Find it hard to turn off the day's thoughts when you finally hit the hay at night? Are you running a million different scenarios about the upcoming day in your head as you lay down and try to sleep? Can't seem to stop scrolling through your social media feeds as you try to wind down at night?
Same girl, same.
I feel your pain and trust me, we've all been there. We've all laid in bed at night and felt frustrated when we can't stop thinking about what happened at work or can't stop replaying an interaction with someone from earlier in the day. We keep looking at our clock and start to realize "Welp, looks like I am only getting 5 hours of sleep tonight." Hooray, said no one ever....
I'm going to let you in on one of my newest obsessions. I've always been huge fan of aromatherapy and especially the instant magic spell that lavender oil seems to put me under. I recently started using 100% Pure Lavender Oil from Amazon and began dropping a few drops on my pillows before bed (drooling already thinking about doing this tonight!) and it was a radical change. I noticed an instant change in my mood and felt a sense of relaxation and tranquility take over. The sweet, sweet dreams game changer didn't happen until I added one more piece to my sleep plan.
Say hello to Calm, an app available in your app store that well... makes you calm. Not only does Calm help you relax with their kick-ass relaxation and meditation options but I have found it to help me sleep like a baby via their 'Sleep Stories'. The app is free but you can opt to purchase the app (monthly $12.99/month, yearly $4.99/month and lifetime $299.99) to get access to all of the 'locked' features. Currently, I am on the free version and am still blown away by how helpful the app has been since I started using it.
The sleep story has been life changing for me as someone who has been known to have issues falling asleep because of anxiety or restlessness. What is a sleep story you might be wondering. It is exactly what is sounds like and reminiscent of bed time stories you were told as a child.
My current favorite sleep story?
It is a tie between "The Secret Lagoon" (sleep story for kids but works just as well for full blown adults) and "The Shipping Forecast" (a remake of the British Radio weather forecast that has been compared to a bedtime lullaby/meditative mantra). Honestly, I can't go into much detail about either sleep story because as soon as I turn them on, I am an instant trance and fall asleep before the sleep story finishes.
It has been a month combining my beloved lavender oil with my newfound obsession, Calm and I am hooked. I don't struggle to fall asleep at the end of the night nor do I toss and turn endlessly thinking about what tomorrow may bring. I just drop a few drops of lavender oil, turn on my Calm app, choose a sleep story and begin to rest up for everything tomorrow will bring, instead of pondering about it.
Let us know if you try our nighttime regime and what you think!
Xo,
milleniGAL #1