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We’ve all heard plenty of talk about self-care. We know the importance of taking good care of ourselves and have become familiar with all the best self care practices. (If you haven’t, check out my Self Care Guide here.)
Oftentimes the “fun” self-care stuff gets all the glory! We love to talk about crystals, essential oils, bath time rituals, getting massages and going to yoga.
But one important self care practice often gets overlooked- SLEEP!
Prioritizing your sleep care is essential. Without good sleep and high quality rest, the other self care rituals won’t be able to replenish you as deeply.
So, grab a beverage and let’s get started. We’re going to talk all about the importance of sleep and how to have better sleep care routines!
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is intended to be health or medical advice. These are simply self care tips that can be applied routinely to help encourage an environment of peace and restful energy.
What is sleep care?
Making sure you are set up for high quality rest is what I define as “sleep care.”
It involves bedtime rituals, getting comfortable, setting up a peaceful environment, and calming your physical and mental bodies.
There are so many things we can do to assure that we get nourishing rest.
I’ll go over some of my favorite sleep care tips, hopefully they help inspire you to prioritize sleep and incorporate some rituals that encourage better rest.
How to Get Better Rest
Meditate
Meditation is one of the best ways to promote better sleep. Focusing on the breath and allowing ourselves the dedicated time to focus on our breath or a mantra within the present moment is the ultimate self-care.
When I meditate regularly, my mind becomes clear and my stress is alleviated. With a clear mind and a powerful stress remedy, of course it’s easier to fall asleep!
Not only that but I have more vivid, symbolic dreams, and wake up feeling rejuvenated instead of groggy.
Even if you can only do 10 minutes a day- thats enough to make a difference.
Recommendations:
Headspace Guide to Meditation on Netflix
Insight Timer (Free Meditation App)
Clear your energy
Clearing your aura and your energetic body is a daily must for me. Doing so only takes a few moments and if done before bed, it helps me to rest my head and be free from the stress and debris from my day. (Especially helpful if you’re an empath).
There are many ways to clear your energy but a few of my favorite and most used ways are:
Smoke Cleansing:
Burn your favorite ethically sourced herbs and use the smoke to cleanse your aura and your space.
Ethical Smoke Cleansing Products:
Selenite:
I have a selenite crystal that I use every night to help clear my energy. I simply hold it in-between my hands, close my eyes, and collect all the energy in my body and aura that needs to be released. I allow the energy to release from my body and be cleared by the selenite stone.
It really is as simple as just allowing. Consciously gather up all the energy that is not yours or not for your highest good and release it into the stone. No need to worry about cleansing your selenite afterwards, its a stone that can transmute and clear energies on its own.
Lightwork Visualizations
Another way to clear your energy is by doing lightwork visualizations.
In summary, you can envision light entering into your body and cleansing your chakras, or energetic centers. I most often use white light but you can also choose a color that resonates with what you need. Golden light seems to resonate with me a lot recently as well.
Allow the light to enter in through the top of your head (crown chakra) and fill up your body and your aura. Allow the light to cleanse your energy and clear any lingering emotions or vibes that do not serve you or your restful sleep.
Sound Bowl:
Sound is another wonderful way to clear your energy. Using a sound bowl can help you clear yourself so that you may experience peaceful, undisturbed rest. The vibrations from the sound bowl help to clear any negative vibrations and raise the frequency surrounding you.
Crystals
Although I did mention selenite for clearing your energy above, there are so many crystals you can use to support better sleep.
A few of my favorite crystals for sleep are:
Selenite: clears energy and helps connect to your angels. This Selenite Desert Sage Rose Lavender Wand comes with one *heart eyes*
Amethyst: relieves anxiety and supports boundaries
Smoky quartz: protects from bad dreams
Charoite: supports uninterrupted sleep
Labradorite: Clears worries and fears that can disturb sleep
Rose quartz: promotes calm, peace and loving supportive energy
Essential oils (diffuse and on body)
I use essential oils every day for a multitude of different reasons! There’s an oil for pretty much everything!
Some of my favorite oils for sleep are:
You can diffuse them or put a dab on your wrists, back of your neck and bottom of your feet.
Weighted blanket
If you’re someone who suffers from anxiety- weighted blankets can be a great way to feel comfort and calm.
Comfort and calm of course can translate to better sleep!
