I found it great to read the comments of people’s experiences, observations and experiments around the practice of getting an early night in response to the article The Science of Early To Bed – so much wisdom readily available in us.
A few of the comments relating to what we do before we go to bed have activated my keyboard this morning. To me, ‘before’ bed is not just the last few minutes before I peel back the sheets and get in.
I agree with what has been shared that it’s how I do everything for the whole of the day that governs the ease of getting to sleep and the quality of my sleep.
But for me it goes back even further than the day’s activities, to how I make my bed in the morning. This may sound funny to some, and some may accuse me of being ‘obsessive’, however, in the morning as soon as I get up (early) I have a little ritual – fully present and loving with myself – when I make my bed. I devote up to 5 minutes to it.
I take off the pillows, top sheet, doona and blankets, whatever… then I smooth out all the wrinkles in the mattress protector and bottom sheet and tuck it back in tight so it’s neat, then shake and smooth out the pillows and put them in place, nicely centred. I then feel how much warmth I may need for the night and choose the coverings accordingly. After that the top sheet goes on, with the same length hanging down both sides of the bed, no wrinkles, and enough length up the pillow end for a comfortable fold-back. Then on goes the doona and/or blankets, also applied symmetrically and smoothed out. I finish by topping off with a couple of colour-matched velvet cushions, shaken out, smoothed and placed at harmonious angles.
Can you imagine the love and care pouring out of my bed, sitting there innocently awaiting me for later?
I can feel it myself, and so can others (“It feels so amazing, am I allowed to sit here?” kind of thing.) When it’s time for me to go to bed and I begin to peel back the covers, my face erupts in a smile ‘all by itself’ – my body is feeling the love I have put into my bed to support and cradle me all night. It feels so delicious and inviting, the smile is inevitable! I can go to sleep within seconds of my head meeting the pillow . . . provided of course I have quietened myself down from the day instead of leaping into bed at 10,000 rpm. Even then, the quality of love in my bed is so strong and supportive that it can help me wind down . . .
It might seem like there’s not enough time in the day to put this level of care into things like making one’s bed, preparing one’s food, clothes, bathroom, kitchen, work spaces, etc., but when you factor in the time lost to feeling tense, tired and disconnected, making complications, messes and mistakes that we have to go back and clean up or correct, being moody and creating issues in relationships that have to be resolved, running out of energy before the day’s over, etc., I reckon the small amount of time given to making my bed and putting loving self-care into one’s physical environment is a great return on investment!
Dedicated to everyone’s loving choices that bring the best quality sleep!
By Dianne Trussell BSc, science researcher, educator & writer, Goonellabah, NSW, Australia
Further Reading:
Insomnia – my sleep disorder or my daily dis-order?
Ironing the Pillow Cases – A Lesson of Love
Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes you Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
Livingness Toolkit
930 Comments
Getting into my bed at the end of the day has to be one of my favourite activities, not just because I want to go to sleep but because of the investment, love, care and attention I have paid to setting up my whole bedroom. I also devote a number of minutes to making my bed in the morning so that the love I put in it feeds me back when I get in it! I find it an absolute joy and a real support just to be in my bedroom.
Beautiful. What an experiment to do and fully allow ourselves that we deserve to put care into our every day.
How you make your bed in the morning after getting up sets already the quality of going to sleep in the night.
How much are we in rhythm with every movement which sets the standard for the next movement to come?!
Super inspirational Dianne. This loving procedure will cost you 5 or 10 minutes but most probably will save you an extra hour of sleep. The more love you have in you body once you get into bed the less sleep is needed to heal what is not love.
I agree loving rituals like this are a great investment – well worth it and 5 minutes isn’t really that long.
We can never escape the fact that there is a quality of energy behind every move we make as such every imprint we leave holds a quality of energy that represents love or lovelessness. We can feel it all however it comes down to whether we want to be honest about what we feel as such take the responsibility of what quality of energy we are choosing to be moved by. To make our bed in a loving way is an act of love that not only honours who we are but also is an honouring of the love we all are and all deserve to be met with through our movements, be it in person or by way of our imprints.
Very true Carola. And there are no shades of grey in the energy behind everything we do: it is with a healing energy, or a harming energy. No middle ground.
This article talks about the great science of energetic imprints, and how these can form the basis of our lives, to be more loving and supportive as we work and toil throughout the day, with a returning to our divine selves when it is time to rest and recover.
