Angeleno Magazine: Sleep Talking
According to Armella Stepan, the power of positive thinking works wonders in the bedroom. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) She means that inspirational words—breathe, relax, soothe, warm, calm—which are woven into her new, luxe, 300-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, will actually help you to rest. Granted, she doesn’t guarantee a good night’s sleep, but she believes that her line, called Intentions Linens (intentionslinens.com), will help inspire it. And science is on her side.
After a life-threatening illness, botched surgery and a lengthy, uncomfortable hospital stay in 2003, the former fast-track hotelier had a transformative moment. And it all started when a nurse wearing scrubs covered in balloons and teddy bears entered her room. “I had a very visceral reaction,” says Stepan. “It was like paradise sort of came into the room.”
Those scrubs, coupled with inspirational poems and cards she received while recuperating, got her thinking about the power of intention for healing, how something as simple as energies, sounds and words can change a person’s mental state and eventually their outlook on their own health. This put her on the path to researching the power of the mind, both from an Eastern and Western medical standpoint.
A fan of Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Oprah, Stepan also talked to neuroscientists, biofeedback doctors and hypnotherapists, and she believes they’re all saying the same thing but with different modalities. A neurofeedback doctor instructs you to breathe and relax during a procedure, and your yogi tells you to do the same thing. “It’s about reprogramming your brain,” she says. “And that programming comes from words that you hear and see.”
So why sheets? Having worked with top luxury hotels like Shutters on the Beach and Hotel Casa del Mar, where she was the general manager for several years, Stepan knows bedding. “During my time in the hospital, I had the worst rest, the worst bedding,” she says. “I wanted to find a way to improve the luxury sleep experience for others. And what do I know? I know linens.”
Stepan partnered with her friend Mary Ella Gabler of linen company Peacock Alley, who helped with fabric choices. From a distance, all you see are lines or patterns on the understated, stylish, white-on-white design. But upon closer inspection, the words present themselves.
“We spend all day on our computers, emailing, talking, and we’re supposed to lie down and just turn off our brains? You have to consciously decide to focus on words that make you feel good,” Stepan says. Intentions Linens launches at neimanmarcus.com this spring and lines for hotels and for certain wings of area hospitals are also in the works. If she keeps this up, Stepan will have us all sleeping mindfully, one breath at a time.