A Sleep Ritual: The Secret to Sleeping Better

@drteowanlin Bedtime #sleep #sleepingbeauty ♬ Say It Right Showmusik Dance Mix – Showmusik Sounds

You’ve heard of morning rituals to start the day off on the right foot, but what about a sleep ritual? 

There’s no shortage of research touting the importance of good sleep. They generally recommend for adults to have at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Consistently sleeping for fewer hours than that can be detrimental to our health, wellbeing, and productivity.

We spoke to Dr. Teo Wan Lin, accredited dermatologist, on the importance of a sleep ritual. In this article we’ll go through how valuable healthy sleep rituals can be. We will also give you some tips on what rituals you should implement, and share the science behind these rituals.  

What is a sleep ritual? 

A sleep ritual consists of a consistent set of activities that occur in the same order on a nightly basis before you turn the lights off. Ideally, it should be one or more relaxing activities that help to prepare you for sleep. Relaxing activities can include reading a book, doing the dishes, drinking a cup of tea, or listening to music.

If you have a series of steps you do to get ready for bed, and you do them in the same order every night, you’ll find that very soon, you’ll start to feel sleepy and relaxed by the time you finish your night time ritual. 

Sleep Hygiene

Having healthy sleep is important for both mental and physical health, improving productivity and overall quality of life. Good sleep hygiene is having both a daily routine and bedroom environment that promote uninterrupted sleep. Keeping a sleep ritual, making your bedroom comfortable and free of disruption, and building healthy habits can contribute to ideal sleep hygiene.

Pamper yourself with the gift of good sleep with the Bedtime Ritual Bundle

Your bedtime ritual starts after completion of your night skincare ritual

STEP 1: RELAXING MASSAGE

Begin with undereye and facial massage with depuffing and relaxing JADE ROLLER made with premium Brazilian Rose Quartz.

STEP 2: INTENSIVE UNDEREYE REPAIR

• ELIXIR-V™️ Eye Cream is an oligopeptide rich formula enriched with 2% niacinamide and anti-oxidant LARECEA™️. While you sleep, it brightens dark circles, de-puffs, anti-wrinkle
• QRASER™️ Cosmeceutical Transdermal Delivery Patch for Eye bags, Undereye Wrinkles, Loose Skin and for Crow’s Feet (Periorbital Wrinkles).

STEP 3: OVERNIGHT LIP PLUMPING TREATMENT

Revive dull, thin and dry lips with our intensive lip care ritual

Ultra-intensive Lip Plumper formulated with anti-inflammatory ingredients to reduce flaking, dryness, plumping the lips. Salmon Roe DNA for anti-aging collagen boost, oligopeptides to rejuvenate the lips, grape seed oil for potent antioxidant repair.

GET READY TO SLEEP

STEP 4: CUIONS anti-wrinkle eye patch with anti-inflammatory CUTISCOOL biological gel pack for depuffing and a good night’s rest.

STEP 5: Get ready for bed in your CUIONS Anti-Ageing Kimono, protect your tresses with the Lipisilk Cocoon Night Hair Wrap

Hit snooze on our CUIONS™️ Anti-ageing sleep pillowcase. The skincare fabric releases copper nanoparticles designed to reduce face wrinkles and prevents acne with bactericidal effect.

Journaling for mindfulness therapy It is a good idea to journal your thoughts right before you go to bed with our Dr.TWL Girl Beauty journal.

Why should you have a sleep ritual? 

First, let’s talk about circadian rhythms. During the day, light exposure causes our clocks to send signals to generate alertness. They help keep us awake and active. At night, the clock initiates production of melatonin which is the hormone that promotes sleep. It transmits signals to help us sleep throughout the night. 

This rhythm performs best when you maintain regular sleep habits, like sleeping and waking up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. When your circadian rhythms are thrown off, such as when you’re experiencing jet lag, or stay up extra late for a party, you’ll likely feel more tired and find it harder to concentrate, as your circadian rhythms are out of balance. 

