Mood Steeping: What Happens When You Sync Teas with Emotional States

by Dr. LaSonya Lopez

April 17, 2025

In a world where emotional overwhelm has become the norm, most people turn to external distractions—scrolling, shopping, snacking—to manage their moods. But what if the answer is already in your kitchen, waiting in a jar of loose leaves and roots?

Herbal tea is more than a beverage. It’s an emotional language. When we begin to align what we steep with what we feel, a subtle but powerful shift occurs. We stop resisting our emotional experience—and start partnering with it.

Welcome to the practice of mood steeping: choosing and preparing herbal tea based on how you feel, or how you want to feel.

Emotional Intelligence Meets Botanical Chemistry

Emotions are physiological events. They are driven by neurotransmitters, hormones, and subtle shifts in the nervous system. Herbal teas—when selected intentionally—can support or modulate these responses through plant chemistry.

Every herb has a frequency, a pharmacological profile, and a “tone.” So do your emotions. Syncing the two isn’t woo-woo. It’s intelligent healing.

Understanding the Mood Map: Feelings & Their Herbal Allies

Let’s look at common emotional states and the herbs that speak their language.

Anxiety / Overwhelm

• Herbs: Lemon balm, passionflower, oatstraw, chamomile

• Why: These herbs support the parasympathetic nervous system and regulate GABA, calming excess neural activity

• How to Steep: Long steep (15+ minutes) in a covered vessel to maximize nervine and flavonoid release

Low Mood / Emotional Fatigue

• Herbs: Rhodiola, holy basil (tulsi), rosemary, ginger

• Why: These adaptogens and circulatory stimulants help uplift mood and fight brain fog

• How to Steep: Combine warming herbs with lemon or honey to increase brightness and circulation

Irritability / Frustration

• Herbs: Peppermint, dandelion root, lavender, skullcap

• Why: These herbs support liver qi (in traditional systems) and reduce internal tension

• How to Steep: Cold infusions or lightly steeped blends to cool excess heat

Restlessness / Sleeplessness

• Herbs: Valerian, linden, hops, chamomile

• Why: Sedative herbs that work with circadian rhythm and nervous exhaustion

• How to Steep: Evening steep, warm infusion with oat milk or honey to ground energy

Seeking Clarity / Emotional Reset

• Herbs: Tulsi, sage, lemon verbena, green tea

• Why: These stimulate cognition while providing emotional clarity and lightness

• How to Steep: Midday tonic blends with a citrus slice or sprig of mint

Beyond Mood Matching: The Ritual of Mood Regulation

Mood steeping isn’t just about what’s in your cup—it’s about how you prepare it.

• The Pause: You stop. You assess. You ask, “What am I feeling right now?”

• The Choice: You intuitively or intentionally choose a herb that meets you there.

• The Steep: The process becomes your practice—a container for your emotion.

• The Sip: This is where physiology meets psychology. You feel it move through you.

When steeping becomes a daily ritual, it rewires the way we relate to our own emotional state. Instead of suppressing or spiraling, we sip, observe, and reset.

Innovative Ways to Use Tea as an Emotional Ally

Let’s move beyond the standard tea bag. Mood steeping is creative, sensory, and sacred. Here are some next-level practices:

1. Mood-Based Tea Bars at Events

• Guests choose blends based on their current emotion or desired vibe (great for retreats or women’s wellness circles)

2. Journaling with Tea

• Pair specific herbs with journaling prompts. Example: Passionflower + reflection on fear. Ginger + writing your vision.

3. Aromatherapeutic Tea Inhalation

• Smelling your steeped tea before sipping activates the limbic system. Great for grief, tension, and transition.

4. Cold Brews for Heated Moods

• Use peppermint, lemon balm, or hibiscus for emotional cooling and mood regulation during summer or high-stress moments

5. Emotional Mapping Through the Week

• Assign a blend to each day of the week based on energetic tone. For example:

  • Monday (focus): rosemary + tulsi

  • Wednesday (ease): lemon balm + oatstraw

  • Friday (release): peppermint + lavender

The Science of Self-Soothing

This isn’t just a feel-good practice—it’s functional neurobiology. Mood steeping activates:

• The vagus nerve, which regulates digestion, heart rate, and calm

• The limbic system, where emotional processing lives

• Interoception, your body’s internal sensing ability (which helps you understand your needs and boundaries)

When you respond to your emotions with a tea ritual, you’re not escaping—you’re engaging. You’re creating a safe feedback loop between mind and body.

Final Pour: A Cup for Every Feeling

There is no such thing as a wrong mood. Only unmet emotions. And sometimes, meeting them is as simple as choosing the right blend, lighting a candle, and giving yourself permission to steep.

Mood steeping invites you to stop running and start listening—to your body, your feelings, your tea.

Because when you match your herbs to your heart, healing doesn’t feel like a chore. It feels like coming home.