lavender - who could be without lavender, in some form or another. I generally like lavender flowers added in small amounts to tea, for a fragrant relaxant. It's also really good for releasing stuck liver chi, and is just all around lovely.
lemon balm - such a nice gentle nervine, i use lemon balm in soooo many blends, because it tastes good, and feels good to the soul. The fresh plant tincture is an amazing mood lifter, and helpful for depression.
licorice - another one of those multipurpose herbs, for the digestive system, the respiratory system, the endocrine system and more. This is one of the better adrenal allies, along with nettles. Antiinflammatory, sweet, demulcent, a balancer for many formulas.
linden -this is my new favorite demulcent tea. Linden not only is a great slime producer, but is soooo sweet and tastey, and a beautiful relaxing nervine with mild diaphoretic properties.
lobelia- ok, this is my strongest anti spasmodic, and i've used it when NOTHING else has worked, and it never fails. Respiratory spasms, coughs, asthma, allergies. gastrointestinal spasms and griping. Menstrual cramps. General nervous system freak outs. STRONG relaxant. Low doses though, as too much makes some people nauseas. I usually use the tincture in drop doses, as the tea tastes pretty awful and most can't gag down a sip or two of it. plus I like to have it on hand easy for emergency situations.
milky oats - the nourishing nervine tonic supreme. It nourishes, relaxes, tonifies the entire nervous system. Especially useful for the burned out types, who've crashed. But I think just about anyone can use oats. ALso very useful for people dealing with addictive substance withdrawl. I've used it successfully for nicotine withdrawl with clients, it seems to help calm the emtional attacks that come with withdrawl.
mint - it tastes good! Makes everything taste better... carminative diaphoretic and good for kids, adults and elders.
monarda- this is one of my favorite anti infective herbs, and stimulating diaphoretics. Usually in formulas with elder and yarrow, but also useful alone if you can handle the hot taste. RICH rich in volatile oils like thymol, it is excellent for respiratory stuff, UTI's, and as a gut carminative. It is also considered a nervine, and I'm still experimenting with the nervine properties. Tea, tincture, oil...I fell in love with this plant the first time I met it in a dry arroyo in the mountains of southern arizona. Lucky me, it grows all over the rocky mountains too.
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