Creating a pre-sleep routine.

I've been seriously thinking about my pre-sleep routine lately, wondering how I can make it easier to fall asleep, since I often struggle to drift off, wake up in the middle of the night, or get startled awake by noises. It's like I've started facing things I've been avoiding for a long time. Sleep duration and sleep quality are important, after all.

So, yesterday, after experimenting with various things, I felt like I might finally be able to establish a routine with this...! So, I decided to record it here.

I usually take a bath between 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM.
During this time, I can hear the lady in the next room moving around in the kitchen or common areas. She's checking to see if I've taken a bath yet. So, I try to avoid going in during that time, and when it gets quiet, I sneak in. In the winter, I'll easily soak for an hour or two, but this time of year, it's probably about 30 minutes.
I soak in a 36-degree bath heated by an electric heater rod called 'Wakashitaro.' It's not too hot, so it feels nice and relaxing. Then, I sneak out.
After that, I don't make any noise, moving quietly and carefully so the neighbor can't hear me. Before the noisy lady moved in next door, I used to move around noisily at night, watch YouTube aimlessly, or talk on the phone, but lately, ever since I get out of the bath, I move slowly and am basically just ready for bed.

Once I'm out of the bath, I only use a small orange light (a nightlight). It feels like I'm sending a signal to my body that says, 'It's almost time to sleep.'

After applying my toner and other skincare, I do the spine conditioning exercises I posted about in my last article to relieve pain in my lower back and neck. (My lower back and neck get especially painful this time of year due to standing work and the air conditioning. It's easier to sleep when the pain subsides.) After that, I move to my futon. I turn on the air conditioner in the Western-style room and use a fan to blow the air into the bedroom.

If my body gets too cold, I can't sleep, so even though it's hot, I wear a three-quarter sleeve Heattech shirt under my short-sleeved shirt.

After that,

I do B-flow's yoga-in-bed routine.

This is especially refreshing and helps me recover from fatigue by the next morning.

Doing two types of these exercises leaves my body feeling pleasantly tired.
Also, when I'm doing yoga, it just feels so good.

And for the finishing touch,

Nun-san.

I almost fall asleep just from hearing Nun-san's voice right from the start.
Yesterday, I thought I should have just gone to sleep right then and there.
But I did the yoga anyway, even if just roughly, while thinking, 'I'm so sleepy...'
Nun-san's voice really does induce sleep. It works 100% of the time.

After that, if I play Crystal Bowl music by Christarian or Nun-san's sleep meditation, I drift off to sleep.

Thanks to (though I hate to say it) the noisy surveillance lady next door (who is always listening intently to hear when I take a bath), my bad habit of aimlessly watching YouTube at night has stopped for now.

I want to establish this night routine and spend my summer nights comfortably.

This is completely unrelated, but lately, I've been listening to nothing but Ichiko Aoba's songs.
They're so soothing.