Sleeping Beauty
My wind-down routine and a few favorite things for rest
In my ideal world, I would never sleep. I have so many things I want to do, and the uninterrupted quiet of the night is when I am at peak production. In fact, as long as I can remember, I have been a night owl. There were many nights I would crash happily into bed at two or three in the morning after a productive push. Now that my two-year-old needs me to be on the same schedule as him, I’ve embraced the process of a wind-down routine for the evening after he goes to sleep. I now truly enjoy the quiet of the morning before he is up at 6 am, ready to play bongos. All that to say, sleep is a must these days - but truly deep sleep is a gift.
We all know the feeling of waking up in the morning and instantly realizing you didn’t get a full night’s rest. It makes the day longer and slightly more difficult. My greatest inhibitor to falling asleep and staying asleep is my inability to shut off my brain. One thing that has helped is keeping a notebook close by to jot down ideas and to-dos. My team uses Asana to keep studio operations organized, and I’ve added a personal tab for Micahel and me. I have always been a bath person and I’ve always made it feel luxurious. Candles, a calm playlist, and lavender essential oil. These bath salts by Flewd are a recent obsession. They smell heavenly. And to set the mood, I press play on this playlist. I’ve yielded to the forced horizontal position, and I’ve found it’s the best way for me to transition to bed.
I now channel my evening creativity into playing with this Substack, chipping away at my long list of books to read and sketching ideas — from the bath or bed, planning for the physical tasks of the coming day. Self-care steps have now become my outlet for productivity, gua sha facial sculpting replacing chilsiling plaster well into the morning. Caring for my (very abused from paint and plaster) cuticles with this Dior cream, as well as red light therapy and lymphatic drainage, both of which I have found to be worth the hype.
Liz Damrich turned me onto this magnesium by Moon Juice. I make it in a pretty coupe or wine glass and retreat to the bath. I keep these cashmere slippers nearby for padding around until I’m ready to sleep. I also never travel without them; they have worn so well.
A few things to help me catch some z’s
X,
McKenzie
I love this McKenzie!