Do you wish you could chill out a little? Do you wish you could chill out a lot? Does your current wildest, most depraved fantasy involve setting all your devices to silent, putting up your email "out of office," and taking a nice hot bath that lasts approximately 7 years? We get it. When you are dealing with roughly one bajillion personal responsibilities, plus work projects, and, oh yeah, random overheating and sweatiness/ fatigue/ breast pain/ dry skin/ acne/ totally unexpected UTIs, it can feel like you woke up already exhausted. And devoting an hour or two to winding down before bed at night can sound like an unrealistic fantasy on par with a trip to the White Lotus lodge in Italy (sure, it's a hotbed of crime and tragedy, but also, that food looked great!).
But chilling out before bed isn't self indulgent — studies show that a relaxing bedtime routine involving calming music, meditation, and warm baths or showers can help you get better rest on a more consistent basis. And considering the fact that roughly half of women in midlife struggle with insomnia, it's worth considering that spending an hour chilling out now might be able to save your a few hours of staring at the ceiling, thinking about your taxes in the middle of the night.
This month's playlist is all about getting in an evening wind-down mood. So put away the devices (their blue light can disrupt your sleep!), tune out the outside world, hit "play" on our collection of extremely serene tunes, and do whatever helps you personally chillax.
1. Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd
2. Nightswimming — R.E.M.
3. Don't Panic — Coldplay
4. Dreams — Fleetwood Mac
5. Kiss Me — Ed Sheeran
6. Wild Horses — the Sundays
7. Fade Into You — Mazzy Star
8. Sweet Jane — Cowboy Junkies
9. Bad Girl — Madonna
10. Pale Blue Eyes — the Velvet Underground
11. Autumn Sweater — Yo La Tengo
12. Between the Bars — Madeleine Peyroux
13. Corcovado — Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto
