In my opinion, quality sleep is by far one of the most restorative things we can prioritize for our health. You can take all the supplements, do all the crazy biohacks, but if you aren’t getting QUALITY (not just quantity!) sleep, it won’t matter. It is one of my personal foundational pillars of health. Sleep cannot be replaced.
Sleep is where healing, restoration, regeneration occurs. While we sleep, our brain and body go into full repair mode—sorting memories, clearing toxins, repairing cells, and even healing our gut lining. Without it, our body deteriorates, showing signs of brain fog, weakened immunity, hormonal imbalance, digestive issues, inflammation and more. We spend on average 1/3 of our life sleeping!!! Investing in sleep and prioritizing healthy routines is one of the most important things to do for our health.
So with that being said, these are 10 things & rituals that have helped my sleep quality improve the most!
Let’s get into it…
My 10 Things & Rituals for Restorative Sleep
1. Non Toxic Mattress
When I moved to New York, I didn’t bring my mattress with me, and decided to invest in a new one. I spent lots of time researching the best mattresses, asking friends, and settled on the Birch Luxe Natural Mattress. I convinced Cooper it was the best one for our health and we purchased!
Birch is made with organic cotton, natural wool, and organic latex rather than synthetic foam. It is green-guard gold certified and completely fiberglass-free (tons of mattresses out there produce harmful off-gassing while you sleep). Before this I had never bought a new mattress, I had the same one for forever, or just used whichever one was in my dorm in college. I was swapping out toxic products everywhere else in my life, cleaning, kitchen, skincare, even sheets—but the mattress was one of the last things I thought of, and arguably one of the most important.
After a week of sleeping on this mattress I knew we made the right decision. I was sleeping better through the night, waking up fresher. I didn’t think about how much my old mattress was affecting my sleep in the past, I used to toss and turn all throughout the night. With Birch’s mattress being made of organic and natural materials, it allows for proper circulation, breathability and temperature regulation, which can help alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, support immunity and overall stress reduction. Sleep is where we heal, and it’s important that we are sleeping on something that allows the proper flow for that healing to occur.
I had my entire family swap out their mattresses as well, so now they are all sleeping on Birch. When Birch reached out to work together, it felt like I manifested it since I was already a huge proponent of their mattresses!
Cooper & I bought ours during the black Friday sale, and now they are having an incredible memorial day sale which is a perfect time to purchase! You can use THIS LINK to claim 27% off any Birch Mattress, and thank you to Birch Living for sponsoring this post!
2. 100% Linen Sheets
For most of my life I didn’t sleep with linen sheets, a few years ago I started sleeping on organic cotton (which I also like), but when I made the switch to linen it was life-changing. I have never and will never look back.
Linen is the softest, comfiest, coziest fabric. I just sleep sooooo well in it. Whenever I have to sleep outside of my own bed I am just saddddd! It’s never the same. Linen is a high vibrational fabric, which can promote healing, relaxation and positive energy flow. It is also naturally antibacterial, hypoallergenic, breathable, and temperature regulating. & it just gets more buttery soft cozy with every single wash.
3. Sleep Hygiene
Proper sleep hygiene is key for quality sleep, detoxification and even healthy skin.
I wash my sheets once a week and swap out my pillowcases every two days (the two days I do because my skin is more acne prone, was a tip from my facialist). Our faces are on our pillows every single night, so keeping them clean is really important for skin health AND sleep quality. Our skin is constantly detoxing, especially while we are asleep, we are shedding dead skin cells, and our bedding accumulates sweat, oils, bacteria and dust over time. It’s so important to wash to avoid skin irritation.
I also make sure I am always washing in a non-toxic laundry detergent. What we wash our sheets in matters, as it’s where our bodies are recovering for 8+ hours!! I also use wool dryer balls to make my sheets extra soft.
