Next Woman does not necessarily have to be single, but if and when she happens to be so, she definitely needs her beauty sleep more than ever.

Your beauty sleep should be fast and range between 9 – 12 hours every night. You can make it 9 hours on week nights, and up to 12 hours at weekends, when you feel your beauty needs some extra support. Remember, the best support it can get is through sleep! So, try to enter a beauty-sleep program for at least two weeks. Outside this program, please set your routine to a minimum of eight hours per night.

Beauty Sleep Tips

1. Air your bedroom.
2. Create a nice, tidy environment, with not too many things around. You should get the impression of ample, pristine space when you enter your bedroom.
3. Surround yourself with soft tones of the most relaxing of your favorite colors: cream, peach, apricot, green, violet. Avoid strong colors, or too energizing ones, like red, yellow, or orange. Blue is a relaxing color, but I myself do not prefer it in the bedroom, as it is too cold. A non-color is as good, if you prefer white.
4. Try not to keep the clothes you have been wearing during the day in your bedroom overnight. They may be charged with energies you do not want in your ‘sanctuary’.
5. Sleep in freshly washed bed linen of soft colors – white, cream, peach, apricot, any light earth colors, light green, light pink or purple. Make sure they are 100% cotton, silk, or any suitable natural fabric and avoid intricate designs, especially geometric. If you do prefer geometric patterns, go for curvy, wavy, round, oval lines. Change the bed sheets weekly, or whenever you feel you should do that in order to enjoy going to bed.  
6. Wear soft, large pajamas, exactly the size in which you feel comfortable, free to move, and pleased with yourself.
7. Do shower or take a bath, but not immediately before going to bed. This will either make you feel too fresh to want to retreat for the night, or set your blood running faster, which impedes on your ability to switch to relaxation mode. Do that upon arriving home, or at least two hours before bedtime.
8. Never go to bed without removing makeup. Cleanse your face even if you have not been wearing any. Spray some pure natural rose water, or any other natural lightly scented face water, after cleansing, before applying the night cream. Take the rose water in the bedroom with you to spray a puff or two around, in the air, on your bed sheets, one over your body, especially in summertime, and one more on your neck and face.  
9. Do not burn candles or incense in your room before or while sleeping, no matter how appealing their effect might be to your senses. If you want to enjoy the mystery of such effects in your bedroom, then you should make your retreat earlier and always air the space afterwards.
10. Drink at least 1/2 liter water late in the evening, but the last drop should be at least one hour before you go to sleep. Even if you will have to get out of bed to eliminate it, at least that will be just once, and before you will have fallen asleep.
11. Eat your last meal at least two hours before going to bed. You know digestion has a negative impact on your sleep.
12. You can eat an apple as a last treat before going to bed, even after you have brushed your teeth. Yet, make sure you eat it one or two hours before bedtime, and wash it down with a little water. Tiny pieces of peel may get stuck in your throat, and nothing should stay there during the night. If or when you prefer a small tub (140-150 g) of natural yogurt instead, one hour before bedtime is early enough.
13. Try not to give a hand to the earth’s gravitational force as it pulls at the traits of your face, so sleep face up, although some recent studies have revealed that the best position while sleeping is on your left side. Well, I say, try to educate your body to alternate positions, but definitely rule out the face-down one. (see previous post)
14. Get into bed at least half an hour prior to the time you would like to fall asleep. Imagine you are a pampered princess, regally retreating to your secret chamber, ready for your most beautiful dream, ready to connect to the universal source of pure, regenerating energy, once you lie on your magic, comforting bed.  
15. Once you have got into bed, do something pleasant, yet not too much so, not too engaging, thrilling, or demanding. This depends on your interests and tastes, of course. What is pleasant for some people may be thrilling for others. Read from a book, browse a magazine, take your night cream with you and gently massage your face (see previous post), play some music, watch something on TV if you have one in your bedroom, visualize your attire the following day, or simply meditate. Why not try thinking of a definition of the day you have just concluded?

Bonus

If you have difficulty falling asleep, either because you are that type of person, or due to a stressful period, or to some other factors you may or may not be aware of, the easiest solution to this problem is to go through a process of tapping. I find this technique, also called emotional freedom technique – EFT, the most readily accessible to anyone, the most efficient, and the least demanding. It works even if you do not believe in it, and even if your mind is reluctant to fall asleep. In a future post, I will give you the tapping process I use when I need to fall asleep fast and sleep tight, no matter what.

• #beauty sleep
• #Next Woman
• #single
• #tips