Summary
Learn how to improve your sleep this holiday season with simple tips for managing routines, stress, and indulgences. Stay healthy, energized, and stress-free all season long!
The December holiday season is well and truly upon us. For many of us, the holidays bring a whirlwind of festivities, family, fun—and sometimes stress, anxiety, and a disruption to our usual health routines.
One of the simplest ways to prioritize your well-being this December is by following practical holiday sleep tips to maintain or improve your routine. With a few mindful habits, you can enjoy the holidays without sacrificing your health or energy.
Here are the season’s most common obstacles to a good night’s sleep, and some strategies on how to overcome them, so you can stave off sickness, and have a healthy, happy holiday.
1) Keep a routine
Disrupted routines are one of the biggest culprits for poor sleep during the holidays.
Whether it’s travel, parties, or getting a jump on work so you don’t have to do it during your time off, the holidays can really mess with your sleep schedule. It’s tempting to stay up late when you don’t have an early alarm the next day. But this habit can throw off your natural circadian rhythm, causing you to lose valuable sleep.
The best thing you can do is aim to continue to go to bed and wake up around the same time you normally do, as consistently as possible.
It may sound like this would put a huge damper on your holiday fun, but it’s a lot more fun to leave a party a bit early, than to have to skip it altogether because you’re sick or exhausted.
If you’re travelling across time zones, try to get into the rhythm of the new time zone as quickly as you can. You may also want to bring a sleep mask and earplugs, especially if you’re on an overnight flight.
2) Manage Stress and Overstimulation
There’s no shortage of either of these over the holidays. Whether you’re trying to wrap up a bunch of work, scrambling for last-minute gifts, or trying to get the kids to settle down after way more sugar than they usually have, this season is synonymous with high stress.
Ironically, a good night’s sleep can ease stress, yet stress often makes it harder to fall asleep. Breaking this cycle is key.
Here are some tips to help you calm down before bed, without meds or alcohol:
- Have a wind down ritual. Dedicate 30min before bed to calming practices such as a warm bath, gentle stretching, a gratitude journal, or slow breathing. Soothing ambient music can also help with this.
- If you have young ones who need help winding down, these practices can help them, too
- Limit screen time for at least one hour (ideally two) before bed. This one can be a challenge, as it’s tempting to stay up late watching movies, or scroll through your phone, but all that visual and mental stimulation can make it harder to fall asleep, and if you’re not using a blue light filter, you can disrupt melatonin production.
3) Dietary Indulgences
While a big meal can result in a ‘food coma,’ it rarely leads to better sleep during the holidays. That’s because your stomach isn’t supposed to be digesting food while you’re sleeping. For quality sleep, limit your food intake – especially large or heavy meals – to at least 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. If you’re hosting any holiday meals, aim for a lunch, brunch, or early dinner.
Alcohol can also interfere with sleep quality by disrupting deep and REM sleep, leaving us feeling less refreshed when we wake. It can also cause dehydration, meaning you wake in the middle of the night needing a drink of water.
- Try to stop drinking alcohol at least 2 hours before bed to improve sleep quality
- If you’re having more than one drink, make sure to have a glass of water or mocktail in between alcoholic beverages to avoid being dehydrated.
- You can also opt for a soothing herbal tea to wind down after dinner, instead of a glass of wine. My favourites at this time of year are peppermint, lemon ginger, and anything with cinnamon.
These simple (though not always easy!) sleep tips can help you stay rested, and enjoy the holiday season to its fullest.
If all this seems like more than you want to handle on your own, click here to book a call with me for 1-on-1 holistic health support.
Happy Holidays!
