All-Natural Stress-Relievers: Passionflower Tea

More good news from Woman’s World: passionflower extract also is calming because it increases the amount of a brain chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).


“Recent research shows this herb is as effective as prescription anti-anxiety medications. However, it may take up to four weeks to kick in.”—Woman’s World magazine

In the last post, we noted that chamomile helps relieve anxiety, so my recommendation is to do both. Drink chamomile and take or use passionflower extract so that while you’re waiting for one to work, you have immediate benefit from the other.

Here is a recipe for a blend of both…


Calming Tea

Ingredients

4 cups water

3 tsp linden flowers

3 tsp chamomile

3 tsp passionflower

3 tsp orange zest

½ tsp stevia (this is a sweetener, you could use sugar or honey as well)

Directions

Bring the water to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Add the herbs, and allow them to steep for 10-15 minutes.

Bella Online

All-Natural Stress-Reliever: Chamomile Tea

Guess what’s good for anxiety? Chamomile tea, according to the latest issue of Woman’s World. A new study demonstrated that using chamomile every day helps people release negativity, which relieves mild or moderate levels of anxiety.

"Chamomile stimulates activity in the brain that reduces anxiety."~~Tanya Edwards, M.D., from the Center for Integrative Medicine in Cleveland.

They recommend drinking 2 cups of chamomile tea a day (you can also use chamomile essential oil, putting several drops on the bottom of your feet a few times a day.

One-Minute Happiness Boost

As I sip my wonderful cup of strawberry lemonade tea (yum!), I am happy to announce that inhaling the aroma of your tea bags will make you happy. Now, I am a spiritual aromatherapist, so I know how powerful scent can be, but hadn't really thought about tea bags.

And it only takes seconds to start working! Grab a jasmine tea bag you haven't yet used, or lemon,  or peppermint, and in about ten seconds, you will be feeling happier, according to Woman's World magazine. It will also increase your energy.

From the aromatherapy side of things, I know that lemon and peppermint oil also increase alertness, so you may get that as a side benefit.

But I confess that those particular tea tastes are not my favorites, so if you give it a try, come back and tell us how you felt!

Have a great week!

Jeanine

Calm Down & Chill Out with Iced Tea This Summer

Two more great pieces of information I found right in my Woman's World magazine...

(1) Drinking tea can help you calm down.

"In a study, the levels of stress hormones in people who drank a cup of black tea before an anxiety-provoking task were more than 20% lower than their non-tea-drinking counterparts! Scientists credit L-theanine, a natural anti-anxiety compound in tea, for the relaxation effect." ~~Woman's World

This compound, L-theanine, is the reason you can meditate with tea even if your tea has caffeine. It is also the reason why tea, at the same time, makes you more alert and calms you down, both of which are helpful when you are about to meditate.

(2) Drinking hibiscus tea lowers blood pressure.

Hibiscus tea is "proven to lower blood pressure as well as prescription meds! The blooms are rich in anthocyanins, compounds that dilate blood vessels and block an enzyme that triggers hypertension -- in the same way that the common prescriptions, ACE inhibitors, work, but without their side effects. In one study, hypertension patients saw their blood pressure lowered 11% after drinking hibiscus tea for just 12 days." ~~Woman's World

A Summer of Iced Tea Will Boost Immunity

In this week's Woman's World magazine, in an article about how to make this a healthy summer for you and your family, there was a section about using tea to avoid summer colds, especially if you are planning a trip. They suggested that you beef up antioxidants by loading up on iced tea for at least two weeks prior to your trip (or you can do it all summer long for better health, in general).
"Start sipping two tall glasses (about 20 oz.) of iced tea daily two week before your trip and Harvard research shows you'll produce up to five times more infection-fighting interferons -- proteins that destroy any cold viruses and other nasty bugs (bacteria, fungi, parasites) that you may be exposed to." ~~Woman's World.

Bloggy Moms Blog Challenge: Childhood Ambitions

June's Blog Challenge: {Childhood Ambitions} ~~Write a blog post about your childhood dreams, wishes & ambitions. What did you dream of becoming? What did you sincerely think you would do with your life? Where are you know along that road? How do you feel about where you are?

I can still remember it as if it were yesterday: me, standing in my living room, at 9, the same age my son is now, holding one of my mother's African-style artifacts, pretending it was a microphone, singing my heart out. Dancing. Swirling. Prentending I was onstage, far away from the life I was experiencing at the time.
 
I was sure I would grow up to be a singer/actress/dancer!
 
I imagined the Broadway stage, smoky nightclubs and albums filled with ballads of love. I took ballet, tap and jazz dance lessons, performed in little theater plays, wrote short stories, sang in my room and the living room and told anyone who would listen that I was a singer/actress/dancer.
 
I sang in the school choir and the church choir and even took voice lessons in high school. But I was also terribly shy!!
 
And one night, I watched a movie about Billie Holiday and became convinced that if I pursued my dream to become a star, I would wind up with a wasted life similar to hers! So the other idea that had been whispering to me, about helping people, being a therapist and writing self-help books someday began to talk to me with more volume.
 
So ... karaoke and a $50 contest win is the closest I came to that childhood dream!
 
But that second idea I had, that one blossomed and bore fruit!

What is Your "Why"? Why Did You Start Your Business?

Great question! And I think I have more than one answer...

(1) I am a "crunchy granola" kind of mom: attachment parenting, homeschooling, natural and organic food, etc. So my biggest reason for working from home is to be able to spend the day with my family. I don't have to wait for my son to come home from school, he already is home. Working from home allows me to homeschool him.

(2) Another "why" is my own desire to have complete time freedom. To sleep when I want, work late when I want, work in my nightgown and robe with rollers in my hair and slipper socks on my feet. That is why I work from home, in general.

Choosing a direct sales business like Tealightful Treasures fits in to my desire for time freedom because I want to create passive income so that I can retire at some point and still have money coming in.

(3) "Why" tea? Because I love tea! I love the taste of really good quality tea and I love the charm and romance of the tea lifestyle. I have afternoon tea as often as I can and it is a delightful experience. At night, after bedtime and sunset, my cup of tea takes me gently into the night, giving me a few moments of contemplative relaxation.

All the stress or busyness of the day slips away and I am warmed and comforted and mellowed by my brief tea experience.

Iced Tea Recipes for Your 4th of July Celebration

Sangria Style Tea Cooler Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups light apple juice
1 black tea bag
1/2 each: lemon, lime and orange, cut into rounds
4 sprigs mint

Directions:

Bring apple juice to a boil in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; add tea bag, citrus rounds and 2 mint sprigs. Allow to steep and cool.

Remove tea bag and mint sprigs. Pour into pitcher and add fresh mint sprigs. Pour over ice to serve.

For Sangria Spritzer: Pour equal parts Sangria Style Tea Cooler and soda water over ice in tall glasses.



Almond Vanilla Iced Tea Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 quart strong tea (any black or green variety)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients and pour over ice cubes in tall glasses.

Recipes are from CDKitchen.com