Relax & Recharge: Ways I Unwind Before Bed

Getting ready for bed is easily my favorite part of the day. It's the time of day where I put electronics away (besides using my phone as an alarm on my nightstand) and I truly get to relax. I get my oil diffuser going and change into some comfortable PJs. I'm big on the whole NO electronics before bed thing. Although, sometimes I cave in and scroll through social media in bed or watch an episode of a show before actually falling asleep. So, I do try really hard to put my phone and any other screens away at least 45 minutes before bed because it makes such a difference in my quality of sleep. Here are somethings I do to unplug from the day:

1) Nighttime Skincare

I like to keep my routine fairly simple: face wash, toner, serum, eye cream, and face mask/ moisturizer (depending on my mood). I lean more towards doing a face mask at night either with a sheet mask, homemade mask, or an overnight sleep mask because it feels more luxurious and like it's doing something for my face overnight (in my head). I try to do a face mask 2-3 times a week, but sometimes it just ends up being once a week.

2) Evening Yoga

Yoga and meditation have been a pretty big part of my life. I am someone who deals with generalized anxiety and struggled a lot with it in high school and even today. It wasn't until I turned to yoga and meditation (with the nagging of my grandmother and mother) to help me control my anxiety more. It's been years since I started to practice after watching my grandmother practice through my childhood and I'm so grateful that they pushed me into it. I have so much more clarity and less brain chatter after continuing the practice of these two. I meditate once a day every single day for about 30 minutes in the morning, so at night I do it whenever I can even for 5-10 minutes. Usually, I'll simply meditate in silence or follow a quick nighttime stretch before bed.

3) Read a Book

This one's fairly simple. I pick up a book I'm interested in and I read it until I can literally feel my eyes drooping. I've been a bookworm all my life so this is my favorite way to unwind in bed. It's just such a good form of stress relief for me and I love it. For some reason, I can only read at night. I've tried reading during the day before and it just doesn't work. Reading in bed at night is a whole different vibe and it has so many benefits to it!

4) Word Searches

I've been trying to do things that can "work-out" my brain, and so I've been pretty consistent with this word search book I got from the dollar store. I like to time myself and try to see how fast I can finish a page. My brother teases me for this and calls me Grandma for enjoying word searches before bed, but I don't really care. I just like to know that I'm working out my brain before bed, and it also helps me drift off to sleep :)

5) Something Creative

As I mentioned before, I try to do anything that does not involve looking at a screen 45-60 mins before bed. I like to do something creative if I don't really want to read that night. This involves things like teaching myself the ukulele, coloring (I found a really cute coloring book on Insta that was trending so I had to buy it), or journaling. I've been journaling since my early days of grade school and journals filled with things I was going through at each point in my life. It was so therapeutic and remains to be one of the best was to just brain dump everything. All of these options have been therapeutic and just overall relaxing to me. It's not super stimulating (although the ukulele can spark some frustration in me) and it helps stimulate my brain in a good way, if anything.

6) Watch TV

Now I know I just said I don't like to have screens out before bed, but I'm only human! Sometimes I don't want to do anything but watch an episode of a show I'm watching before bed or watch a movie. If that's the case, I'll watch some Netflix on my phone for a bit before putting it away for the night or watch on the TV before heading upstairs to bed. Again, this is my last resort option to unwind if I want to be strict with myself about the no screens before bed. It's usually when I didn't get the chance to watch TV that whole day so I'd like to watch something before bed. Typically, I watch TV while making dinner and doing some chores in the evening. Currently, I am watching the new show on Netflix: Running Point

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What are some ways you like to unwind before bed? I'd love to hear!

-N