How do you usually feel before climbing into bed? Are you feeling relaxed, ready to rest, and at ease? Do you feel anxious and find it hard to leave the day’s worries behind you when you go to bed?
If you’re like most people, you go to bed in a state of stress and tension, but these relaxing bedtime activities will help you change that.
Here are 30 relaxing things to do before bed to sleep better and stress less:
1. Mindful Meditation
Meditation comes in different forms, with mindfulness meditation being one of the most popular. You give yourself time to observe your thoughts, surroundings, and body without judgment until you feel calmer. It’s normal to get distracted, so just keep bringing your attention back to the present moment.
2. Mindful Reading
This is obvious, but if you want to read for relaxation, you should choose something enjoyable and not something that makes your heart race. If you are looking for ways to reduce stress and anxiety, you may want to try reading books on the subject. Mediation books can teach you more about how to meditate, and there are also bedtime books for adults that can help you relax before going to sleep.
3. Take a Warm Bath
It is not surprising that taking a warm bath can help you relax, but it can also help you fall asleep faster by lowering your body temperature. If you want to feel relaxed, take a warm bath or shower at night and use some soothing bath products.
4. Listen to Music
Try listening to some smooth jazz, classical tunes, cafe music, ambient sounds, chillstep, or even slow hip hop and R&B music to help you focus. Video streaming services like Spotify offer numerous playlists that are designed to induce relaxation, based on factors such as mood. This provides users with a wide range of options when they are seeking out music to help them wind down.
5. Stretch Your Body or Do Gentle Yoga
There are several yoga poses that can help to reduce stress and would be perfect for your bedtime routine. Resting your legs against a wall or headboard can help relieve tension and improve your mental state before bed.
6. Drink a Warm, Soothing Beverage
A small amount of tea before bed can help you sleep better by reducing stress levels.
7. Journal
There are many benefits to journaling, but it is especially helpful as a relaxation technique due to its stress-relieving benefits. You can journal on anything that comes to mind, use a guided journal, or write from journal prompts. What matters most is finding a journaling method you enjoy. So, try out a few different methods until you find one that works for you.
8. Listen to Soothing Sounds
There are many ways to relax before bed, such as listening to calming music, ASMR recordings, sound meditation, or nature sounds like rain or waves. You can also listen to sleep hypnosis audio recordings to help you drift off to sleep. Some methods will work better than others for you, depending on what you’re looking for. After trying one or two flavors for a few days, you will be able to see which flavors you like the most.
9. Use a Meditation App
If you would like to meditate but feel lost and in need of guidance, using a meditation app may be the ideal solution for you. There are many mediation apps with high ratings, but they mostly include features such as soothing sounds, guided meditation sessions in audio or video form, deep breathing exercises, and educational content.
10. Practice Guided Imagery
If mindful meditation doesn’t seem to be working for you in terms of relaxation, guided imagery might be a better option. The following bedtime activity intentionally engages all five senses to calm the mind and ease tension in the body.
To start with guided imagery, first imagine a peaceful place like a beach or wherever makes you happy. After that, focus on the sounds, scents, and other details about the place. Do this until you’re relaxed, then you can go to sleep.
11. Try Something Crafty and Creative
An ability to do something creative can help to soothe nerves and enable you to relax. Creativity can manifest itself in many ways, such as drawing, crocheting, or cooking. The most important thing is that you find an activity that helps you relax and that you enjoy.
12. Eat Sleep-Promoting Snacks
There are some foods that can help you relax and improve your sleep. A good snack choice would be one that is high in carbohydrates and contains magnesium, omega-3 DHA fatty acids, lycopene, and naturally occurring melatonin.
13. Get a Massage
There is no denying that getting a massage is one of the most effective ways to relax and prepare for a good night’s sleep. If you don’t have anyone to massage you, you can use massage pillows, handheld massagers, or other similar devices to get the benefits of a massage.
14. Wind-Down with Puzzles or Crosswords
Puzzles and crosswords can help to bring your attention to the present moment, making them especially helpful if you tend to have a racing mind before bed.
15. Set the Right Environment
If you want to feel relaxed and sleep well, it is important to have a peaceful environment. This can make a big difference between feeling unsettled and feeling calm all night. There are several things you can do to create an environment that is conducive to relaxation, such as using a glowlight, sound machine, and making sure your room is the right temperature.
16. Put on a Face or Eye Mask
Face masks can improve your skin and help you relax. Choose a couple of candles with soothing ingredients like chamomile or lavender, then light them while you enjoy a hot bath or a good book. If you would rather not use a face or eye mask, you can accomplish a similar goal by placing a warm cloth on your face.
17. Color or Draw
Coloring and drawing can help reduce stress in the same ways as other mindful activites. The best way to relax before bed is to calm yourself with one of these activities. There are many stress-relieving coloring books for adults to choose from.
18. Diffuse lavender essential oil
Traditionally lavender has been used to promote sleep. And this is for a good reason.
Research indicates that lavender essential oil lowers your heart rate, relaxes your muscles, and puts you in a parasympathetic state. According to research, lavender promotes deep, relaxing sleep states known as “slow wave sleep.”
