Average reading time: 9 minutes
Written by: Urara Donohoe
The Reality of Modern Living
Stress has become part of modern living. It’s not just work and life; the world has become increasingly frenetic in the last hundred-years, and in the last twenty-five-years, ubiquitous ownership of personal devices like mobiles and tablets has created a 24-hour media culture. As if that was not enough, we are relentlessly exposed to artificial lights and noises, both from inside and outside of our homes.
Remembering Our Evolutionary Baseline
We need to remember that human bodies evolved in a totally different world, where bright lights disappeared once the sun set. Noises were natural sounds: it can be frightening like thunder, but also, pattering raindrops, swishing trees, murmuring brooks, birdsongs. No exciting television shows in the evening that gets your blood pumping.
Finding Balance in a Modern World
This is not a call to get rid of our devices, or to live like a hermit in the middle of the woods, but a statement of the fact that our baseline stress levels are generally much higher than humans have evolutionarily been accustomed to. Add to that any challenging life events or situations, and your body’s coping mechanisms can become overwhelmed. The good news is that there are many herbal remedies available to help cope with stress
The Stress Response
To understand how to manage stress, it helps to understand a little bit of internal science. The stress response is an essential component of human survival, designed to help you react quickly to a life-threatening situation – like being eyed up by a hungry lion. This survival loop starts in the brain, where danger is first identified
The Physical Impact of Fight or Flight
Once danger is detected, the hypothalamus region of your brain, which acts as the body’s command centre, activates your sympathetic nervous system, better known as the "fight or flight" pathway. This sends hormonal signals to your pituitary gland, then your adrenal glands, releasing a flood of stress hormones that increase your blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing so you can run or defend yourself. Meanwhile, to send all your available energy to survival, your body temporarily turns down maintenance projects. This means your digestive and reproductive systems slow down. Your metabolism shifts to focus on carbohydrate-centred, fast-energy production. Your sleep cycle is affected to allow for maximum alertness. This is so that you can effectively "fight or fly"".
Rest and Digest
Once the danger has passed, the hippocampus part of your brain acts as a calming brake. It activates your parasympathetic nervous system, or your vagus nerve, which is your "rest and digest" pathway. This relaxes your blood vessels, normalizes your heart rate, bringing sleep pattern in line with the circadian rhythm, and libido comes back online. This is what fails to operate in chronic stress, causing insomnia, poor digestion, weight-gain, hypertension, heart disease, brain-fog and/or lowered libido. (McEwen, 2007)
The Chronic Overdrive
So why does the body get stuck in sympathetic activation? In the modern age, stress is not acute, but chronic: sharing an office with a colleague you don’t see eye-to-eye with; the cost of living is constantly on the rise. These drip-drip day-to-day stressors lead to fatigue, which can further exacerbate into a vicious cycle: life doesn’t stop because you’re tired, which further creates stress, and makes you more tired and anxious. In addition, as discussed previously, we live in a world that constantly promotes stress that we are not even consciously aware of. What it boils down to: it is often hard to relax.
‘Allostatic overload’
But there is more. Chronic stress leads to ‘allostatic overload’, an often discussed buzz word – what this means is that stress-induced fight or flight overdrive can cause internal wear-and-tear, leading to inflammation and chronic illnesses. Cortisol, a stress hormone produced by the adrenal gland, makes your body retain fat and promote cholesterol build-up (Barton and Yancy, 2014), slowly driving the body towards diabetes and other metabolic diseases (Kyrou, 2006).
How Stress Reshapes the Brain
Long-term stress can also physically alter the brain's structure. It can actually reduce the size of the hippocampus, the very area responsible for switching on your calming, rest and digest pathways (McEwen, 2007). The hippocampus is also responsible for memory formation, so when that area is not working right, you may start to experience brain fog.
The Crucial Role of Sleep
Paul Bergner (2003), a renowned medical herbalist, notes that the primary driver keeping your body in this state of exhaustion is sleep deprivation. Until the 1960s, the average adult slept for about 9 hours each night. Since then, that average has dropped to 7 hours, with health reports showing that a third of us are sleeping even less (Ng et al., 2026).
The Cellular Healing Power of the Dark
Missing out on rest is a serious issue for our long-term health. Public health organizations have classified long-term night-shift work as ‘probably carcinogenic’, or cancer causing (Erren et al., 2019). This is probably due to suppression of an important hormone called melatonin, a restorative sleep hormone produced by the pineal gland soon after sunset, but especially from around 22:00.
Why is Melatonin Important?
