Herbalist's Guide to Brain Health

What if the secret to a better memory, focus, emotional clarity could actually be found growing in your own backyard?

Herbalism is not just plants as medicine. It is a truly holistic, nature-based way to care for ourselves, whether we're ill or not.

Today, we are going to be diving into natural brain enhancement, how things like plant wisdom can supercharge your mental performance and help you feel In terms of affecting neurotransmitter levels, there are herbs that will do just about whatever we want. If you've ever wanted a more natural way to reset your stress, your gut health, and think sharper, then this one is absolutely for you. Welcome back, Kwik Brains. I am your host and your brain coach, Jim Kwik. Today, we're going to learn about something powerful, and it's often overlooked in the world of optimal wellbeing. We're gonna talk about plants, but not just any plants. We're gonna be talking about nootropics, adaptogens, herbal medicine that can upgrade your memory, your mood, your focus, and even your gut-brain connection. And I know if you're one of our listeners and subscribe to our show or our work, that these are all things that You want to take notes. I'm excited to be joined by Rachelle Robinett. She's an herbalist and the author of the new book, Naturally: The Herbalist's Guide to Health and Transformation. Rachelle combines ancient plant wisdom with modern science to help all of us take control of more of our health, which includes our brain, more naturally. So get ready to meet the plant powered alternatives that can work with your body and your brain. Welcome to the show, Rachelle.

Thank you so much. I am thrilled to be here.

So excited to have this conversation. You know, in over 400 episodes, we've, we've never really talked about herbalism. So I want to go into what it is. But before we do, you know, a lot of people are familiar with my origin story and how My inspiration was my desperation. I had a traumatic brain injury as a child. I was learning difficulties. My grandmother, who watched me, passed of Alzheimer's, and it kind of put me on this path, right, about memory and the brain and learning. And I'm curious, when I was doing research for this conversation, your mother is into natural health and wellness, alternative medicine. I believe your father was in Western medicine, um, an anesthesiologist, I think.

That's correct.

And also you grew up on a farm. So, so how did this create like a perfect storm for putting you on, on this path and this perspective?

Yeah, it was a perfect storm. I mean, as you mentioned, you know, I grew up surrounded by medicine, both, you know, functional health and, um, you know, modern Western surgical care and anesthesia. And I was in nature, you know, on a, on a large farm in the Pacific Northwest. And for me, from a very, very young age, I was fascinated by the effects of what we take in through our senses, all of our senses, you know, taste, sight, sensation, even thought. And how these inputs, how these, you know, things that we consume affect our state, change our experience of reality. So it really began as sort of a philosophical pursuit, a little bit of a spiritual inquiry for me. And, you know, the material that I was surrounded by, you know, was the body, was medicine, was natural health, was nature. So I just began a self-study, you know, very young into all of these things. What is, you know, what are our bodies? What are emotions? What are neurotransmitters? What are, you know, the root, root, root, root causes of the reasons why we feel the way that we feel? And, you know, long story short, I didn't intend to make it my career. But I never stopped studying from the time I was a child. And I mean, until today, I'm still studying. And, you know, I moved to New York, ended up having a career in fashion and other things. But on the side, I was, you know, in Peru on plant medicine retreats. I was bringing tinctures and teas to work. I was raw, vegan, sober, you know, while I was in the New York fashion scene, everybody thought I was just bizarre. And then, you know, and then the wellness industry, um, opened up and people realized that what I was doing was— it existed in a greater context.

Hmm.

And it, um, was less fringe, you know, than it had been for so long. Um, and in terms of herbalism, You know, what I realized after studying many things, I mean, I studied traditional Chinese medicine and Reiki and Sanskrit and, you know, nutrition and anything that I could get my hands on in terms of, you know, these, these topics that I mentioned. And when I encountered herbalism again, later on in my journey, I realized that herbalism encompasses all of this. It encompasses nutrition, it encompasses fitness, mental health, community, spirituality, you know, relationship to nature, and also medicine. So herbalism is not just plants as medicine. It is a truly holistic, nature-based way to care for ourselves, whether we're ill or not.

