Holy Basil for Stress

One of the most vivid memories of my childhood is that of following my grandmother around as she went about her daily morning routine of worshipping her Holy Basil (also called Tulsi) plant. Just like every other Hindu household, we had a Tulsi plant planted into a special four-sided structure that had a built-in niche to hold a tiny earthen oil lamp, in our small stone courtyard. The plant and the holy structure were as or even more adored and regularly tended to as the children of the house.

Holy Basil is a soothing and nourishing herb from India. Legend has it that Tulsi (meaning the incomparable one) is the reincarnation of a Hindu Goddess. Even though the herb is widely known for its antibacterial, and antiviral properties, it is most known in a research backed way for its role in reducing cortisol or stress levels in the body.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to your mile long to-do list or when you are stuck in ridiculous traffic just when you have to be someplace important. Chronic or continuous stress happens when these scenarios stubbornly keep repeating themselves and may trigger mood changes, hormone imbalances, blood sugar problems and a whole lot of other symptoms that I find too stressful to even list out here.

Tulsi is a potent adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to physical and psychological stress by reducing cortisol. A 1991 study published in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology, comparing holy basil to Siberian ginseng and Asian ginseng, not only reported that that holy basil was the most effective anti-stress agent of the three, but also that it had the highest safety margin.

The best and perhaps the easiest way to incorporate the herb into your lifestyle is to drink holy basil tea. Rich in oils, holy the tea is as much a pleasure to drink for its fragrance as it is for its taste. If you suffer from a heavy-duty kind of stress, consider taking a good quality Tulsi supplement that is derived using optimal distillation techniques, with the blessing of your doctor, of course.

You could also do what my grandma did; plant holy basil, and start tending to it with devotion. In most of the northern states (of America), the herb makes a beautiful and fragrant annual. It can be grown indoors the rest of the year. Holy basil is the kind of plant that makes it easy to understand why people see the divine in nature. Catch a whiff of its scent in a gentle breeze, and you will feel your stress levels melting away and your serenity returning back to you.

Sources:
The Medicine Man: Holy Basil; Relieve Stress and Anxiety Naturally
Andrew Weil: Holy Basil to Combat Stress