Getting a great night’s sleep isn’t as simple as just going to bed early. You need to give your body some time to wind down and understand that it’s time to relax. That means you need a pre-bed Sleep Ritual.

A Sleep Ritual calms you, tells your body that it’s switching gears, and boosts levels of soothing chemicals in your brain.

Here are some of our recommendations for Helping Your Body Do Its Job.

Have A Small Snack

A small snack before bed can help if low blood sugar is the cause of your sleep problem.

Overnight, while we sleep, we’re not eating. (Hopefully.) Our livers break down stored sugar for fuel during this time. But things like stress can interfere with this normal process. Instead, we get an adrenaline rush
around 3-4 am as our liver goes to Plan B for freeing up blood sugar.

A small snack before bed – let’s be clear, we’re not endorsing a late-night run to Taco Bell – may help. We like a few sticks of celery with a little dab of almond butter. But experiment and find something that works for you.

Cut The Caffeine

A simple way to calm your body is to take away its stimulation. Quit consuming anything with caffeine – coffee, tea, colas, dark chocolate – by mid-afternoon. If you’re quite sensitive to caffeine, knock it off even earlier, around midday.

Instead, try some decaf herbal tea in the evening – chamomile, lavender, and / or Valerian are well-known for their calming effects.

Cool It (Or Warm Up)

Both a warm or cool bath or shower before bed can help you relax. While it seems like a cool bath or shower might perk you up, at night it has the opposite effect. In fact, some people have described the effect of a cool pre-bed bath / shower as “elephant tranquilliser”. If you’re lucky enough to have a pool, try an evening swim.

Some folks, however, might prefer warmth. Try an Epsom salts bath before bed – the magnesium in the salts will also help you relax.

Get Groovy

We’re wired to be social beings. Physical touch and connecting with other people relaxes and calms us – we secrete hormones like serotonin and oxytocin, our “feel-good” chemicals. Spend some quality time with loved ones in the evening. For those of you with pets, snuggling Fluffy or Fido will have the same effect.