When you need a quick fix for anxiety and stress when deep breathing and your 15 minute daily dose of meditation doesn't quite cut it, there are more natural-and magical-solutions than popping a Xanax. The calming and anti-anxiety benefits of passionflower are so dramatic that relief can be felt almost instantly. This psychedelic-looking beauty calms the nervous and autonomic systems, lowers blood pressure, and soothes nerves. But passionflower goes beyond a simple anti anxiety remedy. This flower is believed to have an effect on depression, insomnia, inflammation and more. How can a flower help treat depression? Special alkaloids in passionflowers have been found to increase GABA levels (gamma amino-butyric acid) in the brain, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps balance brain chemicals and prevent over-excitement and imbalances, decreasing the brain cell activity that can lead to depression. (1) Everywhere in nature flowers, plants and mushrooms hide secrets of physical and mental balance, you just need to know where to look...
Health Benefits of Passionflower
Anti-anxiety
Anti-depressant
Lowers blood pressure
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-spasmodic
Anti-oxidant
Potion Recipes
Tinctures, teas, smoking/vaporizing
Tincture Recipe: 1 part passionflower to 2 parts high proof alcohol/ food grade vegetable glycerin/apple cider vinegar. Add the flowers to a glass mason jar and cover with a tablespoon or two of boiling water to help prepare the herbs for their extraction. Fill up the rest of the jar with alcohol, vegetable glycerin or vinegar and seal. Keep the tincture in a dark place, agitating every few days for a period of 2 to 3 weeks minimum and up to six months. The longer the tincture is left of extract, the stronger the potion will be. When you have extracted the tincture to your desired strength, strain and separate, keeping only the liquid. Drink 1 to 2 teaspoons during moments of stress.
Infusion: Boil water. Add 1 spoonful of passionflower to a mug and add the boiling water. Cover the mug and leave the tea to infuse for 15 minutes before drinking. You never want to boil delicate plant parts directly in boiling water as that will destroy the medicine. Directly boiling plants is called a decoction and is best reserved for roots, bark and hard wood.
Smoking/Vaporizing: To benefit from the effects of passionflower the fastest, add a pinch of passionflower to a vaporizer or pipe.
Do not take passionflower while pregnant or breastfeeding, if you have liver damage. It can also interfere with blood thinning and blood pressure medications. Always speak to a doctor before integrating herbal treatments if you have pre-existing health conditions