5 Ways to End Your Day Mindfully

A mindful evening routine.

I think everyone is now aware of how much I love routines. If any article or book has ‘routine’ in the title, you can guarantee I’m going to read it. I don’t know how many more practices I can jam into my routine, but I’m going to keep trying.

I recently covered the topic of evening routines. While my main routine is in the morning, I think that evening routines are just as important.

The evening is the grand finale of the day; it wraps everything up, we can take time to reflect, and we set ourselves up for a good sleep and a happy and productive day tomorrow. Including practices to increase mindfulness will undoubtedly help us to live happier and more successful lives.

In this article, I will outline 5 practices that you can incorporate into your evening routine to end your day mindfully.

1. Shower

We likely already shower at night anyway, or if you’re a morning shower person, you could try including a quick warm shower in your evening routine.

Firstly, warm showers lower our core body temperature, as our blood moves out toward our extremities and away from our organs. This slight decrease in temperature sets us up for optimal sleep.

But more than that, showers are a great opportunity to be present. There is so much to pay attention to — the feel of the water, the smells, the sounds, the sight of the steam, the feel of the lather on your hands.

Don’t mindlessly go through the motions of the shower. Pay attention to every little thing. So often we are on autopilot and we’re out of the shower before we know it. Slow down and enjoy this time.

This is one that I really struggle with. So often when I get into the shower, my mind is off and running. Sometimes I can’t even remember if I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair. Sometimes I’m so distracted I forget to put conditioner in altogether.

But if we can come back to the breath when we catch ourselves thinking about other things, we can bring our minds back to the present and refocus on what is happening now. Take a breath, smell the soap, feel the water. Keep coming back to this. With practice, this process will get easier.

2. Tea

Again, this is something you might already have in your routine, which makes it even easier. You can use anything — hot chocolate, juice, wine, soda, even a snack. The point is to consume it mindfully, if only for a few minutes.

I highly recommend listening to some coffee and tea meditations. You won’t have to listen to these every time you have a cup of tea, but the foundations they will teach you can be implemented.

Thich Nhat Hanh explains this well:

“Something as simple and ordinary as drinking a cup of tea can bring us great joy and help us feel our connection to the Earth. The way we drink our tea can transform our lives if we truly devote our attention to it. Sometimes we hurry through our daily tasks, looking forward to the time when we can stop and have a cup of tea. But then when we’re finally sitting with the cup in our hands, our mind is still running off into the future and we can’t enjoy what we’re doing; we lose the pleasure of drinking our tea. We need to keep our awareness alive and value each moment of our daily life…. Drinking a cup of tea is a pleasure we can give ourselves every day. To enjoy our tea, we have to be fully present and know clearly and deeply that we are drinking tea.”

Pay attention to the tea. Feel the warmth of the mug, enjoy the aroma, watch the steam, savor the taste. Use the tea as a cue to be mindful, and to check in with your body and mind.

Every time I have a cup of tea or coffee, I pause. I feel the warmth between my hands. I watch the steam rising. I breathe in the aroma. My first few sips are slow and purposeful.

Then, I return to drinking normally. This doesn’t have to be a long process. Even a minute or two of mindfulness before you start drinking will reap massive benefits.

3. Journal

Journaling is powerful at any time of day. I do most of my journaling in the morning to plan, but also do a brief session at the end of the day to reflect and consider what’s been on my mind throughout the day.

This is the perfect opportunity to sit in stillness and pay attention to your mind and body. What are your thoughts doing? How does your body feel? What emotions are you experiencing? Write them down.

This will help you to not only be mindful of how you are feeling before you go to sleep, but will likely also help you sleep better, because any pressing thoughts or ideas will be down on a piece of paper and not running around in your mind.

There are many forms of journaling you can do, but it’s often helpful to review your day — the things you did, your successes, the challenges you faced, the thoughts you had. And then to plan for the day ahead — what do you need to get done tomorrow?

I like to rapid log (a bullet journal technique) my day — I have half-hour blocks of time and I write what I did in each of them. I find it helpful to see where my time went each day and to be able to look back on my days and see what I did. Then I write my top 3 wins of the day, one thing I am grateful for, one thing I am looking forward to tomorrow, and the one thing I need to get done tomorrow. I then have a space for free-form journaling where I can write about anything that’s been on my mind that day.

