Day 14 Rest As Ritual
You do the best you can, when you can, to take care of yourself. You get a lot done, including eating nourishing foods, exercising, yet your mind starts racing as soon as it hits the pillow... Sound familiar? You wake up tired only to repeat the cycle. You're weary, but can't figure out how to fit yourself in. You'd give anything to get a good's night sleep.
You’re not alone if you do suffer from sleepless nights. Did you know that 1 in 3 people suffer from some kind of insomnia and that it is more prevalent in women?
If you suffer from regular insomnia, occasional sleepless nights, or just want to deepen the sleep you’re currently getting, I’ve got 4 simple rituals that can help you improve your sleep and get more of it.
Give your pineal gland a rest
Your pineal gland is a tiny, rice-sized gland tucked inside of your brain. It is part of your endocrine system, it releases melatonin, and is responsible for maintaining your circadian rhythm. The key words here are melatonin and circadian rhythm, both are essential for quality sleep. So how do you give your pineal gland a rest?
Ritual #1 - Regular Meditation:
Your meditation practice goes beyond mindfulness and also directly correlates to the health of your pineal gland. That means your morning meditation ritual can actually help you get better sleep at night too.
Ritual #2 - Nighttime Darkness Ritual:
To help your pineal gland out at night, try minimizing light pollution in your room. Your pineal gland controls your circadian rhythm and it loves real, total darkness at night. Try shutting out all light from the outdoors, and any inside lights to give you some pre-sleep time in a light free space. PLEASE, put away your screens about an hour before bedtime, and don't go to sleep with the TV on. If your TV has a sleep timer, use it so it automatically turns off. Respect your body by allowing it the opportunity slow down. Take a bath, read, talk to someone-live-but let go of the screens.
Ritual #3 - Moonstone Crystals:
Moonstone is a crystal prized for its connection with the moon and femininity and comes with a variety of benefits including inspiring rest, relaxation and lucid dreams. It calms and soothes, can help with your intuition and some even use it to help prevent sleepwalking! You can incorporate moonstone into your evening rituals to help you get a solid night of sleep.
Place a moonstone under your pillow or on your nightstand to inspire deep sleep and lucid dreams. To buy crystals and space clearing tools online, check these sites: Chakrazulucrystals.com and Shamansmarket.com. You can also google metaphysical stores in your town.
Ritual #4 - The Power of Lavender:
If you’d like to tame your overactive mind at bedtime this tip is for you. Lavender is queen when it comes to soothing scents. Pair lavender with a breathing exercise. You’ll be snoozing in no time. Smelling lavender can help bring your thoughts into conscious control, leaving you with a soothed and ordered mind, primed for sleep. Here are a couple of ways to use lavender before bed. [Review Day 10: Scent & Sound for more tips]
Draw a bath and add 8 drops of lavender oil. Focus on your breath and allow your inhales and exhales to match each other in length.
Diffuse lavender oil in your bedroom. By the time you are finished with your bath, the scent will have permeated the room
Sprinkle a few drops on your pillow. No more than 2 or 3 is enough.
Choose one or all of these rest inducing rituals so you can get the sleep you need to wake up fully restored and ready to face the world refreshed!
Congratulations on following/completing the Room To Bloom 14 Day Challenge!
I hope you are inspired and motivated to continue to create Sacred Space in both your interior and exterior life. If you have the will, I can show you the way. I welcome your feedback and responses. If you are interested in more info and resources, I can help you. I invite you to follow me on Facebook and Instagram, sign up for my monthly newsletter and/or email me. Take a look see around my virtual home here, and most importantly, thank you!
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Love, Pleasure and Prosperity...!
Hakikah
Holistic Home and Health Coach