The Ultimate Bedtime Routine: 15-Min to Deeper Sleep
Establishing a 15-minute bedtime routine is a great way to improve sleep quality. A comprehensive sleep ritual integrates techniques that shift toward restorative, parasympathetic dominance including deep breathing, massage, red light, natural sleep aids, and journaling.
How to set a sleep routine?
Sleep routine is a set of steps that helps the body and brain wind-down and get ready for sleep. From blocking blue light at night to body scan meditation or shiatsu massage, there’s a lot one can do to sleep better. The goal is setting up one’s physiology to fall asleep faster, stay asleep, and sleep deeper.
The importance of sleep for overall health, physical and mental performance cannot be overstated. It ties into all biological processes, dictating metabolism, hormone balance, and energy creation.
With one third of adults being sleep deprived, sleeping <7 hours daily, it’s important to address the topic of bedtime routine. How to create a sleep oasis, a soothing environment that is conducive to sleep.
There are three steps that will determine the quality of sleep.
- Daytime activities and lifestyle: things like light exposure, stress, caffeine intake, exercise, nutrition, and relationships.
- Sleep environment setup: the amount and intensity of light exposure close to bedtime, temperature, and noise in the environment.
- Bedtime routine: a set of steps to wind-down, like massage, essential oils, deep breathing, or infrared light.
Instead of jumping to the main topic, bedtime routine, make sure you have optimized the first two steps.
Daily Activities to Ensure Better Sleep
Optimal sleep is primarily earned throughout the day, not 15 minutes before bed. Our daily activities lay the foundation for sleep readiness at night.
Morning Light, Wakefulness and Cortisol
One of the most potent stimulants is light. Being exposed to light, whether artificial blue light or sunlight increases wakefulness. It raises stress-hormones like cortisol, aiding in alertness, focus, and productivity. The body needs to wake-up properly, to be able to wind-down and fall asleep. Most people waking up before sunrise use blue-light emitting devices or LED panels to kickstart their circadian rhythm, to wake up properly.
Physical activity and intense exercise
Exercise, whether strength training or cardio improves health on various levels. From promoting stress-adaptability and improving circulation, to decreasing resting heart rate and improving HRV, it profoundly impacts health.
Compared to people with cardiovascular or metabolic dysfunction, healthier population sleep better and have a lower risk of developing sleep disorders like sleep apnea. Additionally, engaging in exercise is stimulatory short-term, depriving the muscles of energy. This leads to accumulation of adenosine which makes you sleepy at night, while also increasing serotonin to signal fatigue, the precursor of melatonin.
Junk Food, Stimulants and Caffeine
A healthy, fiber-rich diet feeds the good gut bacteria, tackling the major limiting factor for sleep, stress. Eating ultra processed foods (UPFs) on the other hand, destroys it, increasing gut inflammation, stress, and disrupting mood. Just reducing refined sugars and trans fats can profoundly impact sleep.
Another stimulant often overused is caffeine. While it is great for boosting productivity and focus in the morning, relying on caffeine after 3pm significantly disrupts sleep and reduces sleep quality, even if the consumer thinks they fall asleep fast.
Socialization and Work-Related Stress
As said, stress is the major limiting factor disrupting sleep. It stems from toxic relationships, societal pressure, and work-related financial worries. Most people can shift the direction of their work-related stress by gaining autonomy. By building skills, pursuing roles that align with one’s values, and improving communication skills, one is less dependent and stressed. It takes a lot of work to find the purpose and align work-life with it, but it’s worth it.
Equally important is prioritizing socialization. Relationships support emotional health and buffer against stress. Even brief daily connections with loved ones or friends can calm the nervous system and improve your outlook, fostering mental clarity for restful sleep.
Sleep Environment Setup
The next step to optimal sleep is setting a sleep-conducive environment that respects three metrics: light, temperature, and noise.
In most cases, this is a one-and-done, set-it-and-forget-it type of optimization. Once one learns to setup and control the environment, it doesn’t take much extra time to pull the shades down or activate the air conditioner.
4 Steps to an optimal bedroom environment
Cool Room
The optimal temperature for sleep hovers around 60-67°F (15-19°C). Setting an air conditioner during summer season, or just ventilating before bed during winter is a smart strategy.
Dark Room
Since light exposure significantly impairs sleep quality, it is essential to block blue light 3-4 hours before bed, switch to red or infrared light 1 hour before bed, and sleep in total darkness. For the last, it’s a good idea to pull the shades down, install a blackout curtain, or wear a comfortable sleeping mask.
Zero Noise
Noise is sleep destructive, increasing the chances one wakes up during the night. Try to block out all noise by closing the doors and windows. In busy areas, living downtown, it may not be a bad strategy to use a white noise or pink noise machine, to soothe sound.
Medium-Firm Mattress
Research has consistently shown that medium-firm mattress correlated to higher sleep quality. The caveat is that firmness should be subjectively rated, it is not a final number.
Once the environment is set to cool, dark, and quiet, it is time to create a 15-minute routine that helps us wind-down our physiology before bed.
15-min bedtime routine
Investing 15 minutes to optimize sleep quality and onset latency seems worthy, considering most people spend >1 hour a night in bed, not sleeping. Tipping this scale by only 25% (15min) is reasonable.
Most of these techniques are proven to work for reducing stress, tension, or anxiety. Combating this, being the largest limiting factor that impairs sleep is directionally correct. However, the science on these tips being strongly related to improved sleep quality in humans, is not conclusive yet.
