How to Enjoy a Good Night’s Sleep, Naturally
Getting quality sleep makes everything in life feel a bit brighter. Natural sleep supports both your body and mind, helping you wake up ready for the day ahead. There are easy habits and small changes that let you enjoy restful sleep without needing pills or harsh routines.
Here are seven straightforward ways to encourage better sleep and wake feeling refreshed.
Set a Regular Sleep Schedule
Going to bed and waking up at the same time helps your body settle into a rhythm. This makes it easier to fall asleep and wake up, even on weekends. Staying consistent sets your body clock, so you’ll feel sleepy at the right times each night.
Over time, this routine brings deeper rest and more energy during the day.
Creating a Sleep-Friendly Environment
Think of your bedroom as your haven. Keep it dark with blackout curtains. Reduce noise with earplugs or a white noise machine. Aim for a cool room temperature. These changes can transform the quality of your sleep.
Your mattress is your sleep foundation. If it’s lumpy, it’s time for a replacement. The right pillow supports your neck and can prevent backaches. Investing in quality bedding is one of the best ways to ensure those Zzzs.
Never use aromatherapy oils (including diffusers) if pregnant/nursing or with affected medical conditions. Also don’t use if pets sleep on your bed (especially harmful to cats, as they can’t break down essential oils).
If used, air rooms thoroughly, before letting animals back in rooms. And never pour neat essential oils down sinks, as they can harm aquatic life.
Be Mindful of Food and Drink
What you eat and drink in the evening plays a part in how well you sleep. Avoid caffeine for at least six hours before bed. Heavy meals and spicy foods can cause discomfort, so try lighter options closer to bedtime.
If you need a snack, something small like a banana is a gentle choice.
Get Some Daylight and Exercise
Spending time in natural light during the day helps your sleep at night. Sunlight sets your body’s daily rhythm and helps you feel sleepy when night comes. Physical activity, such as a walk in the park or gentle stretches, also encourages deeper sleep. Try to move your body every day, but avoid intense exercise close to bedtime.
Limit Screen Time Before Bed
The blue light from phones, tablets and computers can trick your brain into thinking it’s still daytime. Try to put screens away at least an hour before bed.
Use this time for more restful activities, like having a warm bath or listening to soothing sounds. Your mind will ease into sleep more smoothly.
Don’t Drink Any Alcohol
If you have addiction problems speak, to your GP as immediately stopping could cause serious withdrawal issues) Alcohol interferes with sleep. Instead swap it for warm plant milk or tart cherry juice (these increases the body’s production of melatonin and bioavailability of tryptophan).
Stay Cool (between 65 and 72 degrees)
Hot flashes for menopausal women and too many walks in warm weather don’t help. Wear cotton pyjamas and bedsheets and keep the room cool. Also be sure the room is dark, and use a torch to visit the bathroom to keep stimuli down.
Address Issues That Stop You Sleeping
Address issues like physical pain or mental health, if these are the cause of insomnia. Also avoid stimulants like tobacco. If you work shifts, take naps during evening shifts if possible, and minimise exposure to light after finishing evening shifts. If it really affects you, look for a daytime job.
Tips to Help Calm Screaming Babies!
Many new parents are exhausted, if they can’t get babies to sleep. The Baby Sleep Guide offers 100 simple tips by a maternity nanny and sleep consultant.
Sleep Supplements in Sustainable Packaging
Feel Magnesium & Calcium is mostly for bone health, but an add-on benefit is relaxation and sleep, as calcium and magnesium deficiency can cause anxiety issues, including restless leg syndrome. It’s also vegan, not tested on animals and sold in plastic-free packaging.
Use code partner20 for 20% discount (not bundles or subscriptions). If you do subscribe, sign up for an account to earn discount rewards.
Check with GP before taking supplements if pregnant/nursing or on medication (esp. for liver disease or depression) or other supplements. Keep away from children and pets.
Just take 3 capsules per day. One pack lasts a month. The supplements are made from tapioca-food-grade capsules. These are genuine customer reviews from the company website:
Sleep has improved, and ankle pain has reduced.
No more post-gym cramps, and I started sleeping like a log.
After only a couple of days, my restless leg syndrome had improved and after a month, had totally gone.
Vegan Nights offers a plant-based answer. It brings together well known herbs and gentle minerals, all sourced with care, to help the body relax. The goal is simple, steady rest that feels natural. It also takes a firm stand on ethics, with vegan certification, no animal testing, and a clear commitment to the planet.
A clear view of the core ingredients highlights the synergy at work.
- Valerian root calms the mind (and may shorten time to fall asleep, and reduce restlessness). It also supports GABA activity in the brain, to help quiet racing thoughts.
- Chamomile eases anxiety (may raise glycine levels, helping muscles to relax). It pairs well with valerian, for a softer unwind.
