Lately you might be feeling like routines have gone out of the window and this could well be having an impact on your sleep. Therefore, we’ve rounded up our top tips for your best night’s sleep – Nutritionist Alix Woods explains how these acts of self-care can help relax and restore you so you’re ready to put your best foot forward.

Alix explains, “Self-care for your mind may better equip you to manage everyday stressors. By adopting some self-care therapeutic activities like relaxation, mindfulness, meditation, journaling, getting into nature, breathing and soaking up some sunshine, all naturally enhance our feel-good hormones, improve our mood and de-stress our minds. Being sociable, maintaining and nurturing friendships: whether that be by FaceTime or Zoom are also beneficial to help the mind relax, along with physical activity like going for a walk which provides time-out for the brain and promotes the production of your happy hormone serotonin. Self-care for the mind not only supports your physical, mental and emotional health but it’s vital for a healthy optimal life. The simple exercise of breathing and focusing your intention on relaxing and quieting the mind and body may be an effective mind relaxing exercise. This helps create a relaxed response and, in most cases, reverses emotional, physical and mental stress.

1.Start with herbal tea 

Start your unwinding process with a comforting herbal tea. The warm snuggly feeling you get from herbal tea is great for encouraging relaxation. Alix explains, “Herbal teas certainly help you unwind especially cinnamon herbal tea. Studies show that cinnamon mimics insulin, the hormone that utilizes sugars from the carbohydrates we eat. This process protects the body and prevents the mood-altering highs and lows of sugar on blood sugar. Blood sugar, mood and energy is thereby kept stable, which allows you to gently unwind and relax after a busy day.

Treat yourself to a Face Mask

Try a soothing face mask before bed to mimic that spa feeling at home. Quality sleep can also help to enhance your overall skin health! Alix says, “Having quality sleep is essential for your overall skin health. Sleep provides time for your skin cells to restore and heal. Having healthy skin and a daily ‘self-care’ skin care routine, is essential as the skin is the largest organ of your body. It forms a protective sensory barrier between our insides and the rest of the world. It regulates body temperature and serves as a communicative filter. Having a regular self-care skin care routine ensures the skin is healthy, enables faster healing, staves off skin diseases and premature ageing.

The Kimberly Sayer Antioxidant Hydrating Mask is the ideal companion to a pamper evening. This unique, anti-aging leave on treatment mask tightens, firms and hydrates the skin, leaving it soft and supple. This mask contains Olive Extract, Essential Oils, Antioxidants and Kimberly Sayers patented “Plant Pseudocollagen” to renew skin cells and rebuild the collagen and elastin. Not only will your skin love you but your routine will help ensure you work more productively knowing that there is a clear start and end to your day.

Incorporate CBD 

CBD has been praised for helping support sleep. Alix adds, “CBD contains a non-psychoactive, chemical compound, cannabidiol or CBD which is renowned for its calming, anti-anxiety and sleep- inducing properties. The compound interacts with the regulatory centre of the body, including the brain, hormones and nerve receptors in the body. These interactions are anti- inflammatory (dull pain), encourage relaxation and improve sleep. If you’re a late-night worrier, CBD oil could be just the thing, “CBD has been found to reduce the stress response as it interacts with serotonin, the ‘happy hormone’ receptors and GABA, the anti-inhibitory receptors in the brain. This enhances serotonin and in combination with GABA, calms the mind, minimises worry and promotes relaxation.

Opt for a high-quality CBD oil from CannabiGold. CannabiGold Terpenes+ contains a unique combination of beneficial ingredients including CBD and terpenes that can be found naturally in hemp, delivering the most effective way to support the optimum function of the human body. Terpenes, which are found in a number of plants including the cannabis plant, have been found to work in synergy with phytocannabinoids. Studies on their health benefits and therapeutic properties are constantly being revealed. CannabiGold Terpenes+ contains terpenes that are found in the highest concentrations in the cannabis plant including myrcene, pinene, limonene and caryophyllene. Alix says, “By adding terpenes to the formula it makes CBD oil more targeted and therapeutically beneficial, enhancing an emotional state like calm and relief.”

Consider a dream journal 

Alix explains the benefits of writing about your dreams and sleep patterns, “Writing about our sleep patterns will help you understand how sleep routines affect your sleep. It may help you change your sleep habits, to improve your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep especially if you suffer from insomnia, bouts of depression and poor health. Good sleep enhances immune function and is the cornerstone to optimum health.”

Minimise light and sound 

With your unwind routine in full swing it’s a good idea to be able to block out any surrounding factors that could interrupt your precious sleep. Using an eye mask and ear plugs is great way to do this, especially if you’re a light sleeper. Alix explains, “Light is an external factor that often affects sleep. It affects melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone. Melatonin is responsible for our sleep wake cycle or circadian rhythm. The brain secretes melatonin at night to encourage sleep and it secretes less in the day to promote wakefulness. There are many factors that effect this sleep wake cycle. Exposure to light or screen time in the late evenings delays the release of adequate melatonin and leads to staying up later and having less restorative sleep. Also, the disturbance from light while asleep has detrimental effects like the inability to return to sleep and even insomnia. Having good quality restorative peaceful sleep ensures better health and longer life/survival. Better sleep minimizes the risk of health problems like cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and obesity.”