Hello friends! Here is the second part of my sleeping guide for Nordic countries (you can find the first part here).
5. Use some calming essential oils
There are many essential oils that can help the sleeping process, the most common of them being lavender. We usually use thyme oil, as we both have some breathing issues and thyme helps with chest infections and cough. This is an effortless way to improve your sleep, especially if you have one of Tomelo’s air freshener mushroom, that naturally and smoothly spreads the essential oil in the air and lasts for several days.
6. Use a sleeping mask or blinders.
This is especially important in summertime, when there’s constant light. I am not sure which feeling I hate the most, whether to wake up in the middle of the night in a bright room as it would be midday, or to wake up in the morning in the blackest darkness as you would have just gone to sleep. Either way, sleeping masks make it possible for a brain to see pure darkness and consequently stimulate the body to produce melatonin and so make us sleep better.
7. Create a relaxing atmosphere
Use warm colored bulbs, embellish your headboard with winter lights, light up some candles. Avoid cool colored bulbs, for the same reason why we shouldn’t use smartphones. Even though they might look white, cool white bulbs have some blue in it that will stop your brain to produce melatonin.
Few weeks ago we painted one of our bedroom walls blue-grey-ish and we thought that copper lighting would create a beautiful contrast with it. Our bedside table is an old closet Klaus had re-purposed. On it is our newest bedroom’s entry, a copper pipe lamp designed by Marte from Pipe-Lite. I love her idea of using pipes to make lamps, it fits perfectly with our idea of sustainable living and recycling. The Edison bulb not only looks incredibly pretty, but also fits with the idea I was explaining you above of the warm colored bulbs. This lamp is versatile and can be put in several different positions, which is great as you’ll never ever get tired of it!
8. Bright lights in the morning and vitamins.
Last but not least, there are few steps important to take once you’ve waken up. As our brain associates the start of a day with light, it is important to turn on bright lights during our breakfast. In Nordic countries they even sell lamps that produce artificial sunlight. We personally don’t have one, but it has been tested that it has helped many.
Especially in wintertime, when sunlight is scarce, it is vital to take vitamin D pills and mornings are the best time to do that as this vitamin works against our sleep hormone, that is melatonin.
Linen bedding by Linen Tales
So this was my guide, I hope you enjoyed reading it and found good tips to integrate to your sleeping routines! 🙂
