Herbal Ally Series - Valerian Root - More than a Sleep Herb

0:00I'm excited for this herbal LA episode because we're talking about Valerian, or Valerian aficionalis. Now Valerian is often thought of as just a sleep herb, but although she's really good at that, she's so much more in a sleep herb. So what if the real value of this plant isn't just that it helps you fall asleep, but it supports your body and actually transitioning out of a state you've been in all day. Because for many women, it can be really hard to fall asleep, or to stay asleep, or maybe you wake feeling like you haven't really slept at all. And underneath that there's often a nervous system that hasn't fully let go, a body that's still holding the day, even when you've stopped working. So in this episode, we're exploring Valerian as more than a natural sedative, although I am going to talk about that too. We look at how it works in your body, how it supports both your mind and your physical

1:02body to unwind, and why it can be such a powerful ally for sleep when your system feels wired, but tired. We're also touching on the nuance. Why Valerian doesn't feel exactly the same for everyone, and how to work without an away that falls aligned with your body. And then we're going to take it one step further into what this means for your clarity, your emotional steadiness, and the way you show up in your work and leadership. Because sleep's not separate from how you think, how you decide, and how you lead. So if your sleep hasn't felt as restorative as it could be, or your body doesn't quite know how to switch off at the end of the day, then this episode will give you a different way of understanding why. Let's get started, shall we? Welcome to Project Joyful, the podcast for Health Scented Leaders. Project Joyful is a space for conversations at the intersection of leadership, health,

2:04and lived experience. Here we explore what it means to lead in ways that honor your body, protect long-term capacity, and support a life that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. This episode is part of the biology of leadership series, in this series, which will leadership through your body, not as a performance to optimize or a mindset to fix, but as a biological experience, straight down your mind. Leadership doesn't just live in decisions, strategies, or roles. It lives in your nervous system, and how responsibility is held, and how reliability and care are quietly organised your body, long before your consciousness. These conversations are for leaders who are capable, trusted, and affected, and who are curious about how leadership is experienced internally, not just how it performs it's doing. There's nothing you need to do as you listen, no insight you need to apply.

3:08This is simply an invitation to understand what's been shaping your experience of leadership and need the service, and what's become possible when biology becomes part of the conversation. Let's begin, shall we? Valerians often spoke about as a sleeper, and she is an amazing sleeper, but she also does so much more than that, because what she offers your body isn't simply sleep, it's a way to let go, not collapse, and not sedation in the way we often think of it, but a very specific kind of softening, where your nervous system unwinds without you losing clarity, functional edge. And this distinction matters, right, especially if you're someone who's very good at staying switched on. If your mind's used to holding complexity, solving problems, leading, thinking ahead.

4:09Now what's often missing isn't your ability to perform. It's your body's ability to come down from that state, to transition out of activation without your mind continuing to loop, where your body holding tension long after your days ended. Now Valerian meets you exactly in that space. She doesn't force your system, she invites it. And over time, she begins to teach your body something it might have forgotten how to do on its own, how to release safely. So from a sleep perspective, research shows that Valerian can help to improve how quickly you fall asleep, and also your overall perception of sleep quality. And you may even notice that from a single dose of Valerian. For some people, myself included, there's a very tangible, the date of effect, the first time you take it. You can feel your body start to soften that gorgeous heaviness, eases in and sleep comes a little more easily.

5:11Where the research becomes interesting though, is that while that immediate effect can absolutely be there, the more consistent and reliable improvements tend to come when Valerian's taken over a period of days or weeks. So we're not just looking at a one night intervention, right? We're looking at a cumulative effect where the nervous system begins to shift its baseline. There's also some indication that Valerian supports deeper stages of sleep. It's often referred to as deep sleep or slow wave sleep. And that's the phase that's associated with physical restoration, cellular repair, and that feeling of actually waking up refreshed rather than just technically having been asleep. So it's not just about getting you to sleep, it's about the quality of what's happening once you're there. And that consistency piece becomes important because Valerian isn't designed to override your system for a single night.