Yeah, I know, I know some people, and again, this, this conversation's not meant to diagnose or treat any kind of medical condition, obviously. Obviously, you know, talk to your healthcare provider. So that's kind of like the little disclaimer. A lot of people associate like herbalism, herbs. So I take, you know, I have, I have that in my tea, right? We don't have to turn this into a masterclass on the science, but generally, how does— what's the science behind herbalism that you found?

Definitely. And I like the science aspect because I think there's a There's a, there's a preconception that herbalism is not sort of rooted in science, or there's not a lot of scientific validation for its efficacy. Um, but there actually is. And, you know, simply there are compounds, there are active compounds in all plants, in all herbs, and that includes functional mushrooms. And sometimes there are hundreds in a single plant. In a single herb, and they act on the body in generally beneficial ways. Maybe antioxidants, maybe anti-inflammatory, maybe something that lowers our cortisol level, maybe something that increases the level of dopamine. Um, and this is essentially how herbalism works at that sort of functional level. It is, it is, it is equivalent to Taking a vitamin or a supplement that tends to isolate and concentrate these individual compounds. In herbalism, you have them in a synergistic sort of holistic format. They're in the whole plant form. They can still be concentrated, but you're getting plant-based nutrients that are boosting levels of, or, you know, lowering levels of whatever it is in our body, in our brain we're trying to adjust.

And so some of our listeners might be thinking about a condition that they want to support. Right. Maybe as an option, looking into herbs or some other area of natural medicine. And then some people listening might be thinking about performance, right? They want to have better focus. They want to get through their day. They want to be able to have less stress. Is the— for supplements, are there certain herbs that you personally found supportive to do Daily? I mean, what's the protocol? I mean, does it change depending on like the length and the amounts and all that?

Herbs can, and in my opinion, ideally should be used, you know, in the same way that we use food or light or sleep or exercise, anything else that we are doing for our health over the course of our lives. And yes, what we're taking and how much, you know, will change based on How our lives change, how our bodies change, what our needs are, what our interests are. So some herbs work over time.

Mm-hmm.

And it's ideal to use them for 6 weeks minimum, for example, to sort of build up the full effect. And some herbs work basically immediately. And a nice way to work with herbalism is to use a combination of both. 'Cause we're building a foundation. Generally, we're building a foundation with herbs like adaptogens, ashwagandha, rhodiola, ginsengs, things that, that are best taken every single day for a long period of time. And that's, you know, giving us a resilience to stress. That's improving our performance, mental, physical, you know, across the board. It's, um, it's a great sort of, you know, like I mentioned, foundation to build. And then we might have these more acute symptoms that we wanna treat on the spot. I'm, you know, public. I'm speaking publicly, so I'll take a nerveine herb, an herb that's great for my nervous system that can help calm my nerves before I go on stage. Or I want—I have jet lag. I want some help sleeping tonight. I can take some sedative herbs that will help me sleep tonight. You know, those long-term herbs will also help improve my sleep schedule over time by managing my stress levels. But the shorter term, you know, more acutely functional herbs. Can do it in a in a shorter period of time. You know, my favorite, my favorite sort of response to well how long should I should I take these herbs for? You know, do I should I use them forever? Should I use them for a week? It's like you know we know that eating healthfully is important. It helps us you know live. We know that you know a plant-based diet might be ideal for that, for example. So. We do that and we, we become well, you know, do we then stop eating that way? You know, no, we don't. We continue.

And so, well, let's unpack that. Everything from stress to sleep. We know chronic stress is not good for the brain or, you know, it leads to a lot of— it's a contributor to a lot of health issues. Lack of sleep, we could say pretty much the same thing. It can impair, you know, every physiological function. What are your kind of go-to herbs to help with, with either one or both? Are there certain ones that are very, very well researched and safe?

I would say that my favorite herb for stress, and that is to improve our resilience to stress, so how well we perform under stress and how well we recover as well, is ashwagandha. That's an adaptogenic herb. It's considered calming. It helps to normalize cortisol levels. Also So improves muscle tone and strength, immune function. It's very sort of holistically functional, but, you know, adaptogens by definition work through the HPA axis in the brain and help to improve our resilience to stress. So that's one herb that, you know, for modern lives, I recommend very often.

Can it support sleep also? Or, I mean, obviously less stress, you know, when you, when you can handle stress better, you're probably gonna sleep better.

