The Healthy Bed – Made or Unmade?

Sometimes I roll my eyes at the posts I find online promising that I can be happier by just reading a few simple tips. Eh. Isn’t happiness… well, an existential dilemma? Don’t we have to call in therapists and philosophers with PhdDs to help us with that? Or at least spread a little love around the world before we can find peace within ourselves? The answer, of course, is yes and no. On a daily basis, it’s the simple things you can easily control that go far to increase your happiness.

This post Twenty Easier Ways to Be Happier at Divine Caroline charmed me instantly with its first tip. Make your bed. At The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin says “making the bed is one of the quickest, easiest steps to keeping our bedroom orderly.” And we all know that an orderly environment leads to a calm frame of mind. It will give you a sense of accomplishment and make completing your other tasks easier, too.

To look at the other side of this coin, though, people have competing ideas on the matter, saying that women with unmade beds have a better sex life and fewer dust mites. Not bad at all! To add even more food for thought, there’s also the idea that our decision to make or not make our bed is a metaphor for our personal style. When the Times Online reported that Sharon Stone compared Meryl Streep to an “unmade bed,” one reporter began asking readers which type of woman they are: an Unmade Bed or a Pristine Pillow. (And if you’re courageous enough to answer that question, I’m kind of dying to know.)

Whether you’re more of a lazy, downturned sheet or a perfectly plumped pillow, here’s a ritual to make your bed a pristine and fantastic place to spend some time. Author Tess Whitehurst, an expert in creating sacred space, shares this and other lovely tips in Magical Housekeeping. Here’s a good place to start.

Bed-Cleansing Ritual

Ingredients:

4 white or off-white soy tealight candles in jars

At least a dozen white roses

A mister of rose water

In the evening, when the moon is between full and new, move the bed away from the wall and remove all the bedding. (You might want to take this time to throw the bedding in the laundry, as you’ll want to be freshly cleaned before you replace it.) Place a candle on the ground at each corner. Be very aware of fire safety. Light each candle and turn out the electric lights. Pull out all the rose petals and spread them on top of the bare mattress. Stand over the bed, put your hands in prayer position, close your eyes, and ask for forty angels to powerfully cleanse the energy of your bed and remove all negativity. Visualize the light from the candles expanding until the entire bed is transformed into sparkling golden-white light. Know that this light is burning away and transmuting all old and stagnant energy and replacing it with fresh, new, vibrant energy. Allow the candles to safely burn for at least forty minutes. Then remove the candles and petals and mist the mattress and box spring lightly with rose water. Bury the petals or scatter them at the base of a tree. Dispose of the candles.