Melatonin levels naturally peak between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM, acting as a powerful antioxidant and immune stimulator. It spends the night healing your body, clearing away toxicity and inflammation, and repairing cellular damage while you rest. However, this hormone can only be produced when you are in pitch darkness; if you are exposed to bright screens late into the night, its production is cut short (Tordjman et al., 2017). Which is all good and well…but what if ‘it’s just too hard to relax or sleep?’
Herbal help for stress
This is where herbs can help. What you should look for are not quick fixes – if you have been stressed for months or even years, you need to slowly build back up, nourishing your nervous system, restoring a healthy balance between doing/thinking/using resources and resting/healing/replenishing resources.
Gentle Herbal Allies for Daily Stamina
First of all, it’s not about sedation, but calm support, bringing your overall feeling of ‘stressed and feeling under pressure’ down to a more manageable level. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a gentle ayurvedic tonic for the nervous system that reduces blood pressure and heart rate, supporting resilience, steadier energy and mental clarity. Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) supports your adrenal glands, which can be under constant pressure when you suffer from allostatic overload. Even chamomile (Matricaria chamomile), a herb most people are familiar with, is a wonderful digestive nervine, perfect for digestion compromised by long-term sympathetic activation, while soothing your overactive mind.
Calm supporting adaptogenic mixes:
Ashwagandha Capsules – Organic Stress Support & Daily Vitality: A time-honoured adaptogenic herb, traditionally used to support calm, resilience, and natural vitality throughout the day
Balance Capsules – Stress Support & Daily Calm Blend: Stay balanced with our adaptogenic blend – crafted with rhodiola, ashwagandha, chamomile and tulsi to ease stress, restore calm and build resilience
Balance Tincture – Adaptogenic Herbal Blend for Calm & Clarity: A fast-absorbing adaptogenic blend with rhodiola, ashwagandha and tulsi to support calm, clarity, and balance during busy or demanding days
Herbs for a Healing Sleep
And what about sleep? Again, it’s not about sedation, but about promoting a healing sleep. Ashwagandha mentioned above helps switch the body to rest and digest mode through its adaptogenic and nerve nourishing actions, promoting rest. If your mind tends to become overactive at night, passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) is helpful. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is a calming nerve relaxant, but also brings down your blood pressure, normalising your heart rate and circulation.
Healing-sleep herbal mixes:
Herbal Sleep Capsules with Valerian Root: Targeted herbal capsules to support deeper, more sustained sleep and overnight recovery
Herbal Sleep Tincture with Valerian Root & Calming Herbs: A fast-absorbing herbal tincture to support relaxation and help you ease into restful sleep
Herbal Tea for Sleep with Lemon Balm & Calming Herbs: A calming herbal tea to unwind in the evening and prepare for a more restful night’s sleep
The Power of Gentle Daily Rituals
A way out of allostatic overdrive is not to drive yourself more. Holistic stress care is about becoming mindful of your daily circadian rhythms, slowly working without judgment towards feeling fully awake, able to cope with the day, then feeling relaxed and ready to rest and heal at night
Calming Breath
As discussed above, breathing is affected by stress response. This is why bringing in breathwork to your daily routine was found to significantly reduce stress (Fincham et.al., 2023). Bentley et.all. (2023) ran a systematic review of various breathworking methods, finding that more than which method, avoiding fast breathing, working with a trained practitioner, practicing more than 5 minutes a day and longer-term practice improved physiological markers of anxiety and stress.
Practicing the Physiological Sigh
If you feel acutely stressed, the Physiologic Sigh has been shown to bring you from sympathetic to parasympathetic activation, reducing heart rate and balancing oxygen and CO2 (TRUK, n.d.).. To do this, breathe fully out, then breathe in, take a pause then breathe in a little more until your lungs feel full, then slowly sigh the breath out with a haaaa sound, letting your shoulders drop. Do this a few times.
A Soothing Sensory Ritual
Combining breathwork with relaxing herbal tea and/or aromatherapy oils may be a helpful stress-relief routine.
Chamomile Balance Tea – Stress & Emotional Support: A herbalist-formulated blend with chamomile, lemon balm, tulsi and vervain to support calm, emotional balance, and a steady response to daily stress
Unwind Pulse Point Roller – Calming Aromatherapy Oil: A calming pulse point roller with lavender and sandalwood essential oils, plus jasmine, to support relaxation, ease tension, and bring moments of calm throughout the day
Easing Stress Through Gentle Movement
Incorporating movement into your daily routine also reduces stress. TRUK (n.d.) states even 10-minute walk can provide hours of stress relief, as effective as prescription medications. Korsak et.al. (2023) found exercise promotes vagal nerve activity, switching on the parasympathetic pathways both during and for hours after exercising. It is not about intense exercise or pushing yourself harder, but a gentle walk after lunch or dinner could help both digestion and bring about parasympathetic activation.
