Sleeping Beauty
At the beginning of the year my brothers, sister-in-laws and I worked for weeks organizing, packing, discarding, saving and donating items from my parents home once my Mom decided to sell. During the time, my Mom had already been staying at my sister’s 900 miles away so we had to communicate with her by texting pictures and video-chatting to determine which items she wanted to keep and those she no longer wanted.
Because of my Dad’s passing, his bedroom set was no longer needed and it appeared no one had room for or wanted the furniture. Being so close to my Dad, there was no way I was going to let that set leave the family and decided I had to make room for it.
Due to its size and number of pieces, the only room that it would work in my home was my master bedroom. In order to make space, I needed to clear my daughter’s prior bedroom and make way for my current bed and furniture. My only reluctancy about putting the bedroom furniture in my room was the set was masculine.
I would describe the furniture as traditional which included a platform bed with storage drawers and built-in headboard with lighted bookcases on either side, large dresser and three sided mirror and nightstand. The sturdy wood is a warm honey color with handsome black iron handles and drawer pulls, with no feminine vibes whatsoever. I decided I would just embrace the style because I was emotionally tied to the pieces. My sister-in-law and I determined we could paint the walls to lighten the up the room.
Just about the time I acquired the bedroom set, I was part of a 12-week course that was meant to transform lives. One of the sections included in-depth conversations around our sustainable daily practices, rituals and ceremonies we used to create balance, self-love, and joy into our lives. One of the new rituals I learned about, loved, and immediately adapted into my own current practice was referred to as, turn down service. Doesn’t that term invoke being cared for?
Turn down service: An hour before bed, turn down your sheets, put on a dim bedside lamp or light a candle, close the curtains, spray your pillow with lavender or another soothing scent and play soft music. Or change and adapt to what works for you best that makes you feel loved, and inspired to use your imagination or dream about possibilities.
Before my evening turn down service ritual, I remove all the pillows I don’t use, (embarrassingly enough I have six bed pillows and four decorative ones), and really only use two. However, before this new ritual, I would just push the pillows to one side of the bed and sleep on the other half. Now, I have the entire bed to take advantage of and lavishly stretch and lounge. I don’t think I’ve experienced better sleep in a long time. It could be there’s more room and less pillow clutter, but I believe it’s the intention behind the turn down service ritual. Purposefully caring for ourselves is essential.
What rituals, ceremonies and practices do you have for yourself? If that’s something you haven’t thought about, I invite you to become still, listen to your heart and find ones that make you feel like you are the most important person in the world. Because guess what, you are! Perhaps begin with your own version of a turn down service. Feel cared for and loved like the sleeping beauty you are. Sweet dreams.
xoxox…..Sheryl
PS….A big shout out to Sheri (the course creator) and Becky a fellow-classmate for this fabulous ritual!
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