It never ceases to amaze me (or make me crackup) each time I re-remember how simple it is to shine.
There can be evenings when I’m going out with friends and I feel tired and run down. It’s been one of those weeks and no matter how dangly my earrings are or how much gold eye shadow I apply, I’m just not as juicy and full as I could be.
Then, there’s days when I wake up feeling that little somethin’ sparkling inside. You know, that feeling that everything’s right in the world. That you’re in synch with it all. That everything’s humming along. I can jump in and out of the shower, throw on some cargo pants, a white t-shirt, and flip flops and dash into the grocery store and turn heads left and right. People feel me coming and stop to look.
Now, what’s this all about?
It goes to show you that true magnetism and glow come from the inside out. It has more to do with how you’re feeling inside your own skin than what kind of shoes or what color nail polish you’re wearing (not to discredit those things because sometimes they can miraculously lift a bad mood!).
And, I know it sounds deceptively simple, but the #1 ingredient to regain your girly glow–from the inside OUT–is by getting good sleep.
By good sleep I mean a) 8-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep during nighttime hours on a regular basis b) you fall asleep within 15 minutes of your head hitting the pillow c) you sleep in a dark, quiet space d) you sleep at least 3 hours after eating e) you do all of the above without the aid of a pharmaceutical sleeping pill.
Now, let’s be honest, how many of us actually fulfill all of those qualifications? (New mamas, you’re excluded. You are in a superheroine category all of your own and I bow to your lotus feet!)
But for the rest of us, quality sleep is imperative. It’s not something to cheat yourself of. No way. In the relative world where cause and effect reign, without good sleep, the next day we’re faced with higher insulin levels, higher cortisol levels–these lead to lower metabolism, less immunity, the list goes on and on. The University of Chicago conducted a study recently that shows that eventually lack of sleep leads to obesity and many auto-immune disorders.
Plus, you don’t look good and you don’t feel good when you haven’t slept well. We’re living in a time when this is the norm. In fact, sometimes it’s even considered cool not to sleep a lot. “So and so only needs to sleep 4 hours a night. He/she gets so much more done in a day!” Isn’t that a little weird? What’s wrong with the world when working to the bone is admirable and snuggling under the covers to allow your body to recover and regroup from the stimuli it’s constantly bombarded by daily is looked down upon?
In the last three months my quality sleep lagged due to too much stress. Now I’m catching up and giving myself permission to rest. The following pointers are things that I myself am applying to rejuvenate. I hope you find them helpful, too:
1. Develop a bedtime routine. Start winding down 1 hour before going to sleep. Aim to go to sleep at around 10pm, so that means unwinding starting at 9pm at the latest. Power down the laptop. Shut off the TV. Turn off the cellphone. Make some herbal tea. Get into bed for some light reading and journalling.
2. Lower your body temperature. You sleep better when you’re in a cooler environment. Turn down the heat in your house at night. Take a hot bath, which actually helps to lower your inner temperature. Start moving more slowly, speaking more quietly. Dim the lights. Rub your feet with coconut oil in the summertime to help cool off.
3. Be diligent. I know it can be hard to step away from whatever you’re doing to get your beauty sleep; but for your own long-term health, it needs to be a priority. This is some of the best preventative medicine you can give yourself. If it’s hard, in the moment when you want to stay on facebook instead of climbing under the covers, visualize yourself the next day feeling tired and rundown, sipping your third cup of coffee just to make it through the work day. Then visualize yourself refreshed, energized, back from a morning yoga class. Which one will you choose for yourself?
4. Be generous. If you’re feeling really run down and have been burning the candle at both ends for a while, it can take you a long time to catch up on your sleep–up to 3-6 months even. So plan for getting 9 hours of sleep a night consistently. Don’t judge yourself for this. Give it to yourself. Your body works hard for you and deserves it. When you let yourself rest more, you might find that you’re more tired the next day. This is your body letting go. It knows it has permission to unwind, so naturally she will feel more tired. Let her….
5. Be kind. If you have a hard time getting into a sleep rhythm, don’t make this one more thing to beat yourself up for. Take an honest look at what you’re doing and why. Be clear about where you want to be and how you want to feel. Then, gradually, take the steps you need to get there.
What about you? How is your relationship to sleep? What helps you to sleep better?
P.S. If you missed the mini-virtual retreat I led last weekend with Chameli Ardagh, full of more pointers for rebuilding your feminine vitality, you can still listen to it here.
P.P.S. In my blog post next week, I’m going to share with you the debut of something I’m really excited about!
(photo credit: gosia janik)
