New 7 Herb Formula to Clearly Calm Your Mind
Great for Meditation, to Quiet Anxieties, Feel Relaxed and Uplifted Throughout Your Day
Performance herbalism is all about using herbs to perform better in many areas of your life. Your mental performance is no different!
While many people may assume this to be greater focus, concentration, memory, and intensity, that is just one mode of mental activity. It’s great to be able to upshift (and we’ll have another tincture, Mental Edge, specifically for that in development), but you’ve also got to be able to downshift.
For activities that desire mental calm, this new tincture is designed to best support you. This might include:
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Journaling
- Certain types of work
- Anxieties and Worries
- Clear communication
And any time you just want to chill out.
Introducing the 7 Herbs in Mental Calm
Here are the seven herbs in this formula, by percentage included in the tincture.
- Gotu Kola 25%
- Lemon Balm 25%
- Lions Mane 10%
- Chrysanthemum 10%
- Longan 10%
- Skullcap 10%
- Chamomile 10%
Gotu Kola, the Herb of Meditation
Gotu Kola is well known for its memory-enhancing effects these days, but traditionally this herb was used to promote the spiritual side of life.* The yogis, gurus, and meditators of India used it (and still do) to “enhance reality”.*
According to Ayurveda, it does this by working on the Crown Chakra.* This connects us to the rest of the universe and in fact, draws energy from it and distributes it to the rest of the chakra system. It’s associated with higher forms of consciousness, joy, wisdom, and the sacred.*
Another important meditative area is the pineal gland (third eye), where Gotu Kola extract is claimed to be able to stimulate the pineal glands hormone production.*
One study showed that regular Gotu Kola extract ingestion resulted in increased calmness. They figured this out by measuring the acoustic-startle response of rats. The control group had significantly less reaction to loud audio stimuli. A important aspect of meditation is being able to get into and maintain a relaxed state without distraction.*
But rats aren’t the only ones studied. Another double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 28 healthy elderly people found in that those given Gotu Kola over the course of two months showed precipitous improvement in age-related mental faculties and especially in overall contentment with life.*
Gotu Kola is one of the principal herbs in this formula for all these amazing effects.
Lemon Balm, the Pleasant Uplifter
The other main herb used in this formula is Lemon Balm. When I went through some of my herbalism training, on one weekend in particular we focused on this plant. Honestly just smelling it in the garden was enough to generate an uplifting, feel-good mood!*
A systematic review and meta-analysis using randomized clinical trials found that Lemon Balm significantly improved depressive and anxiety symptoms as compared to placebo.* This was accomplished without serious side effects.*
Through a variety of volatile compounds, triterpenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids, Lemon Balm has a range of effects on mood, cognition, and memory.* Some pathways these occur through include stimulation of GABA-A and acetylcholine receptors, as well as acetylcholine inhibitory activity.*
Some other benefits include antioxidant, neuroprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antispasmodic activity.*
While Gotu Kola and Lemon Balm are the main pair, five other herbs are used to round out and further support this formula in its mental calming effects.
Lion’s Mane, the Mushroom of the Brain
When it comes to the brain, Lion’s Mane is the main mushroom player as far as I’m concerned. This is because of its Nerve Growth Factors, which stimulate the growth of neurons, repair damage, slow degradation and help to regulate the mood.*
Lion’s Mane is utilized in this formula to help support the rewiring of your brain and mind towards a more calm place as needed and desired.* This is a bit hypothetical that formulating with Lion’s Mane in this way will more permanently wire your neurology in a specific direction, but nonetheless, that is the aim! Personal experimentation shows it has the ability to drive things taken with it deeper into neurology.
You can read more about Lion’s Mane Mushrooms on our powdered extract page here.
Skullcap, the Relaxing Nervine
Known traditionally as a relaxing nervine, Skullcap is a potent neurological herb.* Its name comes from the fact that its blue flowers were said to resemble the helmets of medieval European soldiers. A strong dose can even give the feeling of a comforting downward pressure across your skull!*
A lot of this action seems similar to Lemon Balm, in that Skullcap, specifically the flavonoids it contains, baicalin and baicalein, act on the GABAA receptors. Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in healthy human volunteers have “demonstrated noteworthy anxiolytic effects.”
