As autumn approaches, more and more people start to feel unwell, such as not being able to wake up refreshed in the morning or feeling sluggish during the day. The main cause of this is ``autumn fatigue’’ (cold fatigue), in which the autonomic nervous system becomes exhausted due to the sudden temperature difference between daytime and morning and evening. How you spend your time before bed is most important in order to get a good night’s sleep and be fully charged with energy the next morning. The human body is designed to naturally become sleepy when the core body temperature drops. This time, we will introduce a time-scheduled night routine that utilizes the 90 minutes before bedtime to help you get the best night’s sleep.
[21:30 (90 minutes before bedtime)] Take a 15-minute bath with lukewarm water of 38-40℃
Bathing is the most effective approach to temporarily raise your core body temperature. Too hot water (over 42°C) stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and makes your eyes clear, so ideally you should slowly soak in lukewarm water (38-40°C) from the pit of your stomach to your shoulders for about 15 minutes. Your core body temperature, which rises after taking a bath, will slowly drop over about 90 minutes. This drop in body temperature sends a strong sleep signal to the brain.
[22:15 (45 minutes before bedtime)] Switching to indirect lighting and soothing aroma
When you get out of the bath, turn off the ceiling lights (white lights) in the living room and bedroom and switch to orange indirect lighting or candlelight. By blocking out strong light, the secretion of the sleep hormone melatonin begins smoothly. At the same time, if you use a diffuser to scent natural essential oils such as lavender, sweet orange, or cypress, your parasympathetic nervous system will become dominant, and your tension and stress during the day will gradually melt away.
[22:45 (15 minutes before bedtime)] Put down your smartphone and stretch your hip joints and neck.
Using a smartphone just before bedtime not only stimulates alertness due to blue light, but also excites the brain due to SNS and news. Connect your phone to its charger 15 minutes before bedtime and place it out of reach of your bed. Instead, lie on your back on the bed, hug your knees and do light stretches like rocking from side to side and slowly rotating your neck. Relaxing the areas around your hip joints and shoulder blades, where large muscles are concentrated, promotes blood flow and dissipates heat from your extremities, making it easier to fall into a deeper sleep.
[23:00] Keep the room temperature 20℃ and humidity 50% and go to bed
In autumn, the weather cools down rapidly from midnight to dawn. To avoid sleeping in light clothing and waking up cold in the middle of the night, choose long-sleeved pajamas made of 100% cotton that have excellent breathability and moisture absorption, and layer them with a thin duvet or towel blanket. The best conditions are to keep the room temperature around 20℃ and the humidity between 50 and 60%. Turn the long autumn nights into the best downtime with a soothing routine on your side.
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