Implementing a sleep ritual that you stick to will help you keep your circadian rhythms in sync. This helps you to relax at a specific time each night, preparing your body for better sleep. 

Science backs up the benefits of sleep rituals too. One study showed that overall, a simple, consistent bedtime routine, consisting of a bath, massage, and quiet activities, resulted in rapid change for sleep variables and perception of sleep quality and mood. 

What are some sleep rituals you should implement? 

1. Sleeping and waking up at a consistent time 

Dr. Teo Wan Lin is an accredited dermatologist and founder of Dr. TWL Dermaceuticals. She is an international expert on skincare textiles and fabrics for sensitive skin. With the Dr.TWL Biomaterials Team, she has developed a range of anti-ageing skincare textiles available here

Dr. Teo shares that one of her “best beauty tips is to sleep early – before 11pm, and to wake up early as well”. She explains that “our body runs on a circadian rhythm. This is also our biological clock, that responds to daylight hours. If we disregard our circadian rhythms, our body encounters stress, which will impact our skin cells, causing premature aging”. 

Furthermore, many studies suggest that promoting an early rising time is an important element of cultivating good health.

2. Facial massage for your skin and wellness

A massage may relax muscles, improve blood circulation, and reduce pain and anxiety. This is whilst also improving sleep quality at the same time by increasing comfort. Regular massage sessions have been found to improve sleep quality, and help people spend more time in deep sleep. 

The results of one study suggests that instituting a consistent nightly massage-based bedtime routine is beneficial in improving the number of night wakings in infants, maternal perception of infant sleep problem, sleep quality, bedtime ease, and improved mood, as well as quality of maternal sleep and daytime mood. 

Massage specifically on your face or skin, can help with preventing premature ageing. Research showed that participants that applied a commercial anti-aging cream to the face and neck, followed by daily treatments using the anti-aging massage device showed significant improvement in facial wrinkles and skin texture after 8 weeks of use. 

The Night Eye Care Bundle includes a Facial Roller for increased absorption of comseceuticals and soothing face massage, the CUIONS Anti-Ageing Sleep Eye Mask for reduced wrinkles and less friction, the QRASER Transdermal Delivery Patch for Anti-Crow’s Feet Wrinkles and the Elixir V Eyes with potent oligopeptides for lifting and LARECEA antioxidant for repair.

A peer reviewed study in 2019 examined the effects of using a facial roller on facial skin and blood flow. The study concludes that there was significantly increased vascular (blood vessel) dilation with use of the facial massage roller.

Find out about our intensive overnight lip plumping treatment here.

3. Your Pillowcase Matters

An average person will spend 229,961 hours in their lifetime sleeping. This is given that an average person sleeps 8 hours every night. The right bedding can either provide comfort or cause discomfort, impacting your sleep quality. Dermatologists advise that the material in contact with your skin, especially your pillowcase, should also be non-irritating and breathable. 

CUIONS™ ANTI-AGEING BEAUTY COPPER PILLOW CASE with advanced copper ion technology is also anti-wrinkle and anti-bacteria

The CUIONS nanoparticle fabric was evaluated in the form of a pillowcase in a landmark study done in 2012. The study was by a group of Korean dermatologists that demonstrated there are statistically significant results between the groups of patients sleeping on the pillowcases containing copper-impregnated fibers, as compared to the control pillowcases. 

Paying attention to the fabrics that your skin comes in contact with for such long periods of the night is an important factor. However, many people often overlook this in their bedtime routine. Switching up your bedding may just be the step you need to get better sleep. 

The unisex Anti-Aging Kimono in CUIONS™ Gold features a nanoparticle integrated biofunctional textile woven into a luxurious garment with minimal seams for ultimate skin comfort and breathability.

4. Cup of Tea

A warm cup of tea can do wonders as a way to prepare for bed. Also, steer clear from caffeinated teas and pick up something like Chamomile, a herbal tea, or a non-caffeinated green tea. 

