How to Build a Tranquil Bedtime Routine & Improve Your Sleep Quality
We all know the importance of a good night’s sleep, but do you know the importance of a good night’s sleep routine? Creating a calming bedtime routine is essential for promoting relaxation, allowing the mind and body to unwind from daily stresses. Sleep, or lack of it, plays an important role in our daily lives, affecting our health and well-being. The link between stress and sleep is undeniable, with almost 1 in 5 people in the UK reported as not getting enough sleep and 66% of adolescents citing poor sleep as negatively impacting their mental health. With Stress Awareness Month upon us, we wanted to highlight the value of creating a tranquil bedtime routine and share ways in which we can enhance our nightly rituals to improve sleep quality.
How Does Stress Affect Sleep and Why Does Sleep Matter?
We all experience levels of stress from time to time, and this stress can significantly impact our sleep, which inadvertently results in us feeling more stressed. The combination of lack of sleep and stress directly affects our health and well-being. That’s because, during deep sleep our body goes into recovery, releasing certain hormones and proteins that restore the immune system, repair tissues, consolidate memories, reset emotions, and improve learning and creativity. When we don’t get a good night’s sleep, our body doesn’t have the opportunity to restore itself properly, which can affect us both physically and mentally. When we are stressed or anxious our body releases a mixture of adrenaline and cortisol (the stress hormone), which can increase heart rate and blood pressure while causing muscle tension. This can keep us feeling wired when we should be winding down.
How To Build A Tranquil Bedtime Routine To Improve Your Sleep
Establishing a calming bedtime routine to wind down from the stresses of the day can determine the quality of sleep that we achieve throughout the night. What you do in the lead-up to bedtime can significantly affect your quality of sleep. By creating new nightly rituals, you can help release tensions from the day and set yourself up for achieving the perfect night’s sleep. Here are some of our top recommendations for creating a tranquil bedtime routine and tips to improve sleep.
Wind down before bed
While you may like to unwind by scrolling social media or watching television, doing so before bed can disrupt your sleep cycle. As daylight fades, our bodies release the sleep hormone melatonin, which produces feelings of sleepiness. The blue light rays emitted from devices, along with screen brightness, delay our body’s release of melatonin and can affect the amount of time you spend in slow-wave and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, which are crucial stages in the sleep cycle essential for cognitive function. To help you fall asleep faster, ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed, aim to limit screen time at least an hour before bed. This allows your brain to wind down and signals to your body that it’s time to sleep. We recommend cozying up with a book or listening to some soft, relaxing music or a podcast to allow your mind to drift off as you become sleepy.
Taking a warm bath or shower can help relax your muscles and prepare your body for sleep. Surprisingly, warm water can help your body reduce its core temperature, preparing you even more for sleep. Enhance your bathtime by investing in fluffy bath towels and a soft bathrobe to add tranquillity to your routine. Gentle stretching before bed can help release muscle tension and promote relaxation. Stretch your arms, legs and back gently. This will help signal to your body that it’s time to wind down.
Create a relaxing sleep environment
The value of creating a peaceful and comfortable sleep environment is essential to promoting good sleep habits. Your mind and body know to prepare for sleep when you develop the right environment for winding down. Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool. Reduce the brightness of your space with blackout curtains or use a sleep mask to block out any light. If you need light in your bedroom while you’re getting ready for bed, opt for a soft lamp as opposed to a harsh overhead light. Low lighting instantly creates a relaxing ambiance that allows us to unwind. Use earplugs or a white noise machine to block out noise. Make your room feel like a luxurious retreat by investing in high-quality bedding to ensure a restful night’s sleep. Opt for a comfortable mattress topper and premium pillows for extra support in enhancing sleep quality and optimising how to improve sleep quality overall.
How Rise & Fall can help you create a tranquil bedtime routine
Did you know - we spend almost one-third of our life either sleeping or attempting to do so? That’s a lot of time spent snuggled up in bed. So, it makes sense to invest in high-quality, luxury bedding that offers premium comfort and durability. Why bother with scratchy synthetic materials that contain harmful chemicals when you can elevate your sleep experience with Rise and Fall luxury bedding sets?
Our Luxurious Bed Linen Collection
Our bed linen collection is made from the finest natural materials, such as organic cotton and linen, which are soft, breathable, and gentle on your skin.
When it comes to enhancing your sleep quality and finding ways to improve sleep, it’s important to assess the quality of your bedding. There’s nothing better than climbing into bed after a long day and being greeted by ultra-soft and luxurious sheets. Choosing good quality bedding that regulates your temperature will help you sink into a deep, peaceful night’s sleep.
Our Soft & Smooth bedding is crafted with extra-long staple cotton fibres and our four up/one down sateen technique. This combination ensures a luxurious feel and durability that improves with every wash. Slightly weighted, our Soft & Smooth bedding is perfect for cold sleepers.
If you run hot at night or have extra sensitive skin, our Crisp & Cool organic cotton bedding is the perfect fit. Highly breathable and gentle on your skin, organic cotton is free from harmful chemicals, making this choice better for your skin and the environment.