Dianne, I agree with yiu here; ‘I reckon the small amount of time given to making my bed and putting loving self-care into one’s physical environment is a great return on investment!’ from my experience it is definitely worth the time, my relationships are stronger and less strained, I feel less tense and overwhelmed and more able to focus on what needs to be done with work or preparing meals. What I find supportive is making these loving touches every day to the house so that it stays feeling cared for and supportive.
Dianne, I love this article. Since previously reading this article I have started making my bed in the mornings. I really enjoy smoothing out the creases and making everything symmetrical. It feels gorgeous to leave the bed in this way. I have also noticed this with other areas of my house, – straightening up chairs and placemats. A few minutes time spent on these details makes the house feel very different – I love the order and spaciousness that this brings. Thank you for your inspiration.
What if it wasn’t just our bed we made with this quality? Our world would be so changed ~ for just look at what shifts when we bring this care to one single thing.
I love getting into a beautifully made bed, in a beautiful tidy, clean room that has amazing order and a well loved atmosphere. It’s super nurturing and rejuvenating.
Put the love out, let the love in when it comes back. Simple.
One of the many cycles of love that are on offer in our days. Preparing our beds for our return later… the quality with which we do this is an amazing feedback loop and opportunity to reflect and learn.
If I am working late I can often leave my office in a bit of a mess, now however I am putting more effort into the way I leave it, as I know how I leave it the night before meets me the next morning.
The power of doing anything in love and gentleness leaves a beautiful footprint to re-meet when we come back to it, from making our bed, to tidying our desk, clearing our cupboard and everything else.
That is a great point – when we consider the procrastination time, the inane distraction time, we can easily take 5 minutes to lay a foundation to come back to at bed time. What a great loving seed to plant for ourselves to come back to.
It’s amazing the difference it can make paying attention to detail like this – not in a pedantic way but like you share as a true investment in quality that is worth a few extra minutes and may well actually save us more time than it originally takes by the impact that it has on the way we are for rest of the day.
“I agree with what has been shared that it’s how I do everything for the whole of the day that governs the ease of getting to sleep and the quality of my sleep.” Which then of course relates to how we feel on waking and live the following day. Its not what we do, but the quality with which we do things, even when we feel time-pressured.
Just like the story of the princess and the pea, energetically we can feel all the care or lack of care in our daily movements, especially making our bed.
The ripple affect of everything we do affects the next so it makes that how we live in the day will affect the quality of our sleep at night.
I remember reading your blog sometime ago Dianne, and loved what you have shared, and like you it has become my daily routine each morning , thank you.
Making my bed with love and care in the morning supports the quality of sleep that I want to surrender to in the evening.
To me it is just common sense that the bed has to be made with care in every detail to the tee as it just feels so disregarding and dishonouring not to do so. After all, I would rather come home to an imprint of love than an imprint of disregard any day.
So so simple, and something to live by. I make a point to observe what my relationship with this is day to day. This morning was a bit of a rush, late night last night and fell into bed and then up early on the move again… yes lots getting done but in what quality? And that is reflected in how much time I gave to making my bed. I can have the same itinerary but giving myself (the bed etc) that extra minute or two to make sure the quality is there, changes everything through my day.
That is such a great point Simon. These little things can be early warning signs of a much bigger ripple effect with rushing and the quality we then bring to whatever we do or whoever we are with.
I love this idea of your bed, so beautifully made up, sitting and waiting for you all day to come back to. And I love how simple and practical self-care can be, with just a few extra moments that can make all the difference to a whole nights sleep.
This does make such a difference, and it is very much about preparing, preparing for life, all the details of life matter. Being aware that we come back to what we have chosen is important, and how we make our bed definitely shows us this every day.
This is true self care and it is this deeper level of care for ourselves that always comes back, doesn’t matter if it is making our bed or cleaning the house, getting dressed in the morning, when we do it with the quality that is in us, it will serve not only ourselves but everyone, it emanates out and is felt whether people are aware of it or not.
True we are so powerful when we balance our life in repose and motion, so winding down before going to bed is crucial. And making your bed from this still place within one self is very supportive indeed.
That is so true, how much time we waste during the day, because we get busy with things, that don´t evolve us any bit. For me it is really painful by now, when I review a day and see pockets of wasted time, by getting drawn in any humanly discussions, issues that are actually not existing anymore, thinking etc. I really hate that fog, that is polluting my presence then.
I would very much appreciate to sleep in a bed that you finished to get ready to sleep in. It must feel like heaven lying down in the dedication of your preparing.
The days were my room is out of order show me that there are things I am letting slip or things that I am not dealing with in my day and it is reflected in how I care for my space which also reflects how I have been caring for me.