For years, I was able to sleep pretty well. I would be able to fall right to sleep when my head hit the pillow. I hardly ever yawned my way through a day. The biggest downside for me was being a light sleeper. Any and every noise would have me on alert. My youngest daughter, Kalila, still comments on how weird it was to quietly come into my bedroom and I'd just say "Yes, Kalila?" without opening my eyes. It's the Mom Hearing!
Nowadays, with all the extra weight causing my body to be uncomfortable, age settling into my bones and joints (hello arthritis!), not sticking to a good diet, not sticking to a nighttime routine, etc, etc, etc I just don't sleep as well anymore. I wake up multiple times all night long. I wake exhausted sometimes and just I am yawning now as I type this. Are you yaaawwwwwnnnnninnnngggg as you read this? They say a yawn is contagious.
I've decided to try products that are meant to help me sleep. But overall, I want to make sure I have a good sleep routine to also create the best chance for these products to work their magic. I do believe if I'm not helping the situation by creating an environment that's conducive to getting a great night's sleep, all products will just be a failure. I doubt that any product short of anesthesia would be able to help me fall asleep, stay asleep, and get in a full 8 hours of sleep.
That being said, I've decided to fall down the rabbit hole of sleep products, tips, and tricks. I'm going to really give them the fairest chance I can so I'm thinking two weeks for each product unless its own instructions tell me something different.
First up? A bedtime routine. I have to balance this with the rest of my household so I think the best idea for me is to be in bed between 10pm and 10:30pm. My son, Jayden, goes to bed at 10pm but he's 14 yrs old so of course, he can never get his ass up and getting ready for bed until I gently remind him (JAYDEN'S IT'S AFTER 10PM WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING READY FOR BED!?!?!?!?).
But let's backtrack a bit. I'm determined to be done with things like the dishes, kitchen cleanup, and having my meals prepped for the following day before 8pm. Then one hour to chill with my husband (and finish my clean up on my Animal Crossing New Horizons island!). By 9pm I want to be off of all electronic devices. Yoga (the routine I'm using is available if you click the word yoga at the beginning of this sentence) for about 20 minutes. I have found that this helps my body not be so stiff overnight along with helping me to relax so that's definitely gotta stay. Wash my face, brush my teeth, put on my nighttime 'please god help me fight these wrinkles' cream, comfortable jammies, a cup of Extra Sleepy Time tea, and reading from an actual book with paper pages. And lights out no later than 10:15pm.
I'm still working on the exact order this routine should go but over the next two weeks, I'll have it figured out and let you all know what I've found that works the best for me. I have a few devices that I've gotten my hands on to try out once this routine is figured out. So stay tuned for some continued energy in creating a good night's sleep. Until next time.......muah!
