A well-timed evening shower for a good night's sleep

Is it hard for you to fall asleep at night and do your thoughts and never-ending lists of tasks keep whirring through your mind? A lot of my friends keep telling me that it's getting increasingly harder for them to get enough sleep year after year. Even after the period of raising babies and little children, a lot of people still complain of being light sleepers and stirring from even the slightest sound at night after which they can only fall asleep again after long hours spent awake. However, health experts say that in order to establish a sense of well-being and to prevent various diseases such as diabetes and impede the signs of ageing or preserve a healthy body weight, even adults need at least 7-8 hours of deep, restful sleep.

Interestingly enough, however, despite this recommendation, for centuries Europeans thought it was healthy to split their night-time sleep into two or more parts, dividing their nights into multiple stages. According to historians researching the subject, the various beliefs concerning sleep heavily played into this, including sitting in a half-upright position which was considered healthy to prevent swallowing the tongue as well as the fear that man was at the mercy of the creatures of the night in an unconscious state and that death can easily take them away.

However, let's get back on track now:

If you're the type who has difficulty falling asleep, keep in mind that it can be a great help to choose the right time for washing.

Researchers have pinpointed that by taking a warm bath or a longer shower about one-and-a-half hours before going to bed can give your body enough time to cool off before going to bed. It might come as a surprise, but this cooling phase is of vital importance for falling asleep, since this way your body prepares for its night-time relaxing and rest. That's why experts don't recommend sleeping in a hot bedroom, wearing warm pyjamas or sleeping under a thick duvet.

You can make your night-time shower or bath more pleasant by adding essential oils or natural cosmetics containing essential oils. If you're looking for the best natural fragrances to unwind in the evening, you should first get acquainted with the lavender Mannas. For showers or baths, you can use our COCO lavender soap containing real, undiluted lavender essential oil (which you can also purchase in a liquid soap form, if you wish), while you can try our shea butter with lavender and tea tree essential oils or our orange and lavender-scented whipped body butter for skincare purposes. For babies or young children, I recommend our Magic foam soap for their evening splish-splash. As if this wouldn't be enough, we've also made you a temple balm with lavender essential oil which you can use at any time or place during the day for a few minutes of rest and relief :)


If you're already in bed, but can't seem to fall asleep, you can try putting a few drops of lavender essential oil on your pillow case and find a good book to read! Another important thing, and one of the most important pieces of advice I have heard in recent years, is that you should never watch TV, or use a laptop, tablet or smartphone while in bed. The bluish-white light emitted by these devices stimulates the brain, not to mention that they burden you with an overflow of information. Instead, try learning some relaxation techniques which can help you silence your thoughts and prepare your soul as well as your body for your night-time regeneration.