Start Your Days and Nights Off Right!

The hustle and bustle of the season can wreak havoc on our sleep schedule, and our sex schedule! So I’ve got some great tips to help you in both of those departments!

I’ve mentioned them in my blog before, but as a reminder, here are my favorite strategies for getting a really restful night’s sleep:

• * I make a list of those things that have the potential to keep me awake – like things I need to make sure to remember to do the next day.
• * I pack lunches and set out breakfast stuff to get a “jump start” on the next day.
• * I take a hot shower just before bedtime to begin my “relaxation ritual.”
• * I spray lavender scented oil on my pillow, the smell of which actually relaxes the brain.
• * I sip a hot cup of chamomile tea, which helps me sleep through the night like a baby.
• * I put in comfy WAX earplugs to drown out unwanted noise (possibly your hubby’s snoring).
• * As soon as I’m ready to fall asleep, I do a few rounds of meditative breathing:
  • * Relax and breath in deeply to the count of 1-2-3-4
  • * Hold your inhaled breath to the exact same count of 1-2-3-4
  • * Exhale completely to the count of 1-2-3-4
  • * Hold that fully exhaled state to the count of 1-2-3-4
  • * Repeat 8-10 times, and be amazed at how your mind and heart rate slow down enough for you to fall asleep even faster than taking Ambien or Tylenol PM!

When you wake up refreshed the next morning, perhaps you’ll have the energy to discover what I have… Did you know that more oxytocin is produced in your body in the morning hours than at nighttime? No wonder men wake up frisky! And when a couple synchronizes their circadian rhythms (sleep cycles) — going to bed and waking at relatively the same time – their sex life is far more active than couples who have differing sleep schedules? “Tis true!

The idea of “morning sex” used to make me cringe (unless by “morning” you mean 10 a.m. after I’ve had breakfast in bed!) I’ve learned that with a good night’s sleep women can wake up frisky too!

Sex doesn’t have to be a “dread it all day, prepare for it all night” exhausting bedtime activity. In the amount of time it takes to hit the snooze alarm and wait for it to go off again, you could be starting the day off right, with a 10-minute connection and a smile on both your faces!

Wishing you wonderful sleep AND sex,

Excerpted from The Sexually Confident Wife: Connecting with Your Husband Mind*Body*Heart*Spirit by Shannon Ethridge. Copyright 2008.  All Rights Reserved. Published by Random House Inc, New York, NY. Used by Permission. Not to be copied without Publisher’s prior written approval. 

Wishing you an early Christmas,

Shannon

Excerpted from The Sexually Confident Wife: Connecting with Your Husband Mind*Body*Heart*Spirit by Shannon Ethridge. Copyright 2008.  All Rights Reserved. Published by Random House Inc, New York, NY. Used by Permission. Not to be copied without Publisher’s prior written approval.