Herb of the Month: Tulsi • First Impressions

Ocimum sanctum, O. tenuiflorum aka Tulsi

For those of you who may not know, I am currently enrolled in an herbalism program to further my studies and deepen my understanding of herbs. Herbalism isn’t new to me, as I’ve been studying on my own since high school. However, I recognize the value of learning from someone with far more experience, so I decided to sign up for classes.

My long-term goal is to become registered with the American Herbalists Guild. It’s one of the most recognized professional credentials available for herbalists in the United States. Eventually, I’d love to do more with both community and clinical herbalism, and this program is an important step toward that goal.

In our classes, we’re encouraged to choose an herb to work with each month and explore it in a variety of ways. We’re also encouraged to use our intuition when selecting an herb because our bodies often know what we need most. My plan is to drink tea made from this herb daily, or as often as possible, and experiment with turning it into other preparations such as tinctures, salves, tea blends, and more.

Before diving into the nitty-gritty details in a future post that will serve as a monograph for tulsi, I wanted to share my first impressions. One of the exercises we’re encouraged to do is experience an herb before researching it, allowing us to form our own observations before researching what others have written about it.

Today, I stopped by my local tea and herb shop to pick up the herbs I needed and finally gave tulsi a try. My first thought was that I’d definitely had it before, somewhere, in some tea. The flavor felt familiar. It’s light, flavorful, and brews into a deep chestnut-colored tea. To me, it’s reminiscent of both black and green tea.

What I noticed almost immediately was a sense of calm and restful energy. Earlier in the day, I’d practiced a sweaty vinyasa flow in the sun and spent quite a bit of time doing yard work, so I was already feeling tired physically. The calming quality of the tea stood out right away. It even has me feeling a little sleepy, although that could just be the result of an active day.

I’m also trying a tea-making method that was recommended by one of my teachers. I combined equal parts red clover, tulsi, nettle, and ginger in my French press, filling it about an inch deep before pouring in hot water. The plan is to let it steep overnight and drink it in the morning.

I’m curious to see how this blend tastes after a long infusion and how these herbs work together as friends. I’ll be back with more on how this herb works in the body and the results of my tea blend!