Exactly. So it's not a sedative, but because it's helping to normalize cortisol levels, it can have that effect of improving our sleep. Exactly. For sleep specifically, I tend to use more sedative herbs. You know, there are herbs like California poppy, or valerian is really nice. I like valerian both for sleep and for the treatment of any kind of acute anxiety or panic. It is sedative, it works quickly, It helps to, you know, calm that, the nervous system down. Also, you know, another way to use herbs that function like that is as alternatives to alcohol, which of course will have, you know, residual benefits for brain health as well if we're replacing any amount of alcohol with herbal alternatives. So you can use something like valerian to calm down, feel a little relaxed, maybe a little buzzy. You know, it's going to support sleep.

What about kava?

I love kava. Kava is a desert island herb for me. It's, it's always in my, in my bag. I always travel with it. I love that plant.

Yeah, I know, I know a lot of friends at social gatherings, uh, who are eliminating alcohol or reducing it. Um, they'll have some kind of kava drink or beverage.

Yeah, lozenges. It's great.

I mean, so we're talking about things like You mentioned dopamine, dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, you know, some of these neurochemicals. Are there certain plants that have been shown to help, for lack of a better word, balance out dopamine, cortisol, serotonin more naturally? Are there certain herbs that could help maybe support our nervous system, strengthen our nervous system?

Absolutely. There are both. So there's an entire category of herbs for the nervous system, and this is— these are called nervines. And I actually, I structured my book around the categories of herbs because I find it very beneficial for people to understand herbalism through the categories of herbs. Otherwise, it looks like we have thousands and thousands of plants, and how do I know which one I need for my, you know, for my need? If we look at categories, we see, okay, I have a nervous system request, I can work with nervines. I have a stress need, you know, I I can work with adaptogens. I'm having trouble sleeping, I work with sedatives. I need energy, I work with stimulants. I wanna support my brain health, I work with nootropics. So the categories really simplify the, you know, tremendous amount of herbs that we have available into a smaller set that we can then work with. So nervines for the nervous system.

Yeah.

And nervines tend to work more quickly.

Mm-hmm.

Than adaptogens, for example. So nervines are lavender, chamomile, rose, lemon balm, motherwort, valerian, California poppy, you know, plants that many of us have probably encountered in teas or essential oils or things like this. And they work generally quite quickly to help calm the nervous system and also over time to help rehabilitate that system. Some herbs like St. John's wort, for example, it's a nervine. It's also an antidepressant, but it traditionally and historically, it was used to rehabilitate physical nerves. So it's not just the sort of action of the nervous system, but the actual physical health of the nerves in the nervous system. Another plant that does that is actually a mushroom, and that's lion's mane. If we have any kind of nerve damage, Um, anywhere in the body, brain included, we can use something like, uh, St. John's wort or lion's mane to help rehabilitate that. In terms of affecting neurotransmitter levels, there are herbs that will do just about whatever we want, which is really fun, really exciting, uh, and it's something that we can customize based on our specific neurochemical balance. So, for example, mucuna pruriens is an herb that is, you know, commonly called dopamine bean, and it helps to increase levels of dopamine in the brain. Can be used to treat Parkinson's or related, you know, conditions, but also can be used on a daily basis if we are seeking more of the flow state, for example. You know, I love that plant. Rhodiola. is also supportive of dopamine levels. Uh, St. John's wort helps support serotonin. So all these herbs, they do whatever we are looking for. We just have to find our— we have to find our right balance, and it exists.

Does it matter the, the delivery system? You know, you mentioned, you know, essential oils or, or teas, or people are taking pills. Does it— does, does this make a difference, or is it specific for that substance?

It's generally more about quality than delivery system. You know, the best delivery system, of course, is the one that someone is going to use on a regular basis. So if you don't drink tea and you don't like the idea of drinking tea, you know, don't pursue tea. There are capsules, tinctures, powders. You know, essential oils, as you mentioned, all these different ways to ingest it. So quality is the most important aspect in terms of seeking herbal supplements. Thereafter, capsules are the most convenient and they tend to be the most potent. They're the most disconnected from the plant. You know, we have no experience of what kava tastes like. We don't know what St. John's wort looks like, which happens to be beautiful in tincture form.

