My Sleep Routine On a *Perfect* Night 💤

Hi Powgirls! Hope you’re all off to a lovely month of May. ✨

I’ve been getting so many sleep related questions and comments since my latest POW episode went live where I chat about all things sleep with sleep optimization expert Todd Anderson, so I wanted to give you guys a bit of insider info on what my personal routine looks like and answers some questions I’m seeing a lot.

If you haven’t given my latest episode a listen, it’s such a good one and packed with so much amazing info you will not want to miss. You can tune in at the links below, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. 🎧

Sleep is so so important for your overall health and impacts so many more aspects of your life than you might even realize. It’s vital to performing well in the gym, balancing your hormones, brain function— literally you name it. And it’s not just about getting enough (which most people, especially women aren’t doing), it’s also about the quality of your sleep and the wind-down routine that goes along with it. Think about the quality of your sleep when you get to bed right after having a huge meal as opposed to easing into sleep by giving your body some time to digest after dinner, going for an evening walk, etc. There are so many factors that come into play here, so let’s get into them all!

My Sleep Routine On A Perfect Night 💤

🥗 Dinner at 6pm
I try to be asleep by 9:30pm, so I’ve found that giving myself around 3-3.5 hours after eating dinner works best for me. It gives my body enough time to digest my food so it’s not in overdrive when I’m asleep. Not only does this help me get to sleep faster because I’m not feeling full or uncomfortable, it also allows my body to focus on restoring what it needs to as soon as it can, instead of focusing it’s energy on digesting my dinner.

🚶🏼‍♀️Evening Walk
I love to get some steps in after dinner with Greg & the pups. We love doing this just as an opportunity to catch each other up on our days, chat through the following day, and start to clear our minds to prep for a restful night of sleep. Our walks are never super long either— around 10-20 minutes, so this doesn’t have to take up too much of your time. I absolutely love my evening walks and have found that once I started doing them consistently, I couldn’t go without them.

🧖🏼‍♀️ Sauna & Cold Plunge
I’ve shared my absolutely love and obsession with sauna & cold plunging for so many reason and have shared so much info about all the benefits on my podcast. It’s so beneficial to optimal health, especially before bed because it gets your body into a super relaxed state while beginning the process of muscle recovery and improved circulation.

🚨 Red Light Therapy & Spearmint Tea
Then, I love to use PlatinumLED’s red light therapy before bed. Red light therapy has so many external and internal benefits— from reducing stretch marks, scars, and sun damage to stimulating collagen productions, increasing circulation and reducing inflammation. I usually sit or stand in front of my red light and love to use this opportunity to sip on my favorite spearmint tea or do some deep breathing, journaling, or meditation.

💊 Magnesium Supplements
I’ve taken magnesium for quite some time now, especially before bed for added recovery and relaxation. Studies have shown that magnesium pay help you sleep longer, better, and feel less tired in the morning, as well as help alleviate anxiety which can make it harder to get to sleep. I personally love the Pure Formulas brand and will have that with some water or spearmint tea if I haven’t sipped on that yet.

🧴Bedtime Skincare
I love to look at my skincare routine as a moment of self care every morning and night, so I really love this part of my bedtime routine. If you’re interested in exactly what I use, you can find tons of POW episodes and blogs where I go into detail about what my routine looks like but it’s full of my two favorite acne-safe brands, Clearstem & Roccoco Botanicals.

📚 Netflix & Read
After that, it’s 30ish minutes of whatever Greg & I are watching that night (with blue light glasses on) and reading in bed for another 20 with a red light bulb in my bedside lamp. 

😴 Off To Bed
By now, it’s right around 9:30 and we’re off to bed. We love to sleep in a cool, dark room (which has also been statistically proven to improve sleep quality), so we sleep with the room at 67 degrees and keep our Eight Sleep mattress on the cool setting. I personally don’t use any mouth tape or eye mask, but Greg does and it seems to really work for him and make a difference, so definitely try different things out and see what works best for you personally.

I realize this may seem like a lot, but this is a routine I’ve developed that makes me feel my absolute best and I’ve grown to really love. Not all nights look exactly like this— sometimes we eat out, are traveling, have guests over etc., so don’t feel like you need to be absolutely perfect all the time to get the benefits of a quality sleep routine. Find what works for you and what makes you feel your absolute best, then lean into that!

I hope this helped clear up any of your questions and gives you some ideas on what you can implement to improve your sleep quality and habits. I’ve seen such a drastic improvement in my overall health since implementing all these practices— my recovery is so much better, my HRV (which shows how resilient your body is) has increased over time, and I always wake up feeling so well-rested and refreshed which is so important to keeping me motivated and feeling my best.

For even more sleep info about the stages of sleep, why all the things I mentioned above are so beneficial for your health, and more— be sure to tune into POW for a really great listen.

Happy Sleeping, can’t wait to chat soon! 🤎
x Mari