Recommended:
Comfortable Bedding (Sheets, Pillows)
This one is a must. Especially is you’re an empath or Highly Sensitive Person… its very important for us to be comfortable!
Investing in quality, comfortable bedding is a huge life changer.
Soft sheets, comfortable pillows, and maybe even a mattress topper can help you ease into better rest. Deeper comfort = deeper sleep!
Clean your space
When my home or my space is not clean, its very hard for me to experience deep relaxation.
Cleaning your room, putting laundry away, vacuuming, spraying some room spray, diffusing some oils are all ways you can help to clear the energy where you sleep.
When our space is clean and clear, its a lot easier for peaceful, restful energy to make its way in.
Bath or Shower before bed
I don’t recommend washing your hair before bed (unless you’re going to dry it afterwards), but taking a bath or warm shower can be one of the most powerful ways to wash the day away and prepare for deep rest.
Water is a wonderful healing element that supports our wellbeing. Utilizing a relaxing bath or shower can really help your mind and body shift gears into getting ready for a peaceful night of sleep.
Tea
When I’ve had a stressful day or know I need a little extra support relaxing myself before bed, I tap into the tea supply.
There are so many good calming teas out there that we can drink before bed to promote better rest and better dreams!
A few of my favorites bedtime teas are:
I tried to narrow it down, but there’s so many good ones out there! Herbal tea is one of my favorite ways to relax my nervous system and get ready for bed. Note: The mugwort tea is a powerful one for dream recall and to enhance vividness. Its not recommended for some individuals (for example: pregnant, breast feeding) so make sure to check with your health care provider before consuming specific herbs.
CBD
CBD is a tool I use when I need added relief. When tension accumulates in my body or stress and a racing mind are hard to turn off- I take a few drops of CBD before bed. I love that there are no psychoactive effects and that its able to calm my body and mind on a deep level.
Recommendation:
Sleep Juice
If you know me, you know I love Organic Olivia. Her products have changed and amplified my life and my health in so many ways.
Sleep juice is but one of them. It has a soothing blend of herbs that help you to fall asleep and stay asleep. I never feel groggy the next day, and often feel a huge mood boost and wake up feeling extremely well rested and ready for the day.
I take it several nights out of the week when I know I need a little extra support with promoting deep, nourishing and lasting rest.
Adaptogens
Another great way to help yourself get better sleep on a physical level is by taking adaptogens.
Adaptogens are herbs that help your body to self regulate its normal functions- i.e. sleep, stress, energy, libido.
I take Organic Olivia’s Adrenal Recovery formula that is full of adaptogens. But you can also try herbs like ashwagandha, eleuthero, or schisandra berry.
Healing Frequency Sleep Music and Binaural Beats
Youtube channels like Meditative Mind, Healing Vibrations, and Good Vibes- Binaural Beats have tons of options for great relaxation music.
I notice when I play these during my night of rest, I have an easier time falling asleep and experience deeper rest and healing.
Daily Exercise
No brainer but- daily exercise can help you to get better sleep.
30 minutes of yoga, a brisk 30 minute walk, weight lifting, hiking or whatever your preferred style of exercise- doing it for at least 30 minutes daily can help you to burn off any extra steam that needs to be released in order to experience better sleep.
Yoga with Adriene on Youtube has tons of wonderful and calming yoga sequences that you can do in the evening to start shifting into a mindstate of peace and rest.
Even a short walk around the block can make a difference!
Affirmations
Affirmations are another great way to help your mind get into a restful state.
Check out this post for some sleep affirmation ideas: Night Time Affirmations for Sleep
Hopefully these suggestions help you to get better rest and find the right sleep care routine for you! What do you do to relax and promote better sleep? Let me know in the comments!
So I have 1/3 of the list down! Going to try out the herbs and oils next. How do you use a sound bowl though? I’ve been to baths but never did my own sound bowl, didn’t realize you could do that or do it for sleep! 🙂
Hi beautiful! Thanks for reading! So glad you’re already doing some of these. For the sound bowl- I use it as a way to clear my energy and my room before going to sleep. Helps to get rid of any lingering emotions or energies that might disrupt my rest.
I just tap the edge and continue swirling the striker around the sound bowl until I feel the vibrations clear my body/aura and then sometimes do that a few extra times around the room to allow the sound vibrations to clear out any stagnant or unwanted energy there too. Such a great way to clear out and allow for deep rest!