesting you have to run a marathon or be an Olympic lifter but physical activity, particularly in the morning, is shown to increase health sleep pattern and keep you asleep longer.  Walk the dog, dance around to your favorite song, or do something that brings you joy and see how quickly your sleep improves.
4. Limit the amount of total time you spend in front of a screen.  If you work in front of a computer screen daily, consider investing in blue-light blocking lenses or when you’re ready for a new pair of glasses, swap out your regular lenses for blue-blocking to reduce the impact of blue light on stress and sleep patterns.
5. Don’t drink coffee for the first 90 minutes of your day.  Caffeine blocks important hormones that actually help us wake up so when we have it to early in the day, these blocked declining hormones linger until the caffeine wears off and then begin to decline again making us feel tired and we reach for another coffee to perk ourselves up again and end up taking a coffee / caffeine too late in the day and it interferes with our sleep or makes us wakeful.  Try it and see.  If you like a warm beverage when you get up, try bone broth, an herbal tea, or a warm lemon to support a healthy gut and let yourself natural finish waking up.  This is a GAME CHANGER for energy and mental alterness.
6. Stop scrolling. Okay, okay, TWO tough ones. I am still guilty of this before bed sometimes. I have to actively force myself to leave my phone elsewhere before I go to sleep. Don’t bring it to the bedroom.  Looking at an iPhone for social media, responding to an email, or playing a game before bed is similar to television and can quickly turn from “I’ll just pop on for a few minutes” to hours later. However, these three situations also tend to activate the stress response in our body. When we go into a bit of “fight or flight” response, stress hormones are released and it’s more difficult for us to calm down before bed. We want our nervous system to be in “rest and digest” before bed and this takes a deliberate mini-detox BEFORE you want to fall asleep.
7. Try adding a magnesium glycinate supplement to your evening meal or routine.  It has a calming effect on the nervous system and most of us are low in magnesium.  Another consideration is ensuring that you’ve consumed enough mineralized water during the day and stop drinking about 2 hrs before bed to ensure if you are slightly wakeful during the night that you can easily get back to sleep without having to get up to pee.
8. Begin 30 minutes before your normal bedtime. This may seem counterintuitive especially if you have difficulty falling asleep. However, if you can begin to train your brain and body that bedtime is coming, it will slowly learn. Keep in mind this process can take three months for your body to get used to a bedtime routine! If 30 minutes is too much, even start 5 minuets earlier and add five minutes each week to get up to 30.  
9. Create your rituals with intention & plan.  If you want 8 hrs sleep, make sure you have 9 hrs to be in bed. Even if you’re a great sleeper, you don’t fall asleep right away so planning to be in bed longer than your sleep goal just makes sense, right?  As I head to bed, my thoughts are on appreciation, gratitude, and letting the day go. I go through the next few steps with intention so that my body and mind have enough time to acknowledge that it’s time for deep rest.
10. Make your room cool and cleared of clutter to help you drift off to sleep and stay asleep longer. Too much unfolded laundry or stacks of toilet paper from Costco creates distraction and often the need to “do” something before you rest.  Take pleasure in creating a little haven with dim lighting, your diffuser on, fresh sheets, an open window for crisp air, a soft piece of music or sounds of the ocean playing.  This deliberate care and attention helps to reinforce the ritual aspect of this sleep habit and invites a calm peace to these final activities.

 

My bedtime rituals look like this:  

• I slow down and head to bed by around 9:30 ish.  I’m not hard and fast on this (eg) I don’t get stressed about timing but I’m within a consistent window of time and that’s what’s important.  When I start feeling tired, because this can be slightly different each day or if I’m fighting off some germs I was exposed to that day, I start this routine. Put on my pyjamas, take a Serenity softgel, and body roll for a few minutes releasing any lingering tension within my body with the lights turned down low and focusing on breathing even more slowly and deeply.  If pain or discomfort is causing you to be wakeful, read on here for quick, natural solutions.  
• Turn on my diffuser by my bed with my favourite doTERRA oils for sleep (see below for ideas).  
• Brush my teeth, floss, and wash my face. 
• Brief gratitude journal entry. Jot down 3 things I’m grateful for from the day.  
• Apply Serenity Sleep Stick + Valerian on my bottom of my feet and back of my neck & shoulders, temples, and over my heart.  I find if I skip this step, I’m more likely to be wakeful during the night and have a harder time getting back to sleep also.
• 5-10 minutes of breathing exercises or mindfulness exercises reconnecting to my body and checking in with your nervous system. Enjoy this brief recording if you’re looking for some guidance around how to reconnect and breathe for deep rest.  
• Lay down in bed and exhale with a slight sigh to let any lingering thoughts of the day dissolve.  If my mind is still running at this point, I might listen to some soft music.  I try not to read in bed because often I find reading very engaging.  If you find reading nourishing, read before you go to bed as a relacement for TV time and you’ll love the clam results.   
• Go to sleep.  

Create a better position and environment for sleep.  

 

When possible, sleep on your left side with head and knees supported.