Mm-hmm.

However, if it's realistic for us to use capsules, then that's completely fine. I, I use a lot of capsules at this point, especially because I travel so much. Many of my herbs are in capsule format, but the delivery system is less important than finding a high-quality supplement, really.

You know, we, we've done a couple episodes on, on the gut. You know, some people call it their, their second brain, and the gut-brain axis is for digestion or good gut health. Are there certain kind of go-tos, kind of your favorites?

Absolutely. I love this category of herbs. So for gut health, um, in particular, we have bitters and bitter herbs, you know, for example, citrus peel, um, bitter greens, gentian, uh, dandelion root, burdock root. It's, it's quite actually any sort of plant compound that tastes bitter.

Mm-hmm.

Because when we taste that bitter, flavor, as soon as it hits our tongue or any other receptor, and we have bitter receptors throughout our bodies in very fascinating places, in the lungs, for example, as soon as our body receives that bitter flavor, the benefits begin. And those include improved digestion, improved motility, which have a sort of secondary benefit for liver function and detoxification. Bitters have a sort of down-and-out action in our body. They're helping to keep things, you know, moving through the digestive system in particular, improving the levels of digestive enzymes. So often in my practice, I would use bitters and only add supplemental digestive enzymes if necessary, and it was almost never necessary because the bitters function so well to help restore our levels of— Natural digestive enzymes. So these are my favorite for digestion kind of across the board. There are also herbs that help to heal the mucous membranes in the digestive tract, help to reduce inflammation, help to kind of relax muscles in the intestinal tract if there's gas or bloating or cramping or things like that. We call those carminatives. But I really focus on bitters. In the book and in my work, because the world needs this category of herbs perhaps more than any other. It's underutilized, but, um, very accessible and very effective.

Well, we'll spell out a lot of the ones that you're mentioning for people, 'cause I'm sure that they'll be curious 'cause they're probably taking notes or something like that in the show notes. So, uh, jimkwik.com/notes. If, um, Michelle, if you were gonna only have access to, let's say, 5, kind of your go-to for cognitive health, cognitive performance, right? Yeah. And I don't want to limit you to only 5, but what would you— if you're going to go on an island somewhere, you didn't have access to others, like, what would kind of— what would you grab and what would you want to—

That's a fun challenge. So I would definitely start with turmeric. We know it is anti-inflammatory. I think one of my favorite sort of lesser-known benefits of turmeric is How it reduces inflammation in the brain and how that can actually improve, um, you know, mental health conditions or emotional imbalances by reducing the inflammation specifically in the brain.

And is it like the, the curcumin that, that's, that's the act— like the active compound that's supportive in that?

Exactly. And thank you for mentioning that because yes, we do want the curcumin. Um, but one thing that we have seen is curcumin Combined with whole, so full spectrum turmeric works better than curcumin simply isolated. So you want that isolate, you know, that isolate and that concentration, but come recombine with some turmeric and generally black pepper, which is a bioenhancer.

Okay. So we have turmeric.

I would also bring St. John's wort. You know, it might be a little depressing on this island all by myself. I might need a little bit of mood support. St. John's wort, but also for The benefit of the, you know, nerve, the physical nerve health that I mentioned. It's also a nervine, you know, in that way. So, um, just kind of a general sort of uplifting ally with, um, nerve health benefits. I would take mucuna pruriens. That's dopamine bean colloquially. I love that plant. I think, um, you know, knowing my neurochemical balance, you know, I like to have a, some kind of dopamine support in my, my stack, if you will. That plant, that one's fantastic. And that's really nice to take in powder form actually when we're, we're talking about formats. It's, it tastes a little bit like a caramel or something. It's very easy to work with, very finely ground. Then I would probably bring, I would bring rosemary. Rosemary is very well studied. Memory, focus, concentration, but particularly memory. And it's very easy to work with. You know, a lot of these studies are, are done on people who are just drinking a cup or 2 of rosemary Interesting research behind that for memory and focus.

So ashwagandha is a pretty regular for me. What about bacopa?

