Relax Baby Be Cool

I have had an extraordinary amount of stress in my life this past six months (non-bloggable issues, relating to the serious health issues of several close family members), and I have become "that woman " who hangs out in the Health and Beauty aisle of the natural food store for 45 minutes at a stretch, looking at each and every "stress relief" item and spraying myself with the expensive rose hydrosol Testers. Falling and remaining asleep is the biggest challenge (for me and probably most people) when stress is at a max, and so I have been experimenting with all the nervine tinctures out there. Some work a little, some not at all, and then there is the Holy Grail, pictured here, which I bought at our local Briar Patch Co-op.

For whatever reason, the alcohol free one (made with glycerine) works for me and for Chris, while the alcohol based one doesn't seem to do much. 

This is the store brand, probably made by a large herbal company (not by the Co-op itself). The ingredient list is as follows:

Valerian root, hops, kava kava root, passionflower, chamomile, lobelia, pulsatilla (in glycerine)

If you are not local, you might be able to find this at a Whole Foods (I got one in Sacramento but couldn't find it in the Bay Area):

I liked this as much as the Relax tincture. It is made by Gaia, and here are the ingredients:

American skullcap, bladderwrack, chamomile, dulse, hawthorne berry, leaf, and flower, hops, kava kava, kelp, mugwort, passionflower, peppermint leaf and e.o., syrup of apricot fruits, wild oats (in alcohol)

Remember that everyone's body, and everyone's nerves, are different- what works for me might not work for you. And, in my experience, any herbs that have a strong effect end up being less effective if you do them all the time.  

*there are some warnings on the bottle about use of kava kava- it's not for people with certain medical conditions, and in my opinion, any herb that is so strong should not be used continually. Please read the cautions when purchasing it, and remember that herbs are drugs, too!*

Here's to chilling out!

 

Comments

[Joanne]

I'm so bummed that kava kava is banned here in the UK :(

[hollie]

ohhh i'm so glad you found some measure of relief with this magic juice! i wanna buy some for my mom, she has trouble sleeping. hang in there my sweet

[Miss M]

I love Gaia herbs, I have used the Valerian Poppy Supreme blend, i'll have to try serenity as well.
Miss M

[Heather]

Hi ...Valerian is a staple I keep in my home kava as well but used very sparingly....I also take milk thistle along with it for liver support. Have you ever heard of Thought Field Therapy tapping? You can look it up on you tube this has made a huge difference for me with stress check it out ....worth trying and it is free? I do hope you are feeling better soon Love Heather

[icey]

that one from the briar path is actually made by a private-label company called Vitality Works. They makes the private-label tinctures for almost ever natural food store on the west coast! So you could go to any natural food store that has their own private label, and if it says RELAX alcohol free, it will be the exact same thing ; )

[Sasha]

thanks so much! that is awesome to know! (-: