How to Build a Better Sleep Routine: 5 TCM-Inspired Bedtime Rituals
There is a popular saying that successful people always seem to have plenty of energy.
You may have heard stories about high achievers who say they only need three or four hours of sleep, or who somehow manage to fit an incredible amount into a single day while still staying energetic and clear-headed.
Of course, some of them may have fewer physical demands in daily life, and many small tasks may be taken care of by other people. Still, there is something useful behind the idea: if you want to work toward almost any ambitious goal, good sleep and steady energy matter. And even if you are not chasing any particular definition of success, you still deserve to sleep well.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, persistent tiredness may sometimes be viewed through patterns such as Qi or Blood deficiency, which is one reason people are encouraged to pay attention to their constitution and make gradual adjustments when they constantly feel low on energy.
TCM wellness also places great value on keeping a regular daily rhythm and allowing the body enough time to rest at night.
We all know sleep is important. The harder question is: how do you actually sleep well?
Here are five simple ways to build your own bedtime system so that falling asleep becomes easier and good sleep becomes something your body is used to.
Let Scent Become a Signal for Sleep
We all know how babies can calm down almost instantly when they are given a pacifier. Even many adults still have their own childhood comfort object—an old blanket, a worn piece of fabric, or the edge of a particular pillowcase they have been attached to for years.
The first idea is to use the same principle with scent.
A familiar smell can become strongly associated with a certain place, feeling, or routine. So choose a fragrance you genuinely enjoy and keep it near your bed. It might be a perfume, a pillow spray, an essential-oil blend, or the herbal scent that naturally appears during your evening routine.
Use it regularly enough that your brain begins to connect the smell with one simple message: it is time to sleep.
This is similar to the idea of a prompt in the Fogg Behavior Model we introduced before. The scent becomes the small cue that begins the next behavior.
Find the Right Light and Sound for You
Everyone sleeps differently.
Some people cannot fall asleep if there is even a small amount of light in the room, while others dislike complete darkness. Some need silence; others sleep much better with white noise, rain sounds, or a fan running in the background.
If light bothers you, an eye mask is an easy place to start. I especially like wider masks with a little softness and weight to them.
When a soft piece of fabric covers your eyes and part of your forehead, there is a slightly enclosed feeling that can make the body naturally want to settle down. It reminds me a little of the way a kitten suddenly becomes still when its mother picks it up by the scruff of its neck.
The prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead, is involved in things such as thinking, attention, perception, decision-making, and emotional regulation. After a long day of thinking, worrying, planning, and processing information, many people know the feeling of being physically exhausted while their mind is still unusually active.
A wide eye mask reduces visual stimulation and gives the upper face a soft sense of pressure, which can make it easier to stop paying attention to everything around you.
Light also plays an important role in our circadian rhythm. Signals from the eyes help regulate melatonin production by the pineal gland, which is one reason darkness naturally tells the body that nighttime has arrived.
The same principle applies to sound. You do not have to force yourself to sleep in silence if a steady background sound makes you more comfortable.
Find the environment that lets you stop paying attention to the environment.
Try the Daoist Sleeping Position Jixiang Wo
In traditional Daoist practice (also known as Taoist, a Chinese philosophical and religious tradition in which self-cultivation and health preservation have long been practiced in pursuit of longevity and, in some schools, spiritual transcendence or immortality), there is a sleeping position called Jixiang Wo (吉祥卧), or the Auspicious Sleeping Position.
Like the reclining butterfly pose (Huanyang Wo) we introduced before, it has also been used in traditional Daoist wellness practice.
Lie on your right side with your legs together and slightly bent. Rest your left hand gently along the outside of your left thigh.
Bend your right arm. Traditionally, the right thumb is placed around the hollow behind the earlobe, while the fingers rest naturally along the side of the head. The elbow bends toward the chest and ribs as you rest on the pillow.
If your hand becomes numb or uncomfortable, simply move it a little farther forward instead of keeping it underneath your head.
Unlike the reclining butterfly pose, which is better suited to fifteen minutes of relaxation before bed, Jixiang Wo can be held as you actually fall asleep.
Traditional explanations say that right-side sleeping places less pressure on the chest, allows the body to relax more comfortably, and supports a calmer state during sleep. The slightly bent legs also help the muscles stay relaxed.
In Daoist practice, the posture was traditionally valued for encouraging restful sleep without making the body feel overly heavy or unsettled.
You do not need to make every finger perfectly match the traditional position. Comfort matters more. Once your body becomes familiar with the posture, simply lying this way can become another signal that it is time to sleep.
Tap Your Teeth Before Bed
Both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Daoist wellness include the practice of teeth tapping, or kou chi (叩齿).
There is an old saying in Chinese medicine that “the teeth are the surplus of the bones.” Teeth and bones are traditionally connected with the Kidney system, so teeth tapping has long been practiced as a way to care for the teeth and support Kidney essence.
Try it now.
Close your eyes and gently tap your upper and lower teeth together. Do not bite hard; just let them meet lightly and rhythmically.
You may notice that your attention naturally moves toward your mouth. You hear the small sound, feel the vibration, and suddenly there is a little less room for all the random thoughts running through your head.
This is why teeth tapping can be especially pleasant before bed. It gives the mind one very simple thing to focus on and can help scattered thoughts gradually become quieter.
The gentle tapping also creates mild stimulation around the teeth and gums and may support local circulation. As we age and gum recession becomes more common, that gives this old habit another practical reason to keep around.
After tapping your teeth, allow saliva to collect naturally in your mouth and swallow it slowly. This is also part of traditional Daoist practice and was historically associated with nourishing Kidney essence.
You can do the same thing after waking up in the morning. At night it can help settle the mind; in the morning it can be a small way to wake the body up.
For more practices like this, you can also read our guide to 8 Traditional Chinese Wellness Rituals.
Warm Your Feet Before Bed
Using warm water and herbs to soak the feet is one of the most basic wellness practices in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Different herbs may traditionally be chosen according to constitution, season, and individual needs, but even as a simple evening ritual, twenty minutes of soaking your feet gives both the body and mind a chance to slow down.
The warmth helps the feet relax. The smell of the herbs can also become part of the scent signal we talked about earlier.
This can feel especially good during autumn and winter.
Many people, especially women, regularly deal with cold hands and feet when the weather gets colder. You get into bed with freezing feet and end up rubbing them together, hiding them under the blankets, or wishing you could somehow warm them up before you can finally relax.
A warm foot soak does exactly that before you get into bed.
Your feet are already comfortably warm, and that warmth can last for a while afterward, making it easier to settle into bed without being distracted by cold feet.
In TCM wellness, herbal foot soaking is also commonly approached as a long-term practice. Rather than waiting until something feels wrong, the idea is to choose herbs according to your constitution and make the ritual part of your regular routine, gradually supporting the body as it moves toward a more balanced state.
After doing it regularly, the smell of the herbs and the feeling of warm water around your feet can become another simple message to your body: the day is almost over.
Want to make foot soaking part of your evening routine?
Build a Sleep Routine Your Body Recognizes
Scent, light, sound, posture, small movements, and warmth can all become part of your own sleep system.
When the same things appear around you night after night, your body gradually becomes familiar with the sequence. The scent appears, the lights get softer, the room sounds the same, your feet are warm, and you settle into your usual sleeping position.
None of these practices is complicated, and you do not have to do every one of them.
Tonight, surround yourself with a scent you love, let the day quiet down, and have a good dream.