Steep & Sleep: Waking Up to the Best You!

Ah, the power of a good night's sleep. We know how restorative it is, yet it eludes so many of us. Without a healthy sleeping habit, we end up feeling groggy, experience decline in our cognitive ability, increase our risk of health issues, experience higher rates of anxiety & depression, weaken our immunity, and can even gain weight! Ideally, we should spend 1/3 of out lives sleeping. So if we live to age 75, that's 25 years spent sleeping! But it's not just about the quantity of our sleep that is important, it's also the quality of our sleep that makes a big difference. 

Today I want to share some tips to help improve the quality of our sleep. I'm sure it won't surprise you to know that tea is involved! Listed below are tips to help you get the most out of your sleep. This is a pick & choose list - you don't need to do every item. See which ones resonate with you the most and start there. Of course, being the Mindful Tea Queen I am, I hope you'll start with a nightly tea practice!

• Head to bed somewhere between 10-11pm each night when your body temperature & cortisol start to drop. 
• Stop consuming caffeine after 3pm - switch from true teas to herbal tisanes.
• Get outside each day for some fresh air & a 20 minute walk.
• Stop using any screens an hour before bedtime.
• Remove clutter from your bedroom.
• Use quality bed linens that feel soft & luxurious.
• Add Lavender, chamomile, and Vetiver essential oils to a diffuser in your bedroom half an hour before tucking in for the night. If you don't own a diffuser, make or buy an essential oil room spray. 
• Try an epsom salt bath before bedtime.
• Have a night time skincare routine using products with clean ingredients & essential oils that calm from Living Libations or Neal's Yard Remedies. I love both of these lines - they are all I use! 
• Read a light novel - nothing too intense or scary.
• Install blackout/sound dampening curtains.
• Invest in a super comfy mattress.
• If you get night sweats or hot flashes, run a bedside fan.
• Use a real alarm clock instead of your phone. Charge your phone in another room.
• Try a 2 ounce shot of 100% Tart Cherry juice before bed - it contains natural melatonin.
• I swear by this Sleep Well Essential Oil Roll On from Saje. No, I am not on commission, but I used to work there and it still is my most beloved product they make!
• Meditate for 20 minutes twice daily. I was trained in Transcendental Meditation.

And last but certainly not least... create a bedtime tea routine! An hour before bed, when you are stopping all screen time, turn to tea instead. Having your tea an hour before bedtime will also give you time to use the bathroom before pulling up the covers. ;)

Choose an herbal tisane containing rooibos, lavender, passionflower, chamomile (unless you have a ragweed allergy), or rose.

Prepare your tea mindfully, noticing every step of your tea making. Sit in bed and slowly sip your tea. Pay attention the the aroma, feel, taste, color of the tea, and what you are hearing in your environment. What is the temperature of the tea? Where do you taste it on your tongue? How does the aroma of the wet tea leaves differ from the aroma of the prepared tea? Does the tea taste the same as it smells? How would you describe the color of the tea liquor? Sip slowly. Pay attention to your breathe and silently repeat a mantra like "I sleep soundly" or "sleep heals me". 

Most of all enjoy the present moment.

I hope these tips speak to you and you will try one or two...or more! I would also love to hear what helps you to have quality sleep. Feel free to leave me a comment. 

Sweet Dreams! 

Tami, aka, The Mindful Tea Queen