 

 

 

You get to deliberately create a space that is relaxing and for sleep. Your bed should be used for TWO things: sleep and sex and occasionally building a small fort! Keep TV, phones, computers, and books out of the bedroom. Keep your room tidy and at about 65F (18C) degrees at night. Have a comfortable but supportive pillow (only one!). Choose sheets that feel soft and cool against your skin and choosing jammies that are loose, cool, and made of natural fibers. If you must have noise to fall asleep, keep it quiet and relaxing in the background at a low volume but ideally, no noise is best and left side sleeping is best.  There’s some interesting research coming out with the benefit of biaural sound, two different frequencies of sound playing in each ear, and it’s impact on soothing the nervous system and supporting deep rest.  Have a peak here and see if this is also a support that could be helpful for your deep rest.  Some have found the comfort of weighted blankets to also be beneficial emotionally to help them fall asleep and stay asleep longer.  I have also found that a silk pillowcase is a smooth and cool companion that supports my menopausal temperature regulation.

Do you use essential oils?  

Adding some light, pure aroma is a beautiful ritual for deep rest.  We all have our favorites (mine is Out Like a Light with sustainable vetiver from beautiful Haiti) but they have all been used in our home.  The game changer for our family was after years of shift work that destroyed my husbands sleep habits, Stephen tried vetiver oil on the bottom of his feet and back of his neck one night and work up the next morning actually remembering a dream he had for the first time in decades!  These blends can be used for adults and kids alike, and there are safe and calming around dogs and cats.

Another great use for essential oils at bedtime is to support those who snore whether that’s your partner or your pet.  A few drops of Easy Air respiratory blend in your diffuser before bedtime may be enough to create better breathing for everyone.  We can all get a little more congested as the day wears on so try the soothing, minty freshness of Easy Air blend.  The snorer can also dilute 1 drop Easy Air to 5 drops of a carrier oil like frac coconut oil and apply under the nose and on sinuses being careful to avoid the eyes and not applying inside the nose but rather over the bridge.  Remember, if you get an essential oils somewhere you don’t want it, remove with a carrier oil like frac coconut oil or olive oil and NOT WATER.    

We only use doTERRA essential oils in our house as they ensure a greater consistently pure and ethically sourced essential oil and product.  I also know that many local vets use doTERRA oils in their practice with dogs and since Indy sleeps with us, we only use what’s safe for her.

 

Sleepy Time Diffuser Blends

*these blends are designed to be created with the pure, consistent quality of doTERRA essential oils and cool mist diffusers.  For smaller diffusers like the Pebble, you may like to start with 1 drop less of each oil and larger diffusers like the Volo or Lumo wood-base diffuser you may like to start as suggested below.   For the Dawn humidfying diffuser, double the recipes below to allow for the full 18 hr run-time.  For a full exploration of diffusing and diffusers including a consumer comparison and rating, checkout Diffusers and Diffusing Primer here.

 

OUT  LIKE  A  LIGHT :   5 drops vetiver  +  5 drops Serenity blend

SLEEP PEACEFULLY:   5 drops lavender +  5 drops Balance blend

RELAX and REST:  5 drops Serenity blend  +  5 drops Balance blend

NO MORE NIGHTMARES:  5 drops  cedarwood  +  3 drops  juniper berry

SLEEPING BEAUTY:  3 drops roman chamomille  +  3 drops Peace blend

NO MORE SAWING LOGS (snore support):  5 drops  Easy Air blend  +  3 drops lavender

 

 

If you want to switch it up, Hygge blend and Shinrin Yoku blend are exceptional relaxation blends.  Hygge is inspired by the Scandanavian practice of being cozy with gorgeously grounding cedarwood, frankincense, vetiver, and vanilla oils.  Shinrin Yoku takes it’s lead from the Japanese health practice of forrest bathing with cypress, lemon petitgrain, patchouli, and siberian fir to bring the benefits of ancient forrests and aromatically infused air into your home.  You may also enjoy Anchor from the Yoga Collection with a slightly spicy addition of black pepper for a more sophisticated bedtime aroma.  Don’t have a diffuser or oils yet?  Reach out for a free sample or consult to sort out the best option for your needs or click here to receive 25% off instantly + a FREE Pebble Diffuser, Balance blend, and free shipping as a welcome gift.  

If your bedtime routine is the exact opposite of what I’ve described, try not to change EVERYTHING at once. You’ll likely lay awake frustrated. This beautiful process of reclaiming deep rest can build slowly over time; the results are worth it!  If you’re not seeing a marked improvement after addressing these factors above, the next big culperit to poor sleep is gut health.  If you support a health gut microbiome, you’ll experience significant improvements in the quality and quantity of sleep.  There is a direct link between the gut and brain and this informs our restoration cycles.  Learn more about connection between gut health and sleep here and address this aspect of sleep proactively.  

Treat this shift into better sleep as a two to three month process with the goal that a few months down the road you’re small incremental investments will support you to wake feeling refreshed and rested the majority of the time.  

Wishing you sweet dreams tonight, friends!