For many, taking a shower before bed is just a practical routine. But specialists in sleep medicine and international studies show that this gesture can influence the quality of rest and even reveal personality traits.
According to the Spanish newspaper As, researcher Shahab Haghayegh of the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Hospital, has been studying the effects of this practice. In one of his work, he concluded that a warm bath or shower, done one to two hours before bed, can improve the speed with which we fall asleep and make sleep more efficient.
The secret is in the way the body reacts to warm water. Peripheral heating accelerates the descent of the central temperature after the bath, a sign that the body interprets as a natural preparation for resting.
A question of timing
According to Sleep Foundation, the moment is decisive. A shower too close to bedtime, especially if the water is too hot, can have the opposite effect and delay the start of sleep.
The recommendation is to keep the water warm and limit the duration to about ten minutes, finishing the bath at least one hour before bedtime. With these conditions, the shower becomes a true ally of sleep hygiene, without having to resort to supplements or medications.
Closure ritual of the day
In addition to the physiological component, there is a psychological side. Many people face the night bath as a symbolic gesture that marks the end of the journey.
After study, work or housework, this routine helps to turn off the pressures of the day and start the transition to rest.
Behavior experts, cited by the same source, stress that these transition rituals are fundamental for those who find it difficult to “stop the mind” at the end of the day.
Inspiration in Duche
According to National Geographic, bath can also be a space for introspection. It is often come up with ideas or solutions during this moment, because the brain enters a state of creative ramblings.
This phenomenon, known as mind-wanderingit is more likely when we perform automatic tasks that do not require great concentration.
Thus, taking a shower at night not only relaxes how it can be an opportunity to reflect on the day and even stimulate creativity.
Comfort question
There are also those who do not give up the night bath for the sake of sensitivity to dirt. Studies cited by the National Library of Medicine report that people more intolerant of dust or pollution tend to prefer this ritual at the end of the day.
For these profiles, laying down without being clean would be unthinkable, and the bath is seen as an essential condition for a quiet night.
Personal preferences
Another factor is with the chronotype. According to, those who are naturally most active at night can find in the shower a way of ending the period of greatest energy and preparing to rest.
Those who privilege the morning prefer to use water as a way of awakening and starting the day with vigor.
More pragmatic
Finally, there is a practical side. Those who opt for the bath at night accept that they will not have the “newly district air” when leaving home in the morning.
This choice often translates into a more pragmatic posture: they value the efficiency and comfort of sleep over immediate appearance.
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