I Followed Jennifer Aniston’s Age-Defying Bedtime Routine For a Week — Here’s What I’ll Keep Doing 

Celebrity wellness routines often consist of habits that, to be frank, are just not in the cards for some of us. Gwyneth Paltrow starts her day by mouth scraping, oil pulling, meditating for 20 minutes, dry brushing, working out, and sipping on celery juice. (1) Imagine doing all of that before commuting to work? Kim Kardashian has a 9-step skincare routine, and the products are quite the splurge for many. (2) 

Jennifer Aniston said recently in an interview with Self that she feels better now than she did in her twenties, so when I read through her nighttime routine I immediately knew that I had to try it out because unlike the routines of uber-celebs, the practices she follows are surprisingly simple. 

The Friends star admittedly struggles with insomnia and sleep anxiety, (3), and as reported by Self, Aniston says that her routine “really, really, really helps.” (4) 

Jennifer Aniston’s Sleep Strategies 

In the interview with Self, Aniston discussed her bedtime routine, which allegedly starts with putting all of her screens away, either in the bathroom or the kitchen (which probably makes it easier to follow her practice of not checking the time if she wakes up in the middle of the night). 

After this, Aniston gets into her simple bedtime routine. First, she washes her face — which is apparently something that she didn’t always do when she was in her twenties on a crazy work schedule. Then, if she’s lucky, she gets in a hot bath followed by meditation. 

“If I only have five minutes to do it, five minutes is fine,” Aniston told Self about her meditation practice. 

While her meditation style varies, Aniston seems to like gratitude journaling. “Sometimes, it’ll be about writing out a gratitude list. My meditations vary, but gratitude lists are really important, I believe. Every week I do them. We have a lot to be grateful for,” Aniston said to Self. 

The kicker? The star says she likes to do all of this before 11 p.m. to maintain a consistent bedtime. (4) 

My Experience With Aniston’s Routine

My goal for the week was to follow Aniston’s rules of keeping electronics out of the bedroom, washing my face, taking a hot bath, and meditating. My meditation included gratitude journaling, as Aniston says is “really important.” (4)

On my first day of the seemingly simple routine, I actually felt slightly stressed about having to complete all of the tasks on my list. I’m used to cleaning up my dinner and plopping on the couch or reading a book before dozing off to sleep, and going through the steps I had planned out felt a bit forced. 

I did find that leaving my phone in the kitchen successfully prevented me from doom scrolling through my bedtime, but as I sat in my warm meditation bath, I struggled to fully relax. 

The next night went more smoothly, as I knew what to expect from the routine. Kick my phone out of the bedroom, take my makeup off, fill up the bath, throw on my pajamas, and complete my gratitude journaling before 11 p.m. This time, my favorite step of the routine was the hot bath, where I was able to wind down more so than the day prior. 

After I got over this hump of the new routine, I found myself looking forward to bedtime — and realized how my old bedtime routine was so unfulfilling, and to be honest, stress-inducing. I mean, why did I ever think it was a good idea to watch true-crime shows before trying to fall asleep? 

Instead of putting off bedtime to cram in a few more minutes of a movie, by night seven on Aniston’s routine, I knew that I could check out from the day once I dipped into my hot bath.

What won’t I keep doing? The hot bath every night did feel luxurious, but with my water bill in mind, I think a hot shower will suffice. 

How much of this routine will I keep practicing? To be completely honest, most of it.  

Keeping my phone out of the bedroom has prevented me from doom scrolling. And when I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m not tempted to check the time and count down the minutes until I fall asleep again — which helped me follow another one of Aniston’s bedtime rules. 

Gratitude journaling has helped me to focus on the good parts of my day, and as I learned how to do it properly, I realized is more than just thinking ,”I’m grateful for my bed.”

At first, I found myself listing the same parts of my life that I’m grateful for. As I tried to stretch the practice out for the minimum of five minutes that Aniston mentioned, I noticed how fulfilling the gratitude journaling could be.

I started thinking about the little thing that I likely would have forgotten about by the time my head hits the pillow. My evening walk in the park down the street, when the rain lightly coated my black raincoat and the warm dew felt like a hug. Sitting outside during the eclipse (doing everything in my power not to look directly into the sun) when a neighbor lent me her glasses for a few minutes to see a sliver of the sun glowing behind the moon. 

As I started writing down these small moments in detail, I realized that the practice made it a little bit easier for me to relax at night, knowing that even though I follow a pretty standard routine, each of my days have so many unassuming moments to be grateful for. 

Gratitude journaling turned out to be my favorite part of the actress’s routine. I’d like to say that it helped me find slightly sweeter dreams and even a youthful feeling that maybe gives Aniston her glow. Like she said, just five minutes of this practice can make a big difference in your day. 

Oh, and on a lighter note, I’ll be taking off my makeup, too. 

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