5 Pre-Bedtime Rituals That Will Actually Make You Sleep Better
what are you tired of?
By Victoria Lewis | 8th April 2026You’re exhausted all day – so why are you wide awake at bedtime? If this feeling makes a regular appearance in your schedule, rest assured, it’s not just you; it’s modern-day life.
Guys, adulting is hard. In today’s caffeinated world of long hours, constant dopamine hits, and responsibilities coming from all sides, sleep can take a back seat. Poor sleep doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it is a symptom of a stressful life.
It’s now more important than ever before to establish a pre-sleep routine that starts long before you put on your pyjamas. Luckily for you, we’ve put together a curated list of bedtime rituals – spanning the latest wellness hacks to mindfulness tricks – that’ll have you going from restless to ready for bed in the blink of an eye.
Beauty sleep: incoming.
1. Routine is everything
If you’re keen on better, deeper sleep, it’s time to set the rhythm – your circadian rhythm. It’s essentially an internal 24-hour “clock” that tells your body whether to wake up or wind down. Understanding your circadian rhythm is your secret sleep weapon. Here’s how to set your sleep routine and retrain that rhythm.
Though not strictly a “pre-bedtime” ritual, experts recommend getting some morning sunlight, so draw those curtains, get outside, and start the day on the right foot, folks. Exposing yourself to direct sunlight for around 15 minutes within the first 30 to 60 minutes of waking regulates your circadian rhythm and can improve energy levels, setting the tone for the day ahead (and the sleep to come).
Funnily enough, the same goes for sunset. Opening those curtains or windows and watching the sunset triggers your body to start the wind-down process, signalling the brain to begin melatonin production. Artificial light (yes, this includes your late-night doomscroll) confuses your system, even tricking it into thinking it’s daytime – essentially, you want to be surrounded by dim lighting in the hours before bedtime.
2. Tried-and-tested tension relief
A little-known fact: sleep starts with recovery. There is a strong link between sleep and muscle tightness — when you let the tension build up in your body, it can quietly keep the nervous system on alert and stop you from getting your all-important beauty sleep. Heat therapy is one effective way to interrupt this feeling of fight-or-flight, all while restoring your muscles and encouraging circulation.
City Cave‘s infrared sauna makes for the ultimate pre-bedtime ritual, helping you to relax, detox, and de-stress your way to effortless slumber. Not only this, but research shows that warming the body before sleep may encourage the natural core temperature drop and help transition the body toward rest.
Many people say that when their body temp returns to normal after a City Cave sauna session, they feel looser, calmer and more ready to wind down — count us in!
3. Float your worries away
Now that your body is relaxed after the infrared sauna sesh, it’s time to quiet the mind. Taking care of and regulating your nervous system can be just as important as relieving muscle tension – this is where a float session comes in. A City Cave float is for those days when the body is exhausted, but a racing mind is keeping you awake (when you’d rather not be).
Plus, if you’re in the same boat as the rest of us and cutting cortisol is on your 2026 wellness wish list, research shows that a single float can drop those stress hormone levels by nearly a third. This is your official sign to take a load off (physically and mentally), and float your way toward better sleep.
A float session reduces external stimulation and creates space for deep relaxation. Simply step into City Cave’s private float tanks and experience the mindful benefits of this low-light, minimal-gravity recovery experience.
And if you want the full effect, immerse yourself in City Cave‘s Flauna Experience, a handy combo of their float and sauna services designed for ample sleep benefits. For maximum impact, they suggest multiple sessions over several weeks, with two to three initial sessions, followed by one session a month for maintenance. Creating and sticking to this mid-week sleep wellness routine is totally doable, with most City Cave locations open late into the evening, until 9 PM.
4. Mindfulness matters (sorry, not sorry)
We’ve all had the word mindfulness drilled into us – received with varying degrees of enthusiasm – for years, but I hate to admit, it really does work. Though beneficial, being mindful isn’t just breathwork; it’s also about going DND in real life. We suggest implementing small mindfulness rituals in the lead up to bedtime to establish a routine that’s as good for your nervous system as it is your soul.
First things first – I’m begging – turn your phone notifications off around bedtime. Setting a daily alarm scheduled for one to two hours before your ideal bedtime can be a good way to keep you accountable and remind you to go notification-free for the night.
You can also take up gratitude journalling for a simple, relatively pain-free way to shift your mindset and remind you of all the good in the world – in turn alleviating those pesky pre-sleep worries our minds love to conjure up late at night.
Not quite at the gratitude journaling stage? That’s okay, dip your toe in the mindful waters by writing a nightly brain dump. Part to-do list, part stress reliever – unload your future worries from your brain and onto paper. A clear mind equals a calm sleep.
5. Gentle movement
Though experts don’t recommend high-intensity exercise right before bed, there’s nothing a gentle workout can’t help with when it comes to encouraging sleep. Low-impact and restorative for the mind, body, and soul, head to your local studio for a slow yin yoga or stretch class and treat yourself to some well-earned me-time, while releasing any residual tension.
But if you need something you can do at home, we’ve got you covered. Sleep-friendly exercises to try include glute bridges, cat-cow pose, and (of course) a good old-fashioned child’s pose.
Don’t know about you, but I’m feeling sleepier already. I’ll BRB, just going to head to City Cave to implement my new pre-sleep routine. Sweet dreams!
Imagery: @deanikollaj / @lovestoriesintimates / @daily_sleeper
