Vidya Reddy is the host of The Tea on Wellness Podcast and co-founder of Tea & Turmeric in Laguna Beach.
Vidya almost didn't start this podcast. Chest tight, brain fried, running on cortisol and chai, she was living the exact episode she hadn't made yet. This is that episode.
Most of us were never taught what cortisol actually does or how to work with it. We just keep going, running on caffeine and adrenaline, wondering why we feel so off. In this episode, Vidya breaks down the science in plain language and shares the herbal tools and daily rituals that have made a real difference, for her and for the customers who walk through the doors of Tea and Turmeric every day.
What You Will Learn
What cortisol actually is and why it gets stuck in the on position. The signs your cortisol may be too high, including ones you might not expect. Why adaptogens like ashwagandha and tulsi help regulate your stress response, and how L-theanine, an amino acid from green tea, supports relaxed alertness. How a simple 5-minute tea ritual can physically shift your nervous system. The honest story of how Vidya almost did not start this podcast, and what cortisol had to do with it.
The Science of Stress
Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands and released through the HPA axis, your body's internal alarm system. In short bursts it is genuinely helpful. It sharpens focus, balances blood sugar, and gets you ready to take action. The problem is that modern life, emails, traffic, notifications, emotional strain, never tells it to stop. Over time the stress loop stays switched on, cortisol keeps pumping, and the adrenal glands simply cannot keep up. This is what many people call adrenal fatigue, and it shows up as fatigue, brain fog, belly weight, cravings, poor sleep, and low grade anxiety.
The Herbal Reset
Adaptogens are herbs that help the body adapt to stress without sedating or overstimulating. Ashwagandha, tulsi, and L-theanine from green tea are some of the most well-known herbs and compounds used to support the stress response. These are not quick fixes. They work gently over time, and the results show up in real life.
A Ritual for Your Nervous System
This episode closes with a guided tea ritual you can do in five minutes. Whether you sit with it now or come back to it later, it is designed to bring you gently back to yourself. Boiling water, the smell of herbs, a quiet intention. Sometimes the smallest pause makes the biggest difference.
Featured Teas and Blends
Stress Less Tea
Divine Tulsi Rose Tulsi
Ashwagandha
Find all of these at teaandturmeric.com or visit us in Laguna Beach at 1175 S Coast Highway.
Read Next
Stay Connected
Come visit us in Laguna Beach or explore our teas and spices anytime at teaandturmeric.com. We share recipes, brewing tips, and behind the scenes moments on Instagram at @teanturmeric. Got a question or a story about how tea is helping you? Email us at hello@teaandturmeric.com.
If this episode brought you a little calm or clarity, leaving a quick review helps more people in Orange County and beyond find the show. Thank you for being part of our little wellness community.
This episode is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.
Chapters
0:00 - The Tea on Wellness — Show Intro
1:00 - Wired but Exhausted? What Cortisol Is Really Doing
2:20 - What Is Cortisol and Why Your Body Can't Turn It Off
4:00 - Signs Your Cortisol May Be Too High
5:30 - I Almost Quit Before I Started: My Cortisol Story
7:00 - What Are Adaptogens and How Do They Lower Cortisol
8:00 - Ashwagandha, Tulsi, and L-Theanine for Stress Relief
9:00 - How Customers Used Adaptogen Tea to Reset Stress
9:45 - Guided Tea Ritual for Cortisol Relief
12:00 - Where to Find the Teas — Tea and Turmeric Laguna Beach
12:26 - Show Outro
Transcript
Podcast: The Tea on Wellness
Episode: Wired but Exhausted? How to Lower Cortisol Naturally
Host: Vidya, co-owner of Tea and Turmeric
Location: Laguna Beach
[0:00] Welcome: Stress, Cortisol, and What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You
[Vidya]: It is 7:12 a.m. The coffee is cold, your phone is buzzing, and your shoulders are somewhere near your ears. That is not chaos. That is cortisol.
Gosh, do you feel like I do? Stress is not a moment anymore. It has become a lifestyle. We wake up tired, end the day wired, and somewhere between caffeine and collapse, our nervous systems are quietly begging for a reset.
If you have ever felt alert but foggy, restless but exhausted, calm one minute and tense the next, that is not you being dramatic. That is cortisol doing its job a little too well.
Hi, I am Vidya, and this is The Tea on Wellness, where we explore what your body is really trying to tell you, one cup at a time.
[1:20] What Is Cortisol and Why Your Body Can't Turn It Off
[Vidya]: Here is what is really happening inside your body.
Cortisol is your main stress hormone, produced by the adrenal glands, two tiny organs that sit on top of your kidneys. When your brain senses pressure, it sends a signal through something called the HPA axis. Think of it as your body's group chat for stress. Your brain, glands, and hormones all light up at once, ready to help you handle whatever is coming.
In short bursts, cortisol is your friend. It wakes you up in the morning, sharpens your focus, balances blood sugar, and helps you meet challenges. When danger or a deadline hits, cortisol floods your system so you can take action.
But here is the problem. Our lives never tell it to stop.
Emails, traffic, lack of sleep, emotional strain, constant notifications. Your body treats all of it as a threat. The stress loop stays switched on, cortisol keeps pumping, and eventually your adrenal glands simply cannot keep up.
