TV Personality Bevy Smith on How She Fixed Her Sleep Schedule After the Pandemic Ruined It

Welcome to Deep Dives, a new Health video series where inspiring people talk about a health topic that's meaningful to them and share relatable stories around health and wellness. Watch Bevy Smith's Deep Dive above!

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in March 2020, television personality and author Bevy Smith needed help prioritizing her mental health. Smith, 54, host of Bravo's Fashion Queens, started seeing a therapist for advice on how to do this, she tells Health.

"When the pandemic hit, I knew I needed to go back into therapy. I don't think any of us have grappled with what has happened to us throughout this [past] year," Smith says. "I think there will be a lot of different types of mental health issues coming up."

But one thing that has helped Smith stay strong mentally—in addition to therapy—is getting enough sleep. Smith's self-care routine has always been focused on getting a solid eight hours of sleep each night, which became hard for her to do after the start of the pandemic. "I didn't have as many sleeping problems before," she explains. "I had a very active life. I think by the time I went to bed I was exhausted. During the pandemic, when it first started happening, I was not sleeping well at all."

She found help through guided sleep meditations. "I did a lot of different things at first to try to get to sleep, but I found that sleep meditation really was the key," she says.

Smith adds that the pandemic has taught her how crucial it is to practice healthy behaviors even when the world seems upside down. "This is a crazy time—and we're not out of it yet."

Watch the rest of Smith's deep dive in the video above.