I love my morning routine, but I love my evening routine even more. I used to hang out on the couch in the evening watching episode after episode and then get overly tired. At that point just brushing my teeth and crawling into bed became a huge task. I hated ending my day feeling defeated.
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In order to wind down and end the day on a positive note, now I always do my evening routine. It has taken me a while to find a routine that I enjoy and that I like doing every night. I like to start it at the same time every night, nine hours before I want to wake up. That way, I have an hour to complete it and still get eight hours of sleep. I used to change my sleep times on the weekends because I didn’t have to get up early if I didn’t need to. But, I have realized that it is so much better when I stick to my regular schedule and get up at the same time every day.
Just like with my morning routine, this routine might not work for you. To be honest it most likely won’t work for you. But it’s a good starting point for you to start to craft a routine that does work for you.
Warm Milk
If you are familiar with Ayurveda, you know that Pitta’s have a strong metabolism. This means that I often wake up in the middle of the night hungry and lose out on a good nights sleep. To combat this I drink warm milk every night. I add cocoa powder (no sugar) to make it a “hot chocolate.” Sometimes, I mix it up and put in honey or cinnamon. Lots of times I drink it while I do the next step in my routine, stretch. If you want to learn about Ayurveda. I would highly recommend starting with The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda. It’s an easy read and describes a pretty complicated system in a way that is very easy to understand.
Stretch
I spend 15-20 minutes stretching every night. Each stretch is held for 5 minutes. A timer is set so that I actually hold it for the right amount of time. I read once that if you are working on stretching a certain muscle that you should meet or beat your stretch time every day. Start at 2 minutes, then increase by 5-10 seconds every day, and work your way up to five minutes. Right now I am working on my splits; both sides and the middle. I use a block to support me in my side splits. I feel like if I can relax in the pose, it helps me loosen up more.
Read Nonfiction
I will start reading sometimes while I do my stretching to get in some extra reading time.
When I was going through my yoga teacher training program I had a ton of nonfiction to read. Now that I am finished with the training, I don’t have required texts to read, but I do have a ton of books that are on my reading list. It seems like every time I would go to a weekend yoga training I hear someone talk about something that interests me. I immediately search for books on the topic and either find them at the library, purchase them using Amazon Prime, or put them in my Amazon wish list so I didn’t forget about it.
Green Drink
If you read my morning routine, you know that I try to have an alkaline balance in my body. I use this green drink every morning and evening to help with this. And it works. I am alkaline every time I check my pH level.
Oil Feet
Every night I oil my feet. This is also an Ayurvedic practice, used for Vata imbalance. Again, definitely check out The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda if you want to learn more about using Ayurveda to improve your life.
Brush Teeth, Floss, and Wash Face
I love my electric toothbrush. I rave about it in my morning routine.
I wash my face with a wet Norwex cloth or washcloth (no cleanser) and use coconut oil as a moisturizer. I have had really good results with this for years. However, everyone has different skin with different needs, so this might not work well for your skin.
You may have noticed that I don’t mention showering in my evening or morning routine. This is because I shower earlier in the evening. I do a run or a yoga practice every day right after work and then shower immediately after that.
Journal
I love journaling at the end of my day. This year I am using the Daily Greatness Yoga Journal. It’s an amazing planner/journal that focuses on goal setting and living with intention. Seriously, it’s the best journal I have ever had. It’s so great that I am going to do an entire post on it, so check back soon! They also have planners for fitness, business, parenting, and general use. If you want one of your own, you can get a 5% discount using this link!
Meditation
The insight timer app is what I use to guide my meditation practice. It’s a free app that has a ton of features. I love using it as a timer for meditation because it alerts me of the end of the time with a beautiful bell sound. It’s completely customizable. You can set how long you want to meditate, if you want a beginning, interval, and/or ending bells, and if you want ambient sounds during your mediation. It also tells you how many people are meditating at the same time using the app. When you realize that there are thousands of other people around the world meditating at the same it makes a mediation session seem really powerful. There are a ton more features too! Check out my Insight Meditation Timer Review for more details.
Read Fiction in Bed
While I love learning things from nonfiction, I also love a good fiction book. I am always looking for suggestions. I like things that are easy reads, and not too dramatic or sad. So if you have any suggestions leave them in the comments below!
Other ideas for an evening routine
Like I said earlier, my evening routine might not by what you want or need your evening routine to look like. Here are some other ideas for you, but remember to find things that work for you.
Foam rolling (great for athletes!)
Restorative yoga
Plan for the next day
Yoga Nidra (a guided meditation practice)
Final Thoughts
Don’t forget to write your routine down and stick to it every night, making adjustments as you need them. After a while, it will seem like second nature. My evening routine is my favorite part of my day and I hope that you are able to find a routine that works just as well!
If you want to create healthy habits in your life, check out my post Changes for a Healthy Lifestyle. You will find actionable things you can do today to change your life for the better.
Namaste,
Abby
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