6:12Even though it can help in the moment, she also works with your body over time, gradually restoring your ability to move in the rest more naturally. It's almost like your system starts to remember that pathway. Now part of how she's thought to do this is through her interaction with gamma pathways. And these are involved in calming neural activity, but unlike pharmaceutical sedatives that strongly force that pathway, Valerian's action appears to be more modulating than overriding. And so what do I mean by modulating? Well what I mean is that she's not pushing your system in one direction, she's helping to adjust and stabilize what's already there. So if your nervous system's running high, she helps to bring it down, but in a way that still allows your body to stay responsive rather than shutting it off completely. And that's why unlike many sleeping tablets, you don't tend to get that heavy foggy hangover

7:13feeling the next day. Your brain hasn't been pushed into an artificially suppressed state. It's been supported into a more natural rhythm of activation unrest. And for someone whose minds used to stay very active, that distinction, well it's everything. You'll often feel whether Valerian is for you before you even take it, not as a diagnosis but as a quiet recognition. It tends to be the kind of nervous system that can carry a lot, right? The one people rely on, you're the safe pair of hands. The one who holds it together, follows things through and doesn't drop the ball. The one who can hold focus, responsibility, complexity, often for long periods of time without it showing on the surface. But then the transition out of that state doesn't seem to happen very cleanly. You might notice at the end of the day when you finally get into bed and your body's tired, but your mind's still moving.

8:14It's still running conversations, replaying decisions, planning what's coming next. Or it's that moment where everything's technically done, but you don't quite feel settled. You know there's still a subtle hum in your system, like your body hasn't received the signal that it's safe to switch off. Sometimes it shows up physically, a tightness in your stomach that doesn't fully release or a kind of low level bracing in your chest even when nothing's immediately wrong. And from the outside none of this looks like a problem because you're still functioning, you're still leading, you're still showing up at a very high level. But internally your system hasn't completed the cycle. It's stayed just slightly activated and over time that becomes your baseline. And this is where Valerian tends to meet you. Not because something's wrong, but because your body's become very, very good at staying

9:15on. But it just needs support remembering how to come back down. Now one of the things I always like to say with Valerian is that she's not a one note herb. So far I've been talking about Valerianna aficionality, which is the species that I most commonly use in practice. Now for many people there's that immediate sense of softening, the body drops, the mind quiet, sleep comes more easily. But for some people the experience can feel a little different. Occasionally Valerian can feel almost hyper, not dramatically sober enough that instead of softening, your system feels a little more switched on. And this is where it's really important not to make that mean that Valerian's wrong for you. Because zooming out for a moment, the research and traditional user actually very consistent on this. Valerian's a sedative, it's a relaxing and it supports sleep. It's well established. What we're talking about here are the nuances and how that experiences felt from one person

10:18to another, not whether the herb works, right? So rather than thinking this won't work for me, it's more accurate to think that this might need to be adjusted for my system. And that's the same for all herbs. Now Valerian's chemically complex, right? And how it behaves in your body can vary for a number of reasons. So that variation can come from how when the plant was harvested, which parts of the plant were used, how it was processed into the product that you're taking. And also how you're taking it, whether you're taking it as a tea, a tincture, or a capsule. What's the dose? All of these factors influence the phytochemical profile, so essentially the concentration and balance of active compounds in what you're taking. Which means two people can both be taking something called Valerian and actually it can be quite different medicines. And there's also some evidence that different species of Valerian behave differently. So one study comparing species showed variations in sleep patterns, including differences

11:20in how often the participants briefly woke during the night and changes in their REM sleep. So from a clinical perspective, this makes sense, because different species can have different phytochemical concentrations, and therefore a slightly different effect on your body. You're sometimes here of Valerianna edulis, commonly known as Mexican Valerian being used in practice. And this is particularly good for people who find Valerianna a fissionalis, a little too stimulating. And this is where I see my role as your herbalist, because it's not just to give you a herb for a symptom. It's to help you connect with the plant that your body's actually already searching for. This herbal medicine isn't about forcing a uniform response. It's about working with your body's individuality of finding the right match, the right preparation, the right dose, so that your system feels supported rather than pushed. And sleep's not a luxury, it's not something that your body can de-prioritize without consequence.

