Mellow Out 100ml

Mellow Out is a calm tranquil cove when you feel carried away in the swell of life’s unpredictable seas. A moment to breathe deeply when you feel like all the air is gone in a rush of too big feelings. A warm enveloping cocoon in a cold and worrisome world.

Anxiety is literally the common cold of psychiatry, everyone experiences it at one time or another. Whether its mild feelings of nervousness or overwhelm or more serious feelings of panic; there is one thing that is certain - it is not very pleasant. I formulated Mellow Out to take advantage of the beautiful herbs that have a calming and restorative action on the nervous system. Herbs which cradle you in a tender embrace and whisper encouragement to your soul.

Reishi - The great herb of immortality, reishi gives a calming, lightness of spirit to all who use her medicine. An adaptogen and happiness fungi, reishi is highly antioxidant, and a beautiful and gentle liver and cognitive tonic. The most beautiful attribute of reishi is its ability to help us shine a light on the things that no longer serve us - leaving new space for new experiences and feelings.  Reishi can help folks navigate out of the anxious abyss while fortifying the aspects of ourselves that improve our resilience to the ebbs and flows of our new world.

Lemon Balm - A delightfully lemon scented member of the mint family, it has been used since ancient times to clear the mind and lift the spirits.   From my perspective, even the scent of it makes me feel more alert and calmer at the same time. This dual directional action is something that is quite prevalent in plants for whom they contain a lot of aromatic oils.  Alongside uplifting the mood and reducing tension and nervousness, lemon balm restores and feeds the nervous system, especially one ravaged by stress.   It is a benefit to those for whom the stress of these modern times and perhaps study can mean nervous palpitations, upset digestion, or frequent infections.  Lush and beautiful throughout the year here in the upper regions of the North Island of New Zealand, the lemon balm in all our blends is grown by me without the use of any chemicals – just love, (a little) attention and lots of compost!

Rose - A beautiful heart opening herb which is fragrant and beautiful. A heart chakra tonic, a herb to enhance understanding of others, to promote empathy, love and connection.  Rose can metaphorically open the heart and lift the spirit; supporting those experiencing grief and sadness and helping the heart to turn towards joy and new beginnings. As a thorny plant, rose also reminds us to open our hearts but also to maintain our boundaries.

Kava kava -  A herb with a long history of use by our Pacific friends, kava is a member of the pepper family and a cousin of kawa-kawa.  It is used predominantly to reduce anxiety and is particularly effective in this respect with many herbalists being very fond of kava.  It also has a muscle relaxant action so is helpful for folks for whom stress and anxiety result in hunched shoulders and a “pain in the neck”. In small doses it elevates mood, calms, and soothes whilst maintaining alertness. We use Kelai cultivar kava from the Kava Society in our tincture which hails from Vanuatu and is famous for its incredibly pleasant, mentally uplifting effects that manifest themselves almost instantly.

Passionflower - A cousin to the black passionfruit that we all know and love, the flowers and leaves of Passiflora incarnata have a long history as a sedative and a calmly reassuring herb.  In low doses passionflower has a soothing action which helps to quell nervousness and enhance focus whilst in larger doses passionflower can amplify the sleep message.  As a mild analgesic and muscle relaxant, passionflower can be of benefit in those who experience tension and pain in association with stress.  Passionflower is specific for folks that have circling thoughts that can become pervasive causing feelings of panic and or sleeplessness.

Vanilla- The scent of the vanilla pod is heady and luxurious and envelops you in a fragrant cocoon of warmth and love.

This tincture is handmade from scratch by me and incorporates home grown lemon balm. It harnesses the full solar and lunar light of a full month and is made in the old way. The old way honours the herbs and the relationships that a herbalist has with them. The daily shaking of jars, the straining, the love and thought that goes into each and every bottle. This is the way of the past and definitely the way to the lightness of the future that I want to see.