Each week we are featuring a different herb, its qualities, and some stories. Personal and Universal. Holy Basil aka Tulsi- Ocimum sanctum is one of my favorite aromatic herbs and it was an instrumental plant during a time in my life when I was experiencing severe anxiety and panic attacks. It truly gave me the strength to stand in the storm or as I say, it held my hand while I spent three months in the Underworld.
Tulsi is considered an adaptogen which means it helps us to adapt to external stress or unknown stressors. In my case, I had no idea why I was experiencing this level of anxiety, there was no culprit. There are many adaptogens to choose from but Tulsi lives in the paradox, and that is where I felt I was living, and really where I like to hang out even during the best of life. It helped me to surrender to what was and when blended as a tea with rose it helped to open my heart and love myself through what I was experiencing. During that time I could not sit in meditation because I couldn't sit still, but I could dance and move energy through my body in other ways and Tulsi is a plant known to clear stagnant energy. It is at once calming and relaxing, yet brings a level of energy and resilience that was the medicine I needed at the time. It is known to help us out of the panic and fear state and that was exactly the state I was in even though there was nothing in my lived experience except the panic itself that I was afraid of.
It is a well known and researched anxiolytic for its action on the neurotransmitter GABA which calms us without sedating us, and Tulsi is considered a mood stabilizer for its action on the Hypothalamus-pituitarry-adrenal axis. Since that time I have learned that GABA is the neurotransmitter that for me personally I need to make sure I keep boosted.
In normal circumstances it is also a meditative aid and is known as the tonic of awakening. It does hold that paradox of calm energy as opposed to jittery or adrenal fueled energy. It helps us to focus and clear the mind. It also helps us to release grief and other emotions held in the lungs, and is also an immune tonic.
Tulsi is native to India yet can be cultivated in our gardens here in the United States. It has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine and is known as the plant associated with the Goddess Lakshmi and legend has it that Tulsi emerged from Lakshmi's tears. This brings an energy of abundance with it, most specifically the ability to receive abundance. And abundance can take many forms, not just financial abundance. For me it helped me feel an abundance of love, and ultimately clarity on my life purpose and sacred assignment. In India this is used as a ritual plant and leaves are burned for clearing and cleansing, as well as, an offering to Lakshmi. I love to brew a cup of Tulsi and Rose tea, as a ritual. Slow it down, breathe in the aromatics before sipping, state an intention of abundance for all beings, and sip it with gratitude.
It is also neuro-protective and helps with memory, cognition, and focus. I find it to be an excellent and more energetically feminine adaptogen than some of the other herbs in this class. PMS, peri-menopause and menopause can manifest in symptoms of high cortisol, anxiety, mood swings and brain fog and for me Tulsi is the remedy. I think my husband might agree.
One of the reasons I love it the most is its versatility and multiple methods to prepare and enjoy it. Because it is highly aromatic just the aroma of it can begin taking its action on your nervous system most especially the limbic system and Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal aka HPA axis. I absolutely adore diffusing or putting a few drops of the essential oil on a tissue and just inhaling the uplifting aroma. Inhalation is the only delivery method I use the essential oil for as it can be a skin irritant, and it is not for internal use. That is where the herb shines.
Holy basil can be made as a strong tea infusion by itself or with other herbs, my personal favorite is Rose but it is also lovely with Lemon Balm for extra calming and grounding. It can be taken as a tincture which would be the strongest preparation and was my go to during that tough time in my life. It is also a culinary herb much like Genovese Basil but with an undertone flavor of cinnamon. It makes an amazing pesto.
It was the magic of Holy Basil that allowed me to surrender, to listen to my inner wisdom, and to open up to what my true purpose is that moved me from the Underworld back into the light. And that experience was one of the biggest blessings in my life because it brought me to where I am today.
At Anna's we feature Holy Basil in several tea blends, single tincture, our Stress Away Day tincture, Sacred Temple Yoni Steam and as a bulk herb that you can make your own preparations with.
