My evening routine has a general flow to it including outside time, family dinner, clean up, kids bedtime and unwind before bed. But among the evening routine are important habits I have formed that support my slow living lifestyle, but also my circadian rhythm. I’ll share these habits with you below.

What is Slow Living

Slow living is about being intentional with your time. You are not rushing to the next thing, instead, savor the simple things in life. You are present and absorbed in the moment. Slow living doesn’t mean no work and sitting around all day. We are here to work with our hands and to create. But when we walk a slow living lifestyle, we quieten all of the external noise and focus on the task at hand.

Slow Living at Night

My slow living evenings are very conscious of the sun and natural light. Slowing down for me in the evening is about embracing the darkness.

The sun is the light that governs our days. For all we do on earth is under the sun. The seasons are dictated by earth’s relationship with the sun. All of the seasons are determined by the sun.

The sun was created to be our light. Humans invented the lightbulb and our relationship with the sun has dwindled. The sun disappears at sunset and leaves us in darkness. Except for whatever of the moon that the sun has illuminated. The mysterious moon is sometimes a slither, sometimes full and sometimes nowhere to be seen.

Despite the darkness after sunset, in our modern existence many humans still flood their evenings with light. Artificial light that is hugely disruptive. Lots of overhead light after sunset is not aligned with nature. It doesn’t take a genius to look outside into the pitch black and then see that a house lit up like a Christmas tree of LED lights is a mismatch.

My lifestyle is concerned with slow and seasonal living. Honoring the natural cycles is an important part of that lifestyle. We can be focused on getting outside time during the day to connect to nature, but completely forget that nature is in darkness.

What started as learning about connecting the seasonal rhythms has had the most profound impacts on my daily habits.

Evening Routine

Evenings are overlooked when it comes to “routines”. The internet is full of morning routines.

However, I consider what you do after the sun goes down to be vital. The evening is when your sleep can be hugely disrupted. I’m not in a position to speak on medical studies, but you can search impacts of artificial light at night on health and read the PubMed study for yourself. Minimising artificial light at night will quickly become a priority for you.

The darkness at night is equally as important as receiving sunlight during the day.

We all know about the hormone melatonin and its natural rise late in the day is essential to help us sleep at night. What disrupts our melatonin is artificial light. Especially overhead LED light or blue light from a device held close to your face.

Winter is the hardest season to stay in darkness once the sun sets. Depending on your latitude, you could have the sun setting in the afternoon and you are hours away from bedtime.

For a slow living lifestyle, I aim to reduce stimulation. Particularly in the evenings. My nighttime is somewhat protected. I very rarely go out, my preference for social plans is during the day. That’s also somewhat a natural preference after becoming a mother.

Constant stimulation prohibits a slow living lifestyle. Evenings need to soften and quieten. That means less lighting and eating dinner free from technology or background tv.

Outside time at sunset

I aim to spend hours outside every day.

If you have kids, getting outside at sunset is highly recommended! Not only is it a beautiful time of day, you are sending all of the right signals that the light is waning and this helps them prepare for sleep.

Amber light and candlelight

Over the daylight savings months (October to April) where I live, I cook for my family and we eat dinner while the sun is still up. This is an easier time of year where I don't have to worry about lights for dinnertime.

However, as the autumn and winter months set in. The sun sets earlier, and we are eating around sunset or a little after. I have a candle on our dining table that we use and a lamp with an ambient light bulb. Neither of these replicate the sun like big bright overhead lights do. Candlelight and ambient amber lights are gentle and soft, lovely for slow living.

Minimal Food Late at Night

As mentioned we do our best to eat dinner before sunset or shortly after. That can be quite early in the cooler months. I also try not to eat too close to bed. I want to be in recovery and repair while I sleep and not firing up my digestive organs.

Screens at night

Screens at night are horrendous and the time when many people get hooked on a doomscroll session. One of the greatest detractors of slow living is a phone and mindless scrolling on that phone. I’m conscious in the evening to minimise my phone time to protect myself from mindless consumption.

If you must use a computer after sunset (I hope you don’t), install the app Iris (no affiliation). You can remove the blue light from your screen.

At least one hour before bed, my phone goes on flight mode. I leave it on the kitchen bench. I do not look at it again until after sunrise the following morning. The reason for not looking at it until after sunrise is because the sun is the light I look for first. If I am up before the sun, I will use my red light lamp. If I want to know the time, I look at the clock next to my bed.

I never take my phone to bed or to our bedroom in the evening. This has been a strict habit of mine and my husband’s since 2023. Even if your phone is in flight mode, the energy of knowing a device is near while you are sleeping is off.

I do watch tv but not frequently. I have some weeks where I don’t watch anything. Others like when a great historical fiction series is out, I might do a few nights. If I do watch something right after my kids have gone to bed, I’ll wear my blue light blocking glasses and I don’t watch it for long. Within an hour of bedtime I don’t want to see a screen.

Blue blocking glasses

I wear blue blocking glasses once it’s dark outside. I’m shortsighted, so I need to wear glasses anyway. Since I have to wear them at night, I might as well block all blue light.

With blue light blocking glasses, you want to get ones where the shades are colored so they work optimally. My glasses have an amber lens, which means they will allow some green light in, but block blue entirely.

My husband has red lens glasses which block both blue and green wavelengths.

After wearing my blue blocking glasses since 2023, I believe they help me slow down at night and minimise sleep disruptions. I’m very good at falling asleep. I’ve got two children under 5, so yes I can be woken in the night. But I also fall back to sleep easily on most occasions.

Hot bath with candlelight

A hot bath isn’t something I do every night. Roughly twice a month, I will have a hot bath with candlelight only. It’s a wonderful time for reflection.

Slow living evening routine by candlelight — *Slow down and relax with candlelight at night.*

Reading

I’m a big book fan! I adore reading. Part of my evening routine is reading a book. Every night I will be reading even if it is only a few paragraphs. Many nights I will read until I go to bed. Others once I’m in bed.

Reading a book is a great slow living activity, you are focused on the present and avoiding distractions. Many in society are struggling to read for long periods of time now, because of phones.

Red light at bedtime

Once I get into bed, I will try and read more of my book. This is usually a struggle and I will almost never finish a page. To read in bed, I use a small red light lamp. It blocks all blue and green light.

Zero Lights for Sleep

I cut out any lights in the house while I sleep. I am strict about this, all power will be turned off in bedrooms so there is no charging light or any tiny light visible. The only light during sleep is the moonlight creeping through the window and blinds for parts of the month.

In Closing

I hope you enjoyed reading about my slow living evening routine and habits. As you will have determined my nights are dictated by the light. I aim for a low lighting ambience and embrace the darkness. I truly slow down with minimal stimulation.

Now that you have read about my evenings, you might want to turn your attention to the moon and read my post on how to nourish your feminine energy with the moon.

Be sure to join my newsletter below for weekly slow, seasonal living mail.

Thank you for being here!

Rachael x

My Slow Living Evening Routine and Habits

What is Slow Living

Slow Living at Night