How to Make Lavender Iced Tea to Get Rid of Headaches and Anxiety

by The Hearty Soul

What do you do when you’re feeling anxious or stressed? When the heat comes with headaches? What about stepping back, whisking yourself away, and brewing yourself a heartening cup of a tea? That’s the method I’ve begun and it’s been working so well.

Not only does it give me a quick and needed break, the contents in the teas themselves affect our bodies to help bring it healing and relief. The act of creating something good for ourselves gives us a feeling of being taken care of and loved, even if we only recognize it on a subconscious level. Teas are made from herbs, so mixing the goodness of these herbs from nature into the purity of water, and then sliding it into our bodies works as an act of connection with nature. No wonder teas have been so popular throughout time and amongst different cultures!

La La La … Lavender

Today I’ll be sharing a way to make tea from lavender. Lavender, especially in the form of lavender essential oil, is becoming a part of many people’s self-care rituals. Some people like dripping a few drops of it (mixed with a carrier oil) onto their pillow cases before sleeping to bring restful sleep. Some like to drop a drop or two into the tub while running a bath or shower to spread its scent into the air and onto themselves. Lavender tea can help relieve anxiety and heal headaches, so it’s no wonder we would want to add it to our treasure box of self-care.
The name of lavender itself reveals to us it’s magic. Lavender sounds similar to the french verb “laver” which means “to wash”. In fact, in latin, the name of lavender is “lavere” which also means “to wash”. This shows that even those before us knew of the real power of lavender. Lavender, “to wash” away anxiety and headaches. As the name itself shows us, it’s just that simple.

Where Does This Potent Magic Arise From?

The scent of lavender has a very calming effect. A popular choice for making perfumes, this scent is a real favorite. This scent helps the body release its anxiety and relax.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the smell of lavender decreases heart rate and blood pressure. This is especially helpful when we are experiencing anxiety, as “episodes of anxiety can cause dramatic temporary spikes in blood pressure.” Lavender is also good at improving the circulation of blood in our bodies, which in turn helps us feel more ready to handle our tasks and challenges.

Close one of your hands into a tight fist and keep it like that….can you feel the tension and discomfort, perhaps even pain building up? A lot of times in daily life, our bodies become very tight and stiff without us even realizing. That can cause discomfort and pain! With the relaxing effects of lavender scent, our muscles can relax too, which helps relieve pain and discomfort.

Lavender tea can help us feel more energized as well; one study revealed that people who smelled lavender before going to bed had better sleep and woke up feeling more energized!

Many health practitioners and people swear by the ability of lavender aroma to reduce headaches. The scent helps relieve inflamed blood vessels that can be causing a headache. They also calm the nerves, having a holistic healing effect.

Asides from these benefits, lavender has other benefits that we can love as well. Lavender tea can help when we are facing cold and flu, and other respiratory problems including asthma and bronchitis. It also helps with urinary infections and the balancing of hormones. Lavender tea also helps us look more radiant and beautiful, as it helps relax us and energize us!

Iced Lavender Tea

In the winter time, we would want to brew it warm for a hearty drink, but what about the summer? Luckily, the iced version tastes good too. But how do we make it just right? As a surprise, we will be including green tea leaves as well!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of water
• 3/4th teaspoon of dried lavender(or 1 ½ teaspoons of fresh lavender blossoms)
• 4 organic green tea bags ( I like using matcha green tea)
• Organic lavender sprigs

Instructions:

1. We want to take a deep breath and be mindful with our experience of making tea. This will make it a more relaxing and grounding experience.
2. Boil the water in a saucepan.
3. Remove from heat and let sit for 4 – 5 minutes.
4. Add in the tea bags and lavender (not the sprigs yet)
5. Let it steep for 5 minutes.
6. Strain into a heatproof bowl or container
7. Pour into glasses with ice in them, and garnish with the lavender sprigs if desired.
8. Enjoy!

We want to be careful about consuming lavender tea if we are taking certain medicines such as chloral hydrate, barbiturates and CNS depressants (sedatives). The lavender can interact with these medicines, affecting their impact. We want to make sure lavender tea is a good choice to have with any medicines we may be taking. If we are allergic to it, we want to find a different tea. As with other things, it’s best to consume in moderation.

The process of making tea, the experience of drinking it, and the tea itself can provide a lot of healing. The video below shows how in traditional Japanese culture, tea making is a sacred act, as is drinking it.

When facing anxiety or headaches or any other problems, incorporating such helpful acts of self-care can serve us and our journey. Why not add some la la lavender into our lives, and cherish its positive effects?

Article sources:
http://pcosdiva.com/2013/10/matcha-tea-for-me/
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/iced-lavender-green-tea
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure…
http://www.livestrong.com/article/252384-what-are-the-benefits-of-lavender-tea/
https://sleepfoundation.org/bedroom/smell.php
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/lavender
http://www.naturalnews.com/028842_lavender_migraines.html
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/health

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