Growing Herbs to Soothe EDS Mama

As an EDS Mama who struggles with anxiety, I like to find natural ways to help me unwind.  I already have a lemon balm plant in my garden and love to cut the stalks throughout the summer, hang them upside down in my basement, and once they are dry, pull the leaves off and store them in a big mason jar.  Lemon balm is known for its calming effects.  To make it into a great afternoon or evening tea, simply grab about a tablespoon of the leaves, stuff them into a tea ball and place in a mug.  Pour some boiling water over the tea ball and let it rest for about 5 minutes.  If I’m really tired, I leave the tea ball in my mug and just go and sit down with it.  After a few minutes, I just sip away and don’t bother removing the tea ball.  In other words, it does not matter how long you let the tea leaves steep.  It’s not rocket science.

Today I picked up a peppermint plant at my local home improvement store all with the purpose of drying the leaves in the same manner for making my beloved peppermint tea.  I find it really soothes my stomach after a meal and when I have a headache, I like to relax with a cup of this tea.  I’ve been purchasing organic peppermint tea at the store but I figured, why pay a premium price when I can grow it myself?

Both of these teas I mention could be chilled and made into a refreshing summertime treat.  I’m going to try that soon this summer.  On a funny note, between my EDS daughter and my allergic son, we keep our air conditioning on from about March to late fall, so a hot cup of tea along with slippers sounds good to me!

Lately I’ve weaned myself off coffee for different reasons.  I had a horrible headache for days as my body craved this stimulant to which it had become accustomed.  You ask what my go-to morning beverage is now?  I pour a single packet of stevia in a mug which is a natural sweet herb.  Then I squeeze a quarter of a lemon in a separate bowl.  I boil some water and pour it over the stevia to dissolve then I add the squeezed lemon in.  Some would argue it’s not great on my teeth because of the acid, but I figure it can’t be much worse than the acid in the coffee.  Besides, I don’t drink pop which is acidic.  In addition, lemon is very alkalizing to the body even though it is an acidic fruit.  I also purchased a rosemary plant at the store today.  I’m anxious to try cutting a small sprig of it and adding it to my morning lemon water.
 
I hope this inspires you to nurture yourself, dear one.  Nobody really takes care of moms and I know you do a lot to care for your family.  Make sure to care of you because a lot of people depend on you!  Plus, it just feels really good to take some time out for yourself.

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