Fill the final hours of your day with a ritual that uplifts and nourishes you. The way you choose to end your day will influence the emotions and thoughts you bring to bed. The best way to wind down and ease into sleep is by using calming self-care rituals to cure your mind and body. Routines are reassuring, they help dissolve anxiety. Here are some ideas you might want to pick from and design your own daily routine.
Xinalani's All Inclusive Packages
Pick a lights-out time
Set a nightly alarm 1 hour before your chosen bedtime and start to slowly and mindfully guide yourself into sleep. Doing so helps to prepare your mind and body to start to let go of the day. It also helps to remind you every night about your ritual.
Find a soothing and uplifting activity
You can choose to read a book, listen to calm preferably instrumental music or an inspiring podcast. Anything you love that can inspire you and help you avoid distress. The main idea is to integrate your mind, body and spirit. It should not feel you are doing a task but rather you are pampering yourself.
Beautiful Eco Chic Rooms and Beach Casitas
Be in contact with Nature
Get outside your house, into your garden or your balcony and practice open-awareness. Go out for an evening walk along your neighborhood, and practice a little bit of mindful walking, feeling the air on your skin and listening carefully to the sounds around you. This practice will ground you and make you feel peaceful and ready for bed.
Practice Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga is my favorite way to wind down and let go of the day. It’s a staple of my night routine. I use this short 15-20 min practice to fully relax my body, and bring my mind and spirit home. Moving and stretching before bed releases tension in your body and helps to avoid restlessness. Focus on deep breaths and simple restorative poses such as Supta Baddha Konasana, preferably close to the ground, no vinyasas. I like to include a couple of hip twisting poses either seated or lying on my back. And I think this practice should include at least one inversion, like a shoulder stand or a headstand. Ideally, practice on the floor beside your bed so this could be your very last activity for the day.
Take an aromatherapy bath
Draw warm water, dim the lights and soak in an aromatherapy bath. Add a generous quantity of essential oils such as lavender, jasmine, melissa or clary sage. Let your body relax and your worries melt away in this delicious multisensory ritual. Enjoy the after bath and dry your body and hair thoroughly with a clean and warm puffy towel.
Say an early goodnight to your devices
Watching screen lights at night actually stimulates your eyes and induce your body into cerebral activity. All devices must be put away when your bedtime routine begins. I recommend switching them off or at least turning them on airplane mode. Put it in a drawer away from you. Your bed is a sanctuary that keeps you fully unplugged. No excuses. If you need to make a call or some other important thing do it before you start your daily ritual. Also, avoid any screen or led light at night that will unconsciously lower your sleep quality.
Sleep quality is extremely important to your overall health, especially mental health. Make sure you treat your own sleep with the utmost care. Find your own routine and stick to it no matter what. This habit will give you immense benefits, in the long run, make you balanced, happier and more effective.
About the Author
Co-founder of Xinalani, entrepreneur, yogini and passionate mother of three, Ana Paula has been shaping all sensory things around the Xinalani universe since its very inception in 2009. You will perceive her delicate creativity and her contagious vision in every little detail of the Xinalani experience.
