3 Things you can do Before Bed to Prepare for Sleep
How many of you get at least 8-10 hrs of sleep each night? In the words of a past FitQuest student: “that sounds like a dream!” Getting enough sleep each night is hard. Maybe you spend too much time in front of screens beforehand, or maybe even without screens you don’t sleep much. We don’t know exactly why you are having trouble sleeping, but we want to talk about our three favorite things to do before bed to ensure we wake up feeling well-rested. Maybe these tips can help you too!
The first thing you can do before going to bed to prepare for a restful night is breathing. You may be thinking, “don’t we always breathe?” and you are right! No matter where you are, you always have one of the best stress relief tools on hand—your breath. This free and easy tool helps runners pump up for a big race, helps kids calm down in the middle of a meltdown, and can help you get ready for a night of sleep. We recommend starting your winddown process with a few deep breaths to calm your body. Through this process, each breath loosens your muscles and relieves tension from a long or stressful day.
Another positive way to prepare for bed is journaling your thoughts and feelings from your day. Especially with the pandemic, our stress levels are through the roof. Maybe you had a classic bad day, or just had an argument with your sibling before laying down. If you have ever had a bad dream that reminded you of the day you had before, you may be familiar with how going to bed stressed or angry can affect your sleep. Journaling can help you cope with the stressors in your life, letting you get it all out of your brain while writing. Even better, though, is getting to shut the book after your finish writing, letting all the bad feelings be shut away with it. Trust us, you will likely sleep—and dream—much better!
Our third recommendation is stretching before bed. It may feel like a better idea to exercise a lot before bed, so you feel tired, but that wakes your body up even more by giving it more energy! On the other hand, stretching is recommended after physical activity to help your muscles relax so you avoid feeling sore. Even if you haven’t been physically active throughout the day, your body has still been moving around and using up its energy. Before bed, you can stretch for a few minutes to relax your muscles and sleep more comfortably!
These are just a few of our favorite ways to prepare for sleep, but there are so many more! To explore some more tips and tricks to sleeping better throughout the night, we encourage you to read through these articles linked below:
17 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night (healthline.com)
9 Tips for Getting a Better Night’s Sleep | Washingtonian (DC)
Sleep Strategies for Children | SleepFoundation.org
Next blog: Science of Sleep
Discuss the various problems kids may have with sleeping every night.
Talk about the activities kids enjoy that limit how much sleep they get
Basics of Sleep Problems in Children | American Sleep Association ; Children and Sleep | Sleep Foundation ; What Sleep Is and Why All Kids Need It (for Kids) – Nemours KidsHealth