Southern California Wedding Guide Online

Don't Skip Beauty Sleep Before the Big Day (Reduce Stress for Better Sleep)

Your wedding day may be one of the happiest days of your life, but that doesn’t mean stress doesn’t come along with it. The guest list, future in-laws, and making decisions about the venue, flowers and place settings takes its toll on even the most patient person.

Unfortunately, the sleep deprivation that accompanies stress can do more than leave you feeling fatigued. Sleep plays an important role in your overall appearance. Studies have shown that well-rested people are perceived to be healthier and more attractive. Sleep can affect how you look and feel on one of the most important days of your life.

What it comes down to is this—beauty sleep is a real thing, and you don't want to miss it.

Pre-Wedding Stress Management

Stress management needs to start before your wedding day. There are a few simple ways you can reduce stress in as little as 15 to 20 minutes a day.

Before you jump into several different stress management methods, consider the conditions in which you sleep. Do mattress reviews
confirm that your bed is supportive of your preferred sleep position? Are there bulges or valleys that cause discomfort and wake you during the night? Do you keep the bedroom cool, dark, and quiet? Make sure you've created the right environment for a full seven to eight hours of sleep.

Meditation

Meditation has been used for centuries to help focus the mind and body. Today, there is science to support what regular meditative practitioners have known for years that meditation reduces stress and helps you sleep.

Mindfulness meditation teaches you how to focus on present body sensations rather than concentrating on stress-inducing thoughts of the past or future. Deep breathing and relaxation are important parts of letting go of stressful thoughts. Regular practitioners of this method show a thickening of the  prefrontal cortex, the reasoning part of the brain, and a strengthened connection between it and the amygdala, the emotional center of your brain. Essentially, meditation allows you to apply more reasoning to your emotional responses, which reduces stress.

Yoga

Stress often leads to the release of inflammation-causing proteins.
Yoga has been shown to reduce the number of these proteins, in turn reducing stress.

There are many different yoga methods from those that invigorate and strengthen the body to ones that quiet the mind for sleep. While any yoga method is beneficial, quiet, gentle poses done before bed are the most useful for getting a better night’s rest. Some yoga poses can even be performed in bed so you can drift off to sleep when you're ready.

Journaling and Scents

Sometimes it's the simple things that reduce stress. Keeping a journal by your bedside in which to jot down ideas or tasks can often relieve wedding-related anxiety. You don’t have to worry about forgetting something. You can also sleep better by using  lavender
essential oils, candles, or lotions as they have been shown to improve sleep quality.

A few minutes of meditation, yoga, or journal writing might be all it takes to help you not only enjoy your wedding day to the fullest but look amazing too.