Another study found Skullcap “significantly enhanced global mood without a reduction in energy or cognition” in humans with mild anxiety as compared to placebo.
One of my teachers noted that Skullcap in a tea form was best for sleep and sedation, whereas the tincture was a bit stronger in its neurological effects.
Longan, the Dragon Eyes
Longan is a well-known Shen tonic from Chinese medicine, which roughly translates to spirit. In TCM, Shen resides in the heart along with much of the mind. A calm heart is a calm mind. (And this can be felt, for those in tune with their bodies, that anxiety is often felt in the heart.)
While many of the herbs in this formula are brain-focused, obviously important for the mental effects, this helps ground the formula into the heart, which is less obvious to many but still critically important.* Longan helps to support you from the inside out for a more radiant mind and spirit.*
Longan also has a great taste that brings a more pleasant taste to this formula. While we do not sell Longan by itself at this time, it also makes its way into the Athena Women’s Formula, as well as the Spagyric Tincture version.
Chrysanthemum, the Liver/Yang Disperser
Shen Nong’s Canon of Materia Medica says of Chrysanthemum, that it’s a “superior herb, the use of which prolongs life.”* Its cooling action is great for calming the mind.*
With its gentle action on the Liver meridian, it’s also said to disperse irritation and excessive Yang energy which can come in the form of headaches and high blood pressure.* This Liver energy can stand in the way of calm and relaxation.
Like most herbs there’s also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.*
Chrysanthemum is also used in our Heart Spagyric Formula. The Shen effects of this flower have to do with the physical heart and circulatory system, as well as the heart as the seat of the mind.
Longan and Chrysanthemum are used to help ground this tincture into your heart and body even more.
Chamomile, for Kid’s of All Ages
Chamomile, a herb renowned for its gentle, soothing qualities, has long been valued for its mental calming properties.
Its active compounds, particularly bisabolol and apigenin, work synergistically to promote relaxation and reduce stress.* Chamomile’s mild sedative effect helps in alleviating anxiety, calming the mind, and improving sleep quality.*
This makes it a popular choice for those seeking a natural way to unwind and achieve a state of mental tranquility. Its gentle action and lack of significant side effects make chamomile a safe and effective option for daily stress management and relaxation.
The Quality of the Ingredients and Processing
Each one of the ingredients is spagyrically prepared individually then mixed together for the final blend. This lengthy and detailed process, which you can read more about here, makes this tincture stronger and more embodied than your average tincture.
- The Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) is wildcrafted from India.
- The Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is organically grown in Italy.
- The Lion’s Mane mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus) are wildcrafted in Oregon, USA. They are dual extracted with alcohol and water as is best for mushrooms. This is before the spagyric calcination begins.
- The Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) is made up yellow flowers and is sourced from China.
- The Longan dried fruit (Dimocarpus longan) comes from Thailand.
- The Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) is organically grown in the USA.
- The Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) flowers are organically grown in Egypt.
Taste and Dosage
Mental Calm Spagyric Tincture is sweet with bitter undertones. It is milder in flavor than many of our other tinctures.
A starting dose is a half squirt twice per day. We encourage you to modify the dose as best supports you throughout the day.
Some people may find that just a few drops many times throughout the day is best to encourage a more consistent mental calm and relaxation regularly.
Some people may like to do just a single dose before meditation, yoga or another similar activity.
Play with it and find what works for you.
Contraindications
Dopamine is not recommended in schizophrenic patients. As this formula contains Mucuna, which contains a close pre-cursor material, this may best be avoided.
This formula is not tested in pregnant or nursing women. Lemon Balm has been found to useful in some cases of hyperthyroid and thus may not work well for people with hypothyroid.
There may be interactions with various medications including sedatives, sleeping pills, SSRIs, MAOI’s and more.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.