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Unexpected Softness
Passionflower (P. Incarnata) & Yerba Mate
Citation:   eliogabalus. "Unexpected Softness: An Experience with Passionflower (P. Incarnata) & Yerba Mate (exp40582)". Erowid.org. Mar 30, 2005. erowid.org/exp/40582

 
DOSE:
  oral Passion Flower (tea)
    oral Yerba Mate (tea)
BODY WEIGHT: 155 lb
I wasn't expecting much at all. I had heard of passionflower's potential as a treatment in opium withdrawal and of its slight sedative effects, but had never felt them except during my worst insomnia and combined with valerian root, and the only effects then were merciful sleep and nothing I could monitor. Neither brewing the passionflower as a tea nor smoking it had provided a thing, and as I was still early on in my relationship with herbs, I was ready to give up on the plant as a potential aide to me.

I got the Yerba Mate and the Passionflower from the same herbalist, and since the bags were right next to each other and I was already late for the class, (a film class but rather dull and late at night), ended up pouring a good bit of the powdered plant bits from the bottom of the bag into my Mate gourd before realizing my error and pouring Mate in over my mistake. I filled the gourd with water before leaving and rushed out the door; I estimate that the mixture steeped for about 15 minutes agitated only by my walking.

When I sipped at the beverage, I noticed an understated sweetness to the Mate like that added by Stevia, that I can only guess was added by the passionflower. I finished the first cup quickly and refilled the gourd from my water bottle, finishing another 2 cups like this within about 20 minutes.

Beyond my imagination's ordinary capacity, the passionflower casually took the edge off of everything around me, which at that moment was the ordinary dullness and faux-academic discussion of some morbid tiny-budget American flick from the 90's. Much more easily was I able to tune out this, and I felt a sort of swimming in my head as I was able to retract from the realm of the senses, again in greater capacity than any daydream had before allowed. It resembled the ordinary intoxication of mid-grade marijuana, lethargic and brain-fuzzed, but with room to spare for jumpy sequences of linear thought. It was boosted, however, by the yerba mate's stimulant properties, out of a drooling state so that when the class was mercifully done, I was able to walk to the door just fine.

This is a combination worth investigating further, pleasant but mild in taste and effect, and after the length of the class (80 min) I was able to shake off the worst of it and continue with my night.

Exp Year: 2004ExpID: 40582
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 30, 2005Views: 37,597
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Passion Flower (121), Yerba Mate (282) : Combinations (3), School (35)

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