This was an important exercise for the Stoics, who would sit down at the end of each day and analyze their actions and thoughts, and think about how they could be better the next day. The evening is the perfect time to consider where you went wrong, and also to recognize what you did well.

Epictetus said,

“Allow not sleep to close your wearied eyes,

Until you have reckoned up each daytime deed:

“Where did I go wrong? What did I do? And what duty’s left undone?”

From first to last review your acts and then

Reprove yourself for wretched [or cowardly] acts, but rejoice in those done well.”

— Discourses, 3.10.2–3

4. Foam roll

Deep tissue work. Foam rolling. Self-massage. Whatever you want to call it, manual manipulation of your tissues has myriad benefits, especially before bed. We hold so much tension in our muscles and tissues, and it’s so important that we release this tension regularly, especially if we want good quality sleep and to reduce stress and inflammation.

Rolling before bed can also be a type of movement meditation — you are focusing on your body, breathing into tension, and listening to what your body is telling you. Connecting with your body before bed is powerful for increasing relaxation and subsequently a higher quality of sleep. This practice will release tension, and bring you back to your breath.

Shawn Stevenson, the author of Sleep Smarter, explains that rolling can “unlock your sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system and activate your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system” and has “clinically proven benefits on serotonin production, oxytocin, and reduction of cortisol.”

Foam rolling can greatly improve your levels of relaxation and help you wind down after a busy day. Switching off your stress response will allow you to fall asleep faster, have a more restful sleep, and subsequently achieve greater quality sleep.

Pay attention to how your body feels while you roll and stretch. Feel for the twitch of your muscle releasing. Pay attention to your breath.

Don’t do anything else while you’re rolling. I’m always tempted to listen to an audiobook or podcast, but I know that will distract me and bring me out of the present moment. Instead, I sit in silence. I pay attention to my body. I breathe. I close my eyes and relax into the tight spots. I find this to be a powerful form of meditation.

5. Create a sleep sanctuary

This is one of my favorite parts of the day. I get my earplugs out, I do a final check that my water bottle and headphones are ready for when I wake up, and I put a few drops of lavender oil on my pillow. My phone is away with my morning meditation ready to go, my to-do list for tomorrow is made, and my journaling is done.

Having a space where you feel safe and comfortable is vital for a good night’s sleep. Ideally, you want a clutter-free, plain room, with nothing except the essentials in it. Make sure your nightstand is clear. Have something that makes you feel safe nearby — whether a photo of a loved one, a particular blanket or pillow, or anything else that is comforting.

Smells are also an incredibly powerful tool to include in your sleep sanctuary. I use lavender, which is the traditional sleep smell. It helps to promote calm and relaxation and helps with sleep. As soon as I smell the lavender, I feel safe and relaxed. It’s become a comfort for me, because it is associated with being tucked up in my comfy bed, feeling relaxed and prepared for the next day.

Go through these motions mindfully. Enjoy the smell of the lavender oil, or the laundry detergent on your sheets. Mindfully de-clutter your space. Be here. Enjoy the process.

Tips

• Start small. One line of your journal. One minute with your foam roller. One mindful sip of tea. You don’t have to spend hours on a meditation cushion to be mindful and to reap the benefits that come with this. Find opportunities for short moments of stillness in your current routine.
• Curate your environment to support mindfulness — ideally a clutter-free home and bedroom, nice mugs for your tea and coffee to help cultivate awareness, and nice smelling shampoos and soaps. Use your environment to your advantage.
• Play around with these practices. Not all of these will resonate with you, so try them out and see what works. Alter them if needed to fit your lifestyle and schedule. Mindfulness is highly personal and no two people will practice mindfulness in the same way.

Conclusion

Routines are a great way to set ourselves up for success. They become automatic and therefore it becomes unlikely that we will skip our practices. Incorporating a few mindful practices into your evening routine will help you to reflect on the day that’s been and to prepare for a good sleep and a productive day ahead. These practices are simple and easy to incorporate into your existing routine. Taking the time to regularly slow down and just be is incredibly powerful.

“Practices are things you do regularly — perhaps daily, perhaps not — but in no particular order. They are things you return to, time and time again, to center yourself. To reset. To reconnect. To focus.” — Ryan Holiday

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