Adding a few drops of lavender essential oil to a diffuser an hour before your sleep time can create a relaxing environment in your bedroom.
If you cannot use a diffuser, you can spray diluted oil from a spray top bottle onto your pillow and sheets. Essential oils can be used in a variety of ways, one of which is adding a few drops to a spray top bottle with some water, shaking well, and using it as desired.
You can also try steam inhalation with lavender oils to help relieve your symptoms.
19. Do steam inhalation
A recent study showed that people who warmly inhale steam before bedtime sleep better and feel more relaxed.
Adding lavender essential oil to the mixture will make it even more beneficial. Here’s how.
Boil water in a heatproof bowl. Take the water off the heat once it starts boiling, add two to three drops of lavender essential oil, and inhale the therapeutic steam through your nose for 2 to 3 minutes. A towel can be used to cover your head if you desire.
20. Listen to a sleep podcast
There are many podcasts online that are designed to help you sleep. The gentle voice of the narrator, speaking on unengaging but not overly exciting topics, can help distract you from your thoughts and ease you into sleep.
Some really popular podcasts you can checkout are as follows:
Here’s an example of a podcast episode by Kathryn (Nothing Much happens):
You can listen to these podcasts on your phone by downloading the iTunes, Google Podcasts, Podbean or Spotify App. You can listen to podcasts on your computer through Youtube or sites like Podbean and Stitcher.
21. Use a weighted eye pillow
Weighted eye pillows can help you relax before bedtime. The pressure from these pillows on your eyes can help to reduce eye fatigue, headaches, and migraines.
You can place them hot or cold on your eyes for 10 to 15 minutes to help you feel better.
Some eye pillows also come infused with lavender that can offer an additional layer of relaxation. Lavender is known for its calming and relaxing qualities, which can help you drift off to sleep more easily.
22. Use a neck wrap
Similar to the eye pillow is a neck wrap. You can use a heating pad or a cold pack wrapped around your neck or shoulders for 20 to 30 minutes before bedtime. This will help relax your neck or shoulder muscles and reduce aches, cramps and stiffness. Since most of our stress is located in this area, these wraps are perfect for relaxation.
A neck wrap and eye mask would make a great combination to help you relax.
23. Get a soothing back/shoulder massage
Back/shoulder massages are the ultimate form of relaxation. If you don’t have a partner, you can give yourself a self-massage or use a massaging tool. You can find a ton of massaging tools online.
24. Try knitting
Repeating an activity like knitting can help you enter a meditative state similar to Zen, which will stop your mind from straying into stressful thoughts. This will help you relax and de-stress. Knitting is the perfect relaxation activity before bedtime.
You can easily learn how to knit, and there are many simple knitting projects you can do.
25. Take a warm bath
It’s relaxing and enjoyable to take a warm bath when the weather is cooler. To relax, add a few drops of lavender essential oil or another oil to your bath and soak. Warm showers work great too. The water shouldn’t be too hot.
26. Soak your feet in a foot spa massager
If you are on your feet a lot during the day, soaking your feet in a foot spa massager will feel amazing. Foot spa massagers help reduce pain in your feet by using vibrations, bubbles and warm water. All that is needed to get started is to add water to the foot bath, soak your feet, press the start button, and then relax.
You can make your bath even more relaxing by adding a few drops of lavender essential oil or bath salts. Magnesium relaxes muscles and helps with sleep.
This can also help relieve restless legs during sleep, which can help improve your sleep quality.
27. Do some relaxing body stretching
The act of stretching is a powerful way to help oneself relax, though it is often overlooked. Stretching is beneficial because it can make muscles less stiff, reduce fatigue, improve blood circulation, and improve your mood. All of these effects can help you feel more relaxed. relaxation. Make sure to hold your stretches for a few seconds while focusing on your breath for the most To get the most relaxation out of your stretches, hold them for a few seconds while being mindful of your breathing.
It is best to choose 3 to 5 favorite stretches and stick with them instead of doing hundreds of different stretches. There are a few good stretches to consider that can help alleviate pain in the body, these stretches include the bear hug stretch, neck stretches, back/shoulder stretches and butterfly stretch. In addition to yoga, there are some other stretches you can do to relieve back pain. Some simple yoga poses like the child pose, cobra pose, and legs up the wall pose can help ease back pain.
28. Watch falling sand art
There’s something about watching sand fall and create patterns, structures, and landscapes that’s calming. The popularity of falling sand art has increased over the years because it is an easy way to create a beautiful and unique piece of art.
29. Watch a lava lamp
A lava lamp is a lamp that has an incandescent light and a wax mixture that is specially colored and rises and falls in a glass vessel. This creates a mesmerizing and cool effect. If you turn off the lights, you’ll find the way the wax moves to be very calming.
30. Put your phone in airplane mode
Try setting a bedtime, at least on weeknights. It is best to either turn your phone off, silence it, or put it on airplane mode when you are ready to sleep so that you will not hear any incoming notifications. Anything that comes in can wait until morning anyway.
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