Bedtime Routine for Adults: Relaxing Nighttime Rituals

We all know how important a good night’s sleep is for our mental and physical health. But even before our heads hit the pillow, we’re already affecting our quality of sleep. Our nighttime activities can set us up for a good night’s sleep or contribute to our tossing and turning.

One of the best ways to ensure a good night’s sleep is to establish a consistent nighttime routine. Now, you may be thinking you’re too old to be told to go to bed. But it’s not just kids that need nighttime routines before being tucked under the covers for the night. Having a bedtime routine for your adult life is just as important. Winding down for the day takes time, especially when you’ve had a busy day.

Having a solid evening routine will not only help you relax but also helps you fall asleep faster when the time comes to get into bed. Taking time for yourself is a healthy way to end your day. Here’s what you should be doing to invest in a good night’s sleep.

Nightly Activities

Here are a few evening activities to help your mind relax and your body slow down to prepare for sleep.

Light a Scented Candle

Lighting a scented candle, or using an essential oil diffuser is an aromatherapy technique that helps the body relax. Breathing in your favorite fragrance will lower your stress levels, blood pressure, and heart rate, making it easier to fall asleep.

Read a Good Book

Reading is a great way to destress after a long day of work. It helps your mind focus on something other than work and tires out your brain in the evening, helping you fall asleep more quickly.

Listen to a Pre-Bedtime Playlist

Listening to relaxing music while you wind down will get you in the right mood and mindset for preparing for sleep. Sometimes dead silence can add to the pressure to fall asleep quickly. Listening to calming melodies or white noise can give your brain something to concentrate on and relax.

Take an Evening Bath or Shower

Taking a hot bath or shower about 90-minutes before you go to bed helps change your body’s core temperature by cooling it down. Most people sleep better when their core temperature is lower. Taking this extra step to cool your body down should put you in a relaxed state for sleep. Pair this with Delilah Home’s organic cooling hemp sheets and you’ll be good to go!

Nighttime Routine Before Hopping Into Bed

Consider incorporating these tasks into your nighttime routine right before you go to sleep. They will help you get to sleep a little faster when the time comes to close your eyes for the night.

Stay Away From Blue Light

Your body has a circadian rhythm, a 24-hour clock that tells the body when it’s daytime and when it’s nighttime. Light determines these rhythms and being exposed to blue light (from screens and digital devices) can confuse your body. Causing your body to want to stay awake when it’s bedtime, and be tired in the morning.

We’ve all heard it before - stay away from digital devices in the evening. While it feels like scrolling through Instagram or watching TV right before bed may be relaxing, the blue light on these devices will actually keep you awake. Trade in your phone for a good book or magazine.

Drink Something Warm

Drinking a warm drink is soothing at all times of the day. But drinking the right kind of warm drink can help your body relax and fall asleep easily. The temperature of the hot drink actually causes your body to cool down, preparing it for a state of sleep.

Here are some of the best hot drinks to enjoy before bed. Not just because of their warmth, but the chemical reaction they induce within your body, causing you to feel sleepy:

• Chamomile tea
• Ashwagandha tea
• Valerian tea
• Peppermint tea
• Warm milk
• Golden milk
• Warm almond milk

Sleeping Routines - Things That Ensure a Comfortable Sleep

These sleep routines for adults will help you to sleep better and stay asleep through the night.

Ensure Quality Sheets

Of course, the sheets you sleep between can affect the quality of your sleep immensely. Having synthetic sheets can cause your body to overheat because the fabric is less breathable and traps the warm air.

Using 100% cotton sheets will ensure a much more comfortable night’s sleep. Cotton is moisture-wicking and a lot more breathable than its synthetic counterparts.

100% hemp sheets are equally as absorbent and breathable, making them another great choice of fabric for your bedsheets. Hemp is also an incredibly strong fabric ensuring that your sheets will last much longer than synthetic ones. Hemp is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and hypoallergenic, making it an easy choice.

Lower the Thermostat (or Turning on the Aircon)

Your brain has a set temperature it needs to be lowered to before sleep is possible. By lowering the temperature of your thermostat, or turning on the aircon about an hour before you go to bed, your brain and body can achieve this lowered temperature more quickly. This allows you to fall asleep more quickly, and who wouldn’t want that?

Final Thoughts Night Time Routine for Adults

The quality of your sleep affects the way you tackle the next day. Implement these bedtime routines for adults each night to ensure you can feel great mentally and physically.