- Lemon balm settles the nervous system (supports deeper and more stable sleep
- Magnesium relaxes muscles and nerves (aids calm and promotes normal sleep patterns). It also helps the body to release tension.
These ingredients work together. Valerian and lemon balm address a busy mind, chamomile softens anxiety, and magnesium loosens tight muscles. Sourcing from sustainable farms supports purity and consistency, which helps every capsule feel reliable.
Good sleep starts with a steady rhythm. For most adults, take Vegan Nights 30 minutes before bed with a small glass of water. Keep the dose consistent. Many users report the best results after two weeks of regular use.
Simple habits help the formula shine:
- Dim lights: Lower light tells your body it is time to rest.
- No screens: Put devices away at least one hour before bed.
- Cool room: A slightly cooler space can support deeper sleep.
- Light evening meal: Heavy meals can slow your wind-down.
Organic Cherry Juice: A Natural Sleeping Pill!
Biona organic cherry juice is not just delicious and nutritious (sold in a zero waste glass bottle) but also a great source of melatonin (the hormone that makes your body think it’s time to rest). Sleep experts often recommend a glass of tart cherry juice, as a ‘natural sleeping pill’, taken an hour or two before bedtime.
Some people should avoid cherry juice (or talk to your GP first) – diabetes, kidney disease, IBS and acid reflux, allergies or on certain medications. Only drink pasteurised juice for pregnancy/nursing, children and weak immunity.
Tart cherry juice may also lower swelling in the body (which of course can help people with swollen joints, to relax at bedtime).
Cherries are known for their antioxidants, like vitamin C and anthocyanins. Antioxidants support cell health and may help fight everyday stress. Drinking cherry juice can support a well-balanced diet.
Cherry juice isn’t just for drinking. Use it to add a sweet twist to sauces, salad dressings, or desserts. Its tartness pairs well with chocolate, vanilla, and even some savoury dishes. Try stirring into plant-based yoghurt, for a fruity change.
Sleep Lessons from Cats (for exhausted people!)
England is full of millions of exhausted people, who work too hard, worry too much and don’t get enough sleep. We are bombarded with tips for ‘sleep routines’, herbal teas, sleeping pills, herbal sleeping pills, music and meditations to help us sleep, etc.
But of course, all you really need to do, to know how to slow down and sleep more, is to look at your average domestic moggie. Cats sleep nearly all day, and they have the pattern down to an art. So here are some tips from feline friends, on how to get more shut-eye!
The average cat sleeps 15 hours a day, with kittens sometimes up to 20 hours a day. This harks back to wild ancestors when (like lions) they would be in a light sleep most of the day, reserving energy for dawn and dusk for hunting (a reason to keep them inside during this time, when garden birds are feeding). Also avoid wood-based bird tables, as cats can claw up them.
Never use essential oils (especially on beds) near cats, as they can’t break down down in the liver. If you learn these sleep tips from cats, you likely won’t need lavender oil on your pillow anyway!
Find a Safe Snoozy Spot
Most cats have favourite places to sleep (fireplaces should have guards, with flammable items nearby removed). Like your cat friends, seek out somewhere nice.
Give your bedroom a budget makeover, to make it somewhere nice to relax. Or even adopt a comfy chair with a book and footrest, complete with favourite blanket.
Take a Cat Nap!
A cat would never not take a break, if feeling tired. So if you are feeling exhausted, take time out for a cosy place to rest and recharge. It’s called a ‘cat nap’ for a reason!
Don’t Overcomplicate Things
You don’t need books and mantras and music and oils to sleep. Just sit down and relax. Humans are the only creatures that will simply ‘keep going’ when they feel tired, if they don’t need to. All other creatures just sleep. A dog will feel tired – and go off to bed. Same with dolphins, apes and cats!
Listen to Your Body
If your eyes are starting to close, your body feels knackered and you are finding it hard to visit the corner shop, embrace rest. Don’t ‘do exercise as it will give you more energy’.
If a cat feels tired, he or she won’t eat the cat equivalent of an energy bar, watch TV to ‘stay awake’ or even do yoga. He or she will just find a snoozy place, and sleep.
Be Independent
Cats are very independent creatures, and happy in their own company, for a lot of the time. So if you feel sleepy, don’t say yes to the opening of an envelope.
If you feel tired, go home and run a bath, cook a cosy veggie stew, put your pyjamas on, watch an old film, then snuggle into bed with a hot water bottle (perhaps with a sleepy cat on the covers!)
Regulate Your Temperature
Cats adjust their sleeping positions, to stay comfortable. So like them, curl up when you’re cold and stretch out when you’re warm.
Use sustainable cotton or hemp or linen bedlinen, to let skin breathe and keep you cool in summer and warm in winter.
