Feeling Stressed?

We tend to think of stress as a modern malady, but you’d better believe that the pharaohs of ancient Egypt and the emperors of Rome suffered their fair share of anxious moments.* The herbs ancient civilizations used to soothe stress can still benefit us today in #thesetryingtimes—especially the 10 botanical beauties listed here. Many of us are newly discovering the power of herbal medicines (that’s 2020 for you), but archeological excavations show that humans have been using plants for medicinal purposes for 60,000 years. The oldest surviving written record of medicinal plant use dates from 1500 BC in Egypt. Sophisticated systems of medical treatment developed centuries ago, such as traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, are still widely used today and are largely based on botanicals.