Chamomile has long been used as a herbal remedy known for its sedative-hypnotic properties. Research has shown that the use of chamomile extract can significantly improve sleep quality among elderly people. Furthermore, one study has shown that daily ingestion of low-caffeinated green tea may be a beneficial tool from improving the quality of sleep in the elderly via the suppression of stress. Research has also shown that herbal tea formulations can reduce fatigue severity and improve sleep quality in adults with prolonged fatigue. 

5. Mindfulness

If you’ve ever crawled under your covers worrying about a problem or a long to-do list, you would know that those racing thoughts will probably take away a few good hours of sleep. On the contrary, mindfulness is a relaxation technique that can help to combat those anxious thoughts that can disturb your sleep. 

Mindfulness is paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally. In addition, the meditation involves focusing on your breathing and bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting your thoughts into concerns for the past or future.  

In recent years, mindfulness has gained interest as viable treatment option for insomnia and sleep disturbances. Many studies have shown substantial evidence that mindfulness can improve sleep and manage insomnia symptoms. Additionally, at a 5 to 12 month follow up, one study showed that mindfulness meditation did not differ in effect from evidence-based sleep treatments, and significantly improved sleep quality. This indicates the long-term benefits of mindfulness to sleep quality. 

6. Journaling

The DR. TWL BEAUTY JOURNAL is available in berry (pictured), coral, pink and red, and comes with perforated sheets of colouring pages for the perfect mindfulness activity.

Try to take out some time in your night routine to consider how your day went. Studies have shown that journaling can help to reduce stress, and improve your emotional wellbeing.

Explaining the benefits of keeping a journal, Dr. Teo notes that “the purpose of this beauty journal was for my patients, many of whom suffer from emotional disturbances due to their skin conditions, affecting their self-esteem. Specifically, it is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy, a form of mindfulness therapy that also helps to bring awareness in building good skincare habits, and breaking bad habits.”

“Keeping a journal works because it essentially empowers the individual. From my perspective as a dermatologist, it’s a tool that is a reminder of how my patient and I are a team, as part of a therapeutic realtionship- it helps to track improvement, build a constructive mindset, encourages compliance to treatment and this helps with achieving skincare goals.”

7. Coloring

Our journal paper is perfect for hands-on creativity with watercolour pencils. It also contains perforated sheets of colouring pages for the perfect mindfulness activity during the day to relax!

Mindfulness coloring is an activity that can easily be done in a journal. In many ways, mindfulness and creativity are linked. One study concluded that practicing mindfulness reduces the fear of judgement, which is conducive to creativity; indicating that mindfulness and creativity may be directly and indirectly related. 

The fundamentals of mindfulness coloring is that it provides an opportunity to spend time in a focused state, undertaking a creative activity that can help us to put a pause on external distractions. It helps to direct conscious attention away from ourselves and focus on the present moment. 

Coloring can help to reduce stress, and can be beneficial to overall wellbeing. A study performed in 2015 found that mandala drawing and coloring reduced negative mood states and acted as a mood enhancer. Including coloring in your sleep ritual could help to calm you down before bed, enhancing sleep quality.

References on Sleep Quality:

Mindell JA, Leichman ES, Lee C, Williamson AA, Walters RM. Implementation of a nightly bedtime routine: How quickly do things improve? Infant Behav Dev. 2017 Nov;49:220-227. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.09.013. Epub 2017 Oct 3. PMID: 28985580; PMCID: PMC6587179.

Hsu WC, Guo SE, Chang CH. Back massage intervention for improving health and sleep quality among intensive care unit patients. Nurs Crit Care. 2019 Sep;24(5):313-319. doi: 10.1111/nicc.12428. Epub 2019 Apr 3. PMID: 30942526.

References on Mindfulness:

Rusch HL, Rosario M, Levison LM, et al. The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019;1445(1):5-16. doi:10.1111/nyas.13996

Martires J, Zeidler M. The value of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of insomnia. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2015 Nov;21(6):547-52. doi: 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000207. PMID: 26390335.