Bacopa is fantastic. I mean, bacopa is the herb that we recommend most often for ADHD and related symptoms or focus needs. It is fantastically effective for that. Calm focus, retention. It's a great herb. I like that one a lot, especially for, again, anybody who has trouble focusing or wants to improve mental function, perhaps around high performance needs, test taking or presentation or public speaking, things like this. So that's a beautiful one. And ginkgo is another classic. For brain health, you know, increasing cerebral, cerebral circulation.

Like blood flow.

Yes, exactly. You know, ginkgo and rosemary are sort of these like nootropic herbs for longevity, you know, whereas the mucuna pruriens and the rhodiola and the things that are tugging on different neurotransmitter levels are a little bit more for sort of short-term gains, if you will. I think of ginkgo and rosemary, you know, ashwagandha perhaps as these Ginseng certainly is these long-term longevity supportive plants.

Yeah. One of, one of my go-tos for focus and alertness, um, over the years has been, um, Alpinia galanga. Am I pronouncing that right? I think, I think it's caffeine-free, but it, when I, when I take it, it just, I could, I could see a boost in my alertness and my, my, my focus, my, My mental energy levels. I don't know if that's something that you've tried or looked into or researched.

Yeah, I have. You know, it's not one that I wrote about in this book. There was a challenge certainly in narrowing down, you know, the plants to feature because there are thousands and thousands.

There are probably more plants than there are, you know, kinds of animals, right?

That, that is something I don't know, but it seems likely. It seems like, I mean, we're just, and we're discovering thousands more every year, you know?

Right.

So it's one of the things that I love about herbalism because, you know, if you want to, you know, the, the opportunity to learn and explore never ends. And of course, you know, science is, is studying more of these plants all the time. But yeah, I really tried to feature herbs that were the most accessible, that were the most broadly beneficial, you know, um, safe, um, effective for a wide variety of people. Not a lot of safety concerns. There are not a lot of safety concerns with herbalism in general, which is a common misconception. But, um, yeah, it was a, it was a challenge to narrow it down.

I imagine. Maybe that would be a very big book, like a doorstop reference guide. Yeah, very big book. And on the podcast, we talk a lot about stacking habits, right? Because we want to make something that's small but achievable. The idea is like, you know, little by little, little can become a lot when we're consistent. Are there any kind of small habits that you've integrated with yourself or with clients that they could start? adding into their days, maybe to improve their cognitive health? Like, I'm just, I'm thinking about routines or, you know, some people, they'll make a tea in the morning and they'll journal or they'll do their reading or it doesn't have to be exclusive to herbs. When I'm, if you were to analyze an average typical day for you, if you're not traveling, what are some kind of non-negotiable habits or routines? None of the ingredients contained in the Kwik Mind product are claimed to treat any disease or health condition. Consult your own physician before commencing a Do you struggle to stay focused or find that your mind wanders when you need to be sharp? Are you looking for an advantage or an edge that can eliminate sluggishness and elevate your cognitive performance? That's why, after decades of research and development, I'm thrilled to bring you Kwik Mind. It's more than just a supplement. It's a key to unlocking your cognitive freedom on a day-to-day basis. Kwik Mind is a powerful blend of 4 powerful ingredients. Basis. Just imagine having the clarity of thought, sharp focus, better memory, and being calm under pressure. Every capsule of Kwik Mind is a blend of 5 pristine ingredients, each backed by research and chosen for its ability to support specific cognitive functions. So are you ready to meet the sharpest version of yourself? It's just a click away. We have it all at kwikmind.com, kwikmind.com. Place your order for Kwik Mind today and join a community that's redefining what it means to live a life of mental abundance.

To answer the first part of your question, I absolutely love, you know, that you talk about habit stacking, and I believe in that wholeheartedly. And over the years, used that, you know, countless times to help people change their lives, right? Because it can. Just one small step at a time. And especially if we're working to integrate herbalism into our lives and maybe, you know, we're all probably practicing it in one way or another already and don't realize it, but to intentionally sort of say, you know, I wanna improve my brain health with herbs, I'm going to add this in. Definitely, you know, if you're already taking supplements, add an herbal supplement to one of those times of day that you're, you know, taking supplements to one of those stacks. If you're drinking coffee, consider adding an herbal coffee either in with that coffee instead of one cup of coffee a day, you know, swapping in herbs for something that you're already doing. The same applies to alcohol, for example. If you're having a glass of wine in the evening or a couple, consider an herbal alternative in place of one of those. All of those could have, you know, pretty dramatic brain health benefits as we've discussed. So I love adding herbalism on, you know, habit stacking to help it become part of our daily routine.

