Living in this dumpster fire of a world, it can be a biiit challenging to actually relax from the stress of a normal day and get some solid rest when nighttime rolls around. I'll lay there with eyes closed, just waiting for sleep to come, but then all I do is think about every bad thing that's ever happened. So, although I should be winding down to sleep — I end up winding myself up instead by mindlessly scrolling through my phone for hours. When it's suddenly 3 a.m., I just know my sleep-deprived self will be full of rage and regret in the morning.
In the video, which has been viewed over 7.5 million times, Hannah shows viewers her full routine, complete with each crucial item needed for restful slumber — starting with her sound machine:
Next (and my personal favorite part) is mouth tape, which is definitely the main contributing factor in looking like a hostage:
For luxury, light deprivation, and to avoid wrinkles, she puts on a silk sleep mask:
Next, we have the "sleep crown" that she lays over her face, aka her light- and sound-blocking pillow:
Lastly, she completes the ritual by lying down on two pillows stacked on top of each other and gets comfy:
Before I tried holding myself hostage by taping my own mouth shut in the name of better sleep, I did a deep dive into the one question that everyone had right away:
To find out more about this, I reached out to Dr. Kristina Wolf. Dr. Kristina replied, "She's actually not wrong! There are many benefits to mouth taping. Mouth taping is something I recommend to patients for the reasons she's stated, [as well as] for a whole slew of other reasons.
"It promotes nasal breathing. The nose is our organ for breathing. To skim the surface, nasal breathing is important as it warms, moisturizes, humidifies, and filters the air we breathe. When we breathe air through the nose, it stimulates the release of nitric oxide from our sinuses that surround the nasal cavity. This creates dilation of the blood vessels, which therefore reduces blood pressure, increases the area for gas exchange, as well as acting as a potent defender against pathogens."
With the doctor's green light, it was time for me to try it out! I got all of my supplies ready to go:
I got the star of the show, the mouth tape, all ready to go:
But I moved forward with shaky confidence:
In the wise words of Gwenyth Paltrow: "And there we go. It's time for me to get in bed."
Now that I had my sound machine playing in the background, mouth tape on, and eye mask all set — it was time for my makeshift sleep crown to bring it all together in sleepy harmony.
And you guys...I fell asleep almost instantly.
Getting intentional about my sleep habits definitely helped me get a better night of rest. I woke up feeling noticeably more refreshed, tossed and turned way less because I was sooo comfy and cozy, and snoozed my alarm only twice instead of my normal six times. I will be doing this again and recommending it to all my sleepy friends too!
A huuuge shoutout to @HannahChody for changing my sleep routine for the better! If you'd like to keep up with her lifestyle tips and tricks, you can follow her on TikTok.