Nervine herbs help the nervous system. There are two types of nervines; stimulating and sedative. Stimulating nervines are what we most commonly use and know of. Stimulating nervines are those such as coffee, cayenne, garlic… and they stimulate lax or stagnant tissues via the nervous system. Relaxing nervines are what we will focus on. Relaxing nervine herbs relax constricted tissues via the nervous system. Depending on how tense your mind and body are, you can take these teas throughout the day and not just before bed…
Relaxing Nervine Herbs fall under the following categories:
Mood Elevator (Anti-Depressant)
Hypnotic (relax mind/ induce sleep)
Anti-Spasmodic (Relaxes muscle spasms)
Nervine Tonic (strengthen, nourish, restore)
Common Relaxing Nervine Herbs:
Chamomile
California Poppy
Hops
St. John’s Wort
Wild Lettuce
Lavender
Linden
Passionflower
Skullcap
Kava kava
Cramp Bark
Keep Calm, Tea's On
All of the following teas are made for the intentions of helping reduce stress and/or helping get a good night’s rest. It is so often we find in the American culture, that people are stressed. In return, our sleeping patterns have worsened and so had our diet. I like to have a bedtime routine to help prepare my body for sleep (especially after a long, stressful day). Part of that routine is drinking a cup of tea between 1 hour and 30 minutes before bed. Perhaps one of these tea formulas resonate with your body and will help get you to a physically and emotionally relaxed state.
There's a whole assortment of tea formulas that can be used to relax the body. Each one of us react to plants in different ways (that's to be said about most everything I suppose). But I encourage people to try one herb at a time to experience the effect it has on their body. For instance, catnip works really well as calming, nervine for me. However, it keeps one of my friend's on edge and, in fact, gives her more energy when her adrenals are already shocked. I find when it comes to settling the mind and the body, people resonate with different herbs.
I'll list some tea suggestions for calming the mind and body. Try different combinations and see what works best for you.
Minty Nervine Tea
4 parts Chamomile
4 parts Peppermint
½ part Hops
½ part Valerian
1 part Passionflower
2 parts Rose petal OR hips
½ part Lavender
3 parts Spearmint
Adrenal Support Tea
1 part Licorice Root
1 part Valerian Root
1 part Burdock Root
¼ part Cinnamon
¼ part Ginger
&/OR ¼ part Spearmint
Anti-Anxiety
2 parts St. John’s Wort
1 part Oatstraw
1 part Lemon Balm
1 part Chamomile
1 part Valerian
Simply Calming Tea
1 part Chamomile flowers
½ part Skullcap leaves
½ part Oatstraw
½ part Lemon Balm leaves
½ part Burdock root
Sleepy Time Tea
1 part Chamomile
½ part Lavender
½ part Vervain
¼ part Hops
½ part Motherwort
½ part Skullcap
¼ part Red Clover
½ part Linden
½ part Passionflower
Calming Tea
1 part of all of the following herbs:
Linden
Hawthorn
Chamomile
Catnip
Lemon Balm
1/8 part Stevia
Bedtime Brew
1/3 part Valerian Root
1/5 part Linden
1/5 part Kava Kava
1/5 part Chamomile
1/10 part Catnip
Peaceful Feeling
2 parts Agrimony
3 parts Chamomile
1 part Passionflower
2 parts Peppermint
1 part Skullcap
½ part Spearmint
½ part Wood Betony
How to prepare such teas?
In my experience, teas are how most people first become acquainted with “taking” herbs. It is still common to hear of people drinking a tea bag of chamomile or “sleepy time” tea when they need to rest and restore their body. Teas are an easy to understand and are a simple way to prepare herbs.
Herbal teas are made by steeping dried herbs in boiled water for AT LEAST 20 minutes, straining and drinking. It is important to use dried herbs instead of fresh herbs. The drying process breaks down cell walls thus allowing the medicinal properties to be extracted into hot water. It’s also important when making herbal teas, to add the water to the herbs and steep instead of boiling the herbs with the water. If the dried herbs were boiled with the water, then your tea will not be as medicinally potent.
And if you want even MORE medicine or healthy nutrients from your dried herbs, check out how to make a standard herbal infusion.