Elsie’s Morning and Night Routines

Over the past few months, I have been working on creating healthier routines. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but the practice of creating mini rituals that I love has helped me make a lot of really positive changes in my life. Today, I’m here to share my morning and night routines with you!

Morning Routines:

OK … honest mom talk—my mornings are a lot more disrupted and crazy than evenings because of Nova. This isn’t a bad thing and I’m not complaining, but it’s the truth.

But, I grade things on the curve and since implementing these routines, my mornings are for sure BETTER.

Since I work from home, I believe it’s a powerful thing to begin my day with some routines that signal to my brain “it’s time to work.” So as soon as Nova leaves for school, I begin my routine.

Diffusing Oils. The main times I start all our diffusers (we have five of them throughout the home) is the morning, and before we have guests over randomly. (I do only do them in our bedroom at night, but I’ll go into that below.)

Wellness Blend. (similar here). My current daytime oil. I actually use it at night too, when we’re feeling under the weather. It smells so good like Cinnamon, Eucalyptus and Rosemary. It’s definitely a comforting smell. My other go-to daytime blend is Homebody. (similar here).

Face Mist. Currently loving this one. I keep one mist by my bed and one at my work desk. I spritz my face and neck throughout the day for a pick me up.

Making Coffee and Tea at home. Before the new year, Jeremy and I had fallen back into our Starbucks routine. But beginning in January, we started to make coffee at home. We each do our own because I like hot black coffee (year round) and he likes cold brew (year round). Anyway, the routine of making my own coffee each morning has become a good signal for my brain. And during the cold months, I make tea all day long after my 1-2 cups of coffee. Brrrrr.

Music. This is new for us. We made a New Year’s resolution to give Nova a more musical childhood. Recently, we added Google Home speakers all over our home so we can listen to music from our Spotify when we’re hanging out at home. It wasn’t very expensive, and we’re loving the new atmosphere in our home. Music makes such a big difference!

Night Routines:

Nighttime is a lot more leisurely for me. Lately, I’ve been going to bed a little earlier than Jeremy and I love having that little bit of me time to take off all my makeup and put on face oils, read some of my book or write in my journal.

Diffusing oils at night. Keely and I created our dream sleep blend for Oui Fresh called Sleep (similar here). It has Lavender, Cedarwood, Frankincense and Vetiver. It smells so dreamy and calming. I use it every night. I also add in a drop of similar here when we’re not feeling well or when I know a bug is going around.

Years ago, when I first began diffusing lavender to help with insomnia, I became obsessed with the idea of little rituals like this. It may seem like a small thing, but these routines can become a powerful signal to the brain that it’s time for sleep, time to work, etc. …

Body Butter. I love love Weleda Skin Food (like obsessed!) and the body butter is my favorite for using on my feet, knees, and elbows before bed.

Reading. I am obsessed with my phone (addicted) as much as anyone, so learning to put it on airplane mode and do something else before bed has been so healthy for me.

I love audiobooks, but reading a real, physical book before bed is the greatest pre-sleep routine ever. I have been reading The Joy Of Less and it’s the perfect book to fall asleep to.

If you have any routines that have really helped your life I would love to hear them! xx – Elsie

P.S. If you enjoyed this, check out My Wellness Rituals for Morning and Night!

Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Amber Ulmer. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.