[Nat]

Notes from listening to Herbs for Life w/ Amanda at Lion's Tooth Herbals


For Depression and Anxiety

The first thing she recommends is to listen to / acknowledge / experience your emotions and give them the time and space they need and to let them guide you. *She recommends taking a moment to really feel the emotion and let it sit and be and just witness it - and this will make it easier to accept it and let it go. *If you are still having negative emotions, it may be an indication that something needs to shift in your life.

She also mentions breath is important - if you aren't breathing - if you hold your breath or breathe shallowly - make a conscious effort to take 5 deep and slow breaths. *This will cause your body to relax more.

Journaling also helps - just purge everything you can - everything that's bothering you. *She recommends reviewing these on the full moon and consciously releasing them.

Also she says it's good to imagine leaving the gunk of your day outside when you walk in the door of your home. Sometimes people leave a pot or other container outside their door and mentally put the bad stuff in it before walking in the door.

Herbs

Dill - Helps with erratic compulsive thinking that can turn into thoughtlessness, argumentative, rigid or spiteful behavior. Brings focus to attention and thoughts, calms a person's mind and helps them to digest the issues they are dealing with. Dill can be taken as an essence or carried around and smelled.

Teas or extracts/tinctures: Teas are gentler, you can drink them all day long and tinctures are more abrupt and immediate. She recommends teas when possible. She says these can all be blended together.

Nettle - one of the most powerful nervous system herbs available - feeds and serves the entire nervous system.

Lemon balm - calms, warms, settles you down. Also a helpful anti-viral.

Oats - oat straw or oat tops - great for nervous system - soothes, supports, lifts, regenerates nervous system

Rose - good for emotional imbalance, depression and anxiety - makes you feel loved, soothing, healing. she recommends rose glycerite which is rose extract in vegetable glycerine and a little alcohol.

Chamomile - don't steep too long or it will get bitter - great when you just can't stop yourself from whining, helps you let go, look for things to appreciate, give yourself a break. *

Basil - especially holy basil - adaptogenic herb, powerful, knows what your body needs, very warming and soothing to the body, brings gentleness to the body, sooths, regenerates - similar to nettle and oat straw but super-potent for feeding your adrenals, liver, kidneys, hair, skin and nails.

Lavender, Rose and Lemonbalm tea - lavender is soothing, relaxing, great for anxiety. rose makes you feel loved. lemonbalm calms and warms you. *the combo helps make you feel better.

Mimosa bark (not tea - just extract) - funny taste but it helps with depression - feeds your soul, feeds your heart, gives you a boost, elevates and shifts thought patterns, helps release stuff that doesn't serve you. *works well in combo with rose and/or lemonbalm

Flower Essences -

Agrimony - great for the kinds of people who are like, "no i'm fine, everything's great" while inside they are not happy. basically, the stuffers, people who hide behind a happy face.

Rescue Remedy from Bach is good for anybody who just needs to regroup and get their feet back into the earth and just breathe.

Larch is good when you're feeling really down and out about yourself, low self-esteem, boosts confidence

Rock Rose is great for fear, just deep-seated fear even if you don't know where it's coming from but you need to break free of it.

Foxglove - getting back to childlike enthusiasm of enjoying life, just being excited

Star of Bethlehem - good for dealing with shock or trauma