Hello Lovies. Today we have a very special guest! Lindsay is here to share with us her wisdom of herbs. I hope that you enjoy!
Today I wish to talk about herbs and… well happiness. You know, there are so many exercises to find happiness in life, meditation, journal prompts, music, yoga and so on… but what if these things don’t help? Sometimes, we can’t help the dark feelings which crawl inside. A lack of serotonin, a lack of sunlight or even a heredity issue can be the cause. In these cases, there is a lot of chance that a simple meditation will not work.
Thanks to my migraines I am blessed with an overdose of serotonin every now and then but when my body tries to find her balance, I have trouble bouncing back. Next to that, depression is known in my family, plus I live in Belgium which means that (especially at winter times) the weather is very grey. So… I have challenges in staying happy.
Sometimes I’m not happy. And that’s perfectly fine but.. if you feel bad for no special reason and it stays like that for days or weeks, you really need to do something before you fall deeper into it.
I’ve grown up as a herbalist and experimenting with plants in my garden, making my own meds, and so on. After many years of trying stuff, I have a list of herbs which I always come back to when I don’t feel very well. And so, that’s what I want to share with you today. These herbs are very known and you can find them in an organic shop, use them as tea or – if you wish to use it in a stronger way- in herbal tincture. Both uses are fine, however, I suggest to try it as tea first (3x a day) because this is safer. If you wish to use it as a herbal tincture, be sure to ask the seller how you should use it. (Or you can ask me, see below to contact me)
Anyways, here is my top 3 list of herbs for happiness:
Lemon balm (Melissa). This is my favorite herb because it makes you simply happy. I knew people who couldn’t stop laughing, people who were singing after they used this herb. Besides that, it’s a very good taste as tea too! It feels like the dark clouds are finally moving, you worry less and feel more relieved. Pregnant woman can use this in very low doses, as tea.
Passiflora. This herbs works a little different then lemon balm. It’s not really a happy-maker directly, the most important thing about this herb is the relaxing function. However, it also creates more serotonin in your body, which is a good thing for people who feel tired all the time. On the other hand, this herb should not be used by people who have a serotonin syndrome or migraines/epilepsy which is related to that. Also pregnant women are not allowed to use this.
Linden blossom. This one is also very relaxing but in a different way than Passiflora. While Passiflora is used for people who are too tired, this herb works for those who can’t sleep at all. People with too much stress, hyperactivity, moodswings or insomnia will be helped with this herb. Tea or gemmotherapy works best. This is also one of the safest relaxing herbs you can use when you are pregnant.
To me these are the 3 most important herbs which can help against moodswings, stress or fight a depression in a soft safe way. In other words, for every moody problem, there is a herb which can help. Nature have given us enough tools to fight back in a careful way.
Have you tried these happy herbs?
Lindsay Drya is a writer, photographer and mixed media artist who journal her (night) dreams every day. Besides being a blog addict, she tries to live her life in a creative organic way in which she hope to inspire people with her art. Spirituality is essential in her life for it is her goal to live and love life unconditional.
You can find Lindsay Drya here:
Blog: http://www.dryadajournals.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LindsayVanhoveArt
What an interesting and informative post! With aromatherapy, I use the essential oils of a couple of these, but haven't tried using the herbs or teas. Thank you for this!
Thank you Gin! I haven't experimented very much with teas either so I loved this post!
I love herbs, so healing. Thank-you for this wonderful post.