Calm Yourself

Okay y'all, I know I was supposed to post this last week....but, real life happened; my day off turned into one of my longest days of work last week and I got out of my posting groove.

Anyways, here's a little post about my evening routine and why I do it (and if you're not on the routine bandwagon, I highly suggest you jump aboard-especially if you have anxiety; it will make a world of a difference.

Messi Jessi's Evening routine:

1- About one hour before bed I do a "final check" on my phone and then plug it in to charge in the backroom. I have a tendency to be on my phone WAAAAAAAAYYY more than I should be and I realized that I was wasting precious time with my hubby by being on my phone when he is home. There is also all that sciency stuff about how the light from a screen can mess up your circadian rhythms and make it more difficult for you too shut your brain off and fall asleep. So, I try to put my phone away to give my brain a chance to quiet down, to signal my body that it is night time, and to give my hubby some undivided attention.

I like to keep it real on the blog, so I'll say that this is the part of my evening routine that I struggle with the most because I've trained myself to turn to my phone whenever I don't have anything else to do and I've convinced myself that Facebook notifications and Snapchats need to be dealt with immediately or there will be dire consequences (a little dramatic? maybe). But, I'm working on it and I know my body (and my hubby) appreciate it the time away from a screen.

2- In conjunction with putting my phone away, I also try to turn off most of the lights in the house and only have on dim lights (like the lamp in our front room or the lamps on our bedside tables). Again, this is to give my body a signal that bedtime is approaching.

3- I review my schedule for the next day so that I don't lay down to go to sleep and then start thinking about the next day and wondering if I've forgotten anything and then having my anxiety pick up and having to get out of bed and check my planner (this has happened all too often in the past). I make sure I know what's coming in my day and that anything I need to do or grab in the morning is ready to go

4- I read for a little bit or Jimmy and I watch a show. This part of my routine helps me unwind from the day and have a chunk of time where my brain gets to rest a little bit.

5- Get ready for bed. This part of my routine is pretty typical, but still important (for hygiene reasons and because it is another signal to my body that it is almost time to sleep). I wash my face using make-up remover wipes (if I wore make-up that day, which happens maybe twice a week haha) and micellar water (use it every day and love it). I also make sure to moisturize. Then I floss and brush my teeth before climbing into bed.

6- Once I'm in bed I rub Vaseline on my eyelids (my aunt once told me that it made your eyelashes thicker and prevented eye wrinkles; I don't know if any of that is true, but it hasn't done any damage, it prevents those nasty eye crusties, and it has become habit) and my lips, then put on some essential oils. Every night I rub wild orange on my temples and down my neck to help with anxiety, Lavender and the DoTerra Serenity blend go on the bottoms of my feet and behind my ears to help me sleep, and the ClaryCalm blend goes on my tummy. If I'm not feeling well, I also rub OnGuard and Frankincense on my feet. I also have a slew of vitamins/supplements that I take, but I'm working on eliminating most of them and getting more out of the foods that I eat.

7- Write in my journal. This is still a work in progress, but it was one of my new years goals. I use to right in a journal faithfully and then fell out of the habit in college. I'm trying to get back into it because I want my posterity to know about my life, I want to remember things about my everyday life, and it helps calm my mind at night.

Have you noticed a trend in the intention of my nighttime routine? I'm all about calming myself down. My anxiety and panic attacks tend to be worse at night and I have dealt with insomnia since I was a teenager. I have taken melatonin for years so that I can sleep, but I'm working on weaning myself off of it (down from 5mg a night to only 1mg, wahoo!) I have found that when I'm following this routine I can fall asleep much more quickly and without battling racing thoughts about anything that went wrong during the day (journaling helps with that) or stressing about what is coming tomorrow (looking at my schedule helps here).

Once I'm done with this routine, Jimmy and I start our couples nighttime routine that I will be sharing with y'all next week. And if you missed my post about my morning routine, you can find it here.

I know some of you might be reading about all that goes into my routines and thinking that I'm crazy, but having routines has literally changed my life. If you have any type of mental health issue or just struggle with feelings of stress (so, basically all of us), then I challenge you to start implementing routines in your life and see what a positive difference they can make.

Sound off in the comments about parts of your evening routine because I would love to hear about them.

Stay Messi (but calm),

Jessi