12 Herbs to Support Your Nervous System

Stress can take different forms: mild daily stress, ongoing stress, and short-term, extreme stress. And let’s be real: there is plenty to stress about in the world. That’s why we are so grateful that our herbal allies support us (and our nervous systems, specifically). 

 

In this article, we’ll:

• Share our favorite twelve herbs to support and calm your nervous system, starting with the milder herbs and ending with the stronger herbs

• Offer a brief overview of the benefits of each

• Suggest tips and tricks for incorporating those herbs into your diet

Before we start, a brief definition:

1. Oatstraw. Oatstraw (Avena sativa) is our go-to to keep our cool. It’s a nourishing/nutritive plant that is also a supreme nervous system tonic. It helps rebuild, soothe, and uplift the nervous system while also aiding in mental fatigue and exhaustion.

The Benefits of Oatstraw:

• Supports the endocrine system (hormones)

• Stabilizes PMS, irritability, and mood swings. 

• High in calcium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamins A, B, C, and E

• Aids in easing anxiety, depression, insomnia, restlessness, and more

Tip: Make an infusion! Place one large handful into a pot with a half gallon of clean, boiling water. Cover. Remove from heat. Let it steep on the counter for a minimum of four hours, or overnight. Then strain it, pop it in the fridge, and drink it.

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2. Tulsi. Also known as Holy Basil, Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is a magical herbal ally. Tasha drank Tulsi for the first time back in the mid/late 2000’s, and  will never forget it. She fell in love instantly. It is relaxing and energizing, calming and awakening, grounding and enlightening, inward and outward, truly it is the Both/And, plus it tastes and smells delicious. 

Tulsi has been used for 5,000 years in Ayurveda to support the body in the face of physical, mental, environmental and emotional challenges. Today, science has classified Tulsi as an adaptogen, meaning that it helps the body handle stress more easily (yes please!).

 

Benefits of Tulsi:

• Nourishes, strengthens, and rebuilds the nervous system

• Regulates and balances neurotransmitters, which are mediators of mood, creating feelings, stimulating thoughts, and triggering memories (some neurotransmitters are serotonin, dopamine, GABA, norepinephrine)

• Calms stress, eases tension, and improves heart function and circulation

• Encourages connection with our intuition (it’s wonderful for meditation)

 

Tulsi is in the mint family and there are a few different varieties that are harvested and sold. Just be sure that whichever kind you buy is green, not brown.  

Tip: Make a tea! It’s lovely to drink warm or cool and blends so well with mint or rose.

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3. Ashwagandha. The hottest herb on the market these days is ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), which is translated into “strength of a thousand horses.” It’s been used for over 2,500 years in Ayurvedic medicine. Ashwagandha, like Tulsi,  is also an adaptogen, meaning that with consistent use, it helps the body become more resilient and resistant to stress. 

Benefits of Ashwagandha:

• Nourishes, strengthens, and rebuilds the nervous system 

• Anti-anxiety (anxiolytic)

• Supports the adrenal medulla which controls your adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine) response/release

• Treats fatigue, insomnia, overwork, stress

• Helps develop healthy sleep patterns

• Modulating to both the nervous and immune systems (stimulates or relaxes depending on what the body needs)

• Anti-inflammatory

• Reduces oxidative stress

Tip: Make a hot infusion. Like Tulsi, it’s lovely to drink warm or cool.

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4. Linden Flower and Leaf. A lesser-known plant, Linden (Tilia sp.) is one we have not shared much about but is near and dear to our hearts. It is true heart medicine, tending to those with a tired heart. These beautiful trees grow in both North America and Europe. The flowers look like leaves, are fragrant, and boast a soft yellow-white color. The full moon in July is sometimes called the Linden moon in Slavic tradition.

Benefits of Linden:

• Soothes anxiety and nervous tension stemming from the heart space

• Reduces high blood pressure, thus normalizing it

• General tonic to the cardiovascular system: reduces inflammation in the blood vessels, thought to be due to its flavones, supports the prevention of arteriosclerosis 

• Physically relaxing, especially to the heart

• Anti-inflammatory

• Diuretic - helps the body rid itself of excess fluid, supports its anti-inflammatory effect as well

• Mild Hypnotic - induces deep and healing sleep

Tip: Make a hot infusion. It’s lovely to drink warm or cool and blends especially well with hawthorn and rose for a warm cup of heart-healing.

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5. Chamomile. An oldie but a goodie, chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is well known for supporting all types of anxiety and stress related disorders, especially ones that upset digestion. We use the flowers which have white petals and a yellow center. Chamomile can be used regularly, as it is gentle and mild, and is often used for children and babies as well.

Benefits of Chamomile:

• Soothes the nerves, especially when oversensitive, touchy, irritable, impatient, and intolerable

• Reduces intestinal cramping, bloating, indigestion

• Anti-inflammatory

• Eases heartburn/stomach acid, ulcers

• For children/babies, promotes restful sleep, eases teething pain, reduces colic/gas, soothes anxiety

Tip: Make a tea (steep for 5-10 minutes). Can use fresh or dried flowers. Very nice paired with catnip (for kids and adults) having trouble settling down to sleep.

