We’re all familiar with the world-famous Santorini sunsets, and the decades-old evening ritual of flocking to the cliff edge to watch as the sun slowly sinks beneath the horizon, bringing the day slowly to a close, before the Island is illuminated by twinkling night lights. 
An evening ritual is a signal to your body to calm itself, to gradually disengage from the day’s activities and to prepare for restful sleep before starting another day. Benefits include improved quality of sleep, which leads to reduced anxiety and stress, greater focus and mental clarity, and better physical health. There is also research (Whale, Gooberman-Hill, 2022) to suggest that better sleep can reduce pain. For maximum effectiveness, the ritual should start about 60 minutes before you go to bed. It should be a consistent habit, it should be a gentle transition and it should be relaxing. Making it a habit will allow the brain to “default” to feeling relaxed as soon as you start your ritual.
Here are my suggestions to incorporate into an evening ritual:
- Switch off electronic devices about an hour before you go to bed. The blue light emitted from devices suppresses melatonin – the sleep hormone. This makes it harder to fall asleep. Try substituting electronic devices with reading a book – this will help to slow your mind.
- Journalling can help to promote better sleep and reduce anxiety. It can be anything from writing down things that we may be thankful for, things that have been positive or writing out a to-do list for the following day
- A warm bath or shower two hours before bed can help by raising your body’s core temperature and then allowing it to cool rapidly. The warmth will relax muscles, and the subsequent drop in temperature releases melatonin and promotes sleepiness
- Dimming the lights, or switching from a main overhead light to a lamp, will also help the body to produce melatonin, as well as inducing a calm, relaxed atmosphere
- Create a relaxed, unhurried skin and body cleansing routine. Brushing teeth unhurriedly,
removing make up, moisturising, hand cream…all the little details that we tend not to have time for, or to do properly… - A dab of perfume can help you to unwind. Maybe not a citrus scent – this can be invigorating, which is great, but not what we are aiming for – but scents with notes of lavender or sandalwood can be relaxing. It can also be sprayed onto the side of a pillow.
- Gentle stretching can help with promoting better sleep as it will relax muscles and lower cortisol, while increasing circulation and preventing muscular cramps. When we stretch we trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body to transition into a more restful state. Useful yoga poses are the Child’s pose to reduce tension in the back and shoulders, the Bear Hug to stretch the upper back and the Corpse pose to still the mind
- Praying or meditating an help to reduce stress and calm the mind. Praying can help to bring peace by surrendering worries to a higher power and knowing you are supported. Meditation can help to reduce stress and lower the heart rate, whih will help with promoting better sleep
I hope you have found my article interesting. Solution-focused hypnotherapy can help with sleep issues and with reducing anxiety. Please contact me if you would like me to help you
debbie@backontrackhypnotherapy.co.uk
07375 122742
Research reference
Whale, K, Gooberman-Hill, R (2022), The Importance of Sleep for People With Chronic Pain: Current Insights and Evidence, available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles