Bedtime Routine for Better Sleep

Some of the body’s most important restorative processes happen while you sleep.

Tissue repair, hormone regulation and immune function are among the many processes that take place during sleep. None of them requires your conscious participation. But your body does need the right conditions to do its work.

The problem is that modern life can make those conditions harder to create. Light from phones and other screens can interfere with the signals that tell the brain it is time for sleep. The stress of the day may not have had time to subside. Your nervous system can still be running at a pace that makes real rest feel out of reach.

Sleep is not simply something that happens when you get into bed. The body moves towards it gradually. Creating a bedtime routine for better sleep can help support that transition, giving your body and mind time to shift from activity towards rest.

Cortisol and the sleep-wake cycle

Cortisol plays an important role in the body’s sleep-wake cycle. Levels are typically highest in the morning, helping to support alertness and energy, before gradually declining towards evening as the body prepares for sleep.

When cortisol remains elevated into the night, research has associated this with shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality. You may feel exhausted but wired, struggle to fall asleep, wake during the night with your mind running, or sleep through the night but still wake feeling unrefreshed.

Rather than trying to force yourself to sleep, it can be more useful to create conditions that allow the body’s stress response to settle naturally. Several simple practices can become part of that transition.

Try gentle yoga before bed

Gentle yoga can help shift the body towards parasympathetic activity, associated with rest, digestion and recovery. As the body moves towards this state, heart rate and blood pressure can fall and the physiological stress response can begin to ease.

Research into yoga and pranayama breathing has explored their influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the system involved in regulating the body’s stress response and cortisol production. A scoping review of 57 studies found that yoga interventions generally improved sleep quality across a range of populations.

You do not need a full yoga class to incorporate movement into your bedtime routine. Ten minutes of restorative poses such as child’s pose, legs up the wall and supine twist, combined with slow diaphragmatic breathing, can provide a simple way to begin winding down.

If grounding is already part of your routine, a grounding yoga and fitness mat allows you to combine grounding with gentle stretching or breathing exercises.

Use EFT tapping to quieten a busy mind

EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, involves gently tapping specific acupressure points on the face and upper body while focusing on whatever is causing stress or keeping the mind active. It combines elements of cognitive therapy, exposure therapy and acupressure and can easily be practised at home.

Although tapping may seem unusual at first, a growing body of research has investigated its potential effects.

A study of 64 university students with sleep problems found that EFT improved insomnia severity, sleepiness and sleep quality compared with a control group. Research has also reported reductions in cortisol following a single EFT session.

A 2022 systematic review published in Frontiers in Psychology examined the evidence for Clinical EFT across a range of psychological and physiological conditions.

Because tapping requires no equipment and can be done in just a few minutes, it can be an accessible addition to a calming evening routine, particularly when mental activity is making it difficult to switch off.

Make a warm caffeine-free drink part of your routine

Sometimes the value of a bedtime drink lies as much in the ritual as in what is in the cup. Making a warm drink creates a natural opportunity to slow down, step away from screens and mark the transition between the day and bedtime.

Some herbs commonly used in bedtime teas have also been studied for their potential effects on sleep.

Valerian root is one of the more extensively studied herbal remedies for sleep. Research has produced mixed results, although some studies suggest that valerian may improve subjective sleep quality. Differences between preparations and the quality of individual studies make firm conclusions difficult.

Chamomile is another popular choice. It contains apigenin, a flavonoid thought to contribute to its calming effects through interactions with receptors in the brain. A randomised controlled trial involving 80 postnatal women with poor sleep found improvements in some measures of sleep after two weeks of drinking chamomile tea, although these effects were not maintained at later follow-up.

Whether or not a particular herb makes a noticeable difference, a warm caffeine-free drink can still become a useful cue that the day is ending. If waking to use the toilet tends to disturb your sleep, keep the drink relatively small and have it around 30 to 60 minutes before bed.

Create a sleep-friendly environment

Your bedtime routine is only part of the picture. The environment in which you sleep also matters.

A cool, dark and quiet bedroom can support the body’s natural preparation for sleep. Reducing exposure to bright light and screens in the period before bed can also help reinforce the distinction between daytime activity and night-time rest.

For people interested in grounding, the electrical environment is another aspect of the bedroom to consider.

Grounding, also known as earthing, involves creating conductive contact between the body and the Earth. This can happen naturally outdoors through direct skin contact with the ground, or indoors using a conductive product connected to the Earth through a grounded electrical socket or dedicated grounding rod.

Research into grounding and sleep is still limited. In a small study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12 participants slept grounded for eight weeks. Researchers observed changes in cortisol patterns towards a more typical day-night rhythm, while participants also reported improvements in sleep, pain and stress. Larger and more rigorous studies are needed to understand these effects more fully.

For those who choose to incorporate grounding into their sleep environment, a grounding sheet provides continuous conductive contact while you are in bed without requiring an additional step in your evening routine.

Build a bedtime routine you can actually maintain

Improving your bedtime routine does not mean adopting every possible sleep habit at once. Trying to transform your entire evening can easily become another task to manage rather than something that helps you relax.

Instead, choose one change that feels realistic. You might spend ten minutes doing gentle yoga, make a caffeine-free drink, try a short EFT tapping practice or adjust your bedroom environment.

Give that change time to become familiar before deciding whether to add anything else.

A sustainable bedtime routine is less about doing everything perfectly and more about creating a consistent transition between the demands of the day and the rest that follows. The aim is simple: to give your body the conditions it needs to do what it already knows how to do.

Grounding is a simple practice with growing scientific interest. Whether you’re exploring its potential benefits for sleep, stress, inflammation or overall wellbeing, understanding how it works is the first step.

You can explore our full range of grounding products and research resources to see what may suit your routine.