Evening Rituals

Rest Your Mind + Body

After the children have been tucked in and are sleeping, it’s so effortless to turn on the TV and get caught up on our favourite Netflix series. And sometimes, that’s just what we need! It also can be fulfilling to create an evening practice that calms our mind + body to help us get a good night’s rest. We’ve listed a few practices to relax and create some stillness in the evening (30-45 minutes) after the craziness of the day.

Grateful Journal

Write down 3 things that you’ve been grateful for. Doing this helps bring your day into perspective - especially on those tougher days. It will support you to feel grounded and gives perspective on what is truly important to you.

Take a Warm Bath

There is nothing better than winding down with a warm bath with your favourite bath salts, some relaxing music and maybe a candle and some crystals. This can really help your body recognize it's time to slow down. The warm water relaxes your body and the sea salts are a great way to help detoxify your body and aid in deeper sleeps. Pamper yourself with your favourite body lotion after or rub on some essential oils to help the unwinding process even more.

Meditation

Usually, after a long day and finally getting the children to bed at night, meditation can look more like a lead in to falling asleep but this can be a great way to slow the mind down and truly unwind. Try listening to a meditation chant or tune into a guided meditation- it doesn’t need to be long - even as short as 5 or 10 minutes can do wonders to getting a better sleep and to shut off the chatter in your mind. Calm is a wonderful App for this.

Bedtime Yoga/Stretch

We wouldn’t necessarily recommend rigorous exercise just before going to sleep, but a gentle yoga practice or stretch can help your body + mind relax. A few great guided yoga practices we like include Alo Moves or Pop Sugar Active. Tune into a calming playlist in the background and you’re set!

Go for a Nature walk

Depending on the time of year and the weather, getting out for a short Nature walk is a healthy way to unwind from the day and bring you back in touch with Nature. When you can, schedule a babysitter for an hour so you and your partner can connect on a walk together, or go solo! Tune into an “unwinding” podcast (some of them make you think too much too close to bedtime) or a calming playlist or walk in silence and listen to your surroundings and the peaceful sounds of nature.

What are some of your favourite evening rituals?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!