And it could be delicious too. It can be nutritious and delicious. And I know some of the bitter ones, you know, might be, I don't know how palatable, but those are probably the most high return for a lot of people in terms of their specific needs. You mentioned coffee. I mean, some people, they add mushrooms like lion's mane or reishi. Maybe they'll add some cacao to their coffee. For people who coffee is not their thing, but they still want that kind of little bit of a boost, what's your personal go-to?

I mean, I love herbal coffees. So that's a caffeine-free, coffee-free, you know, blend of functional mushrooms, adaptogens. Often there's some bitters snuck in there and you can't necessarily tell. I mean, cacao is a bitter as well, so not all bitters are totally unpalatable. Many are, but not all of them. So I love, I love an herbal coffee. I love an herbal tea. And it can be— I'm a big fan of brewing a big batch of herbal coffee at the beginning of the week, a big batch of herbal tea at the beginning of the week, and I'll drink that herbal tea as my water throughout the day. You don't have to reheat it and sip it in a cup. You can drink it by the court if you want to. And that sort of, that sort of task batching as well is very effective if you wanna weave these herbs into your day. Those are some of the tactics I like, you know, or tinctures, which are easy to just drop into whatever water you might be drinking already. I'm, I'm inclined to, you know, spike my sparkling water at restaurants with herbal things and not order a cocktail, you know?

Yeah, I like the idea of, of that prep also. It's kind of like food prep, right? It just makes your life very simple throughout the rest of the day. You don't have to use a lot of decision fatigue trying to figure things out. Like in the beginning of the week, we'll make our— like yesterday, we happened to make some like goji berries in water. Very, very simple. But it was something that I could just the next couple of days, just the ease of just drinking it and it tastes good.

I love that. You know, and that reminds me something you said earlier. It should be enjoyable. It should, it should be, you know, pleasurable. And herbalism really is such a beautiful practice to add into our life. It is visually stimulating. It is palatable in interesting ways. It is fascinating to learn, you know, how it's working in our bodies. And ultimately, every time we're engaging with these herbs in supplement form, in tea form, in food form, we are creating these little moments of reconnection with nature. And that is at the heart of this healing, you know, tradition. It is— we are nature, and the more we can reengage with it, even if we start with that in capsule form, the better.

I love it. And I'm curious because Some people would have concerns just, there's additional costs, you know, and obviously we have to invest in our health and our health is our greatest wealth. You know, there's that saying that a healthy person has 1,000 dreams, but a sick person has only one, right? One dream of just getting healthy again. But in terms of cost, is it possible that some of our listeners actually have Um, some amazing resources and even in their kitchen already, um, in their, in their spice rack or somewhere else that they might not even realize or are putting attention to that this could be supportive?

Absolutely. Yes. It is generally the case that we are working with herbs already and may not know it. Yeah. So most spices are medicinal. Turmeric, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, all of them, all of them have benefits. Um, you know, some, some are, are, are highly, highly medicinal. And, you know, spices are also generally pretty concentrated. You know, you just need a couple of, of cardamom pods or, or fennel seeds to chew after a meal or something, and you get this very, you know, Fragrance, fragrant tea or fragrant dish or whatever it is. So cooking with more spices is one great way to, you know, begin or just realize that, you know, we're already practicing herbalism. Um, any kind of tea, you know, as long as it's, it's made from a plant, and I'm not aware of any teas that are made with anything else, you know, is, is a, is a form of herbalism. So is essential oil. So is incense, again, if it's made with natural ingredients. So maybe doing a little tour of the pantry or the fridge and kind of taking a second look at what's in there and considering, you know, might this be medicinal? And if so, how might I use it more intentionally? It's a fantastic way to start working with herbalism, you know, quote unquote, for free. We already have it. And it does remind me of the point that herbalism will Always work with food first. Food is the first medicine, and we will not recommend plants as medicine without first considering this— these classic pillars of health, you know, nutrition, uh, movement, community, sleep.

Sure.

