Arianna Huffington is best known asthe cofounder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.But these days, she's increasingly recognizedfor being a sleep evangelist. In her book, "The Sleep Revolution," Huffington discussesthe importance of good sleep inthe definition of a successful life.Huffington's obsession with sleep'triggered by an incidentwhere she collapsed in her home office and "found herself in a pool of blood"'led her to develop a strict evening routine.Huffingtontreats her nightly habit as a "sacrosanct ritual," according to an article she wrote in Motto. She starts off by "escorting" her electronic devices out of her room, followed bya hot bath with Epsom salts.She then changesinto clothes that are specifically designated for sleep. Sometimes she drinks chamomile or lavender tea to help her sleep, and shewrites down the things that she is grateful for that day,according to her book.Huffingtondoesn't set an alarm and wakes up "naturally" after about eighthours of sleep. In the morning, she meditates for 30 minutes, gets on her exercise bike for another 30, and spends at least 10 minutes doing yoga. During the day, she tries to cut off her caffeine intake by 2 p.m., according to an interview on the lifestyle websiteThe Early Hour.After experimenting with Jack Dorsey's brutal morning routine, I was excited to try something that wouldn't leave me reaching for a third cup of coffee at 3 p.m.Also, I often feel guiltywhen I prioritize sleep over work, my social life, or whatever else I feel I should be doing instead. If I could commit to sleepingeighthours in the name of work, I'm all in.SEE ALSO:I followed Jack Dorsey's morning routine for a week and was surprised by the difference it made in my dayDON'T MISS:Our grandparents wouldn't understand one of the biggest status symbols in the US todayThe experimentWanting to get the most of the experiment, Idecided to adoptHuffington's morning routine as well as her evening one. That included cutting out caffeine after 2 p.m.I prepared by cleaning my tiny bathtub and purchasing two essentialsbath salts and herbal tea.Idecided to start my experiment on Sunday night. At 8:30 p.m., I posted the picture of my coconut-pomegranatebath salts on Instagram and put my phone on the dresser in front of my bed.Huffington sleeps without electronics in her room, but in my tiny studio apartment, that would meleaving them outside or in the bathroom. I settled for putting them out of reachfrom my bed.I suddenly remembered that my phone was low on battery. When I went to plug it in,I saw that saw someone had commented on my photo and had to fight the urge to check it.I made myself a cup of chai tea to drink in the bath, and after the first sip realized that I was drinking caffeine. Oops. But it was relaxing! And it tasted so good!I felt like I was in the bathfor 15 minutes, but it was probably more like five.After the bath, I picked up my copy of Huffington's "The Sleep Revolution" and started reading.By 9:20 p.m., I started getting sleepy, so I started filling out my gratitude journal in a yellow notebook I'd purchased specifically for this experiment.By 9:30 p.m., I was out.MondayMorning:To my surprise, I rose at 5:20 a.m. without an alarm, and I felt refreshed and ready to get up.After following Dorsey's routine of meditating for 30 minutes each morning, my instinct was to reach for my phone to usemy guided meditation app.I opted for a "Breath Connection" 20-minute meditation. It felt easy and familiar.Given the lack of an exercise bike in my apartment, I opted to go for an early morning jog. 6 a.m. runs can be difficult, but I never regret them,especially when I get a beautiful view of the East River.Yoga was next part of the routine. I starteda 15-minute morning yoga sequencefrom Greatist and immediately made a mental noteto incorporate more stretching into my workout. I had never felt so much pain during downward dog.By7:30 a.m., I hadshoweredand was enjoying mycoffee andbreakfast while readingthe news. This is one part of my personalroutine that I don't like to give up. Mornings and evenings are when I make time to read longform pieces and op-ed analysis of what's happening in the world. It gets my brain going!I left the house at 8:20 a.m. and was at work by 9 a.m.Workday:I didn't take many notesabout my productivity during the day, which I can only assume meant that I was SUPER productive. Eight hours of sleep does wonders for the brain, after all.I did note that I had coffee at 3 p.m., which broke Huffington's no-caffeine-after-2 p.m. rule. But it was more than sixhours before my anticipated bedtime (9:30 or10 p.m.), so I figured I was OK.Evening: I went to the gym for an hour after work, not because I wanted to torture myself again, but because I am training for the Tough Mudder race. Some of the moves require weight equipment that I don't have at home.I came back exhausted,tooka quick cold shower, then reheated and ate yesterday's dinner.I was temptedto skip the bath because I had taken a shower, butmy husband encouragedme tostick to the routine.So I made myself a cup of teaand drewahotbath with salts. After five minutes, I wasvery hot and sleepy.I put on my sleeping tank topand shorts, read more of "The Sleep Revolution," and jotted down what I was grateful for that day. I was asleepby 9:30 p.m.TuesdayMorning: Iwokeup, but something told meit wasn'tquite 5 a.m. yet. I checked my phone, and it was 4:40 a.m. I went back to sleep. Myalarm went offat 5:30 a.m. I was about to hit the snooze button, until my phone fell off the dresser and shut off, causing a brief panic before it came on again.By then I was awake and definitely did not want to go back to bed. I went to check Facebook and found a storm of unread messages, mostly gossip from my grad school classmates. I reminded myself to meditate and told myself off for checking social media first thing in the morning.My 30-minute workout consisted ofsprints, squat jumps, and pull-ups. It took about 30 minutes to get to the closest outdoor gym,so my workout ended up lastingan hour and a half. When I got home, I dutifully did my 10 minutes of yogabefore getting ready for work.Workday: Work was productive. I definitely found it easier to concentrate than when I did Dorseys morning routine. The only discomfort was the soreness from my workout. I guess that's why there is a "tough" before mudder. I think that the next daymight be a yoga day.Evening:Doing my workout in the morning meant that I could go home and cook dinner straight away. But I was feeling lazy that night, so it ended up being a meal of refried beans and turkey bacon on tortillas with a side of greens.My husband and I ate dinnerand talked at our tiny tablewithout our laptops, which I realized we hadn't done in a long time. That sounds bad, andthe scary thing is that I didn't even noticewe were doing it.At8:30 p.m., I escorted my electronics to the dining table, away from the bed. As the bath filled, I made myself someof thevanilla chamomiletea.I got very sweaty in the bath, and drinking hot tea probably made it worse. I think I took a five-minute bath before I turned on the shower to cool down. I feltgood.In bed, I read more of"The Sleep Revolution."I started dozing at 9:20, and it was time for gratitude journaling. It's nice to end the day on a positive note, though I did struggle to be specific and different each day.My favorite moments of the day tended to center around eating good food, feeling exercise endorphins, spending time with my husband, and working toward my childhood dream of becoming a journalist in New York City.I realized that being grateful for the same things each day isn't bad it makes you appreciate what you might otherwise take for granted.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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