I personally go out of my way to maintain the public persona of death before decaf, but that isn’t entirely honest. I did a bit of international travel over the holidays, and the jet lag had me looking into teas to help me sleep at reasonable hours. In the last few weeks, a warm cup of rooibos has become a major staple of my evening routine. Here’s my guide to our most relaxing teas, and how to make them part of your life:
Tea can be important in that it is a ritual. If you make yourself a cup of tea every night before bed, your body begins to associate that ritual with the idea that it is time for bed now. This ritual is also something which asks you to stop doing whatever you were doing before, and instead focus on it. Making a cup of tea puts you in the right headspace for going to bed now. There’s also something innately warm and soothing about a cup of tea.
Whether I am trying to get to sleep, or simply taking a break from the day, wrapping my hands around a warm mug is a comforting action. It’s a bit like putting on a warm sweater, or petting an animal. I think that it has something to do with the fact that cold stresses the body out- when we are cold, our bodies move blood away from our hands, and focus on warming our cores. Warming up your hands on a mug of tea lets your body know that it really doesn’t have to worry about freezing to death right now, even if that may be a major preoccupation for it. Then again, it may just be that I always have cold hands.
Types of teas to try:
Rooibos-
This is a caffeine-free herbal tea from South Africa. It brews to a rich red color, and has a rather bland taste. However, that bland taste can be sweetened with vanilla, or chocolate, to create a warm dessert with no calories, and little to no caffeine. 
Chamomile-
Chamomile is the standard sleepy tea. It smells oddly bready, in my opinion, and can be consumed alone, or mixed with a variety of other teas.
Lemongrass-
