4 Ways to Make Sure Sleep is a Part of Your Self-Care

What do you think of when you think of self-care? Many of us will think about pampering ourselves at spas, beauty salons, going to Disneyland, watching our favorite shows while our favorite candles burn, or cuddling with a partner. It’s an oasis from a bustling everyday life, an accessible excursion to recharge and recover. It’s nourishment for your mind, body, and soul. 

While all this is valid, don’t forget the most important form of self-care: sleep. While sleep is an essential activity, actively working towards getting an adequate amount of it is a form of self-care. However, forcing yourself to sleep an hour earlier when you’d rather binge another show doesn’t feel that caring. 

So how can you get better sleep through avenues that actually feel like self-care?

1. Eating certain delicious, healthy, nutrition-laden foods.

Foods such as dark chocolate, bananas, turkey, and greek yogurt are known to be healthy and delicious. They’re packed with nutrients and low in calories while relatively high in chemicals such as tryptophan that promote sleep. Others help you relax and unwind, easing your state of mind.

2. Try weighted blankets and/or cuddle pillows.

Weighted blankets apply deep pressure on your body, which can feel like you’re being wrapped in a tender, warm, caring cocoon. They’ve been known to help soothe anxiety and relieve the perception of pain. Unsurprisingly, this helps you sleep more easily. Body pillows can curb some of the tossing and turning, giving you something to hug. But unlike hugging a human body, it won’t heat up quite as easily.

3. Decorate your room to make it your sleep sanctuary.

The energy your room gives off can help lull you to sleep or keep you awake. We’ve written a few posts on decorating your room to optimize it for productivity, sleep, and just everyday life. We’ve also talked about making your room more romantic, decorating your child’s room, and decorating your room for spring. Take a look at these posts and consider turning up some music while you spend a self-care session decorating your room to be your body’s temple.

4. Remind yourself of the benefits of better sleep every time you do anything to boost your immunity, destress, improve your memory or athletic performance, or regulate your emotions.

We’ve written many times here how sleep has plenty of benefits for destressing, athletic performance, boosting academic or work performance, reducing anxiety, and boosting immunity. Your self-care routine probably already includes rituals addressing the above, so why not remind yourself to go to sleep on time? We’ve written several posts on how you can sleep more easily, so take a look and see what fits into your lifestyle. 

5. Throw in some bedding shopping in your retail therapy.

If you find shopping a therapeutic form of self-care, make some of that shopping catered towards the bedroom. Look into new sheets, pillows, or maybe even a new premium memory foam mattress. If you’re looking at this in March 2022, you’re just in time for Lull’s Treat Yourself Sale! That means you’ll be getting $300 off our premium memory foam mattress in all sizes. The mattresses are just ordered online and delivered right to your door in a neatly compressed package, so you can self-care at home while we do most of the work for you.