Everybody needs sleep — even the stars.
With the the overstimulation of modern life, lots of people (this writer included) are having troubling getting to sleep each night. Maybe you’re burned out from work and life stress, or maybe you’re just trying to “sleepmaxx” and get the most rest you can to help make those waking hours easier.
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There are some easy behavior changes to your nighttime routine that could surely help wind your mind down at the end of the day. And if that’s not enough, there are some affordable hacks out there to ease your nighttime process along.
Even though these celebrities’ lives are much different from yours and mine, everyone’s gotta sleep some time, and it doesn’t hurt to get advice from those who’ve had the time to try everything.
1. Meghan Markle Swears by the “Calm Down Already” Mineral
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has a background in the lifestyle world due to her blog, The Tig. That means she tried all kinds of products to help her get to bed at night — even before she was resting her head in the palace or her current Montecito estate.
The former Suits star uses magnesium in her nighttime routine, per her interview with The Chalkboard Magazine. Magnesium supplements leave some people “feeling less tense at bedtime, relaxing more easily, or falling asleep a bit sooner,” according to Greenwood Pharmacy.
If you don’t want to go the supplement route, Cleveland Clinic recommends eating nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains to work more magnesium into your diet.
2. Charlize Theron’s Edible Sleep Hack
If you’re looking for something to take that offers more of a low-dose buzz, you might want to check out an alternative sleep aid to help your brain “shut off.”
During a Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview, Charlize Theron openly discussed taking an edible product to help combat her “really bad sleep.” Her source of these bite-sized sleep-aids was her mom, of all people, who showed up to Theron’s place with “a little container” of edibles and recommended she try the sweet-tasting ones.
While we can’t say for sure what brand of aid the Mad Max Fury Road star used for wind-down support, Oola Sleep Ease Gummies are in the ballpark. These are a more-balanced alternative to traditional sleep aids and use ingredients like cannabinoids and chamomile.
Think of it as a smoother, layered approach to supporting relaxation — as opposed to heavy sedation from an old-school melatonin overload. Even if you aren’t an action movie star like Theron, Oola’s gummies might just do the trick.
3. Gwyneth Paltrow Keeps It Cold
Given some of Gwyneth Paltrow’s wild lifestyle products, you might think she would have the oddest celebrity sleep routine. However, there’s one simple factor she focuses a lot on: temperature.
“The older I get, the colder I like it,” Paltrow said on Amy Poehler’s podcast Good Hang earlier this year.
While keeping it a cooler temperature in your bedroom might just seem like a personal preference, experts back it. Paltrow herself talked with Dr. Cheri Mah for a Goop video, and the expert revealed that 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit is the optimal sleeping temperature range.
Dr. Mah said it’s part of an ideal sleeping environment, and her pillars make total common sense. She says a room needs to be: dark, quiet, cool, comfortable and consistent. We recommend tweaking your thermostat this week as you’re “turning off” each night.
4. Jennifer Aniston Turns the Screens Off
Jennifer Aniston is one of many that pinpointed her sleep issues as being tied to locking in on screens at bedtime. The blue light that phones emit is just terrible for someone trying to drift off into dreamland.
“I’m such a night owl. That’s half of the problem,” Aniston told SELF. “And that’s why it’s been a real effort for me to try to turn that around and prioritize putting myself to bed at a consistent hour every night when I’m able to. And to wind down—put the screens down, walk the dogs, lock the doors, wash my face, do my meditations, and just keep the consistency of that. I think it really, really, really helps.”
To further make sure she stands by her no-screens rule, Aniston’s “phone goes into the kitchen or the bathroom.” Sounds like a plan anyone can easily implement tonight!
If you’re still in denial that blue lights from phone screens might be messing with your sleep, take it fromt the National Sleep Foundation: “Blue light has shorter wavelengths than other colors in the visible light spectrum and causes more alertness than warmer light tones. Because blue light promotes wakefulness, it can have a powerful effect on the natural sleep-wake cycle, which is one of the essential circadian rhythms governing our body processes.”
5. Kendall Jenner Uses Tea to Sleep Better
While Kendall Jenner isn’t a using a product like Oola Sleep Gumies to wind down at night, she is using her own kind of sleep-aid: tea.
While the Kardashians reality TV personality doesn’t give her exact choice of sleepytime tea, it’s a crucial part of this celebrity’s sleep routine. (WebMD’s experts recommend chamomile tea as one option for “natural good sleep.”)
“I like to wind down in the evenings,” Jenner told Vogue. “I usually drink tea and relax by reading a book or writing in my journal.”
Jenner says uses this plan to help her ease anxiety so she get a good night’s sleep. You can some make tea this evening and give it a try yourself.
6. Gwenyth Paltrow Has Another Sleep Hack: Baths Before Bedtime
We wanted to circle back to Paltrow’s Good Hang interview because she offers another easily actionable tip for everyone, aside from just the temperature talk.
The Iron Man actress also dished on a simple scheduling tweak that help her relax. Paltrow times her bathing rituals around bedtime.
“I have to take a bath every night. Have to. Non-negotiable,” Paltrow explained. “And if there’s not a bathtub, then I have to shower. Like, I got to get the day off with water.”
While even the thought of a warm bath after a long day just feels like a perfect answer to the question of “How to sleep better?,” science backs it up, too. NPR, when discussing research published in Sleep Medicine Reviews, reports that findings “suggest that either a warm bath or shower before bed can help a person fall asleep and improve sleep quality — even in the heat of summer.”
7. A Euphoria Star Keeps Calm With Meditation
Our last celebrity sleep routine comes from actress Barbie Ferreira, best known for her roles in Euphoria and Nope. She uses tea and, as some other stars have noted, meditation.
Ferreira told The Cut she gets ready for bed by “Drinking a low-caffeine jasmine tea with honey and either doing a meditation or listening to white noise.” And if she can’t sleep, she mediates again with “either videos on YouTube or just alone with meditation music.”
“Usually I do long ones, so I can fall asleep as I do them,” the former HBO star noted.
While the Mayo Clinic notes that some researchers are divided on the benefits of meditation, they note the practice “can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and your overall health.”
I’d say it’s worth a shot, being as meditation is totally free to do. Just take some quiet time tonight — and if you really need a guide, there are plenty of free meditation videos on YouTube to try.
Everyone Deserves a Good Night’s Rest
As you’ve seen, these A-listers’ tricks don’t require much at all to try. You don’t have to employee a personal sleep shaman or have a pricey ergonomic sleep system installed in your bedroom.
A movie star’s budget isn’t necessary to sleep better. You just need to try to work in some small habits and work on using them consistently.
