Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is a lemon-scented herb from the mint family, grown in European monastery gardens for a thousand years. It is valued for easing tension without dulling you.
A thousand years in the garden
Its name gives away the oldest use: melissa is Greek for honeybee, and growers planted it around hives to keep bees close. The Greeks and Romans kept it for that long before it reached the cloister garden.
By the Middle Ages it was a fixture of European monastery gardens, one of the few herbs kept as much for how it made people feel as for anything it could treat.
What Lemon Balm feels like
Soft, green and quietly cheering. The tension goes without the fog that usually comes with it, which is why it sits beside Passionflower in Ritual Serene, holding the stillness open a little longer.
Soft, green and quietly cheering. Calm, without the dulling.
What’s inside Lemon Balm
The compound studied most is rosmarinic acid, alongside the aromatic oils that release the moment a leaf is crushed.
Is Lemon Balm safe?
Lemon Balm is one of the gentlest herbs in the cupboard, and has been eaten as food for as long as it has been grown.
A note on wellbeing
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to your doctor before use. Lemon Balm is a botanical enjoyed for everyday wellbeing. It is not a medicine, and nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition.
Ritual Serene
15ml sachetBlueberry & mint10 per cylinder
In Ritual Serene, Lemon Balm is what keeps the calm from tipping into heaviness, alongside Passionflower and Blue Lotus, in a 15ml sachet that blooms into colour when it meets water.
Explore Ritual SereneLemon Balm, quickly
What is Lemon Balm used for?
Traditionally, Lemon Balm is used to settle a busy mind. It is also a long-standing culinary and tea herb.
Does Lemon Balm help you relax?
It is best known for taking the edge off tension, which is why it is so often blended with other calming herbs rather than used alone.
Is Lemon Balm a stimulant?
No. Lemon Balm contains no caffeine.
Is Lemon Balm safe?
Lemon Balm is very gentle and well tolerated. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to your doctor before use.
Where does Lemon Balm come from?
Melissa officinalis originates around the Mediterranean and spread north through Europe, largely by way of monastery gardens.
Lemon Balm is one of eleven botanicals behind Social, Serene and Sharp. Also in Ritual Serene: Blue Lotus, Passionflower, Magnesium Taurate, Butterfly Pea Flower. See all eleven botanicals →