Chamomile Tea and Journaling – 3 Min
Most people ponder on their problems in bed. The longer it goes the more it increases stress, particularly as one feels they must fall asleep. If instead, one journals their to-do list or empties their mind by writing their thoughts, problem, or doubts somewhere, the mind feels free. (1) (2)
Taking 3 minutes to journal can be a smart strategy to ease off the stress, knowing there’s nothing to think about. It stays somewhere, it’ll be taken care of. Doing this in an app can be faster, but make sure you use red-blocking glasses and have the note-taking app turned to night-mode. Or else, use the old-school pen and paper method.
Drinking a hot tea before bed can be relaxing. The smell of chamomile can signal to the brain it’s time to sleep, setting the body for rest. The data on chamomile shows a promising potential in improving sleep, particularly the number of awakenings, primarily due to a light anxiolytic effect. (3) (4) (5) (6)
The compound responsible for this is apigenin, a flavonoid associated with improved sleep and reduced stress in adults. Apigenin may increase GABAergic activity, promoting parasympathetic activity. (7) (6) (8) (9)
Screen Free Wind-Down; Setup Infrared Light
After being done with journaling, it’s a screen-free environment now on. Blue light before bed is sleep destructive, as it suppresses melatonin production. (10) (11) (12) (13) Limit the room lighting to only red or infrared light. This can be done by installing red panels or using infrared light bulbs for the last 15 minutes, during the wind-down.
Additionally, one can wear blue-blocking or red-light glasses, blocking a higher spectrum of intense, stimulating light. The red ones are a better option for right before bed, but since no electronics are on, it’s not a necessity. By now, the room should be reddish.
Deep Breathing and Mindfulness – 5 minute
The next 5-minutes comprise deep breathing, mindfulness practice.
By being a non-judging thought observer, one increases the ability not to solve hypothetical problems or react to everything, thus leaving an unimportant train of thought flow by without engagement. The data shows mindfulness to be a great way to enhance sleep quality and reduce stress levels. (14) (15) (16)
Deep breathing, or 4-7-8 is also known to calm the nervous system, activating the parasympathetic one. When the exhales are longer, and breathing slows down, there’s a slight decrease in heart rate and blood pressure, great for sleep. (17) (18)
Self-massage, Acupressure or Earthing Mat – 5 minute
The next step can be one, or combination of more techniques. These are all alternatives.
- Self-massage: 2-5 minutes with a massage ball, targeting the highest tension-storing point, the trapezius muscle. Applying pressure to the muscle seems to activate certain pressure points and increase blood flow in the muscle which release muscle tension. (19) (20) (21) (22) (23)
- Earthing Mat: 2-5 minutes of standing on a grounding mat. Grounding is about connecting with earth’s surface to allow for a natural flow of electrons into the body. Some data shows potential benefits on immunity, inflammation, glucose control, and thyroid function. (24) (25) (26) The earthing mat can be a convenient way to reconnect the body to earth’s frequency, however data in humans is still lacking.
- Shiatsu Massage: 2-5 minutes of shiatsu massage using a neck or foot massaging device. Shiatsu has been long used to restore body’s energy balance, relax the muscle, and reduce fatigue and anxiety. (27) Most devices have pre-installed heating and massage balls that move around in 3D. This can help in relieving muscle tension and stress, indirectly improving sleep.
- Acupressure Mat: 2-5 minutes of standing or lying on an acupressure mat. Similar to massage, applying pressure to specific points is known to improve circulation and relieve muscle tension. While the data on acupressure mats is limited, the mechanism stays largely the same. Some studies show subjective stress reduction with no specific changes in heart rate and blood pressure, (28) and decrease in low-back pain. (29) A systematic review assessing 7 trials (385 patients) showed 13-19% improvements in PSQI (sleep quality index) score. (30)
Using all things at once is counterproductive. A better strategy would be testing different things and assessing based on subjective or objective (Whoop) improvements on sleep.
A combination of two is possible within the same timeframe, for example:
- 3 minutes of self-massage with a ball with 3 minutes of lying on an acupressure mat
- combining neck shiatsu massages while being on an earthing mat
Transdermal Magnesium – 1 min
Magnesium can help promote muscle relaxation, hence why it has been used to aid sleep. Sufficient Mg levels are associated with better sleep in humans, and Mg may help reduce anxiety and stress symptoms, indirectly improving sleep. (31) (32) (33)
Many articles suggest the use of transdermal magnesium, applied as a cream or spray topically on the skin, for better absorption. Studies show mixed results, with some promoting the use of Mg creams for muscle relaxation, due to higher absorption rate via the skin. (34) (35) (36)
Progressive Muscle Relaxation – 2 min
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a technique that involves tensing and relaxing muscles to reduce muscle tension. By focusing on the contrast between tension and release, PMR helps lower stress and activates the body’s relaxation response, making it an effective tool for improving sleep. (37) (38) (39) It can be particularly helpful for those dealing with anxiety or insomnia, as it calms both the body and mind.
PMR can be done by tensing individual muscles, starting from distal (feet, calves) to central (abdomen) muscles. Or it can be done by progressively activating more muscles at once, after which relaxation and long exhale follows. Tighten the muscles one-by-one, until all muscles are contracted, hold for 4 seconds, then slowly release down. Repeat for 5-10 cycles.
Weighted Blanket
Another tool that may potentially improve sleep performance is a weighted blanket. It mimics comfort sensation by applying more pressure on the body. In science, deep pressure touch or DPT is the most strongly recognized mechanism behind WB. (40) This may calm the nervous system, lower stress hormones, and anxiety symptoms.
The data on weighted blankets is actually not weak. While mostly effective in patients with anxiety or insomnia, weighted blankets seem like a reliable, cost-effective option to induce sleep. (40) (41) (42) One study in young, healthy adults also showed increase in melatonin production. (43)
