Another Tool to Help Us Stay Steady?

How herbal medicine can repair the physiological damage caused by systemic threat and restore the biological capacity required for long-term endurance.

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Dear friends

I wanted to share something with you that has, until now, stayed in the background of my life. During the years I spent studying nervous system regulation and mind-body medicine, I also trained as a Master Herbalist. I never intended to practice in a clinical sense — I sought instead to gain a precise, technical understanding of how medicinal herbs support our bodies, especially the nervous system. Living with a chronic medical condition, I felt it was vital to be able to make fully informed, safe, and independent choices about my own health and the wellbeing of those I love. But it is now becoming clear that this knowledge could offer meaningful support to us all as we navigate these difficult times together

When we find ourselves under the weight of prolonged stress, it often feels as though our internal resources have been entirely depleted. While cognitive therapy — the “thought work” we have begun moving through on a Tuesday — is an incredible tool for organising our thoughts and developing healthier coping mechanisms, it does require a certain level of mental energy and physiological stability to be fully effective. This is where herbal medicine can serve as a gentle, grounded partner. By addressing the physical toll that chronic stress takes on our nervous and endocrine systems, these herbal medicines can create a more resilient internal environment. They help the “thought work” feel like a natural progression rather than an exhausting uphill struggle.

Adaptogens for Long-Term Endurance

At the heart of this relationship is the concept of adaptogens. These are a specific class of herbs that work by non-specifically increasing our resistance to stressors. When we are stuck in a state of hyper-vigilance or “burnout,” our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis becomes dysregulated — this often manifests as that “wired but tired” feeling where we are exhausted yet unable to truly rest. Adaptogens help to smooth out these physiological peaks and troughs. By moderating the output of cortisol and adrenaline, they stabilise the physical symptoms of the stress response so that we have the mental energy and focus we need for the long term. These plant medicines also help us to process the realisations we arrive at during our thought work. It is much easier to unpack our subconscious beliefs when the heart isn’t racing and the muscles aren’t perpetually braced for impact.

Nervines for Restoring the Frayed System

Beyond the systemic balance provided by adaptogens, nervines are used to repair and soothe a nervous system that has been shredded by constant threat and systemic instability. These herbs can be used to widen what psychologists call our “window of tolerance”. When our nervous system is too agitated, we might find ourselves reacting defensively or feeling overwhelmed by the world around us. Nervines help to lower that baseline agitation, allowing us to stay present and engaged rather than retreating into emotional numbness or panic. In the context of cognitive therapy, nervines help quickly lower the “physical static” of acute anxiety — the tightness in the chest or the racing thoughts that make it impossible to concentrate. By dialing down that immediate physical distress, they create a sense of calm that allows us to apply our mental tools without being hijacked by the body’s panic response.

Heart-Centred Herbs for Grief and Courage

When stress is accompanied by a sense of profound loss — such as the loss of a democracy or a community space — it often manifests as a heavy, hollow ache in the chest. This can make working on our thought process feel quite abstract or even futile. In these moments, the physical and emotional heart benefits from specific, targeted nourishment to avoid the feeling of “breaking” under the strain. Heart-focused herbal medicines have a long-standing reputation for providing a sense of containment and protection when we feel emotionally exposed or depleted. Some also help us stay soft and open-hearted, preventing the hardening that so often follows profound disillusionment. By soothing the physical tension and the “thumping” anxiety that often accompanies a sense of loss, these medicinal herbs help us maintain the emotional stamina needed to stay engaged with our values. They help us find the courage to continue participating in the world, even when the broader landscape feels deeply fractured.

Nootropics for Cognitive Restoration

When we are depleted by prolonged stress, mental clarity is often one of the first things to go, leaving us feeling foggy, indecisive, and disconnected from our own reasoning. Nootropics serve as a bridge in these moments, helping to restore the cognitive function that stress has compromised. This in turn makes the “thinking work” we are doing more accessible and effective. When we are trying to learn new cognitive patterns or break old thinking habits, we are essentially asking our brain to build new physical pathways. By supporting synaptic plasticity, these plant medicines make the brain more readily able to adapt to the changes we are trying to implement. By improving executive function and mental stamina, herbal supports also provide us with the clarity and focus needed to stay present during difficult moments, ensuring that we can process complex emotions without being immediately overwhelmed by cognitive fatigue.

