Meggie Smith

My sleep ritual was developed when I was in my 20s and lived in New York City. The constant noise and lights from “the city that never
sleeps” made it so hard for my body to wind down! I started turning off all the lights in my apartment and lighting candles before bed. I would shower at night by candlelight and wash the day off of me. Making my apartment dark for a while before I went to sleep helped my brain calm down.

Now I also have a few salt lamps in my bedroom. I still shower at night, by candlelight, but now I also turn on the salt lamps and turn off all other lights before I get in the shower. The salt lamps are very soothing, but allow enough light to brush my teeth, clean up my bedroom or do other things I may want to do before bedtime.

The most important tool I use for sleep is the airplane mode on my phone! Turning off my phone at night helps me know that I am done with the outside world until the morning. I put my phone on airplane mode before I go to sleep. And I do not turn it back on until I am fully awake in the morning. No looking at emails and texts first thing in the morning! And certainty I do not allow myself to read the news or look at Facebook until I have had some tea and am fully awake! Being really intentional about not letting my phone demand my attention is the most important thing that assures both a good night sleep, and also a grounded and clear day.