One of my favorite new rituals is spraying hypochlorous acid on my pillowcases and sleep masks in between washes to help kill any bacteria build up. I also spray it on my mattress in between changing sheets! Hypochlorous acid is a non-toxic, gentle and skin safe cleaning agent (that our own immune system produces!) that has potent antibacterial properties. It is a disinfectant that can kill bacteria, viruses, and even fungi, without irritating or harming skin. I have this spray bottle I use so that it sprays out faintly. I use this outside of the bedroom too as a disinfectant/cleaning agent!
And lastly, a hot shower before bed is one of my favorite parts of my routine. It washes away the energy of the day & makes it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. If I am showering at night, I always shower in red light or candlelight to make it extra soothing and keep my body in wind-down mode.
4. Circadian Lighting
I will never stop talking about circadian lighting. I have circadian lighting in every lamp in my home (I never use the big lights). & when the sun goes down, the lamps turn off, and the vibe lights come on.
Blue light and fluorescent light are sleep-inhibiting. They block the production of melatonin, making it much harder to fall asleep at night. Red light, on the other hand, helps to block blue light and optimize melatonin production to help us sleep better. At night I turn on only my red lights and light candles before bed. and/or I have my evening setting on my circadian light bulbs which are a calming soft yellow. I even have red light motion sensor lights in my bathroom for when I get up in the night so it doesn’t interrupt my sleep.
It just sets the vibe. It prepares me for a beautiful wind down and calming evening. When I have kids one day I plan on not even having to say “it’s bedtime” and just turning the red lights on so they start to get sleepy and eventually pavlov themselves to know it’s bedtime…because essentially that is what I have done to myself hahaha.
5. Sunlight & Nature
The two best tools in our toolbox. Completely free.
Morning sunlight is one of the first things I try to do every day. Getting sunlight in your eyes when you wake up (and rising with the sun in general) helps to reset our circadian clock. Sunlight first thing optimizes the body’s natural cortisol releasing process to enhance energy throughout the day, improve mood, AND set you up for better sleep at night. Even on gloomy days! It doesn’t have to be direct sunlight—just being outside in natural light makes a difference.
& the grounding, putting your feet on the bare earth, hugging a tree, just getting out in nature and touching grass—is also wonderful for improving sleep and so deeply connected to our overall nervous system health. We are getting further and further from nature, and I believe this is one of the biggest reasons so many people are dealing with sleep issues and chronic fight-or-flight. Grounding helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, putting you in that rest and digest, calm and relaxed state. It helps to re-center us and bring us back to homeostasis, and normalize cortisol levels and decrease stress literally at a cellular level.
I don’t know about you but whenever I spend all day at the beach or outside, I alwayssss have the best nights sleep. It’s pure medicine!!!!
6. Nervous System Regulation
Like previously mentioned…I believe one of the biggest reasons for poor sleep is that our bodies are living in a chronic state of fight or flight. Our nervous systems are completely dysregulated, and it is really hard to fall asleep and stay asleep when your body is acting as if it’s being chased by a lion. Regulating my nervous system is something I have worked on extensively because I have dealt with sleep issues and anxiety from a young age, and this has made a massive positive difference in my sleep and just life in general.
Each point in our day is an opportunity to practice nervous system regulation, and it takes conscious re-training. I am wired to be in chronic fight or flight, and our bodies naturally prefer a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven, so my brain subconsciously is seeking stress all day long. It took a while for me to become aware of this, and I am constantly trying to re-wire my brain every day.
Waking up, starting my day with gratitude and moving slow versus feeling stressed like I am already running late and behind. Taking a deep breathe and grounding myself in small moments throughout the day, allowing myself to be present. It starts in the mind, and translates to the body. It takes practice, patience, and forgiveness.
A few more daily rituals that activate the parasympathetic nervous system are: journaling, breathwork, stretching, walking, grounding, getting out in nature, creating vs. consuming, somatic movement, slow living, laughing, physical touch. These all help to bring our bodies into that rest and digest state, and the calmer and more regulated you are throughout the day, the easier it is to fall asleep at night.
