12/08/2021
5-Day Better Sleep Challenge!
Have you ever heard of a sleep challenge before?
I’ll tell you upfront: my sleep improved after doing this challenge.
I learned some valuable lessons from this experiment & here’s what I learned over the course of five nights:
1. Half the battle is carving out time to prepare to sleep
During the sleep challenge, however, I had to be a lot more conscious about how I was using my time.
I needed time to prepare and drink my tea, set up the aromatherapy and get the mist going, spend an hour or so in the presence of my bedtime bulb lamp, and make sure I set aside 10 minutes for meditation. By necessity, sleep was on my mind much earlier than usual, and this shift forced me to pay attention to how I was spending each minute. No more dilly-dallying on Instagram or mindlessly scrolling through Netflix holiday movie options. I had to put in the effort to prepare for a good night’s sleep.
2. Believe in the ritual
Once I made it a priority to set aside time to focus on getting better zzz’s, the actual process was also important. The tea, aromatherapy, light therapy, and meditation under a heavy blanket together built a structure to my evening that told my brain “it’s time to wind down.” The ritual signaled the transition from the craziness of the day to the calm of bedtime.
You don’t need to follow the exact ritual I did to improve your sleep.
So think about what might help you ease into bedtime. A hot bath? Putting aside your phone for half an hour? Ten minutes of yoga? Fifteen minutes with a good book? Create your own ritual and use it daily to set yourself up for a successful night of sleep.
3. Beware of too much tea & NO CAFFEINE!
This is a silly one but relevant. A steaming cup of caffeine-free tea before bedtime is a great way to relax, but I had to cut back on my tea consumption as this challenge progressed because liquids before bedtime meant bathroom breaks in the middle of the night.
4. Meditation
Setting aside even 5 minutes of meditation before bed had massive benefits. Although the first two nights were challenging, I got into a routine.
I started with a five-minute meditation from Relax & Sleep off Headspace. Instead of sitting upright in a chair, the instructor told me I could lie down as if I was going to sleep. This simple change made a huge difference.
The next night, I was fully prepared for bed before I started the meditation: pajamas on, teeth brushed, under my gravity blanket. I did a 10-minute meditation and could feel my body relaxing and gently moving toward sleep as soothing music played and the instructor’s melodious voice flowed through my ear. It hardly mattered what she was saying, though I think it was something about letting go of negative thoughts. I was sold.
This sleep challenge also introduced the Gravid blanket into my life. I had trouble adjusting to the heaviness of the blanket at first, but by the third night, I found this pressure soothing.
So, give it a try if you're looking for a new way to Reset Your Rest!
