In the mornings and in the evenings I can appreciate a little bit of a routine. There are a couple of things that really set me up for a good nights rest. To have our bed fresh and tidy. Our sun alarm clock set. My face and teeth clean and prepped. To have turned off from the world for a while. And sometimes… this delicious bedtime chamomile lavender latte in my tummy.
In general I am quite a good sleeper. I can’t remember the last time that I had a sleepless night. But there are certain things that definitely do set me up for a better nights rest.
Nathan tends to make fun of me because I sometimes start my night routine waaay ahead of bedtime. But I kid you not, I genuinely get excited to set everything up and to be really conscious and get in the mindset of: Jenna… it’s nearly time for bed now. Let’s get snuggly and sleepy.
That usually involves me getting out of my day clothes and getting into my pyjamas and pink bath robe. After that I like to take the time to cleanse and prep my face and hair for the night.
Sometimes I turn the aroma diffuser on a few hours before bed with some lavender essential oil in it. Or I open the bedroom window for a bit to make sure we have fresh air in the bedroom. If there are any clothes piled up on our bed I’ll remove them and get our bed all nice and tidy.
I prefer to avoid big bright lights in the hours before bed as much as possible to get into that sleepy mode. Because bright lights signal to our body that it should be awake. So I’ll often turn the big light in our bedroom off and our sun alarm clock light on which gives off a lovely soft yellow light.
Another very important part of my nighttime routine is to completely turn my phone off. It’s a good way to distance myself from the world and to avoid too many triggers before bed. I like to stay away from screens in general around that time. So I often try to do a bit of reading instead of watching television.
BEDTIME CHAMOMILE LAVENDER LATTE
For a while I’ve been searching for a nighttime drink to complement that routine. I wanted it to be something different than tea because I drink that alll day long. And I wanted it to be something special that I would only drink at nighttime. Something that signals to my body that it’s nighttime and nearly time for bed.
I tried a coconut milk and turmeric drink and boy… I don’t know if I did something wrong but I can’t drink that again!
But then I stumbled upon the recipe for this chamomile lavender latte and it is delicious. On top of that, the smell of the lavender definitely adds to that ‘sleepy-ness feel’ that I’m trying to create in my nighttime routine. I found the recipe on Hello Glow which is my all time go-to website for natural beauty tips. You can find the original recipe here.
I still had some dried lavender from last season but if you don’t happen to have any, Amazon has some great options that don’t cost a lot! I hope you like the drink and what do you usually like to do in your nighttime routine to really set yourself up for the night?
Much love,
Jenna
Bedtime Chamomile Lavender Latte
Equipment
- small saucepan
- sieve (or if you have teabags that you can fill up yourself, you'll be simplifying the process)
Ingredients
- 475 ml milk I used oat milk
- 2 chamomile tea bags or 1 tablespoon dried chamomile buds if you have them
- 2 tbsp dried lavender buds
- 1-2 tsp honey
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a saucepan until it's very hot. Don't let it boil.
- Add the chamomile and the lavender to the hot milk. Let it soak for 5-10 minutes while the milk gently simmers.
- Then strain the mixture in a mug and sweeten it with honey and vanilla extract.