12:26It's one of the core biological processes that underpins your health, your cognitive function, your emotional regulation, and how your body sustains itself over time. And it also shows up on how you're being as a leader, and how you're interacting with your colleagues and your team. So every night your brain's actively processing information, consolidating memory, regulating emotional responses, and clearing metabolic waste so that you're thinking as sharper and more efficient the next day. Well at the same time your body's repairing, restoring, and recalibrating your nervous system. So when sleep's disrupted even slightly, it doesn't just stay contained to the night. It carries forward into how you think, how you respond, and how you lead. You might notice as decisions taking longer than you feel they're short, or they feel less clean, you might have a slightly shorter fuse, a sense that you're having to work

13:28harder to access clarity that would normally be there. Research shows that poor or fragmented sleep's associated with reduced cognitive performance impaired memory and lower stress resilience, which means that your ability to hold complexity and stay composed under pressure is directly affected. And that's what shows up a lot of the time when we're leading, right? For many women, the response to that isn't to rest more. It's to compensate, to think more, to control more, to push a little harder. Well what's actually happening is that your nervous system hasn't fully reset. It's still carrying activation from the day before. And this is where Valerian becomes more than just a sleep support, because when your body can move into deeper, more restorative sleep, not just waking up more refreshed, you're waking up with a different internal baseline. Clear a thinking, more emotional steadiness, less internal noise.

14:31And from that place leadership becomes sharper, not because you're doing more, but because your system is finally working with you instead of against you. I'll usually use around a teaspoon of the dried root, I'll steep it for about 10 minutes, take it as a tea. And if I'm wanting a slightly stronger effect for sleep, I'll either increase the amount that I'm adding to my tea, or take it as a texture, so I don't tend to steep it for longer. Now here's the thing, right? Valerian does have a very distinctive smell and taste. It's quite musky, earthy, often described as pungent, and for many people it really is an acquired taste. It's a bitter herb, but there's also a depth to it. And some people notice a slight softness or warmth, or even a hint of sweetness underneath that initial bitterness, particularly when it's taken as a warm tea. And in herbal medicine, we often talk about taste, not as a single note, but as a layered

15:35experience. So a herb can be better on first contact, and then reveal something softer or slightly sweet underneath, especially when it's taken as a warm fusion like a tea. And that complexity is part of what you're experiencing with Valerian, so if the taste or the smell doesn't appeal, capsules can be a rarely practical option, because they bypass that sensory experience altogether, while still giving you the benefit of the herb. So when it comes to working with Valerian, I tend to keep things quite simple, because this is a herb that doesn't need to be overcomplicated to be effective. Personally I only take Valerian at night, because I do feel it's state of effect quite clearly and quite quickly. And so for me it's something I use to support that transition and to sleep rather than during the day, and I take it when I need it. I most often use it as a tea, like I said, particularly in the evening, because there's

16:36something about that ritual of preparing it, letting it sleep, and then drinking it slowly. It all really begins to signal to your body that you're moving towards rest. Valerian's also something that I tend to take with me when I'm flying long haul, because it's easy, portable, and it can really help to support sleep in a different environment. So I take it as a capsule, and like I said, when you're waking up from it, you don't have that foggy hangover sleep tablet feeling, which I find quite helpful when you're transitioning through an airport that you don't know. And then there are periods where using it more consistently allows your body to really relearn that pathway into rest. So over time it becomes less about needing it every night and more about restoring that baseline. Now I have to say, Valerian has quite the reputation in the animal world. I used to have a cat who would go completely bananas the moment I opened a bottle of Valerian

17:39tincture. Who would appear instantly eyes wide completely fixated on her? So it's a very distinctive plant, not just to us. So when you think about Valerian, yes, she is a powerful sleep hub. But more than that, she's a plant that supports your body in remembering how to let go. Not by forcing it, not by overriding it, but by gently guiding your system back into a rhythm that for many people's been lost through years of staying switched off. And when that rhythm starts to return sleep changes, and so does everything that sits on top of it, your clarity, your emotional steadiness, the way you move through your day and the way you lead. So if this conversation sparked your curiosity and you're starting to see how one simple herb can have a very real impact on how your body functions.

18:39This is exactly what we explore inside my Herbs for Health series. Each month we focus on one herb and we really get to understand it. How it works, who it's for, how to use it in a way that feels simple and precise. So that you can support your sleep or manage your stress or support your mood in your immunity without feeling overwhelmed by everything that's out there. Now it's free. All you need to do is sign up. There's an email that'll come to you once a month. So if you'd like to know more about that, you can explore more about it at my website tracytasty.co.nz forward slash Herbs for Health. I'll also drop that link in the show notes, sending you lots of love. Bye for now. Hey, thanks for listening to today's podcast. Can I ask you a favour? Tell a conversation spoke to you today. Could you please take a moment to leave a five star review?

19:41Your review will help people discover this podcast and together we can create a world where there's even more love and more laughter. If you want to hear more from the Project Joyful podcast, just click the subscribe button. Bye for now.