If plant medicine and tinctures are a new part of your life, it can feel really overwhelming trying to choose which herb or combination of herbs are best for you. What works for one person does not always work for another, and it might feel daunting to think of investing financially in an herbal protocol that might not reverberate with you. So what is the best way to choose a tincture?
First, it’s important to understand what you are addressing in your body. If it’s anxiety, for example, is it causing anxiety attacks or is it causing loss of sleep or is it causing your stomach to ache and be in knots? Each of these manifestations call for a different plant ally. For anxiety attacks, we’d lean towards skullcap and for loss of sleep we would suggest valerian, whereas digestive upset would point us towards a plant like lemon balm or chamomile. In this sense, it’s important to really connect with your body and mind and ask yourself what you are experiencing so that you can get closer to the root of the issue.
The next consideration is whether you need just one plant or if a combination, or formula, is best suited. If you’re brand new to herbal medicine or have a lot of allergies or sensitivities, it can be best to introduce plants into your body one at a time so that you can sit with how you experience that plant working on you. If a formula is calling to you, lean back into your understanding of what your body is telling you and check each herb in the formula to make sure that it is well suited to what you need. For example, if you experience anxiety that gives you racing thoughts and a nervous tension throughout your body - including, say, your stomach - a combination of skullcap, passionflower, and lemon balm might work well.
And if you are able to connect with the plant directly, we always find this to be a lovely and priceless way to understand the power and magic of the medicine that it holds. Sit among a patch of lemon balm and feel your spirit lifted? Lemon balm tincture is for you! Find peace among the flowers of the passionflower vine and feel your thoughts slow to the pace of a thick bumblebee? You might want to give passionflower tincture a try!
Ultimately, it’s about listening to the cues your body, mind, and spirit are giving off and trusting that you know yourself intimately enough to find relief. What’s in the bottle should feel more like empowerment and less like mystery.
