Powerful Ayurvedic Herbs to Ease Stress, Anxiety, and Low Mood
In today's fast-moving world, feeling stressed or anxious has become part of everyday life for many. With long work hours, personal responsibilities, and constant digital noise, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. While quick fixes and medications are available, more people are now turning toward natural ways to manage their mental well-being.
That's where Ayurveda steps in. This time-honoured system of healing from India focuses on balancing the body and mind using herbs, lifestyle habits, and mindfulness. Among its many natural tools, certain herbs have gained attention for their calming and mood-stabilizing benefits. These gentle, plant-based remedies offer support for stress, anxiety, and even low moods—without harsh side effects.
Here's a look at six Ayurvedic herbs that have been used for centuries to bring calm and clarity.
1. Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is one of the most well-known herbs in Ayurveda. It's considered an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to stress and regain balance. Ashwagandha works by lowering cortisol, the 'stress hormone,' and promoting deeper, more restful sleep. It can also help improve energy levels and emotional resilience over time.
2. Brahmi
Known as a brain tonic, Brahmi is popular for its ability to sharpen memory and improve focus. But it's not just about productivity—Brahmi also helps ease anxiety and uplifts mood by balancing the brain's chemicals. People often turn to this herb for better mental clarity and emotional stability.
3. Tulsi (Holy Basil)
Often found in Indian homes, Tulsi isn't just sacred—it's powerful. It's packed with antioxidants and supports the body in managing stress. Drinking tulsi tea is a simple, comforting ritual that can calm the mind, support immunity, and ease mild symptoms of anxiety and fatigue.
4. Bhringaraj
While it's mostly known for promoting hair health, Bhringaraj also has calming effects on the mind. Used in teas or supplements, it helps improve blood flow to the brain, encourages better sleep, and promotes a sense of peace. It's great for those who struggle to wind down at night.
5. Shankhpushpi
This gentle herb works on the nervous system to ease tension, restlessness, and irritability. With its natural calming properties, Shankhpushpi supports better mood balance and helps you relax without feeling drowsy. It also improves the quality of your sleep, making it a helpful bedtime companion.
6. Lemon Balm
A member of the mint family, lemon balm has a light lemony scent and is known for its calming properties. It helps reduce anxious feelings, lifts mood, and even supports brain health. It's also used for sleep troubles, digestive issues, and general relaxation.
These six herbs aren't magic pills—but when used consistently, they can gently support your mental and emotional wellness. Whether taken as teas, powders, or supplements, they help bring the body and mind back into balance. As always, it's best to consult a healthcare professional before starting any new herbal routine, especially if you're taking medication.
With nature on your side, you can find calm—even in a noisy world.
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Powerful Ayurvedic Herbs to Ease Stress, Anxiety, and Low Mood
In today's fast-moving world, feeling stressed or anxious has become part of everyday life for many. With long work hours, personal responsibilities, and constant digital noise, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. While quick fixes and medications are available, more people are now turning toward natural ways to manage their mental well-being. That's where Ayurveda steps in. This time-honoured system of healing from India focuses on balancing the body and mind using herbs, lifestyle habits, and mindfulness. Among its many natural tools, certain herbs have gained attention for their calming and mood-stabilizing benefits. These gentle, plant-based remedies offer support for stress, anxiety, and even low moods—without harsh side effects. Here's a look at six Ayurvedic herbs that have been used for centuries to bring calm and clarity. 1. Ashwagandha Ashwagandha is one of the most well-known herbs in Ayurveda. It's considered an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to stress and regain balance. Ashwagandha works by lowering cortisol, the 'stress hormone,' and promoting deeper, more restful sleep. It can also help improve energy levels and emotional resilience over time. 2. Brahmi Known as a brain tonic, Brahmi is popular for its ability to sharpen memory and improve focus. But it's not just about productivity—Brahmi also helps ease anxiety and uplifts mood by balancing the brain's chemicals. People often turn to this herb for better mental clarity and emotional stability. 3. Tulsi (Holy Basil) Often found in Indian homes, Tulsi isn't just sacred—it's powerful. It's packed with antioxidants and supports the body in managing stress. Drinking tulsi tea is a simple, comforting ritual that can calm the mind, support immunity, and ease mild symptoms of anxiety and fatigue. 4. Bhringaraj While it's mostly known for promoting hair health, Bhringaraj also has calming effects on the mind. Used in teas or supplements, it helps improve blood flow to the brain, encourages better sleep, and promotes a sense of peace. It's great for those who struggle to wind down at night. 5. Shankhpushpi This gentle herb works on the nervous system to ease tension, restlessness, and irritability. With its natural calming properties, Shankhpushpi supports better mood balance and helps you relax without feeling drowsy. It also improves the quality of your sleep, making it a helpful bedtime companion. 6. Lemon Balm A member of the mint family, lemon balm has a light lemony scent and is known for its calming properties. It helps reduce anxious feelings, lifts mood, and even supports brain health. It's also used for sleep troubles, digestive issues, and general relaxation. These six herbs aren't magic pills—but when used consistently, they can gently support your mental and emotional wellness. Whether taken as teas, powders, or supplements, they help bring the body and mind back into balance. As always, it's best to consult a healthcare professional before starting any new herbal routine, especially if you're taking medication. With nature on your side, you can find calm—even in a noisy world.