Your Evening Sanctuary
Finally your end-of-day routine: reducing exposure to bright lights an hour before bedtime will signal to your brain you are ready to rest. Create a softer evening environment: dim or turn off overhead lights, use side lights, or even replace some of the lights with red bulbs. Maybe stop screens after a certain time even a few times a week, and swap to a real book. Fragrance your pillow and your room with calming aromatherapy oils:
Sleep Pillow Mist with Lavender & Roman Chamomile: A calming botanical pillow mist to prepare your space and mind for restful sleep
Sleep Essential Oil Blend with Lavender & Chamomile: A pure essential oil blend to create a calm, sleep-ready atmosphere before bed
Sleep Essential Oil Roller with Lavender & Chamomile: A calming pulse point roller to support relaxation and help you unwind before sleep
Your Home Spa with Magnesium
Magnesium is a wonderful anti-spasmodic which most of us are lacking due to soil depletion. It is one of the best supplements to reduce stress. A wonderful way to get more magnesium into your body is through baths – and if you don’t have a bath, footbath is a good alternative. Using candles instead of overhead lights would make for a relaxing spa-evening at home.
Unwind Epsom Bath Salts – Magnesium Relaxing Soak: A relaxing Epsom salt blend rich in magnesium, with rose, chamomile and essential oils including bergamot to support calm, ease tension, and a soothing evening ritual
Epsom Bath Salts for Sleep with Lavender: A calming mineral bath soak to relax the body and prepare for restful sleep
Rose & Frankincense Aromatherapy Oil – Emotional Comfort Blend: A calming aromatherapy blend with rose essential oil, frankincense and sandalwood essential oil to support emotional comfort, relaxation, and inner balance
Grounding Aromatherapy Oil – Calming & Centring Blend: A calming aromatherapy blend with sandalwood, frankincense, holy basil and juniper to support grounding, clarity, and a centred state during stressful moments
Your Unique Path to Restfulness
What works for one person will not necessarily work for another. So it is about trial and error and choosing wisely what suits you and your lifestyle. It is about making sustainable changes to bring balance back into your life, with a little help from our herbal allies.
Finding Strength in Gentle Guidance
If you are feeling overwhelmed, a personal consultation with a qualified medical herbalist can be the helping-hand you need. They can offer the gentle, expert guidance you need to create realistic, sustainable changes.
References
ADAA. (n.d.). Exercise for Stress and Anxiety. Anxiety & Depression Association of America.
Barton, A., & Yancy, W. (2014). Determining the culprit: stress, fat, or carbohydrates. Biological Psychiatry, 78(4), e12. doi.org
Bentley, T. G. K., D’Andrea-Penna, G., Rakic, M., Arce, N., LaFaille, M., Berman, R., Cooley, K., & Sprimont, P. (2023). Breathing Practices for Stress and Anxiety Reduction: Conceptual Framework of Implementation Guidelines based on a systematic review of the published literature. Brain Sciences, 13(12), 1612. doi.org
Bergner, P. (2003). Sleep debt: pathophysiology and natural therapeutics. Medical Herbalism, 13(3), 3.
Erren, T. C., Morfeld, P., Groß, J. V., Wild, U., & Lewis, P. (2019). IARC 2019: “Night shift work” is probably carcinogenic: What about disturbed chronobiology in all walks of life? Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 14(1), 29. doi.org
Fincham, G. W., Strauss, C., Montero-Marin, J., & Cavanagh, K. (2023). Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 432. doi.org
Korsak, A., Kellett, D. O., Aziz, Q., Anderson, C., D’Souza, A., Tinker, A., Ackland, G. L., & Gourine, A. V. (2023). Immediate and sustained increases in the activity of vagal preganglionic neurons during exercise and after exercise training. Cardiovascular Research, 119(13), 2329–2341. doi.org
Kyrou, I., Chrousos, G. P., & Tsigos, C. (2006). Stress, visceral obesity, and metabolic complications. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1083(1), 77–110. doi.org
McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873–904. doi.org
Ng, A. E., Black, L. I., & Adjaye-Gbewonyo, D. (2026). Short sleep duration and sleep difficulties among adults: United States, 2024. Data Brief, 559. cdc.gov
Tordjman, S., Chokron, S., Delorme, R., Charrier, A., Bellissant, E., Jaafari, N., & Fougerou, C. (2017). Melatonin: Pharmacology, functions and therapeutic benefits. Current Neuropharmacology, 15(3), 434–443. doi.org
TRUK. (n.d.). The Physiological Sigh. traumaresearchuk.org. traumaresearchuk.org
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