Our food really is our, our first medicine, and if we're able to, um, be well With our diet exclusively, you know, in addition to these other things, but our diet without medicinal plants, then, then herbalism would stop there. You know, the goal is not to have everybody taking 25 extra herbs a day. The goal is to have a healthy, balanced body, mind, and life. And the more simply and the more naturally we can do that, the more simply and naturally we will do that.

Well put. Well put. I'm a big fan of teas, you know, even more than coffee of recent, the past few years. If I was to put a recipe for like the morning and maybe an evening, because it's not just the drinking, the tea is, it's very, it puts me in a state, right?

Mm-hmm.

Allows me to wind down in the morning, allows me to be creative, kind of set my day. So it's almost like a mindful practice. I'm not on a digital device, you know, when I'm drinking my teas. If I was to put together a little recipe for this week, something to take in the morning, maybe that little brain boosting, give me a little bit of an edge there, and then something in the evening to kind of wind down. What would go in the morning and the evening one?

You know, the first thing I would say is, um, I mean, I love green tea. I don't know if you drink caffeine, but if, if it's green tea or, you know, matcha, um, in the morning, that can be a really nice place to, to put that herb. And They're fantastic, you know, brain health benefits, full body benefits in that plant. So I would do some green tea. I would add rosemary since we're, you know, in love with that one today and always. Perhaps some tulsi or holy basil, which is a highly aromatic plant that sort of functions as a nootropic as well as an adaptogen.

Mm-hmm.

And I don't know if I specifically stated the definition of nootropics. I'm sure your audience is familiar, but just to be clear, when I refer to nootropics, you know, herbal or otherwise, it is any ingredient that improves memory, focus, and concentration.

Yeah.

And maybe some lemon balm as well. I know my community really loves lemon balm. It's a beautiful flavor. Again, it's aromatic, and these aromatic herbs They're high in oils, you know, essential oils in plants, and have this action of kind of clearing, you know, clearing our minds, clearing our bodies. There's sort of clarity, you know, that we experience. We smell that aroma, you know, and when we smell that, we're inhaling those essential oils.

Mm-hmm.

And they are entering our bloodstream in the same way that we're drinking this tea and Those benefits are entering our body or those compounds that result in the benefits are entering our body. So there's something really beautiful about the aromatic plants for brain health. Here's an example of one of those I think everyone can relate to, and that's mint. You know, you smell mint, you feel that, right? You smell it, but you feel that sort of action of clarity and kind of waking up.

What about in the evening in terms of, so I generally have it maybe a couple of hours before bed just to kind of wind down, see the sunset. Not every night, certainly. But what are some of the key core ingredients you would put into an evening tea?

So I would work with nervines generally, nervines and sedatives, which have a lot of crossover between the two. Sedatives tend to be sedative nervines in terms of categories and subcategories. If people are really taking good notes, I would recommend, you know, I would do passionflower for one. Passionflower is a calming nervine herb that we use to address rumination, monkey mind. You know, if there's any sort of recursive thinking, then we're using passionflower. I also really like skullcap, which is another nervine that helps to address physical tics and twitches, any kind of restlessness. In the body, restless leg syndrome, tossing and turning, you know, physically just agitated from the energy of the day. Chamomile as well. It's another nervine, but chamomile also is what we call a carminative. So it's an herb I mentioned in, you know, earlier related to digestion and gut health, and it's helping to relax smooth muscles in the digestive and intestinal tracts to keep motility moving well. That can help with You know, digestion overnight and ensuring that, you know, everything is being processed well. Also very calming, also well tolerated by children or anybody who's particularly sensitive. So chamomile is a really nice calming herb. I could go on from there, but that's, that's probably plenty for the evening tea.

So people are listening and they want, they want to go deeper in this. You, you've piqued their interest.

Great.

For some people, there's, maybe it's new for them. I mean, many of people in our community, it's kind of built in and it just reinforces and they have some more options that you've given them. But if somebody just wants to start exploring, where do they start? Do they guide themselves on their own? They should, they could pick up a copy of your book naturally, of course. And we'll put a link there also as well in the show notes. Do they have to talk to a nearby herbalist in their, in their town, or do they go to the local market or store, or where would you, where would you recommend people go that you kind of pique their interest and they, um, they wanna go deeper and certainly connect with you also as well?

