How to Wind Down Before Bed

Understanding the importance of winding down

Wind down time before bed is a lot more important than you might think at first. Not only does winding down help you body and mind relax after a busy day and get ready for a calming night’s sleep, but it also can help to reduce your stress levels, calm any anxieties, greatly improve your sleep quality and ultimately make you feel more at peace.

When we don’t take the time to properly wind down, you’ll find it has a very detrimental impact on your sleep quality. This is because you have neglected to take calming steps to reduce your daily stressors before bed, and your stress hormones remain high as a result. This leads to a higher heart rate, faster breathing and a mind that’s far too alert and agitated to sleep soundly.

Instead, taking the time to improve your sleep hygiene by winding down can work wonders for your mental wellbeing and sleep. Simple calming exercises such as reading, meditating, stretching or even drinking a delicious herbal tea can relax your busy brain and get it ready for a long and undisturbed sleep. 

But how do you wind down? And what does it involve? Read on for our top tips on how to wind down before bedtime.

Creating a relaxing bedtime routine

A good bedtime routine, also referred to as good sleep hygiene, is crucial to help you ensure you’re consistently winding down before bed and getting the best sleep you possibly can.

While it may sound a little restrictive, an effective relaxing bedtime routine is anything but! Establishing structure to your evenings complete with various calming exercises will instead allow you to wind down, get sleepy and let go of all the day’s stresses and anxieties. Here are some of our favourite bedtime routine components for you to implement into your own sleep schedule.

Say goodbye to screens

Blue light is unfortunately sleep’s worst enemy. In fact, the blue light emitted from our screens flood our brains and trick them into thinking it’s actually the middle of the day! As a result, our brains work to keep us awake rather than producing the melatonin we need to feel sleepy. As a first step in your bedtime routine, we’d recommend putting your phone and any other screen-based devices away – ideally an hour before bedtime.

Listen to music

How often do we take the time to listen to our favourite music? As part of your routine, try listening to your favourite chill out songs – all you need to do is close your eyes and let your brain drift away as you relax into the music. If you find your brain gets a little too excited, why not try a sleep-focussed podcast, white noise or sounds of rain instead?

Read a book

Plenty of studies have shown reading before bed to be a brilliant winding down technique. Not only does it reduce stress, but reading can stop unhelpful rumination, improve creativity and memory and also improve sleep quality as your eyes start to become tired. Be sure to read by low lamplight however, and maybe don’t turn the pages of anything too exciting – we don’t want you to be tempted to stay up until the early hours!

Have a bath

Having a warm bath before bed has been found to help you unwind and get off to sleep much more quickly. This is because the warm water lowers your core temperature and increases your melatonin production, working as a circadian sleep signal that tells your body you’re ready for sleep. 

Get stretching

Stretching before bed is a fantastic way to loosen up the knots in both your body and your mind. Not only will it reduce any muscle tightness and stiffness you may have before lying down, but it also can help your body release any stress that has built up during the day. By stretching and increasing blood and oxygen flow through your body, you will feel much more relaxed, calmed and centred, ready for a long and undisturbed night’s rest.

Start journaling 

Journaling is a fantastic self-care element which you can implement into your bedtime routine. A small paragraph or two every night before you sleep can help you to relieve stress by noting down and letting go of any negative thoughts, helping you to resolve any uncomfortable emotions before you close your eyes. Journals are also a space for positive thoughts of gratitude and affirmations to help you instil a more positive mindset, helping you to achieve much better sleep quality. Working through your thoughts on paper is an amazing way to wind down before bed, a practice which will help your mind and body to heal while you snooze.

Establishing a sleep-friendly environment

Setting yourself up for a successful sleep is a lot easier than you might think! It all comes down to making sure the conditions are just right and nothing will disturb your slumber.

Lighting

Keeping your bedroom dark is vital for a sound sleep, as any bright lights will likely wake you up feeling groggy and unrested. Make sure you have blackout curtains or blinds in place to keep out any streetlamp light or too early sunshine. This goes for blue and white light too which can keep your brain whirring until the early hours. Rather than doom scrolling, pop your phone and any other screens away an hour before bed to help your brain wind down ready for sleep.

Noise

Just like light, noise can be a huge contributing factor toward inadequate sleep. Some find earplugs extremely beneficial, while others like to put their phone on silent of ‘Do Not Disturb’ so as not to be alerted to any pings and dings during the night which could peak their interest. If you live in the city or near a busy road, we’d also suggest positioning your bed away from your window too. If you must listen to something to go to sleep though, a sleep podcast, white noise or ambient sound casts could do the trick for you.

Temperature

We’ve all been caught out by the heat in the last few boiling UK summers, so we’re now well aware that being too hot leads to a terrible night’s sleep. But it’s the same when you’re too cold as well! When the weather is warm, we would recommend opting for highly breathable sheets with a lighter summer tog duvet for a more comfortable sleep. And if you don’t find the noise distracting, a fan might be beneficial too. In colder months, a heavier winter tog duvet will be in order and you could even sleep in bed socks for extra warmth too. Experts suggest the ideal temperature for sleep is between 15 and 20 degrees celsius, so check your thermostat to ensure you’re in the optimal range.

Techniques to relax the mind and body

As well as implementing a new bedtime routine, there are some great relaxation techniques to help you wind down before bed. Here are some of the best ones.

Breathing exercises

A common technique to relieve stress and promote calmness, breathing exercises are a truly effective way to calm the body and mind. One such technique called ‘4-7-8 breathing’ involves inhaling for a count of four, holding your breath for a count of seven and exhaling for a count of eight, before repeating four times. Do some research of the best breathing techniques for sleep and try a few out to see which ones work best for you!

Guided meditation

If you’re new to meditation or prefer to be led by someone else, guided meditation is a great option to help you relax. Guided meditation is essentially a session led by a teacher or person over audio, in person or on video. Apps such as Headspace and Calm have many of these guided meditation classes and there are plenty to be found on podcasts or YouTube videos too. Have a go and see how these sessions help you to let go of your worries and centre yourself before bedtime.

Understanding the Science Behind Winding Down

A few hours before bedtime, your brain will naturally start the wind down process to get you ready for bed. Your sleep-wake cycle (also known as your circadian rhythm) does this for you, but if you don’t look after it, your sleep cycle can quite quickly fall out of whack and you’ll struggle to fall and stay asleep. 

To make sure everything runs smoothly, you can optimise your cycle by implementing a healthy bedtime routine every night before bed to ensure your brain releases the melatonin it needs to make you sleepy at the right time. 

Melatonin, often referred to as ‘the sleep hormone’ promotes sleep and is naturally produced as light exposure decreases – that’s why it’s so important to put down your screens come night time. Winding down therefore supports this process of lessening sleep-harming hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, and instead promoting melatonin to help improve your quality of sleep.

Searching for more ways to boost your sleep quality?

So, now we’ve discussed the importance of winding down and how to do it, it’s over to you to establish and maintain a new wind down sleep routine. You’ll be on the road to sleep wellness in no time! Remember to limit blue light, promote a sleep-friendly environment and engage in melatonin-inducing routines before bed to help make you sleepy. Consistency is key!

For more information about how to boost sleep quality, why not check out our blogs on How to Improve Sleep Quality, What’s the Best Temperature for Sleep and How Better Sleep Can Reduce Stress?