New Moon. A Self-Care Ritual. 

At the end of each long and tiring day lies a sacred opportunity. An opportunity to come home to yourself. To reconnect with the inner life of your vibrant soul and to embrace and reconnect with your body.

One way that I’ve learnt to do so (under Carrie-Anne Moss’s mentorship via Annapurna Living) is by the developing a nurturing relationship with your feet through a simple bedtime ritual. A simple practice that will leave your body feeling relaxed and your soul feeling nourished.

The Nourishing Bedtime Ritual: Before bed, get some lavender infused oil, a calming lavender foot balm or foot cream to rub your feet with (lavender aids peaceful sleep). Centre yourself, take a few deep breaths, empty your thoughts and just release the day’s stress. Massage your feet, gently rubbing the calming oil/balm into them. Feel yourself relax, becoming more peaceful and present as you do. Connect with your feet, your body and your inner self. Visualise your tension melting away a you unwind and open up to deep connection. Express gratitude for your feet and your body. Send love and soothing positive energy to yourself and let yourself feel nurtured by the practise.

To Make Lavender Infused Oil: Fill a clean glass jar with dried or fresh lavender flowers. Then top the jar with jojoba or olive oil. Close the lid tightly and place the jar in a cool, dry and dark cupboard for 4 to 6 weeks to infuse. When the lavender oil has infused for long enough, take it out, strain it out to separate the oil from the flowers and then transfer the oil back into a clean glass bottle and discard the flowers. You can use the oil as is or use it as the basis for a lavender balm as I have done.

To Make Lavender Bedtime Foot Balm: For my foot balm, I melted 1 tablespoon of mango butter, 1 tablespoon of beeswax, removed it from the heat, mixed it with a ¼ cup of my lavender oil infuser and then added 10 drops of lavender essential oil, 8 drops of geranium oil for scent, as well as a few drops of clary sage. I stirred it together thoroughly and then decanted the mixture the pretty vintage trinket box I got from my mom (I love using that particular trinket box for my bedside balms.) It’s up to you what kind of container you would like to store your balm in. Once decanted into its contain, the balm cools and hardens in 10 to 20 minutes. Here are a couple of lavender bedtime balm recipes if you would like to try making your own: Soothing Sleep Balm Recipe and Lavender Sleep Balm to Ease Your Dreams.