It’s no secret that sleep is vital for holistic wellness

But how can you best set yourself up for success? As a registered nurse and holistic health coach, here are the steps I try to take nightly to ensure healthy sleep for myself and my family! 😴

Over the past year (actually more like two years since becoming a mom and having young children) sleep has been less reliable. Maybe it's my newborn needing to eat, or my toddler hoping to snuggle, or just wanting to stay up a little later to hang out with my husband after the babies are asleep. And while I am at peace with that, I also know the importance of sleep.

Getting enough sleep is not only crucial for your physical health and immunity, but mental, emotional and spiritual health as well.

So I have chosen to control the sleep components that I am able to- specifically my nighttime routine.

This is my holistic wellness routine that helps me to optimize my sleep as much as possible! (plus a customizable printable chart for your daily wellness goals at the bottom of this post). I still say that my favorite part of the day is the morning, but bedtime is a close second because I can tangibly see my actions benefitting my overall health.

Benefits of having a consistent bedtime routine..

A healthy bedtime routine can help ensure you are getting adequate, high-quality sleep. This is because your body learns to anticipate bedtime. When bedtime draws nearer, you secrete hormones and chemicals to initiate restfulness and sleepiness. This helps you to fall asleep quicker (bye insomnia), stay asleep longer (bye restless sleep), and get all the health advantages of adequate sleep.

This includes:

improved immune response (in other words, less sickness!)
better mood regulation
lower levels of stress
supports a healthy weight
SO MUCH MORE!

What my bedtime routine looks like

A couple hours before I go to sleep, we put our young kids to bed. This looks like reading books as a whole family, saying prayers with our toddler, nursing my son, and them falling asleep. It is important to us that we instill healthy sleep habits in our children from a young age and don't start a bedtime battle. We have noticed a huge improvement in our child's behavior when we started preparing for bedtime an hour or so before bedtime by engaging in quiet play and having quality time. This ensured that our daughter had a little time one-on-one with each of us, and everyone's emotional needs were met.

And then it's my turn..

1. Prepare for the next day

Something that I have found to be critical in getting a good night's sleep is preparing for the day ahead. Before, I would find myself laying in bed and thinking of the inevitable to-do lists that would meet me in the morning. It would make me anxious and keep me from feeling restful before bed.

Now, I take a few minutes to prepare for the next day and make a list of important things that need to get done or be taken care of. This simple trick allows me to rest easy knowing I wont forget anything in the morning.

Sometimes it means meal prepping breakfast.

Or laying out outfits for the kids.

Or setting my alarm a little bit earlier to ensure that I get some quiet time in my morning before we have to leave the house.

Whatever it is, it helps me fall asleep knowing I have set myself up for success in the morning.

2. Minimize bright lights

Blue light is often said to be the bad guy here, but really all bright light can have a similar effect on your brain and hormones secreted. Once afternoon hits I try to keep only dim lights on in the house. We have several dimmer switches on throughout the house and this makes it really easy to limit excess light exposure in the evening.

I also try to limit screen time as much as possible. But the reality is, my husband and i love watching shows and movies together in the evening. On nights when we watch a little tv, I try to wear blue light glasses. This helps to minimize your blue light exposure. I have also noticed it minimizes headaches at the end of the day!

I used to have a bad habit of laying in bed and scrolling on social media until I was ready to fall asleep. I can honestly say that creating a new routine around screen time at night made the biggest difference.

I also use a red light from GembaRed when I read before bed- it is so much easier on my eyes and doesn’t have the disruptive effect of bright lights 👏

Use code kaelyn10 for 10% off red lights + near infrared lights 🚨

shop red + near infrared lights

3. Hot tea (or another warm bevvy)

I love love love hot tea. It's an added benefit that herbal teas can come with amazing health benefits and be a great source of minerals, vitamins and nutrients. Some of my favorites are red raspberry leaf tea, ginger turmeric (I buy this in bulk from Thrive Market), and peppermint!

I also love my favorite adaptogen drink for relaxation. MUD WTR makes a bedtime drink with Rooibos, ashwaganda, valerian root, and more to help your body wind down and sleep well.

Get $5 off MUD

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4. Health + Hygiene

my personal line up of MVP skincare products 👏

I have shared before that the skincare routine that works best for me is a minimalistic one! So I wash my face, use my favorite non-toxic alternative to retinol (it's not recommended to use retinols while pregnant or breastfeeding) and moisturize!

I’ve used Primally Pure products for years now and love that they not only helped me finally get rid of cystic acne but they make you feel like you’re actually in a spa 🧖🏻‍♀️ Everything is all-natural, toxin-free and nourishing to your skin and it makes my bedtime routine feel luxurious (even on those days i’m still wearing my pj’s from the night before 🙃)

you can use code KAELYN10 for 10% off Primally Pure

Then I brush teeth, use a tongue scraper, and floss (when I feel like it- it's my weakness TBH) I have been using Boka toothpaste (instead of fluoride it uses nano hydroxyapatite) for the last several months and have never gotten so many compliments on how white my teeth are! It gives me such a clean and smooth feel to my teeth.

Shop non toxic skincare

5. Relaxation

Some nights this is a warm bath with magnesium salts, or a hot shower with eucalyptus. (or if i’m feeling really fancy, an organic goat milk + honey bath bomb 🤤- you can use code KAELYN for 10% off all Butter Me Up Organics products ) Some nights it is doing some breath work in front of my red light panel. But every night, I spend some intentional time decompressing and relaxing from the day and preparing for restfulness.

Another bedtime ritual I love that ensures relaxation is using magnesium lotion. This helps to support magnesium levels which promotes high quality, deep sleep.

6. Read a book

I have always really loved to read (you can check out some of my favorite wellness books here). I have found that bedtime is the best time to fit it into my routine! I sleep better after i've read versus scrolling mindlessly on my phone. Plus its fun getting to read new books or learning something new (except dont try to read mysteries or thrillers before bed-- i've learned that the hard way 😅)

Free Printable Wellness Chart

This healthy routine chart has been so helpful for me in creating moments of wellness throughout the day! Because you are not going to often just stumble into moments of self-care and prioritizing wellness (especially if you have younger kids in your life). Instead, you have to intentionally make moments here and there to prioritize self care.

I have this chart printed, laminated, and hanging form my mirror. It serves as a visual reminder throughout the day of how I want to add moments of wellness into my day. The reason I have is laminated is because you can write on it with dry erase markers and then wipe it off and reuse it the following week.

In the boxes you can write out you bedtime routine, as well as your own routine throughout the morning and afternoon. Or you can use it how I do and write a challenge to create a little bit of wellness and self-care routinely throughout your day.

Often times I have "read the Bible and journal" in my morning space, take a walk or make myself a matcha latte in the afternoon, and read a book or crochet or bake in the evening-- whatever I feel like I need to "fill my wellness cup" and give myself some self-care throughout the day.