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6. Lemon Balm. Sometimes referred to as Sweet Melissa, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a lovely choice for soothing stress and anxiety that presents itself in the upper GI tract or as a nervous stomach. Like Tulsi, it’s also in the mint family and is easy to grow in most gardens, or as a potted plant.

Benefits of Lemon Balm:

• Delivers blood, vitamins and minerals to the brain and helps with fogginess, confusion, inability to decide, ADHD/ADD, ability to focus 

• Soothes digestive tract

• Reduces intestinal cramping, bloating, indigestion

• Uplifting

• Aromatic - high in essential oil content

Tip: Make a hot tea, infusion, or tincture. A warm cup of infusion before a meal can aid digestion and bring more awareness to the act of eating. 

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7. Rose. Rose vibrates higher than any other flower or plant measured on the planet. The essential oil measures in at 320 MHz (as a reference point, dry herbs have a frequency from 12 to 22 MHz, and fresh herbs from 20 to 27 MHz). What we take from this is to keep doing what we have always done, inhale the intoxicating scent of rose deeply. Whether it is a fresh rose, rose infusion, rose water, whatever form of rose you have in front of you, inhale it deeply. Welcome it in, ask for its guidance, what it can teach you, how it can help you. Ask Rose to be your friend, honor it, then see what messages you receive.

Benefits of Rose:

• Cooling, soothing and calming, especially to the heart

• Reduces anxiety

• Helps regulate hormones

• Calming to the nervous system, helps balance the vagus nerve (the largest nerve in the body)

• Alkalizing

Tips: Hot tea, using the petals or buds. Rose hydrosol is also lovely to add to your water, or any other drink of your choosing.

Note: If using rose hydrosol/water please use it sparingly, and ensure that it is a pure source. A little goes a long way. We actually dilute ours by half, pouring it into a larger bottle and adding filtered water. It takes 4,000 lbs of rose petals to make 1 lb. of rose hydrosol/water! 

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8. Motherwort. The herb to mother mothers, motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) is especially helpful when stress presents itself in the heart. Tasha used it on several occasions through her second postpartum experience. 

Benefits of Motherwort:

• Calms and soothes irritated and frazzled nerves

• Lowers blood pressure

• Protects and strengthens the heart

• Eases heart palpitations and chest constriction stemming from anxiety and stress

• Supportive when anxiety can lead to depression

• Helps stabilize emotions and fortify our mental strength

Tips: Hot infusion (gentle) or tincture (stronger). NOT to be used in HIGH DOSES while pregnant, as it is an emmenagogue.

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9. Passionflower. With this herbal ally, we use all three parts: flower, leaf, and vine. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) has traditionally been used to support sleep. And yes, this is the plant that yields the delicious passionfruit, too!

Benefits of Passionflower:

• Calms and soothes the nervous system - especially for heartfelt, overworked worriers, and/or when heart palpitations and high blood pressure are present 

• Mild sedative

• Soothes physical nervousness

• Calms anxiety

Tips: Hot infusion with dried plant material (very bitter). If using fresh vine, leaf and flowers, use a good amount and cover with water in a pot, bring to a boil, then turn off and let steep 5-10 minutes. Fresh is less bitter. Can also be used as a tincture or glycerite.

Note: Use sedatives short term to manage acute problems as they actively sedate the central nervous system.

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10. California Poppy. What’s not to love about our state flower? The California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is sweet and delicate, waving in the wind with its bright orange flowers. It is related to the Opium poppy, but doesn't contain any of its strong alkaloids.

Benefits of California Poppy: 

• Calms and soothes the nervous system - helps us relax into the moment and flow rather than resist

• Light antidepressant, especially when it’s hard to accept what cannot be changed

• Sedative

• Relieves tension in body and head

Tips: Make as a hot infusion, tincture, or glycerite.

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11. Skullcap. One of the finest nervines (relaxants that soothe the nerves and calm the nervous system), skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) is particularly good when overworked and overtired. It can nourish and rebalance the brain and nervous system.

Benefits of Skullcap:

• Relaxing and restorative to the nervous system

• Sedative, supporting sleep when overstressed

• Helpful for chronic acute fear and longtime running on adrenaline

• Pain relieving

• Relieves depression

• Aids focus and concentration, helps prioritize tasks

Tips: Hot infusion (very bitter, can add honey), tincture or glycerite. Use daily in small doses over the long term.

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12. Kava Root. A nervous system relaxant, kava root (Piper methysticum) is particularly helpful for insomnia, anxiety, and depression. It’s a strong plant and is actually too strong for Tasha! She will sleep for hours after drinking kava. Once she slept for 16 hours! Yowzers!

Benefits of Kava Root:

• Deeply relaxing 

• Can both calm and lift one to a different place. 

• Anecdotally has helped people come off medication for depression and anxiety.

Tips: Make and steep a cold infusion overnight, then mix with coconut cream (or other fat) in the morning as it requires the fat to unlock its helpful compounds.

Note: NOT to be used long term or in high doses.

The nervous system does such critical work. Let’s nourish and support it with the help of these plants!