Deb Friedman: Hi! I'm Deb Friedman. I am a trained clinical herbalist, and I am currently working at the Still Point Mind & Body Wellness Center, Takoma Park, Maryland. I have a Master of Science Degree in Herbal Medicine from Tai Sophia Institute in Laurel, Maryland, which currently is the only accredited school in the country with a graduate program in Herbal Medicine.

In this video, I am going to show you how to make an herbal tea for stress. If you are a working parent with too much to do or a college student with a big important test coming up or work with too many deadlines, a cup of herbal tea can be very calming, soothing, and relaxing and even if you are not under stress, you can enjoy the uplifting qualities of herbal tea. Now, if you have a more complex issue, herbs can still be very useful, but you might want to consult with a trained herbalist.

Now to make a cup of tea, what you will need is, of course, one of the many wonderful nervine herbs such as chamomile, lemon balm; there are many others. You can buy them as loose bulk teas or in tea bags. You also will need a way to boil water such as teakettle on your stove or just a pot you can boil water in; something else you can use is an electric coil. You don t have to have a stove at all; you just plug it in and put it in your cup. If you are using the bulk herbs, you are going to need something to strain it with, so just a plain strainer or a fancy tea infuser or just a simple tea ball. Of course, you will need a cup to drink out of, and you will also need something to cover the cup -- any kind of a lid or you can even just put the saucer on the cup. An herbalist can also tell you what herbs you shouldn't take if you have a particular condition. For example, a woman who is pregnant should be more careful about what herb she takes.

Now let's start learning about the herbs and how to make a good uplifting cup of herbal tea.