Here are her tips on getting a good night's sleep:
I like to call it sleep hygiene. Winding down at the end of the day and setting yourself up for a great night’s sleep is key to cultivating better sleep and a more natural sleep rhythm. That means:
- Don’t overlook things like decluttering—you want an organized, clear, and clean bedroom at the end of the day. That starts with having a clean bed. Creating a natural resting sanctuary with a beautifully made bed can dramatically affect your sleep and especially your ability to fall asleep.
- Get off the devices and screens an hour or two before you go to bed to reduce your exposure to blue light and to wind down away from distractions. If you use your phone as an alarm, make sure you put it in airplane mode.
- Eat a light dinner and try not to eat after 7.30 p.m. Valerian root tea (sometimes referred to as nature’s Valium) and chamomile tea are both soothing; they make for a great evening beverage. Magnesium also works wonders for me.
- Try to get to sleep at least a couple of hours before midnight. The sleep you get before midnight is known to be more effective and restorative than the hours you get after the midnight.
- Going to bed at the same time each night and going to bed at the same time as your partner are also great ways to get into a healthy sleep rhythm.
What mental routines do you do at night time to help?
Finding ways to calm and clear the mind is a great way to set yourself up for a good night of sleep. I like to lie on my bed and do a full body scan to check in and see where I might be holding on to any stress, fears, or emotions. It’s basically a mental exercise of quieting your mind and moving up the body from the toes all the way to the head and tuning in to see where you might feel tight and tense. Once you’ve identified the area, you can spend a moment focusing on unwinding that holding pattern.
Going for a walk and getting some fresh air is another great way to clear the mind. A ten-minute walk in the evening can be a great way to do some deep breathing—what I call a walking meditation—to unwind and exhale anything from the day you might be holding onto.
The other thing I find really powerful is doing some visualisations and affirmations. I’ll spend five minutes doing this after I’ve done my body scan when I’m feeling really relaxed. A daily gratitude practice also is key. Thinking of three things that you are grateful for is an incredibly powerful way of resetting your state of mind at the end of a busy day.
What about physical moves?
A gua sha, which I discuss in The Power Source, is an ancient Chinese holistic therapy to get stagnant chi (energy) moving. You can do a facial massage on yourself with a rose quartz gua sha tool by gently stroking it along your face. Although this technique can be used on many areas of the body, I particularly enjoy doing it on the face, jaw, and neck to reduce tension.
Just a side note, I love the gua sha too, I first discovered it in a face acupuncture session and it was amazing. Bonus, it also rejuvenates the skin along your jawline to help lift a sagging chin.
This interview was first published on Goop.