4 Tips to Help You get a Restful Sleep

Everyday life can be very busy. It’s very understandable when we struggle to switch off and get a good night of restful sleep. Getting a full 8 hours sleep is highly recommend for full productivity during the day but most people are barely reaching 6 hours of sleep a night. So we have put together a few mindfulness tips to help you get a lovely night of shut eye.

Routine - One hour before bed, start dimming lights and turning down loud noises, such as: music, tv, etc. Make a cup of herbal tea to settle the mind and body - peppermint and chamomile tea are great before bed. Reading for thirty minutes before bed is an excellent way to prepare for sleep as it calms the mind and allows the body to relax.

Technology - Make sure all electronic and screens are off thirty minutes before bed. In this day and age it is easy to get distracted by binging on Netflix and checking social media on your smart phone. If you can, try not to bring your phone into the bedroom. Buy yourself an ‘old school’ alarm clock and charge your phone in another room. This should stop the temptation of having your phone on the bedside table.

Meditation - Lay down in bed, close your eyes and take ten deep breaths into your belly. Focus all your attention on your breathing. Once you have finished the last deep breath, imagine a white light entering your body from the top of your head. See the relaxing healing white light enter every part of your body starting from your head, moving all the way to the toes. Once you have finished with the light, take ten more deep breaths just like you did at the beginning to finish of the meditation.

Relaxing - If the above meditation didn’t send you to sleep, then a relaxing body scan may do the trick. Lay down on your bed and close your eyes. Starting at your feet, relax every muscle in your foot one-by-one until your feet feel heavy. Now continue up each leg relaxing the each muscle and progress up the rest of your body. Your head will be last to relax. Take ten deep breaths to finish off the body scan. 

Adding mindfulness into a daily routine is such a simple and effective way to make positive changes to your life. Starting with these easy tips are perfect for a first step into mindfulness to live with calm minds and happy hearts.