This is a special article that helps outlines the routines (including using an acupressure mat) that I use to wind down at the end of a day. 

Recently, I wrote about my origin story, and how I was just a normal, average guy, having a lovely early morning cycle, when a sinister van decided to end that experience and crushed me, sending me into the Emergency Room.

Head Injuries Hurt. 

Out of all the injuries, and changes my mind went through during the concussion, this was one of the worst, and took the longest to recover:

I don’t sleep well or I sleep 18 hours at a time.

Before, I would just lay down and sleep. Easy, right? Now, I was like a zombie, my brain forgetting how to shut down and reset. As anyone who struggles with insomnia will know, not sleeping well affects the rest of your life; the world was foggy, like everything was distant and not clear. I couldn’t stay sharp and lost track of so many things in my life.

Inside, I actually feared going to bed, afraid of whether or not I was going to be able to sleep.

I had enough. I figured that without some sort of ‘wind-down’ routine, like the ‘wind-up’ routine I have in the morning, I end up going to bed still frazzled from the day and not at all balanced. 🌆

Introducing The Amish Hour

So, I created an Amish Hour, a one-hour period before bed where the screens get put away and it gently nudges my body to shut down over the course of an hour. Here’s what works best for me, after a few months of experimenting. 🛌🏼

Amish Hour (800–900pm): 🕒

1. Work: One last scan of the inbox and I make a plan for the next day.

2. Put down all screens. 📵

3. Three to Five minute session thinking of three people I want to be happy, often with 2 current people in my life and 1 old friend.

4. Five Minute Journal Follow Up: What are 3 amazing things that happened today. How could I have made today better? *This is a 2nd chance in my day to write, following up on how my day went from the morning journalling. ✍🏼

5. Fifteen Minutes: Move spine six ways (yin yoga) & lie down on Acupressure Mat. *Usually the end of my day is pretty static in front of a computer, so moving my spine is like medicine for me.

6. Ten to Twenty minutes: Meaningful evening discussion with Sabina.

7. Ten minutes: Shower to reset body. *Usually it’s a warm shower to heat up in winter and cool shower to rinse off in summer.🚿

8. Till Sleep: Magnesium supplement, Read. *The supplement helps with sleep while reading tends to work better when it’s fiction. 💊

This plan is one of the most difficult routines I have. Work, life and everything else leave the Amish Routine in flux some nights, but one of the non-negotiables is the acupressure mat. It opens and relaxes my energy when I lie on it, and I can feel a difference in when I use and when I don’t.

In the end though, by using this routine, my sleep normalised, and I stopped fearing going to bed. Which sounds simple, but was a profound shift. I had no fear in sleeping, which helped my brain relax and recover.