How to Make a Sedative Herbal Tea

Many people are making the shift to investigate and use alternative medical treatment rather than visit their local doctor and pay the exorbitant prices for treatments that only marginally work. This generation has made Prozac and Valium use like popping gumballs at the first sign of anxiety. Here is a natural tea made with herbs that have sedative effects and tend to bring a feeling of calm in their wake.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Boiling water
• Sedative herb
• Aromatic herb
• Demulcent herb

1. Select the herbs that you want to use for your tea. Part of this selection will have to do with the effect of the herb and part will depend on your personal taste. The herbs that have a calming, tranquilizing effect and work to combat nervousness are: bugleweed, catnip, chamomile, feverfew, hops, mullien, passion flower, peppermint, skullcap, valerian and verhena. These are the major constituents of the tea that you will make.

2. Choose the herb that you want to use as a flavoring to the tea. The herbs that work well for this are: allspice, anise, caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger, lemon peel, orange peel and vanilla bean. Whichever one or more of these that you choose will be a personal taste.

3. Decide on the soothing component of the tea. These herbs have soothing qualities that prevent stomach and intestinal upset. The herbs that are used for this are: arrowroot, borage, coltsfoot, licorice root, comfrey root, marshmallow leaves and root, oatmeal, sassafras pith, slippery elm bark and Solomon's seal root. The choice of this may require a bit of trial and error to find which work the best for you.

4. Mix the herbs that you have chosen in proportions of 4 parts herb, 1 part flavoring and 1 part soothing component. If you have chosen more than one herb in any of the 3 categories then the total of all the herbs should be 1 tsp. This amount will be sufficient to make one cup of tea.

5. Place 1 tsp. of the mixture in the bottom of a cup and add boiling water. Allow the herbs to steep for about 3 minutes and then strain out the herbs and enjoy your cup of tea.

6. Drink 1 to 3 cups of tea per day in half-cup doses. For best results, this effect will grow with time.

Tips & Warnings

• To maintain freshness store the herb mixture in an air tight container and to keep tea effective and fresh don't brew more than a cup or two at a time.
• If you want to try a tea with a bit more strength, you can boil the herbs in a covered pot for 3 to 4 minutes and then strain the herbs out before drinking. This type of preparation is called a "decoction."

Resources

• Treatment for stress
• Treatment for stress and anxiety with passion flower

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