From major life changes to trivial everyday concerns, the road to increased anxiety and overwhelming stress is a slippery slope. Natural remedies are a great way to work through mental and physical tension. The herbs mentioned below are great for stress and anxiety relief and will help you become calmer, more focused, and overall healthier.
1. Ashwagandha (Withania somniafera)
Ashwagandha is a popular Indian herb known for its stimulating and relaxing properties. It helps combat fatigue, stress, anxiety, and depression. Ashwagandha also boosts energy, improves stamina, and enhances sexual performance. This healing herb also nourishes the brain, improving memory, concentration, clarity, and alertness. It can be added to your favorite blend with spices like ginger and cinnamon for additional calming effects.
2. Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis)
Chamomile is gentle but powerful and suitable for pregnant women, children, and infants. You can use it over a long period to treat a variety of complaints, including gastrointestinal issues, infections, colic, stress, and insomnia. A cup of chamomile improves digestion, helps you unwind before bed, and increases the chance of a good night’s sleep. Blend chamomile with other soothing herbs and create your personal blend, or try chamomile essential oil.
3. Kava Kava (Piper methysticum)
Kava is a tropical plant that contains an array of compounds with many beneficial properties. It energizes and eases your body from stress. It also enhances mental function, making you more focused, alert, and ready to tackle complex tasks. Kava relieves stress and works as a muscle relaxant and analgesic. Studies have also shown that it can improve the symptoms of many different types of anxiety, including menopausal and perimenopausal anxiety, as well as generalized anxiety disorder.
4. Lavender (Lavandula officinalis, L. angustifolia)
People have used lavender for ages to calm, relax, elevate, and strengthen body and mind. It has antiseptic, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. As a nervine herb, lavender can relieve stress, anxiety, mild depressive symptoms, headaches and migraines, and insomnia. It also improves mood and enhances your general sense of well-being. Lavender is versatile with many applications- tea, salves, baths, room or body spray, and aromatherapy massage with lavender essential oil are only a few options.
5. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
Passionflower is another soothing herb suitable for anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. It has a high alkaloid content that combats various nervous system disorders, easing tension, nervousness, and other stress-related symptoms like hypertension. Passionflower has analgesic and antispasmodic properties that can help with stomach complaints, migraines, and pains caused by nervousness.
6. St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)
St. John’s wort is an herbal remedy used since antiquity. People have frequently chosen it to treat cases of neuralgia, neurosis, and depression in traditional European medicine. Its popularity also grew in modern times, and St. John’s wort is often dubbed the “happy herb”. Its antidepressant properties work best in tandem with other holistic treatments. Mix it with other herbs on this list, such as passionflower. This herb is useful for mild to medium depression, but it can also help with insomnia, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and anxiety.
7. Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)
Stinging nettle is a highly nutritious, tonic herb. Its vitamin and mineral content includes vitamins A, C, D, and K, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. This powerful healer herb is ideal for particularly stressful times when you feel worn out and overwhelmed. It promotes relaxation and combats hypertension. Stinging nettle can also help you detox and cleanse thanks to its alternative and mild diuretic properties. Drying, cooking, or blending the herb will neutralize its sting, so you can use it in teas, tinctures, or soups.