It’s all about Reconnecting with Your Natural Rhythms. Restless nights, tension headaches, racing heart, distracted thoughts, waking up groggy, all-day fatigue … do any of these issues sound familiar?
Unfortunately, high stress and poor sleep are common among those living modern lifestyles, affecting people of all ages. Many factors can influence these health issues, including:
- fast paced lifestyles
- age & hormones
- nutritional gaps and deficiencies
- reliance on stimulants (coffee etc.)
- chronic inflammation
- increased digital/screen presence
- feelings of isolation and lack of purpose
The truth is, many of us have become disconnected from the natural rhythms that guide our body through day and night, that are foundational to our homeostasis (balanced bodily systems). This disconnect can have significant impacts on our stress levels and ability to get a good night’s sleep!
Natural Rhythms
Your body naturally adheres to a natural circadian rhythm, meaning certain hormones and brain chemicals follow a 24-hour schedule that resets each day. A healthy wake/sleep cycle is influenced by two major hormones: cortisol and melatonin.
Cortisol is highest in the morning making us feel alert and energized, and falls naturally throughout the day, allowing the body and mind to prepare for sleep.
Conversely, melatonin regulates our sleep-wake cycle with levels that rise in the evening, peak in the middle of the night and fall as morning approaches.
While cortisol is an essential hormone, excessive production can impact our well-being. Lack of sleep and chronic stress can disrupt normal cortisol patterns which, in turn affects our melatonin pattern, and the levels become imbalanced, or even inverted!
This disruption of natural rhythms, creates a vicious cycle that can leave you feeling overwhelmed, wired, tired, and strung out.
Reset with Plant Medicine
Lifestyle habits like regular exercise and healthy nutrition are essential to nurturing our daily rhythms, in addition to certain herbs, that have the ability to influence the natural rhythms of hormones and brain chemicals to improve your sleep and help you better manage your stress levels.
Adaptogens for Stress Management
We all experience stress to different degrees daily. While you may not be able to simply take stress away, you can help to support the body in being more resilient to it.
The key word is resilience – and this is where adaptogens can help. Adaptogens are specific plant medicines that have been used for centuries in herbal healing traditions across the globe for helping the body to resist stressors of all kinds.
Adaptogens can help support people experiencing varying degrees of stress and are unique in that they help bring the body into balance when experiencing mental, physical or any external stressor that influences physiological functioning.
Ashwagandha is a powerful adaptogenic herb that has been used for thousands of years to strengthen the body’s vitality and fortify its resiliency. Our Certified Organic Ashwagandha tincture and Ashwagandha capsules offer two formats of this traditional stress-relieving herb made with the highest quality standards.
Our Strest® formula contains not only ashwagandha, but five other revered adaptogenic and stress-relieving herbs, including holy basil, rhodiola, and Siberian ginseng that work in synergy to reduce anxiety, alleviate fatigue, and normalize the stress response.
Strest or Ashwagandha?
Strest®, a multi-herb formula, is generally more suitable for those experiencing high stress and anxiety symptoms and are looking for a more energizing effect.
On the other hand, Ashwagandha, a single adaptogenic herb can be a more appropriate solution for those looking for a more calming effect, with sensitivities, or for whom certain herbal ingredients are contraindicated.
Natural Sedatives for Restorative Sleep
Many people need help getting to sleep and staying asleep. Here, it’s key to aim to support a healthy “sleep architecture” – specific nightly sleep patterns essential for the body to rest and repair.
Calmative and sedative herbs can help to re-establish and support these natural phases of sleep, by encouraging relaxation of the body and mind. The powerful synergy of six sleep-inducing herbs in Valericalm® offers a holistic sleep-supportive tonic without addictive qualities or side effects like sluggishness that can carry over into the following day.
The unique, natural, calming effects from each traditional herb in Valericalm® complement each other for a holistic sleep-supportive tonic that effectively addresses many factors that compromise quality sleep in today’s world
This year, look to better days – and nights – ahead with natural remedies for managing your stress and improving your sleep quality. Our unique plant medicines support your body around the clock, for a holistic approach that sets the stage for success in all your wellness endeavors.
Here’s to a restorative 2022!