Add some colour and texture to elevate your serene sleep setting with our Relaxed & Refined linen collection. Linen is highly breathable, moisture-wicking, and extremely durable - getting softer and softer after every wash.
Fluffy and cosy layered textures are a must for adding depth and interest to your tranquil sleep space, and these are easy to add through comforting cushions and throws. Our oxford pillowcases are a great way to add an extra layer of luxury - creating the illusion of bigger pillows and making things look plush.
Ultimate Thermal Comfort with Recycled Down & British Wool Collections
Our Duvets and pillows collections are filled with hypoallergenic down and feathers, which provide superior comfort and support.
Good sleep is essential when it comes to health and well-being, and a good night's sleep starts with the best bedding. Layering your bed with cloud-like support while elevating your bedroom with luxury bed linen sets can help create an atmosphere of deep sleep. Whether you prefer 100% natural recycled down or hypoallergenic British wool, there's no better way to invest in your sleep.
During REM sleep, your body stops regulating your temperature. Our Recycled Down and British wool collections are naturally temperature-regulating materials that create the ultimate thermal comfort zone when you sleep. Our recycled down collection is processed using the latest technology, which ensures it's de-dusted, sterilised, and washed to create a light and breathable filler. Transform your sleep with our British wool bedding, designed for comfort, which ensures excellent breathability.
Tip 1: Practice some relaxation techniques before bed, such as meditation
Provide some examples or instructions for some simple and effective relaxation techniques, such as guided meditation, gentle yoga, or deep breathing
Incorporating meditation, deep breathing, or gentle stretching into your bedtime routine encourages a state of tranquillity that is ideal for drifting off to sleep. A few minutes of quiet reflection can help reduce stress, calm the mind, and prepare the body for sleep. Restorative yoga focuses on deep breathing and gentle movements, helping release tension, calm the nervous system, and slow down the heart rate. The gentle movements help promote better blood circulation and oxygen flow, allowing the body and mind to transition into a state of relaxation. If you are unsure where to start, you can find lots of useful guides on YouTube by simply searching 'mindful meditation' or 'wind-down stretches.' Alternatively, apps, podcasts, and books are great resources as well.
Tip 2: Read a book, listen to a podcast, or write a journal to unwind and reflect
Winding down for a good night’s sleep should include relaxing activities like reading a book, listening to a podcast, or writing a journal to unwind and reflect. Giving your thoughts somewhere else to live can help you to declutter your mind and prepare for a restful night’s sleep - something as simple as writing a to-do list for the next day, jotting down any worries on your mind, or even doodling if writing isn’t for you. Curling up with a good book in bed is a great way to unwind and has been proven to enhance sleep quality. Make sure to opt for a book or podcast that is relaxing rather than stimulating. Whether it’s a classic novel, a podcast on mindfulness, or a gentle storytelling app, incorporating these into your nightly routine can improve vocabulary, listening abilities, comprehension, and cognitive skills. While also allowing you to escape into the world of dreams.
Tip 3: Use aromatherapy, candles, or diffusers to create a soothing and pleasant atmosphere
Transform your nightly routine into a spa-like setting with luxurious aromatherapy. Simply add a few drops of your favourite essential oils to a bath or diffuser and allow the natural fragrances to fill the air- we recommend lavender, chamomile, ylang-ylang, vanilla, or bergamot, as this helps promote relaxation and sleep. Aromatherapy helps reduce stress and anxiety as it has a calming effect on the body and mind. Create a peaceful ambiance with lightly scented candles. Make sure to opt for candles made from natural materials to ensure you don’t inhale any harmful chemicals. By incorporating soothing scents into your bedtime routine, you create a calming environment that signals to your body that it's time for a restful night.
Tip 4: Avoid checking the clock, phone, or email and focus on positive thoughts and affirmations
Setting your phone to night mode and disconnecting from the outer world can help relieve stress and anxiety. We all know technology is overstimulating and can significantly affect our sleep cycle. Try leaving your phone in another room to avoid temptation. Leave emails for the next day and stop checking the clock, as this can cause you to feel anxious. Being present in your surroundings, you can focus on positive thoughts and affirmations, which can broaden your perspective and reduce negative emotions. This leads to greater levels of happiness, helping to alleviate stress. Never go to bed angry, is age-old advice that we should all live by. Did you know that during sleep, the brain reorganises the way memories are stored, so any negative thoughts or memories can become difficult to overcome if you suppress these feelings and sleep on them? Shifting your focus to positive thoughts, you can clear your mind of worries and let go of the day’s stresses. A gratitude list or mantra can help improve self-esteem, confidence, and optimism, which ultimately helps in getting a good night’s sleep.
Building a tranquil bedtime routine is a rewarding endeavour that promotes relaxation and improves sleep quality. Small changes lead to significant outcomes when practised regularly. By incorporating tips to improve sleep, like limiting screen time, creating a harmonious sleep environment with luxury bedding, and practising relaxation techniques, you can ensure a deeper night’s sleep. Explore Rise & Fall’s to find the perfect bedding to elevate your sleep space. We encourage you to try some of the tips and share your feedback and experiences with us. With these tips, you can transform your nightly rituals and improve your health and well-being.