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I take Jatamansi in two formulas I make, one for the heart, and the other I described way back on the thread, I call it Relax and Sleep, does a lot of different things.

I would generally recommend taking Jatamansi with some other herbs, generally most herbs work better that way. But just starting out with it, might be useful to take by itself and see how that goes. It all depends on what condition you would be taking it for.

Here is a bit more info about Jatamansi, in addition to what I posted in #389, copying from Ayurvedic Herbs East & West by Vishnu Dass, with a few added comments by me:

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Jatamansi is a tridoshic (ie balancing for all constitutions) rejuvenative for the nervous system that shares the calming quality of valerian, its close Western relative (there is also an Indian valerian I use that is not as dulling), without creating dullness of the body or mind. It has affinities to the mind, nerves, muscles, heart, liver and GI tract. Its grounding effect on the mobile, erratic qualities of Vata (I need to explain these terms hopefully later today) makes it useful in the treatment of anxiety, restlessness, spasms, tremors, convulsions, and even epilepsy.

It has a sattvic quality (mode of goodness, peacefulness) that helps to cool and pacify the mind, improve memory and concentration, and enhance awareness. It is u seful for hyperactivity and the inability to focus, so it is expecially helpful for children labeled ADD and ADHD. For this, it can be formulated with herbs like Ashwagandha, Shankpushpi, Gingko, Bacopa, and Vacha.

When combined with equal parts Vacha, it revitalizes the mind and nervous system and helps balance Vata and Kapha. Its calming and stablizing actino helps to improve the functional integrity of prana vayu, the vital breath, and the aspect of vata which carries nutrients throughout the body via (sorry for the technical terms) rasa (basically plasma and lymph) and rakta dhatu (blood). It helps to relax the heart muscles and is a mild vasodilator used in the treatment of hypertension and hypotension (esp. when vata related), arrhythmia, and heart palpitations. In those cases, it combines well with Ashwagandha

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There is a lot more on the use of Jatamansi but those are the main uses. For heart, I would definitely use some other herbs as well, especially Arjuna which is the primary Ayurvedic herb for heart conditions, and Hawthorne is also very good but Arjuna is IMHO the superior herb for heart.

My heart formula is based on Arjuna:

6 pts Arjuna
3 pts Hawthorne
3 pts Jatamansi
2 pts Punarnava (good for excess water/edema)
1 pt Cardamom

If you want to post what your specific condition or situation you are thinking of taking Jatamansi for I could give suggestions of other herbs to use with it, if you want. You can PM me too if you’d prefer.