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While we teach yoga online, there is so much that happens with the technology that makes it come to life. Otherwise, it is so difficult as we have almost 1.03 crore people who have signed up for our program. It would be impossible to be able to deal with this without the technology background. Saurabh Bothra says his wellness platform is aimed at mothers. After teaching yoga for around seven years during my voluntary work, I realized that it was so difficult for people to become consistent with it. I was trying to make people more aware about the benefits of yoga, but it was not helping in any way. During Covid-19, I had enough time to understand how to make a habit out of yoga. I genuinely wanted people to make yoga a consistent part of their life. So, I started reading more about habits. I started experimenting with what I could do in the class so that people become more regular. We used the fundamentals of habit-building. Our mind needs instant gratification. 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Remember how we brushed our teeth as kids even if we didn't want to? The frequency of doing it so many times made it so ingrained that now laziness, lack of motivation, sleeping late at night, waking up late doesn't matter to us. We still brush our teeth. That can happen with exercise also, if the frequency is high. Reading is one habit that I have struggled with. It is important for someone like me to read more to get more information, stay updated. So, I try to read blogs and shorter articles or summaries of big books. But it's very difficult for me to read. The moment I start reading, I go to sleep. That can work even if I have had 8 hours of proper deep sleep. There's only one book I genuinely feel made a big difference in my life, and I was able to complete it. That is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It gives me more ideas of what can I do for people to make their habits stronger. I think the West had a role to play to make yoga cool again. I don't think I'm someone who's making yoga cool or the platform is making it cool. In fact, we would say that we are creating a space for people to embrace their imperfection, right? Everyone wants to be perfect in every form, and I think HaBuild allows people to be themselves. We don't intend to make yoga cool at all or that's not what our goal is. If it's happening by the way, it's great. When you talk about Gen-Z, almost 20 percent of our audience is younger. We primarily intend to make our content for mothers. All our programs are designed to reach out to more moms, and when moms do something, they ensure that the entire house, including the husband, kids, parents and in-laws, are doing it too. A mom is usually the last person to do something consistently for herself. When she truly does something, it sets the right example for the entire house. That's how a whole mix of people are joining our sessions. I don't think we have done a good job in terms of packaging. I genuinely believe that if something is good, the packaging becomes less important. When we talk about dry fruits, the packaging may make it look more interesting, but the real value is in eating the dry fruit. When people realize that the dry fruit is good even if it does not have a good packaging, it will still get word-of-mouth publicity. I think what we have done is shown people that yoga is beneficial and more importantly how can you become consistent with it. When people see the benefit, they tell others. There are days that really get to me. My best practice to deal with stress is to go to sleep. So the days I'm busier, I go to sleep early so that I can make sure that my next day becomes better. When things go beyond my capacity to deal with it, I simply go to bed. Drink a lot of water. Get up from you seat and move around a lot more. Practice deep breathing. Sleep before 11 p.m. Workout for 45 minutes at least thrice a week. A sixth tip is - don't try to do everything together, otherwise we usually fail and go into the 'all-or-nothing' trap.
