Chilled Cherry Moon Milk & Sleep Meditation

luigi giordano/Getty

Savor the flavors of frothy cherry moon milk while you visualize being bathed in a peaceful pink light.

Our world is a truly fascinating place full of tiny, everyday magicks.

Personally, my favorite everyday magick is food. Everything we consume from the natural world not only provides us with delicious nourishment, it also has the power to heal and revitalize us in surprising ways. Cherry moon milk is one of these magicks.

Magickal & Medicinal Cherries

I’ve loved cherries since I was a little girl. As the granddaughter of four farmers, I had plenty of access to a variety of fruits, but when strawberry season waned and stone fruits hung heavy in the trees, cherries held my heart for the rest of the summer.

What I didn’t know was that my love of this fruit was likely rooted not only in their taste but also in how they made me feel. Cherries contain melatonin—the hormone our bodies release as we prepare for sleep—and are high in antioxidants that reduce inflammation and pain in the body. My adolescent self was unknowingly consuming a natural mood booster!

Magickally speaking, cherries are held in high regard as a fruit of longevity, inner peace, and enhancing intuition. This auspicious combination of medicinal and magickal properties makes them the perfect key ingredient for chilled, peace-inducing moon milk.

Moon milk is simply a blend of milk, natural sweetener, spices, and a main flavor—such as lavender or turmeric. It originated in Ayurveda, holistic medicine widely practiced across India. Today, Ayurveda and the many benefits of moon milk have taken the rest of the world by storm—and my kitchen is certainly no exception!

Mixing a Chilled Cherry Moon Milk

Though moon milk is usually enjoyed warm, the summer months demand a cold option, which inspired me to create the following recipe. And, since I believe life=magick, I also crafted a meditation to help enhance the drink’s soothing properties and really ground myself in the simple peace of enjoying an evening treat.

For the recipe, I decided to build on cherries’ natural health benefits by combining them with oat milk, raw honey, turmeric, and cinnamon. Oat milk’s nutty flavor complements the cherries, and oats also have mood-boosting properties. Raw honey is anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory, as are both turmeric and cinnamon. Combined, they’re both delicious and intensely nourishing.

To make this recipe, you’ll need:

Ingredients

1 c. oat milk**
½ c. tart cherry juice
1 tbsp. raw honey
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
3-5 drops almond extract (optional)
Pinch turmeric
Pinch cinnamon

Tools

Frosted glass
Milk frother or blender

Method

Place your drinking glass in the freezer before you start mixing. This will help keep your beverage icy cold while you enjoy it.
Add all ingredients to a blender or mixing bowl. Turn on the blender or use the electric milk frother to mix all ingredients thoroughly. It should be a frothy, pink mixture when it’s done.
Pour your moon milk into the frosted glass, and enjoy it slowly while engaging in the following meditation.

**You can use any milk you like to tailor this to your tastes or dietary needs.

Cherry Moon Milk Meditation

This is a fantastic meditation to do before you start getting ready for bed. I find it helps to reset my inner and outer energies, balancing them to help me get better, deeper sleep for longer.

You can also use this meditation after a stressful day to reset your energy and help you relax.

For the meditation, simply:

Find a quiet, comfortable place where you’re unlikely to be disturbed.
Breathe in for four heartbeats, then out again for four. As you breathe, consciously relax your jaw, shoulders, and any other areas of tension in your body.
Sip your moon milk, and savor all the flavors. Focus on the coolness of the liquid and the feel of the glass in your hand.
Continue to breathe deeply and enjoy your drink. With each sip, picture a pink light growing inside of you, beginning in your stomach and radiating gently outward.
Picture the pink light encompassing more and more of your body as you breathe and sip. By the time you’ve finished the moon milk, you should be picturing your entire body encompassed in gentle pink light.
Sit and bask in the peacefulness of the light for a few moments. Feel the nourishment you just consumed enriching your body.

Allow yourself to feel gratitude for the peace of this moment.

Download our FREE ebook, Sleep Better Tonight.

Moon Practices Recipes Meditation Moon Practices Collection

About the Author

Megan Shoop-Volz is a historian and spinner of stories with a BA in English literature. Her analytical mind and insatiable curiosity have made her a lifelong scholar of the mysterious, paranormal, and arcane. She is the...

Click for more from this author.