How To Sleep Well - 8 Ways To Make Your Bedroom A Sanctuary

My sleeping beauty!

Sleep is one of my favourite subjects and were going to dive into how to 8 ways to make your bedroom a sanctuary.

We’ll discuss the things that definitely shouldn’t be in your sleeping space and the things that should, so you can really maximize your sleep quality, sense of well-being, increase productivity and also how creating a cozy, light and nurturing space to rest in can supercharge your fat-burning capabilities.

We’ll also touch on the reasons why you might not be able to fall asleep as quickly as you want, and indeed if you wake in the night and struggle to get back. We’ll talk about the things that hinder melatonin production (sleep hormone) so that you can stop doing the things that actively stop you from having deep sleep.

I’ll give you the ‘Bedroom Sanctuary’ checklist at the end so you can keep it handy until you’ve created a space that feels perfect for you.

Ready?

Reasons we don’t sleep well

Truth is, there can be many reasons for poor sleep.

-Eating too late

-Stress

-Toxicity

-Caffeine

-Blue light too late in the evening

-Magnesium deficiency

-Environment

I go into how to heal sleep in detail in my ebook if you’re struggling with sleep.

One of the things that radically transformed my sleeping experience is making my room a sanctuary. A place of divine love and rejuvenation.

We’ve all had times in our lives when sleep was an issue, either not getting enough sleep or being in bed for 7-10 hours but not actually sleeping.

For me, I’ve had times when I’ve really struggled to fall asleep properly. When I’ve had a lot on my plate, thus my mind, I’ve found it challenging to drop off.

It would be so annoying to feel absolutely exhausted in the afternoon, can’t wait to get to bed and then end up lying there not being able to fall asleep; tired but wired.

I’d then have to hit snooze 5 times, struggle to get up, have no energy to exercise and my cravings would be through the roof after a restless night, not to mention needing 3 cups of strong coffee to get going. Which all plays havoc on our waistlines, hormones and brain function.

What Is a Sanctuary?

I believe the bedroom should be used only for a few things:

Sleep

Really good sex and reading

Thats it.

No scrolling

No shopping

No watching netflix

No reading and replying to work emails

I’m guilty of all of the above, and I know you’ve done one, two or all of them yourself!

8 Ways to make your bedroom a sanctuary

When I first started creating my Sanctuary, the basis I built on was cool, dark, cozy and sensual.

1.Clear the energy –

This is probably a pre-step, but something I highly recommend. Energy gets stuck in walls, furniture and can become stagnant.

When we moved into our new house last year, (which I manifested, thats another blog post!) I spent an entire day Saging every corner of this house, blessing it, removing old energy and spirits and spent time blessing the rooms and house, creating new, fresh energy.

I can’t tell you how much lightness this created, especially in the bedroom.

How – This is a beautiful video on how to sage your home.

2.Clear The Clutter –

What we see with our eyes in the environment has a profound impact on how we feel.

The impact of our environment on our brain and mind has been extensively studied.

What’s in the bedroom can unconsciously make us calm and relaxed or stressed and uneasy.

Piles of laundry is one of the things that was constantly on the chairs in my room, and I had no idea how much it was impacting me until I intentionally committed to clearing and keeping the space tidy.

How – Clear the space, everything should have its place in your sanctuary.

Put your clothes away.

Make sure there is no dust on bedside tables and furniture.

Get under the bed and get rid of old junk you don’t want or need, give it a good hoover.

3.Blackout blinds –

One of the things that wakes us up early and/or stops us from falling asleep quickly is light stimulation. (Sun & devices with screens).

When light enters the retina in the eye, it slows down the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.

Melatonin is responsible for allowing us to fall asleep, and it keeps us asleep.

Getting good-quality blackout blinds is essential. Especially during the summer months, and also if you live on a street where there are street lamps outside your room or near traffic.

4.Soft Lighting –

Knowing that melatonin is slowed down by light, having soft bedside lamps is so beautiful. I have soft orange glow bulbs in our bedside lamps. It creates such warmth and that cozy, relaxed vibe.

If you have ceiling lights, can you change the bulbs or get a dimmer switch?

5.Plants –

We are made of energy, so are plants. Living, breathing, energy giving and receiving.

Plants also help to circulate energy, and they oxygenate the space.

I have 3 plants in our room. A Montessara plant that lives on the floor, she’s getting quite big now! A spider plant and a smaller house plant that I don’t know the name of!

How – I grew the Montessara from a little seedling, but when we moved in, I ordered a selection of indoor plants from amazon and they are all still thriving.

6.Scent –

Now, I’m savage when it comes to fragrance. I read all the labels and won’t have anything remotely toxic, I drive Nick insane!

Fragrance has an impact on our health, hormones, toxicity levels and brain. Be carful what you choose. But, scent has a huge impact on us, mind, brain and body.

I love essential oils.

I use a Sleep Oil blend from Amphora. I love it because you can use it in so many different ways:

2 drops on your pillow case, on pulse points or in an oil burner, which is what I use most of the time.

How – I usually light the oil burner about 30 mins before going to bed and make sure the bedroom door is closed. By the time we get to bed, the room is divinely infused with the Sleep blend that is designed to relax the mind and body.

I have a deep dish burner, so put around 5 drops with water.

7.Crystals by your bed –

This is an intuitive one for me. The crystals I choose are based on what is going on in my life, how I feel and what I need. But my long-time favourite is Rose Quartz.

For love, compassion, calming energy.

If you Google, crystals for sleep, a bunch of inspiration will come up for you.

As we know, crystals are energetic; they emit frequency and can influence the energy field in our homes. I like to go for grounding, love and calming crystals for my bedside table.

8.Calming Art On Your Walls –

Again, what we perceive through our eyes impacts our emotions.

Choose paintings, prints or canvas that evoke the feeling of tranquillity when you look at them.

One of my friends had a beautiful print of a black jaguar in her room, stunning, but she had her teeth on show and looked fierce!

When I saw it I asked her if she felt calm, because I found it quite scary! We were laughing about it because she said: “Yeah! I always lie here thinking it’s about to pounce on me!”. Not the feelings of relaxation she needed, so she put it in the downstairs loo instead!

So, these are the things we can do to create our bedroom sanctuary, to create the environment for rest and relaxation.

There are a couple of other things I have in my bedroom that really help me get peaceful sleep.

Journal –

I keep a journal by my bed. I use it for many things, mainly a gratitude journal.

I write down all of the magical things that happened that day, what I’m thankful for and also to acknowledge myself. I’m a huge fan of ways that cultivate more self-adoration, love and compassion.

But I also use it as a tool to release my brain.

Brain Dumping

If I have a lot on my mind and I’m aware that I’m going down the rabbit hole with stories, worries or my to-do list, I’ll get the journal out and literally brain dump.

Taking everything that’s swirling around my mind and write it down, things that I don’t want to forget the next day for example, I take it out of my mind and onto paper.

It’s incredible how it works. Every time I do this, I fall asleep fairly quickly after.

Imagine if you really looked forward to being in your room, like really felt excited to spend time in there, cosy, relaxed and calm?

Imagine if you could wake up in such a beautiful space that you love, how would that make you feel about your day ahead?

You don’t have to do all of the things I mention above, maybe just pick 1 or 2 things to introduce, and then when you’re ready, you can add another one.

Let me know what you decide to try first, and how it helped you.

In Love, Deep Sleep & Health,

Here’s your ‘Sleep Sanctuary Checklist’. Enjoy x

How To Sleep Well – 8 Ways To Make Your Bedroom A Sanctuary

Reasons we don’t sleep well

What Is a Sanctuary?