Create an Evening Routine to Support your Brain Health

In this episode of The Healthy Brain Podcast, I discuss how to create evening routines that support brain health. Evening routines directly impact sleep quality, nervous system regulation, and executive function skills, and overall the importance of ending the day in a calm and supportive way. I outline a four-step approach to setting up an effective evening routine: establishing consistent bedtime and wake-up times, selecting activities that relax and support sleep, determining appropriate timing for the routine, and identifying activities to swap out for more beneficial practices. We also discuss the importance of sleep for brain health, noting that chronic sleep impairment increases risk for dementia, depression, and various health issues, and recommended aiming for 7-8 hours of sleep with at least 1 hour of deep sleep and 1.5 hours of REM sleep.