Restful Evenings: How I get a good nights sleep

Up until the last year I really struggled with sleeping well. I used to have stressful nights with no rest at all and fitful sleeps, nightmares and general insomnia. This used to contribute to a lot of stress which, in turn, would affect my sleep even more. 

After I had been living a more healthy lifestyle with a cleaner diet and having regular exercise for a few months my sleep patterns finally started to normalize, but not without the use of some really amazing tools and rituals which I continue to utilize. This has been a wonderful journey for me and it is interesting to see how something as simple as sleep can have such a big impact on my life.

Here are some tools I have used that help me have a more restful night of sleep:

Reduce intense stimuli and replace them with relaxing, indulgent evening rituals

1) No Caffeine After 2 PM

Yes, thats a good 8 hours before I go to bed but, especially if I am buzzing with positive (or negative) stress in my life caffeine tends to keep my brain on a loop until late at night.

2) Reduce Stimuli Late at Night

This is a big one for me, and I have turned it into a real positive. Most evenings in I'll light a few scented candles, play some jazz music, have a glass of wine or some herbal tea and read something interesting. In no way do I feel I am missing out on anything, but it really makes a difference in my ability to get to sleep and the outcome of the week ahead.

3) Exercise outdoors

I have yet to find a person who won't admit regular exercise improves their nights rest, especially outdoor exercise. Until very recently the human race was governed by the patterns of the moon and the sun: our seasons, our waking and our sleeping. Experiencing and observing these patterns while actively moving and using up extra energy in our bodies helps set our body clocks and time our sleeping patterns correctly. I have an office job, so every weekend I try to go for at least an hour and a half hike, this helps calibrate my sleep for the week.

4) Aromatherapy

I love delicious smells, and the beauty of essential oils is that our body naturally responds in different ways to different scents. Most evenings I put a couple of drops of my blend of roman chamomile, lavender and sandalwood essential oils on my pillow. This rarely fails to knock me out into a deep sleep.

So those are my tips on getting a deep, restful sleep. I hope they come in handy!