Sedative and relaxing herbs

[Guest reville]

I went to my cupboard last night after work to fetch a relaxing drink.. and there was none....

coffee, tea, chocolate,yerba mate,ginseng ephedra etc

i settled for some fresh spearmint tea with honey and lemon.

Can anyone suggest something i could plant in the garden that i can either pluck and brew or have dried.

and if anyone has seeds or a piece to spare id be very appreciative.

heres the list so far - im sure there are many more.

Chamomile

Passionflower

Valerian

[Andrew]

Hops is another one,bitter but it works

[Happy Cadaver]

Valerian tea is awesome, tastes great. Not sure on dose, but is a great relaxer. with honey. mmm....

hops in your pillow helps u sleep.

[Torsten]

Originally posted by darcy:

Valerian tea is awesome, tastes great.

...and smells like shit (literally).

Passiflora and hops are both excellent too. While there are many calming teas like camomille, damiana and lactuca, the above three are the only common sedative teas.

[minotaur]

Skullcap is also supposed to make a relaxing/sedating tea, though I've never tried it myself.

I totally agree about the smell of valerian - even the tablets don't smell so good.

[Guest mandragora]

l

Edited April 17, 2007 by mandragora

[Happy Cadaver]

Originally posted by minotaur:

I totally agree about the smell of valerian - even the tablets don't smell so good.

Maybe i'm a freak then, i really like the smell of valerian root, really spicy with a touch of vinegar. Home grown is always the best, probably valerian tablets smell like shit, most tablets do.

cannabis indica is pretty relaxing through a water pipe, or so i have heard, not sure about a drink though

[Torsten]

Skullcap is good yes.

Originally posted by mandragora:

Has anyone more experience with damiana? Should be a good aphrodisiaca?

Damiana contains an essential oil which is probably responsible for the mild relaxing effect. It also flushes the kidneys and acts as a diuretic. This mild stimulation of the urinary tract together with the mild relaxation of the mind and body can have a sexual effect. Essential oils diminish rapidly with age, so the better the herb smells the stronger it will be.

[Fractalhead]

I'm a chamomile person myself. I reckon it smells nice, tastes nice, and boy... does it work. After using the fresh flowers of our backyard plant, I can hardly go back to that dried up crap (unless I'm desperate) I find that if i'm stressed or anxious, i only need to throw about 6-10 freshly picked chamomile flowers in a plunger of boiled water for about 10 minutes and 1, 2, 3... ahhhhhhhh reeeeeeelaxation plus. Often it makes me giggle heaps like other herbs. Does anyone know if the active ingredients of chamomile are terpenoids?

hmmm, i wonder how much chamomile you'd need to overdose. Sometimes when we have heaps we find it disturbs our sleep (almost stimulating).

Mmmmm I thoroughly recommend the Chamamellow (only the fresh stuff of course)

fractal

[theobromos]

Basil, marjoram, oregano, tarragon, limeflower (Tilia not Citrus), orangeflower and roses are all effective sedatives and taste delightful.

Limeflower is particularly effective at calming caffeine jitters, which may be why the French like it so much.

[waterdragon]

papaver tea, some say works just fine. pretty sure it's illegal tho so just forget i mentioned it.

[This message has been edited by waterdragon (edited 20 August 2001).]

[psycho0]

like papaver tea i reckon this would be illegal

but sometimes when needing to relax in my dreams i make a tea from poppy seed bought

from the local supermarket

works fine

[MrBumpy]

psychoo : in your dreams, how many poppy seeds do you use?

Are there also Dwarves there taking Hawian baby woodrose seeds for scientific purposes?

-bumpy

[psycho0]

bumpy, in these dreams i would purchase 4

packets of 100g poppy seeds equaling 400g

i would then boil these in a saucepan of water and a bit of citric acid(or lemon juice) for about 10mins(boiling for longer may extract more 'goodies')

then strain and simmer down to about half the quantity(u could probaly simmer down to 1 or 2 cups worth) as it isn't too pleasant tasting

then cool and drink

hhalf will give noticeable effects

also don't know how safe it is but in one dream i took 300mg moclobemide before drinkin half the tea with very strong relaxing and euphoric effects also lasted more than the normal 7 hours

awhile back some dwarves did experiment with HBWR seeds

crushed 6-8 seeds then soaked in a bit of hard liquorr for 5 hours then drank liquor and ate seeds

didn't work tho

they're currently trying to germinate the rest of their seeds as they heard fresh seeds work best

psycho0

[psycho0]

i've heard that nutmeg is also very relaxing in a stoned kinda way

a few elves i know have some fresh whole nutmegs they plan to grind up and consume

its meant to take like 5-7 hours to kick in but then it works for about 20hours

i'll post their results

[theobromos]

Nutmeg experiments are usually regretted. Sedative they may be, but not relaxing. Delirium, confusion and terror seem to be common effects. There is no known antidote when you land in hospital. Deaths are uncommon. The oil is a lot safer.

Small amounts of nutmeg are wonderful in a rice pudding.

[Zu]

Originally posted by theobromos:

The oil is a lot safer.

External application?

[spiraleyes]

what is hops,where to get it,how to prepare it?

thanks

[psycho0]

hops is an herb in the cannabinacea

family

it's used in brewing beer(for flavour

i think)

that's about all i know tho

[This message has been edited by psycho0 (edited 24 August 2001).]

[Brett]

no one has said lemon balm yet.