Dream Night Routine

How To Create your Dream Cozy Night Routine

Your guide to creating a cozy night routine that works for you, your life, schedule and responsibilities.

One thing many people believe about setting a night routine is the idea that it has to be a strictly set time with a long list of things only meant to increase your productivity. This leaves you with no room for events, much needed downtime and nights out with friends, which is unrealistic. Despite popular belief, setting a routine should not be about disciplining yourself as much as it should be about setting time to care for yourself. By creating a night routine, you will have built-in self care time at the end of each day. 

Not only that, getting a good nights sleep regularly is important when making the goal of improving your life and habits. There are many sleep disorders and other factors that can cause someone’s sleep schedule to be unfit for their dreams, which is why setting up a cozy night routine to promote deep sleep is so helpful. 

               

Set a time to start settling down

Setting a time that works for your schedule to start settling down is the most important part of this routine. Create a time to have completely finished up your work for the day to start winding down. I recommend starting 1-2 hours before you plan on actually falling asleep. 

For example:
If you work until 6 pm, indulge in your hobbies; whether it’s reading, watching Netflix, writing, sewing, etc. until 8 pm. Then get started on your nightly ritual. 

The next step is starting out your nightly routine on the right foot: in a clean, comfortable environment.                  

                      

Create a clean and cozy environment                                     

I personally like to start this off by doing the dishes, cleaning up the kitchen and any room I have been in throughout the day that did not get the tidy up I normally do. You can do this by taking out the trash, cleaning up your living room, etc. Not only will this help you create a stress-free environment that will be easier to fall asleep in, it will help in getting your morning routine started on the right foot as well. 

You can then dim or turn off your lights, turn on any cozy lighting you have like string lights (or my personal favorite, northern lights projectors). You can also put on an essential oil diffuser, certain scents such as lavender and tea tree oil have really made a difference in my sleep quality. Start lighting some candles, and depending on which you prefer get ready for the next step. 

                   

Draw a bath or shower

This is where candles and other fun lighting can really come in handy. You can lay out candles around the bathtub or in your room to set a warm atmosphere where you can settle down. 

I like to think of showering and soaking in the bath as a way of washing off the day. Preparing myself for a brand new day with tons of wonderful new opportunities. If you decide to take a shower, imagine that the water pouring down on you is stripping away the day you have had. With a bath, imagine the steam is lifting off the negative energy.  

Setting a cozy atmosphere to wash the day off makes this routine a magical experience. I like to light candles, put in epsom bath salts or a bath bomb, topped with melatonin bubble bath soap.

You can then spend your time in the bath either watching your comfort movie or show or reading your current book. It is also nice to have some good music playing that sets a relaxing and refreshing atmosphere. 

There is a link at the bottom of the page that will direct you to my Spotify playlist that I use when I am taking a bath or shower at night.

Reflecting and restoring

There are many activities that you can do to achieve the reflecting and restoring section, whatever works best for you will be perfect. However, make sure to venture out and try new things and see how they affect your sleep quality and peace of mind.

- yoga

- meditation

- sleep, anxiety or depression hypnosis

- journaling

- planning

- stretching

- burn incense  

- tarot/oracle reading    

Any of these could help you create an environment you feel safe and restored in. However, I know that not everyone has the ability to create said environment due to outside factors.