Sleepytime Extra

It’s time for another “T tastes tea!” I’m on the fence about this Celestial Seasonings tea. Can you tell?

Considering the creepy event that occurred while partaking in this calming session with a cup of tea, I’ve begun to aptly call it Freakytime Extra. I have another suitable name for it as well. More on this later.

Imagine the moment: an evening with the spouse on the sofa and a sweet little tabby-cat curled up at your feet. It sounds nice, right? Ah, but there’s more to this story. First, let me tell you a little bit about this wellness blend.

Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Extra is a blend of calming herbs and a hint of spearmint. So technically I could have considered using this one for my mint tea challenge. However, the mint doesn’t take center stage. Therefore, it would have been pummeled to the ground and a wrestling match among the crispy leaves would have wiped it out instantly. 

Let’s take a look at those ingredients. This supposed sleep inducer contains Chamomile, Spearmint, Lemongrass, Hawthorn, Tilia Flowers and Vallarian. It’s a calming blend to be sure, but does it do the job? Is it soothing, and will it help you drift peacefully off to sleep?

The first night I sipped this somewhat minty brew I didn’t drift off to sleep right away. This is uncommon. Falling asleep isn’t usually my problem. It’s staying asleep that’s the trick. The next night I drifted off to sleep as expected, so it was surely an inconsequential event. Is this tea soothing and calming? Possibly. In my opinion drinking any tea will have a calming effect if you stay put and put your feet up for a while.  I’m a big help, right?

Here’s the disclaimer. Keep this tea away from little grey cats. I don’t know about all felines, and my guess is that our tabby (Sheya) would turn her nose up at it and back away. However, Jessie is our odd duck. Once I’d finished my cup of tea this innocent little cat hopped up on the arm of the sofa, stuck her mug deep into my cup and then proceeded to violently attack her sweet and peaceful sister. This quickly forced Sheya off the sofa.

That’s not the freaky part. Next Jessie immediately returned to my cup for another fix. Her head spun around quickly in a paranoid manner towards me. Strangley, I wasn’t keen to be her next victim. Thus, I immediately put a stop to her portion of this paranioa potion by withdrawing my tea cup from her presence. 

I’ve read somewhere that mint can act like catnip to some cats. So that’s my guess as to why Sleepytime Extra caused Jessie to turn Jekyll and Hyde.

On a good note, this tea may be responsible for the dreams I’ve recently been able to recall. For the longest time I couldn’t remember dreaming at all. Mostly I would wake with thoughts going through my head, not images. So perhaps Dreamytime Extra may be another suitable name for this soothing bedtime brew.

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When Deep Sleep Falls

“In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed, and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.”

Job 33:15-18

God Awakens Our Consience

“When God designs men’s good, by the convictions and dictates of their own consciences, he opens the heart, as Lydia’s, and opens the ears, so that conviction finds or forces its way in. The end and design of these admonitions are to keep men from sin, particularly the sin of pride. While sinners are pursuing evil purposes, and indulging their pride, their souls are hastening to destruction. That which turns men from sin, saves them from hell. What a mercy it is to be under the restraints of an awakened conscience!”

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary