It’s 2 am and your mind’s running at lightning speed- ideas popping up, your next meal and trip is being planned; and you’re thinking to yourself while staring at your dark, dark ceiling… when’s this going to end? Am I ever going to fall asleep? Been there? Same. These are by far the most frustrating and stressful nights I’ve ever had – when my body is super sleepy but my mind feels like the road runner. After several weeks of going through this, it finally dawned on me that I should probably look into creating a peaceful night time routine a few hours before sleeping, to help my mind settle down and not be broken up with its connection to my body. Now, having finally tried a couple things; here’s my night time routine to prepare for a peaceful sleep:
Night mode on phone
One of the things I discovered was the night mode on my phone. 10:30 pm is when it goes on for me. While I don’t always stick to it, I do it as much as possible to help keep me on track with time. Although I don’t think I would rely on this a 100%, here’s how it helps me beyond its primary purpose. It acts as a reminder more than anything, to start to carry out lighter tasks, or some reading. Maybe some browsing too, if I want. For example, if I have to wash my hair, I make sure to carve out time for that.Make a relaxing drink
You’ve probably seen me try out lots of mushroom drinks, teas and elixirs in the evening to calm down, support my immune system and so on. Honestly, I love switching up and trying different things to see how they work on my body and help… or not. But even though I switch it up, I’ve consistently stuck to magnesium powder the most, specifically magnesium citrate. One of the things during my research for better sleeps that had popped up was magnesium citrate powder. Having read about its benefits, I decided to try it out- because why not make food and supplements a go-to, over crazy pills and things you don’t really need in your body? Ever since then, I’ve found an amazing difference! I’ve had better quality and deeper sleeps, as well as better muscle recovery after having magnesium powder. I’ve known for it to also help with metabolism and even better digestion! So I either have it as is, because this watermelon lime flavour is so. delicious! But sometimes, I add in some herbs or flowers like holy basil, lavender or rosemary, that help induce sleep too! It’s such a staple supplement for me; I even make sure they travel with me.Hot showers
Aah, hot showers. They’re incredibly relaxing. Picture this – you chill and drink some magnesium in your night drink. About 15 – 20 mins later, you head in for a shower and just let the hot water steam up and relax your body even more so. It is pure heaven to me. Magnesium is great for relaxing your muscles and helping them function properly, especially after a workout. And at this point, when the shower is involved (or a bath) it makes for the perfect combination. Pro tip: Get on that exfoliation routine in the shower. After your shower, massage body lotion on your body. You’re stacking up on relaxation after relaxation. It’s the best damn thing before bed. Try it!Meditation music/nature sounds
Different music affects everyone differently. A lot of times at night, I really sway and chill out listening to artists like Sabrina Claudio, Siir, Alina Baraz, Tasha Angela, The Internet and so on. It gets my sensual, self-love and self-care vibe in motion. But when I hit the bed, its time for some rain sounds or meditation music for going deep into relax and dream land. I used to listen to an app full of nature sounds that was customisable down to how hard you wanted the rain to pour (this app isn’t available anymore). So now, I usually manage to find good ones for rain or meditation music on i-tunes or youtube instead! So that’s all for my night time routine in a nutshell! These few things are vital for me to mellow down and sleep well. And lastly, for the magnesium drink, here’s how you can make it.- 1.5 tsp Soothe magnesium citrate powder
- 75 ml hot water
- Add in some more water, iced or hot is up to you
- Herbs like basil, rosemary or flowers like lavender or passionflower