7. Room Environment
Our bedroom is a sanctuary and we should treat it as so!!! There are a few things that allow for the best nights sleep in my bedroom:
Air Purifier—A good quality air purifier is important especially if you live in a city like me. Clean air is essential for health and makes a massive impact on sleep quality. It removes pollutants, mycotoxins, and toxic airborne substances, so we can breathe better and therefore sleep deeper.
Bedroom Temperature—It is ideal to have your bedroom slightly colder for the best quality sleep (but in the winter I always put on wool socks and have a hot water bottle in bed with me!). I love opening my windows before bed to let in fresh, cool air, in the summer that is a little tougher lol.
Sleep Mask—I need a sleep mask before I go to bed to block out all light. It never stays on throughout the night but I don’t have blackout shades and there is a lot of light pollution in NYC which affects my sleep.
Sound—I love listening to some brown or white noise in the background to help neutralize outside sounds. I also use my 528Hz sound machine while winding down. 528Hz is known to improve sleep, increase relaxation, lower anxiety, decrease tension, and promote a calm and meditative state for deeper sleep.
No Electronics—More on this below, but electronics plugged in around your sleeping area can definitely mess with sleep.
8. Sunrise Alarm
I first got a sunrise alarm when I made the habit of not sleeping with my phone in my room anymore, I knew I didn’t want to use my phone as an alarm clock because I hate looking at it first thing in the morning and it was the best decision I ever made. I usually don’t go on my phone for at least an hour before bed and at least an hour once I wake up in the morning. It provides my alarm clock in the morning & white noise in the evening.
Now I no longer wake up in an absolute panic to the loud, aggressive blaring of an alarm (those alarm sounds are actually triggering to me…) Instead I am woken softly with light and the sounds of chirping birds or wind chimes which are SO much more peaceful and so much better for cortisol regulation first thing in the morning. How we start our morning is the energy that is carried throughout the day!!
9. Have a Bedtime
Habitually going to bed at or around the same time every night is incredible for sleep health. It helps your body get into a rhythm so your circadian clock is most optimal. If you can, try to be in bed before 11PM—even better if before 10PM! Staying up past those times can impact the restfulness of our sleep and also disturb our bodies restorative practices. But we all have our late night moments and those can be good too so never let rules and rigidity get in the way of enjoying life, these tips are meant to improve and add to life, not take away from it.
10. Feng-Shui Tech Free-Zone
In feng-shui they say the bedroom should be for two things only: sleep & sex.
I completely agree..but today we are using our bedrooms for everything, working, watching tv, so many of us have desks in our bedrooms now, there is no separation!! This can affect sleep health immensely. I know there is sometimes not another option, I have been there, so my most important thing is that the bedroom, once the sun goes down, is a phone-free, screen-free, tech-free zone.
Electronics plugged in your bedroom mess with our sleep. Period! From the EMFs to the ambient light to the psychological pull of having your phone within reach. I do not have a TV in my bedroom. My phone does not enter my room in the evening. Once it is plugged in elsewhere, it is not touched again until the next morning. I am strict with this lol. Cooper and I had multiple back n forth conversations about it when we moved in together lol, it’s a non-negotiable for me!!!
Keeping your phone out of the bedroom also removes the temptation to doom-scroll (always followed by the worst nights sleep), removes the EMF exposure, removes the light, and allows your bedroom to be what it is meant to be: a place of rest, healing, and restoration. Your bedroom should feel like a sanctuary. Protect that energy!!!!
You deserve good sleep. Good sleep makes for good life!!! Sleep is one of the most productive things we can do for our body. The better the sleep, the more we are able to enjoy living when we are awake. It’s a cycle. I hope that this helps you get the most restorative, regenerative and quality sleep.
I also am linking my full wind-down routine here too for you! It has some repeats but goes further into my pre-bedtime routine for the best nights sleep:
Love you! Sweet dreams.
XO - Ella
Agreed. Deep sleep gives the brain time to clear waste, settle inflammation, and reset the systems that dictate mood and judgment the next day.
ella, i know this is a bit out of your range, but do you think under nourishing is contributing to poor sleep quality? not to get too into it, but I think it’s preventing me from being able to fall asleep :(