Jennifer Aniston’s Sleep Routine Includes a Weighted Blanket: Everything You Need to Know
Jennifer Aniston has been open about her years-long struggle with insomnia, and the Morning Show star says one simple addition to her bed made a real difference: a weighted blanket. In a 2023 interview with Real Simple, Aniston called sleeping with a weighted blanket a “game-changer” — a candid endorsement that has helped fuel ongoing curiosity about how these heavier-than-average blankets fit into a nighttime routine.
Aniston’s broader approach to rest — built around a strict pre-bed ritual, a phone-free morning and a willingness to see a doctor about her sleep — offers a window into why so many people are paying closer attention to the way they wind down. Here’s everything to know about the weighted blanket Aniston swears by and the rest of her nighttime habits.
What a Weighted Blanket Is and How It Works
A weighted blanket is a blanket filled with materials like glass beads or plastic pellets that make it significantly heavier than a regular comforter, typically ranging from about 5 to 30 pounds. The added weight is designed to create gentle, even pressure across the body, often referred to as “deep pressure stimulation.” That sensation is thought to promote a feeling of calm and relaxation by encouraging the nervous system to shift into a more restful state, similar to the comfort of being hugged or swaddled.
People often turn to weighted blankets to help unwind before bed, ease feelings of restlessness or improve sleep quality — though the strength of the scientific evidence varies, and results can differ from person to person. They’re generally used as a comfort tool rather than a medical treatment, and they’re most effective when chosen at an appropriate weight for the user’s body size.
Why Jennifer Aniston Added a Weighted Blanket to Her Routine
Aniston told Real Simple in 2023 that she picked up her weighted blanket roughly two years earlier. “I have a weighted blanket and that is another game-changer,” she said. “I got one about two years ago, and that’s very helpful for sleep.”
The addition came after years of struggling with rest. Aniston told Women’s Health in 2023 that her sleep “started to suffer 10 or 15 years ago,” and she noticed the ripple effects across her workouts, her work and even her skin and hair. “You can’t catch up on sleep,” she said, adding that the hours we sleep are when “our bodies rejuvenate and repair.” Skimping on rest, she warned, can end up “expediting the aging process.”
She also told People in 2022 that going to bed had once felt “almost like walking the plank,” and that her insomnia was severe enough that she has been “woken up by house alarms going off that I’ve set off” while sleepwalking — something she attributed to being “super sleep deprived.”
Inside Aniston’s Nighttime Ritual
Aniston has said the consistency of a wind-down routine is what makes the biggest difference. “When I make myself do that ritual, that nightly routine, I just know how good I’m going to feel the next day. And that inspires me,” she told Women’s Health. She tries to be in bed by 11 p.m., walks her dogs, locks up the house and puts her phone in another room before turning in.
Speaking with SELF in 2022, she described what a good night looks like: washing her face, taking a hot bath when she can, stretching, doing some yoga and meditating before sleep. She has also learned what doesn’t work — like falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV, a habit she said leaves her waking up disoriented in the middle of the night.
When early call times for film and television work force her schedule to shift, she leans even harder on the routine. “When I do have to go to work and I have that awful wake-up hour, I am so good about doing my nightly routine and my nightly ritual,” she told Women’s Health. “I’ll start it two hours before I know I have to be asleep.”
The Morning Side: A Phone-Free First Hour
Aniston’s approach to sleep also shapes how she starts her day. “I don’t look at my phone for at least the first hour after waking up. The mental difference this makes impacts the whole day,” she told Vogue in 2021. She keeps her chargers in a drawer six feet from her bed and uses an old iPhone — which she jokingly called “a little iPod or iPhone from 1912” — solely for her alarms and sleep apps.
Instead of scrolling, she eases into the morning with her dogs and a careful coffee ritual that includes Vital Proteins Original Peptides Powder, cinnamon, a Stevia packet, steamed almond milk and her self-described “guilty, guilty pleasure” — Hazelnut Coffee Mate. “If the world ever ended and everything disappeared, my Coffee Mate would not,” she joked to Vogue.
Why She Recommends Seeing a Doctor About Sleep Issues
Aniston has been clear that her weighted blanket and rituals are part of a bigger shift in how she thinks about rest — one that included talking to a professional.
“I just wasn’t thinking clearly, and my doctor was so helpful,” she said. “Sleep is usually the last question on the list when you’re at the doctor’s because everything else seems more important. And now it’s the first question on my list. Everything starts with sleep. If I haven’t slept properly, my exercise is crap and my diet is out the window.”
She also pushed back on the idea — especially common among parents and busy professionals — that prioritizing rest is indulgent. “I think it’s just about shifting your perspective a bit and understanding that self-care is not selfish — it’s a positive because you are able to really be present and useful to your family when you are well rested,” she told SELF.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
