Medicine chest 5: herbs that reduce tension

I've written about the physical/emotional feedback system elsewhere, in a post I called "Got inflammation? Maybe you're angry."  You might want to go and read that post before you read this one ..

Essentially, the idea is that the effects of stressful emotional states aren't limited to the psychological, they reach into the body, too. The psychological signs of overload bypass our notice because we're just too focused elsewhere to pay attention; when that happens tension can settle into a joint or an organ or a system. It's a bit of a clusterfuck, too, because physical tension anywhere in the body can be so damn stressful!!

Relieving physical tension has the nifty side effect of helping us to think more clearly so we can get to the root of the problem, be it a physical or psychological issue (or both, it's often both). Herbal remedies really shine here because (for the most part) they're curative rather than palliative. I've never found that a steady diet of tylenol cleared anyone's mind .. lol.

Anyway, here are the allies I've found most useful for myself (and other people I've used as guinea pigs) ..



Oatstraw infusion or milky oat tincture. 

Oatstraw infusion is just loaded with ever-so-relaxing minerals like magnesium and calcium, silica which is nourishing for the nerves and a handful of B vitamins. Over the long term, drinking oatstraw infusion is an excellent habit to get into, not only because it's so helpful to relieve tension and encourage restorative sleep, it's good for the bones, too. It's tasty, like sweet water. I make a large mason jar's worth at a time - a handful of oatstraw goes into the jar, boiling water's poured over it, a tight fitting lid goes on and it sits on the counter overnight. The long steep is essential to get the minerals we're after. Don't boil it though! Mostly I drink it room temperature, but you can take it cold from the fridge or reheat it.

Milky Oat tincture has a more immediate "oh, that feels (a bit) better" effect, and it's nice to work with the two of them in tandem. Again, though, milky oat tincture works best as part of a long term approach, especially if combined with stinging nettle, for burned out adrenals and the kind of tension that has you gritting your teeth and drinking gallons of coffee just to get through an average day. jim mcdonald has a nice piece on nettles and milky oats that I've linked my readers to more than once - in case you missed it, it's here ..

Both of the above are easily found commercially, but I can and do grow enough oats for my needs in a corner of the garden just a couple of feet square.


Agrimony tincture

Speaking of gritting your teeth, if you hold your tension in your jaw like I do, you might want to move heaven and earth to get hold of some agrimony tincture. Agrimony tincture - 3 drops a few times a day - is really helpful long term and it works in the short term as well; I find it useful for tension headaches.

Agrimony is for the kind of person who remains cheerful on the surface but is frustrated underneath ("torturedly cheerful" is how Matthew Wood puts it); there's generally some power imbalance at play in a work or relationship situation and somehow, (it's almost like magic) agrimony has a way of helping us to see how to resolve the situation or (this is where the magic comes in) the other person just seems to 'come around'. I know that sounds very odd, but it's happened often enough that I can't deny it. Herbs can sometimes work in spooky ways.

Agrimony is also specific to those times that we find ourselves holding our breath to deal with our pain (physical or emotional). A clue here is if you or the person you're helping does a lot of sighing. Agrimony is valuable for all kinds of more serious difficulties like kidney troubles. I haven't had to use it for the more serious issues; our man Matthew Wood has a nicely informative article here .

Motherwort tincture

Although it's mostly written about as a woman's herb, motherwort's Latin name is "leonurus cardiaca" (ie lion heart); here the true nature of this herb become more clear. Motherwort is an herb for the heart, specifically a racing, rat-a-tat/thump/pause/RAT-A-TAT, screwed up heartbeat that comes from extreme tension (if accompanied by pain, see a doctor please); and of course a messed up hearbeat has the wonderful side effect of causing some pretty extreme anxiety, to boot (nice, eh?).

That sort of tension expressed through the heartbeat is pretty common among women during or leading up to menopause (or women of any age experiencing PMS), but it can happen to men, too. As a bitter, motherwort also acts on the liver, which is the organ that can get messed up when we can't or won't express our anger appropriately. Tension expressing itself with a racing heart and/or outbursts of anger or tears is instantly soothed by motherwort. It works on hot flashes, too.

Immediately.

As in right now.

This herb is best known as the remedy when the tension is being held in the womb, (hence "motherwort"), it will be expressed as scanty, difficult periods with cramping and lots of tears in the days leading up to the moontime. If this is the case, motherwort will relax the nerves as well as the smooth muscle that is the uterus, causing a freer flow. I'll grant, that can be inconvenient, but it's actually much healthier. This is an herb that's really helpful for girls entering womanhood, it can set them up for a lifetime of trouble free periods. Keep it in mind for your daughters, my friends!

Motherwort is first aid for tension both physically and emotionally; motherwort is a long term solution, too. Motherwort can be taken as a squirt of tincture every 15 minutes if needed (you might need a nap when used that way!) or it can be taken as a tonic to tone up the vascular system and strengthen the heart/womb, 3 times a day. It's the most versatile tincture I know and I make a batch every year.

But although I make a batch every year I can't recall the last time I needed it - that's how well it has worked for me over the years, ha! Still, I wouldn't ever want to be caught without it.


Of course it must be said .. no herbal remedies will relieve tension caused by external stress if you're somehow feeding that stress or putting your energy into the source of the stress. In fact, if you use herbal remedies (or booze or pot) to enforce a state of relaxation or god forbid, "nootropics" to prop yourself up and push yourself further than you could go without them, the burnout will only be worse in the end.

With that thought in mind, please enjoy a minute and a half with Kermit the Frog (okay, Jordan Peterson) as he shares with us the best motto I've heard yet for reducing chaos and by extension, the build up of tension in our lives. Behind that now famous meme of "clean your room" lies deeper wisdom, that we should 

                        Fix the things that announce themselves as in need of repair.

It's really only while you're doing so that herbs can be used as a support towards the end of not just coping with, but thriving under stress. After all, good stress can make us grow. It's needless stress that whittles away at our lives. Right? Right.