Tina ThrussellDo you have a bedtime ritual? I mean, besides all the things you might do to prepare for bed like wash your face, brush your teeth, etc.
This idea of a nighttime ritual was introduced to me today and it seems like a darn good idea! I have my morning rituals to give my day a great start – I open my eyes and before I even get out of bed I say “Thank you SoA (Source of All) for the precious gift of this brand new, never-before lived day! Today will be my best day ever!” Then I stretch a little, get up and use the toilet, remove and brush my mouthguard, brush my tongue and teeth with my non-dominant hand while standing on one foot. I look myself in the eye in the mirror and say “I love you!” ten times, then say, “I love you, Tina. I respect you, Tina. I honor you, Tina. I trust you, Tina. Thank you, Tina.”
Then I head to my healing room to sit and meditate. After 10 minutes or so, I put a chair on my massage table, go get a hot, wet facecloth and lay with my legs up on the chair and the hot facecloth over my eyes while I do Ujjayi breathing and play my singing bowl on various parts of my torso.
After ten to twenty minutes (depending on the day), I remove the facecloth and gently massage my eyes along the eyelash line to stimulate the tear ducts. I rub my hands together briskly and cup them over my eyes for awhile. I do face yoga and eye roll exercises. Then I get up and use my Perfect Fifth tuning forks to stimulate nitric oxide release to stimulate my immune system. Finally, I lay on the floor and do my laughter yoga. From there, I head to the kitchen to have a cup of hot water with baking soda and Himalayan mineral salt, use my melt balls on my hands and feet, and finish with more hot water.
Depending on how long that all took and how much additional time I have, I might add on some qi-gong or fascia flossing exercises.
Yes, it’s a long routine – I generally get out of bed two hours earlier than Neil so I have quiet time to do all this for me – but it is SO worth it!! I have rarely experienced anything close to anxiety since I started this whole routine.
But I haven’t yet established a nighttime routine to finish my day and set myself up for a great night sleep. I wouldn’t even consider anything as full as my morning routine, but a ten-minute ritual to stretch my body, express gratitude for all I experienced in my day, and to review all I accomplished, could make a wonderful difference to the mood I’m in when I crawl into bed… and to how well I sleep.
I am very interested in hearing if you have any nighttime rituals that make a positive difference for you… please write to me at info@shindao.com with your ideas.
