Christmas eve is one of my favourite days of the year and truth be told, I might prefer it to Christmas day. There’s something so magical about December 24th. For me, it’s all about embracing years old traditions and creating new ones. There are the movies that are reserved for Christmas eve and Christmas eve alone, the DIY charcuterie board tea, glasses of buck’s fizz and Christmas candles filling the house with festive scents. Not forgetting the new Christmas Eve pyjamas after a hot soak with my favourite bath goodies.
With all the excitement of Christmas it can be difficult to get off to sleep, even for us adults. Now we might not be able to settle that excitement of our inner child, but we can create a more restful environment and take measures to help sleep find us that little bit easier.
Here are my top tips for getting to sleep on Christmas eve.
Relax
Christmas and relaxing do not usually go hand-in-hand but ahead of the big day what better way to relax than with a long hot soak with a candle flickering away as you immerse yourself in bubbles with a glass of buck’s fizz. It is the season to be merry after all. Get your favourite pampering goodies out and really go to town. I save my luxe bath and body products for Christmas eve to be that bit extra. Christmas is the time for excess after all.
Get Cosy
Now that you’re all pampered out, its cosy time! One of my Christmas eve traditions is to wear new pyjamas. There’s nothing quite like fresh new pyjamas to round off the perfect pamper session. You can never have too much cosiness at this time of year, so I like to go all out with a snuggly dressing gown and cosy socks.
Lighting
Is there anything better than turning out all the house lights and just leaving the Christmas tree lights on and a candle? It is the most relaxing and soothing atmosphere for the ultimate cosy vibes for Christmas movies. Our traditional movies are National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, who doesn’t love a bit of Clark Griswold? Next up is my childhood favourite for Christmas eve, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 1964, I adore it so much.
Create a Calming Environment
You’d be surprised how much your environment can impact your sleep. I find that keeping a neat and tidy room helps my inner calm and ability to get to sleep with ease. One of my favourite things is getting into fresh new bedding. Dusk has some beautifully simple bedding sets to breathe some new life into your bedroom. Another great tip is lowering the lighting to help create a soothing ambience. Another great product to have on hand is a pillow mist infused with soothing lavender.
Reduce Screen Time
This one is specific to devices with a blue light so not your tv. Phones, computers or tablets built in blue light can confused our bodies into struggling to sleep. Definitely not something we want on Christmas eve of all nights. I still have a hard time getting to sleep due to the sheer excitement of the next day. If I want to ensure I give myself the best chance at a good sleep I aim to keep away from blue light devices for at least an hour before I go to bed.
Read
My final tip is to take the time to read a little before bed. My go-to is my Kindle because I can read it in the dark and it really helps me to drop off that much quicker. You don’t have to necessarily read a book; it could be a newspaper or magazine if you prefer. Reading is one of my favourite things to do to aid sleep and it never fails me.
How do you spend Christmas Eve? Do you have any traditions?
Here are a few other posts you might enjoy.
Christmas Gift Guide – Luxury Edit
Christmas Gift Guide – Lifestyle Edit
1 Comment
Getting cosy is ever so important!
Danielle | thereluctantblogger.co.uk