Calming Mindful Practices to Get a Better Night’s Rest

Are you laying in your bed right now, scrolling the internet for answers as to why it is you can’t fall asleep? You are not alone. Insufficient sleep affects 70% of adults in the U.S every year. That is an alarming statistic considering how important a good night’s sleep is for human function.

While your sleep cycle is regulated by your internal clock and circadian rhythm, the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep has a lot to do with your stress levels. Stress can impact your sleep quality and duration, so how can you set yourself up for a better night’s rest?

To help answer that question, we reached out to leaders in the mindfulness and wellness industries to get some insights for those looking to improve their snooze.

How Much is Enough?

“Eight hours of sleep makes a big difference for me, and I try hard to make that a priority. For me, that’s the needed amount to feel energized and excited.” – Jeff Bezos

Bezos is right on the money. The average adult should be aiming for seven to nine hours of sleep a night. That can be hard if you are running a business. "As a startup CEO, I slept like a baby. I woke up every 2 hours and cried," joked entrepreneur, Ben Horowitz, but you should put sleep high up on your list of priorities if you are a businessperson. Sleep deprivation is dangerous and can even be fatal if left untreated. Studies have even shown that driving while tired is sometimes more dangerous than drunk driving! And you wouldn’t run your business while drunk, right?

Do yourself a favor and invest in your rest.

Start Early

Good sleep habits start with the choices you make while you are awake, says Nathalie Walton, Co-Founder & CEO of Expectful. “There are so many daily habits that can have a negative impact on your sleep quality. Drinking coffee or alcohol too close to bedtime for instance. The food you eat also has an impact on your sleep quality. Avoid food with lots of sugar or food that is spicy and don’t eat too close to bedtime.”

Experts recommend that you stop eating three hours before bedtime in order to give your body proper time to digest. These small adjustments will pay off in the long run, but eating and drinking aren’t the only things you can do early in the day to positively impact your sleep. 

Jason Reposa, Founder and CEO of Good Feels weighed in saying, “Exercise is going to be key when it comes to improving your sleep quality.”

“Experts don’t know exactly why it is, but they agree that exercise tiers you out and allows your body to enter a deeper sleep in order to rejuvenate itself,” Reposa finished. He’s right, but the timing of the exercising matters too. Experts suggest working out at least one or two hours before bed to give your body time to relax.

Have a Ritual

Rituals are an important part of life and an even more crucial part of sleep. Bedtime rituals are “activities that you perform in the same order, every night, in the 30 to 60 minutes before you go to bed,” according to the Sleep Foundation.

Everyone is different and what works for you might not work for the next person, says Nue Life Co-Founder and CEO, Juan Pablo Cappello. “Not everyone is going to find the same routine effective. What is important, however, is that you find what works best for you and you try to stick to it every night. Changing it often is not going to help you fall asleep. Humans are creatures of habit and the whole point of a sleep routine is to signal to your body that it is time to rest.”

Make sure that whatever you decide on it promotes rest. “I try to make sure I am incorporating some sort of quiet activity before bed every night,” says Jake Langley, CEO of Luma Nutrition. “For me, that means taking some melatonin and l-theanine and taking a warm shower. When I get out and dry off, the vitamins kick in and I fall right asleep, warm and cozy from the shower.”

Set Your Bedtime

While it’s true that humans crave habits and routines will vary, there are specific routines that will work for everyone. Having a set bedtime is one of them.

“Don’t forget that we all have a sleep-wake cycle,” says Jeremy Gardner, CEO of MadeMan. Gardner touches on the time of night when your brain naturally begins to slow down in anticipation of sleep. “Use that to your advantage by setting a bedtime and wake-up time that you will adhere to at least five nights a week. Once you know when you are going to bed, you can plan your routine around it.”

Put the Phone Away

Another universal routine you should get in the habit of following is minimizing screen time before bed.

“If you haven’t been told enough already, your phone is bad for you. It’s worse before bed, though,” says Jae Pak, CEO of Jae Pak MD Medical. “Phones [and other electronics] emit blue light, which is a light that signals to your brain that it is daytime. When this happens, your brain suppresses the production of melatonin. This makes it more difficult to fall asleep.”

Avoid looking at your phone, laptop, and even TV screen when you are trying to fall asleep. If you can’t fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night, resist the urge to peek at your phone and accidentally alert your brain that it is daytime.

Read

“There is a reason our parents would lull us to sleep with a book. They are a great way to relax your mind and get it ready for sleep. They have the added benefit of taking your mind off of any daily stresses you might have had on your mind before getting into bed by focusing your mind on what you are reading,” says Roman Taranov, CEO of Able.

Experts encourage readers to stay away from suspense or action novels if they are easily excited since those genres might wake you up more than relax you.  

Let it Come Naturally

One of the worst things people do when they are trying to fall asleep is trying to force it, says Stephanie Venn-Watson, CEO of Seraphina Therapeutics.

“Most people who have trouble sleeping (and I know because I was one of them) get hung up on the fact that they aren’t falling asleep. This makes you tense and angry which is the opposite of the calm and relaxed state you need to be in come bedtime. “

Venn-Watson added, “Let yourself be okay with your inability to fall asleep and you will find that it will come easier to you.

If you find yourself stuck in bed and not falling asleep, remember that just by virtue of lying there you are providing your body with rest. Take solace in that and you will find that you will drift off eventually because you are remaining calm and satisfied with your restful state.

Meditate

There is nothing more mindful than practicing meditation. The aforementioned idea of being non-reactive is a perfect example. The more you practice meditation and its virtues during the day, the easier it will be to fall asleep at night, says Jesse Richardson, CEO of The Brothers Apothecary.

“Meditation before bed is a great way to fall asleep, but doing it first thing in the morning or at random periods during the day will make it easier to do when you are lying in bed trying to fall asleep.”

Richardson continued, “Regular meditation will help you channel that calming feeling your body and mind need to be in in order to fall asleep.”

If you are unfamiliar with meditation and how to begin, there are many resources online that will help you get started.

Try a Sleep Technique

There are some common and helpful sleep techniques one can try if you are still having trouble catching Zs after all of these practices.

Lisa Odenweller, CEO & Founder of Kroma Wellness mentioned her favorite. “In addition to taking my supplements, I perform a tactic where I spell out a word and then visualize an object for each letter of that word. For example, the word example. E… Egg. X... xylophone. And so on.”

This is a real technique known as cognitive shuffling and has been proven to help calm your mind and ease you into sleep. Other techniques include counting your inhales, and exhales or tensing your muscles before relaxing them again. Try several until you find one that works best for you.