You meditate, practice yoga and fuel your body with nourishing foods, yet your mind starts racing as soon as it hits the pillow... Sound familiar?
You’re not alone if you do suffer from sleepless nights. Did you know that one in three people suffer from some kind of insomnia and that it is more prevalent in women?
If you suffer from regular insomnia, occasional sleepless nights, or just want to deepen the sleep you’re currently getting, I’ve got six simple rituals that can help you improve your sleep and get more of it.
Give your pineal gland a rest
Your pineal gland is a tiny, rice-sized gland tucked on the inside of your brain. It is part of your endocrine system, it releases melatonin, and is responsible for maintaining your circadian rhythm. The key words here are melatonin and circadian rhythm, as both are essential for quality sleep. So, how do you give your pineal gland a rest?
1. Regular Meditation
Your meditation practice goes beyond mindfulness and also directly correlates to the health of your pineal gland. That means your morning meditation ritual goes beyond peace of mind throughout the day and can actually help you get better sleep at night too.
2. Nighttime Darkness Ritual
To help your pineal gland out at night, try minimizing light pollution in your room. Your pineal gland controls your circadian rhythm and it loves real, total darkness at night. Try shutting out all light from the outdoors, and any inside lights to give you some pre-sleep time in a light-free space.
3. Grab Some Moonstone
Moonstone is a necessity for any Goddess' crystal collection. It is prized for its connection with the moon and femininity and comes with a variety of benefits including inspiring rest, relaxation and lucid dreams. It calms and soothes, can help with your intuition and some even use it to help prevent sleepwalking!
Place a moonstone under your pillow or on your nightstand to inspire deep sleep and lucid dreams. Below are a couple of other ways to incorporate moonstone into your evening rituals to help you get a solid night of sleep.
4. Moonstone Elixir
Create a moonstone elixir to drink at bedtime. Soak a few cleansed chunks of moonstone in filtered water during the day, or even better, under the light of a full moon for a night. Remove the stones from your cup. Your water is now infused with the moonstone and ready to be consumed.
5. Breath in Some Lavender
If you’d like to tame your overactive mind at bedtime this tip is for you. Lavender is queen when it comes to soothing scents. Draw a bath and add eight drops of lavender oil. Focus on your breath and allow your inhales and exhales to match each other in length.
Not in the mood for a bath? No problem! Pair lavender with a breathing exercise and you’ll be snoozing in no time. Smelling lavender can help bring your thoughts into conscious control, leaving you with a soothed and ordered mind, primed for sleep.
6. Lavender + Pranayama in Bed
Place some lavender oil in a diffuser, on your chest (always diluted in a carrier oil), or in your favorite vessel like this Crystal Vial Necklace. Sitting up in bed, choose a soothing breathing exercise like alternate nostril breathing or Ujayi breath. As you breathe, let the soothing scent of lavender calm your mind and spirit.
**Bonus, if you’re a snorer, Ujayi breath can help diminish snoring too!
Choose one or all of these rest inducing rituals so you can get the sleep you need to wake up fully restored and ready to tackle all of your Goddess goals!
We're so grateful to Cassie for inspiring these rituals and her Zenned Out creations. We're also grateful to her open-minded, astrology-obsessed grandmother and her father who took Cassie and her sister stargazing in the wee hours of the night.
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