Spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere and we are feeling that familiar itch to make some changes! We’re ready to clean our homes top to bottom, get rid of our overgrown wardrobe in exchange for a capsule, and start to feel healthier and more energized for these warmer months. Even if the weather hasn’t drastically changed quite yet, we can feel the shift and are thinking ahead on how to nourish our bodies and souls this spring. If you’re like us, you’re ready to feel rejuvenated, refreshed, and re-enlivened. Learn how to reset your sleep schedule with tips from KIM + ONO.
One thing that can stop all of that powerful spring motivation? A sleep schedule that doesn’t leave you feeling energized, but rather depleted and hanging on by a thread. No matter the season, no matter the sunshine, if you’re underslept, your whole world is thrown off. Sleep plays such an integral part of our mental and physical health.If you're lacking sleep, you may struggle to make decisions, solve problems, control your emotions and even cope with change. You need sleep to maintain your physical health as well — sleep does everything from help and repair your heart and blood vessels to help balance your hormones. Sleep is the wonder drug, but too many of us are lacking this vital part of our health. So today in the journal, we’re exploring several ways you can help reset your sleep and use the change in the season to bring a little more health and wellness to your nightly routine.
If you’ve ever tried to sleep and couldn’t, you know that it’s much easier to stay up very late than it is to go to bed early. And if you have ever had a toddler at home, you know for sure that you just can’t force sleep if a person doesn’t want it to happen! That’s why experts suggest shifting your bedtime by 15 minutes at a time. Don’t try to rush a change in your bedtime routine. Rather, slip into your women’s kimono robe a bit earlier each night, start your nightly routine a bit earlier each night, and incrementally get to bed earlier by only 15 minutes at a time. Do this every several days and in two weeks, you may already be getting to bed two hours earlier than usual.
If you find yourself so sleepy during the day that you end up napping, try to stave off the nap and save the snoozing for the nighttime. While we’re advocates of relaxing all day in your silk bathrobe, when you’re feeling the catnap come on midday, throw on your exercise pants instead and get moving. Even just a little bit of exercise — hopping on a stationary bike for a ten minute ride or doing a few squats in between meetings — can help energize you in the way you hope a nap might do. And now you have the added bonus of being a little sleepier at night when your body is trying to hit the hay.
If you’re trying to reset your sleep, weekends can wreak havoc. This is because we tend to sleep in on weekends, making it harder to get to bed at a decent time and causing a shift in our bodily rhythms. It might be difficult to wake up early on the weekend when you don’t have to, so make it something you actually look forward to! Create a weekend morning routine to slip into your kimono bathrobe right away as you brew your favorite coffee and read your favorite magazine or book. And to make it even easier, get yourself an accountability partner — gift your partner a silk kimono robe for men, or a women’s kimono robe they’ll love, and encourage them to wake up with you. Make it a weekend tradition to start every morning off with a little luxury, and you may just reap the benefits at night.
It is common knowledge now that the light from our screens keeps us up much later than we intend to. That’s because it stimulates our brains to think that it’s still light out and we should keep our bodies awake a bit longer. Another late night trap is exercise. If you work out too late in the evening, it may be tougher to get to sleep because your heart rate increases as does your body temperature. Give yourself a nightly routine to forego the screens and working out and replace it with something that soothes and relaxes your mind and body instead. Slip into your silk bathrobe, break out your favorite skincare, or dip into a bath. Find things that naturally soothe and relax you, and make those top priority late in the day.
We’ve all been there — that urge to grab one last snack before bed. But make sure you’re grabbing for food that promotes sleep, instead of food that might interrupt it. Anything with high amounts of sugar and caffeine are obviously going to interfere with resetting your sleep, so try to avoid them late into the day. Instead, set aside a nice stash of nighttime-approved snacks like cherries or kiwis. And one nighttime ritual we love for setting the sleepy mood is slipping into our silk bathrobe and drinking our favorite caffeine-free tea with a bit of lemon. This is one easy easy to set the mood, avoid sugar/caffeine, and coach our body toward rest.
If you start with just a few of these actions, you’ll see your sleep getting much easier to reach. But remember, don’t try to do everything at once and have patience with your body. Any habit takes a few weeks to a couple of months to reach its full potential. So keep coming back to what soothes you, and remember, your sleep is a beautiful form of self care you can give yourself each day.
