Clean eating has been the dominant trend of the past year, with super foods, diets and smoothies overwhelming our lives. But all that daily juicing has apparently taken a toll because now it’s the state of our sleep we should be concerned with. Rather than clean eating, the latest trend looking to take over in 2017 is clean sleeping. But what exactly is clean sleeping?

Clean sleeping is essentially just getting a good amount of truly restful sleep each night. You should be aiming for about 7 to 8 hours of sleep with no interruptions.

Gwyneth Paltrow herself has been spearheading the movement, touting a myriad of health benefits. These include feeling more refreshed and rejuvenated in the morning, more alert during the day, healthier looking skin and even better hair. Overall, clean sleeping could aid your anti-aging efforts by helping you look fresher and healthier every day.

Aside from being physically beneficial, a good night’s sleep is also important for our minds. Sleep is essential to giving our brain the rest it needs to function properly during the day and is an important part of our memory consolidation.

Clean sleeping could be an important routine for the whole family to practice, with studies showing positive effects on young minds as well as stimulating a longer life. A good night’s rest can sharpen your childs attention for the school day while a lack of sleep can result in ADHD-like symptoms long term.

If you’re ready to get on the clean sleeping bandwagon, here are some of the highlights from the routine outlined by Gwyneth and the new book.

 

Longevity and consistency

You should be aiming for a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, and even up to 10 hours when possible. Additionally, try and keep your bedtime and the time you wake up as consistent as possible, even over the weekends. While this isn’t always possible, sticking to this as regularly as you are able will mean you can afford to have those occasional late nights on the weekends.

Technology free bedroom

Aim to keep your bedroom as a technology free zone. That includes mobiles, laptops and computers. This helps to clearly separate your sleep from the other stressful parts of your life. It also ensures minimal distraction, so you can achieve an uninterrupted and truly restful sleep.

You should also try and carry this zen-like mood through into your décor, choosing calm and neutral tones for your walls and bed linen and avoiding bright or harsh colours. We also recommend installing some thick blackout blinds or curtains. Darkness is a great way of stimulating a healthier and more peaceful sleep.

With no tech and a clean and calm setting, your bedroom can become a peaceful sanctuary for sleep or just a break from the outside world.

 

Watch what you eat

If you’re partial to a midnight snack, it may be time to start locking the fridge up at night. Cutting out late night treats is essential to the clean sleeping routine. In fact, Gwyneth believes a 12-hour fasting window is essential to a good night’s sleep. That means finishing dinner by 8pm and eating breakfast every morning by 8am.

When you do eat dinner, try to avoid heavy and hard to digest foods or large meals. Keep it light and healthy to get your body ready for rest. During the day, aim to eat little and often to help aid steady blood sugar levels. This should help the cortisol hormone wind down in time for bed.

Relax before bedtime

It’s important to unwind before bedtime to prepare your mind and body for sleep. Take the time after dinner and before bed to de-stress with a relaxing bath and the addition of some soothing essential oils. Adding aromatherapy oils such as lavender and roman chamomile can help make your warm bath extra luxurious and calming. Once you’re done with your bath, invest in some extra soft bath towels and dry off in comfort. A fluffy bathrobe and a cosy pair of slippers are also a good way to stay relaxed after a soak.

 

Change your pillows

Fresh and luxurious bedding can be an important part of a peaceful night’s sleep. In her book, Paltrow recommends copper infused pillows for its antibacterial qualities and to help boost collagen and elastin levels.

These luxury pillows unfortunately come at a price. However, you can also help improve your sleep by simply having good quality bed linen. We have a range of bed linen and duvet cover sets offering quality materials and luxurious weaves. You can read our guide to choosing the best bed linen to help, and you can retain the quality of your bed linen with the right long term care. Wash it regularly and following the proper guidelines to keep your bed soft and fresh for a truly blissful night’s sleep.

 

Supplement your sleep

Start practising meditation throughout the day to fit in some extra rejuvenation time. Meditation can help you get some of the needed restful qualities of sleep. For example, being more focused and alert during the day. Like many of the clean sleeping tips, meditation is good for your mind and body. It’s a great healthy living addition to your lifestyle.

You can also use natural sleep remedies to aid your nights. Magnesium is known as ‘natures tranquiliser’ and helps to relax muscles as well as converting tryptophan to serotonin and melatonin to help you sleep. Foods such as dark leafy greens, nuts, fish, bananas and whole grains can all help to boost your magnesium intake. Alternatively, you can also take some magnesium supplements to make sure you’re getting a good dose.

Heated socks

Heated socks is perhaps the most unusual part of the clean sleeping routine. Heated socks simply help to regulate your temperature while you sleep, aiding in a peaceful and undisturbed night.

You can get an even more detailed run down of clean sleeping and some advice on changing your routine to the clean sleeping trend here.