Another way nootropics can assist us is by fostering a state of “calm alertness.” Many of us find that chronic stress makes our thoughts race in a way that feels productive but is actually just circular. Nootropics can help us filter out the physiological static of anxiety, granting us the objectivity we need to distinguish core truths from reactive impulses. This creates a more resilient internal environment where the insights we gain from our “thinking work” can be integrated and sustained, ensuring they are not lost to the persistent haze of exhaustion.

Vital Tonics for Physical Resilience

Under prolonged stress, we need to ensure that our physical bodies remain a strong vessel for the mind and spirit; these tonics ensure that our basic biological fires continue to burn. Some herbal medicines support the liver and the digestive system, which are often the first to react sluggishly to the environment of social stress and poor nutrition. Others might help provide the iron, magnesium, and vitality needed to pull us out of the “freeze” response and back into active participation. Others still settle a “nervous stomach” or wake up an appetite that has been lost to grief, ensuring that we are physically absorbing the nutrients needed for the fight. Systemic circulation can be improved to help prevent the cold, stagnant feeling that comes with a loss of hope. Lymphatic tonics can help keep things moving in the body, preventing the physical and mental stagnation that occurs when we feel trapped and unable to act.

Restorative Support for Neurological Recovery

The impact that prolonged stress has on our sleep architecture is a vital consideration in our healing. When we are caught in a cycle of hyper-vigilance, our bodies often lose the ability to navigate the transition from the noise of the day into the silence of the night. Often, our nervous system remains on sentry duty even when we are physically exhausted, making it difficult to find true stillness. Gentle herbal medicines support the body’s natural descent into deep, restorative sleep by quieting the internal chatter and easing the physical tension that keeps us tethered to our anxieties. This offers a way to find rest that avoids the heavy, chemical sedation often induced by synthetic alternatives, which can leave us feeling mentally clouded the following morning.

This deeper level of rest is where the recovery of our cognitive function happens. During these hours of stillness, the brain is able to process the emotional realisations we have uncovered during our “thought work”, moving them from the fragile space of short-term memory into the stable foundation of our long-term understanding. Without this restoration, our efforts to reshape our thinking patterns lack the physiological stability they need to become a permanent part of our daily experience. When we wake up feeling truly refreshed, we possess the mental clarity and emotional stamina needed to face the deeper, often uncomfortable work of self-reflection.

Intentional Rituals for Integrated Healing

There is also a significant, symbolic synergy in the act of using herbal medicine alongside our “thought work”. Taking a tincture or brewing a specific cup of tea becomes a ritual of self-care — the physical manifestation of the commitment we have made to our own healing. This ritual acts as a grounding bridge between our more abstract “thought work” and our daily lives. We are a biological whole that requires nourishment and tenderness, existing as much more than a collection of thoughts to be analysed. By supporting our bodies, we can give our minds the grace they need to change, ensuring that the progress we make in our thought sessions is built on a foundation of physical stability.

I have been considering sharing more specific advice on supplementing with herbal medicines here — brief weekly posts offering practical insights into the plants that can help us maintain our centre. I’d love to know if this is something you would welcome; it will help me understand how I can best support you as we move forward.

In solidarity, as ever

— Lori

© Lori Corbet Mann, 2026

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About the Author:

Hi, I’m Lori, the writer behind Your Time Starts Now.

I learned authoritarianism the hard way. Eleven years in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe regime taught me that our most vital infrastructure isn’t the power grid or the economy — it is the human nervous system. When the world becomes volatile, our biology is the first thing to be weaponised. If we cannot regulate our anxiety, fear, and moral outrage, we will lose our ability to think, discern, and act with integrity.

I’ve spent twenty-five years at the intersection of nervous system regulation and mind-body medicine, learning how to stay functional when external safety disappears. I write for those who stand against the same authoritarian patterns now emerging in the West and want a strategy for resilience that goes deeper than “just breathe”. I offer a map for staying grounded, capable, and ethically clear-headed in a time of accelerating pressure.

If this sounds like something you’d welcome, I warmly invite you to subscribe.