Well, naturally I recommend my book, but, um, in addition to that, you know, for, for going deeper into herbalism, I would say it first begins with Yeah. With someone's individual interests, you know, is it, is it that I would like to find an herbalist to work with sort of one-on-one to optimize my health or to teach me about my body specifically and how to work with these herbs? Do I want to start trying to make my own remedies at home? Am I interested in gardening? Am I the sort of DIY hands-on, you know, learn-as-I-go type? Do I want to understand the science of it, the formulation, more of the history? Do I like to be in a sort of classroom setting? Do I want to go foraging? So these are just some examples of, you know, where we can go to start in terms of learning herbalism. And what I would say is, you know, find a teacher, find a practitioner, or find a school perhaps that you resonate with depending on what your interest is in herbalism. And the main resource That I tend to recommend people to, um, you know, beyond my book, which is really designed to be the introduction for anyone who is interested in herbalism, whether they've heard of it or not. Um, I like to refer people to the American Herbalists Guild, which is the, you know, governing body for herbalists in the States. And it's a, an organization that provides a ton of resources in terms of these are the schools that we've approved. These are teachers and mentors that we love. These are events that are coming up. These are other books on the subject. Um, that is the most sort of official place to go to, you know, find resources on herbalism.

In addition to your book Naturally, which we'll put links to again, I'm sure people could find it wherever they find books. Um, how do people stay in touch with you if they wanna go deeper? Website, social media?

Yeah, definitely. So I am at rachellerobinette.com. And I highly recommend signing up for my free newsletter there. Uh, you can also follow me on Instagram @RachelleRobinett, and I am on YouTube and all of the, the other places. Website newsletter is, is the number one place where we're publishing information about herbalism every week. So.

Yeah, I would encourage everyone to take a screenshot wherever they're consuming this right now, but I will definitely, uh, listen to the extended version on YouTube. If you're listening to the audio version, we limit it to only 20 minutes. Maybe take even a screenshot and you could tag, you could post it and tag Rochelle, tag myself on social media so we get to see it and maybe share your favorite, since we're talking about herbs, maybe everyone's favorite herb or one that they're gonna try thanks to listening to this conversation. Last question before we wrap. Our podcast is at its core about the love of learning. And I just like to ask our guests, Outside of this topic that we've discussed, is there anything, maybe one thing that you're currently learning about or studying that has you particularly excited or interested in?

Well, I love that question because I also love learning, as you probably heard, and intend to do it forever. Yeah, I am actually, I've begun working on my next book and it is taking me into the study Of pleasure and the sort of tensions between convention and authenticity. And so I'm, I'm basically learning about, you know, the idea of true nature and the experience of true nature and things like embodied cognition, you know, that feeling of knowing and how we know when we know. You know, and, and intuition and these sorts of things. So I would say I'm learning about, about true nature, which is no small, no small project. But, um, that's where I'll be for the next indefinite amount of time.

Yeah, there's a nature around us and then there's a, you know, our nature, uh, you know, as, as, as humans and souls. Um, this is amazing. This story from farm to fashion and beyond. I want to thank you for being on the show and for opening people's minds to this topic. You know, I think people are listening at different levels, both of interest and of information. But in this, we've explored how nature can become one of your greatest allies in optimizing your cognition. Your brain's obviously part of your body. And what I love about this is that these tools are, they're accessible, right? You don't necessarily need to have a farm, although that would be nice, or a lab. Maybe just a little intention, awareness, you know, some resources to be able to make a cup of tea. So this is a great conversation. I want to encourage everybody, if you want more insights like this, to join Rochelle's YouTube, join ours there. You could join 1.8 million subscribers where we put the extended version. That highest compliment is sharing and leaving a comment. I read, because I'm an avid reader, I read every single one of them. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. And most of all, part of it is like, we learn it, but then I would just challenge people to take one action and to teach it to somebody else to really own it and get the benefit from knowing this great information. People can listen to podcasts like this. And take no action and their life is no better because of it. But, um, take a little small, tiny action. So I want to thank everyone for listening. Until next time, this is your brain coach, Jim Kwik, and we'll see you in our next episode. Be limitless.