That is what people often call adrenal fatigue. Your stress system falls out of rhythm. Your body is still trying to protect you. It just has not learned how to power down. And it is not a character flaw. It is your biology reacting to modern life.
That is when you start feeling wired but tired. You wake up groggy, crave sugar or coffee, maybe snap at small things, then lie awake at night unable to rest.
Sound familiar? That is not burnout. That is your body asking for balance.
[3:00] Signs Your Cortisol May Be Too High
[Vidya]: The signs are not always obvious. Sometimes high cortisol just feels like life.
Watch for waking up exhausted even after a full night of sleep, craving sugar or caffeine especially in the afternoon, carrying belly weight that will not shift no matter how clean you eat, and a kind of puffiness in the face that was not there before. That is what people are calling cortisol face online, and it is rooted in real physiology. Chronic high cortisol can cause fluid retention and change how fat is distributed in the face.
Beyond that, watch for brain fog, feeling flat in the mornings but unable to wind down at night, low grade anxiety or irritability that feels out of proportion, and getting sick more often than you used to.
None of this means something is broken. It means your body is communicating. And once you understand what it is saying, you can actually respond.
[4:30] Cortisol Face, Chest Tightness, and My Own Burnout Story
[Vidya]: When I first had the idea for The Tea on Wellness, it came from joy. That pure excitement of wanting to share everything I have learned about herbs, ritual, and real wellbeing. But when it came to the how, that is exactly when stress showed up.
I had counted on my sister Kavita to help with the tech side of things. Microphones, editing, uploading, all the behind the scenes pieces that make a podcast sound effortless. But Kavita was already buried in the website revamp for Tea and Turmeric and everything else that keeps the shop running.
So I had a choice. Let the podcast go, or face the part that scared me.
And the truth is, I almost let it go. I told myself, who starts a podcast for a tea and spice shop? Who is even going to listen?
But the idea would not leave me alone. It kept tapping me on the shoulder until I finally said, okay. Let us figure this out.
Those weeks were genuinely hard. My chest felt tight all the time. My brain was fried. I was running on cortisol and way too much chai. And what got me through it was not a productivity system or a new app. It was the same thing I tell my customers every single day. Pause. Breathe. Make tea.
Boiling water. The smell of herbs. Five quiet minutes with our Stress Less tea or our Divine Tulsi Rose. That is what steadied me enough to keep learning, keep recording, keep creating.
[6:00] What Are Adaptogens and How Do They Lower Cortisol
[Vidya]: There is a reason that worked, and it goes well beyond comfort.
Adaptogens are herbs that help your body adapt to stress. They do not sedate you and they do not overstimulate you. They bring your cortisol rhythm back into balance.
Think of them as gentle coaches for your adrenal glands. They do not silence the stress response. They retrain it.
[7:20] Ashwagandha, Tulsi, and L-Theanine for Stress Relief: What the Research Says
[Vidya]: Ashwagandha has been shown in clinical studies to lower elevated cortisol and improve sleep quality in adults under chronic stress. It is one of the most well-researched adaptogens in Ayurvedic medicine and modern science keeps catching up.
Tulsi, or holy basil, calms the nervous system while supporting focus and emotional clarity. Research suggests it helps restore equilibrium after chronic stress without causing drowsiness. It has a gentle, slightly spicy quality that feels grounding in a cup.
And green tea, through an amino acid called L-theanine, promotes alpha brain waves, the ones linked to relaxed alertness and meditation. You have probably seen L-theanine added to all kinds of supplements and stress relief potions on Instagram and TikTok lately. Our take at Tea and Turmeric is simple. Just get it from its original source. Green tea. It works, it is whole, and it comes with thousands of years of wisdom behind it.
[8:45] How Customers Used Adaptogen Tea to Reset Their Stress Response
[Vidya]: I have seen these shifts in real people, not in labs or journals, but across my counter at the shop.
Emily is a graphic designer from San Clemente. She swapped her afternoon coffee for our Stress Less tea. A month later she told me she did not even need that second coffee anymore and that she was actually sleeping.
Then there is Rosa, who runs a small catering business in Irvine. She swears by our Stress Busting Chai mid morning instead of coffee. She said it felt like her nervous system finally learned how to breathe.
That is the quiet magic of adaptogens. They do not change your life overnight. They teach your body how to recover.
[9:30] Guided Tea Ritual for Cortisol Relief
[Vidya]: So instead of just talking about balance, let us feel it together. Let me guide you through a mindful ritual that has helped me so much.
If you are driving, walking, or doing something that needs your full attention, simply listen for now and come back to the ritual later.
Begin by choosing a calming tea that speaks to you. Maybe it is the gentle spice of tulsi or the grounding warmth of ashwagandha. Let your choice be a small act of care, a way of saying, I am ready to slow down.
As your water heats, notice your breath. Inhale slowly through your nose and exhale gently through your mouth. You might hear the faint sound of water starting to bubble, or smell the dry herbs waiting to open.
Now pour the water. Watch as the leaves swirl and unfurl and color the water. This is where transformation begins. The leaves open up and maybe, slowly, so do you.
Hold your cup for a moment. Feel the warmth in your palms. Before taking that first sip, notice the rising scent and the way the steam brushes your face.
Then sip slowly. Let the taste anchor you in the present moment. Between each sip, breathe. Let each exhale release a little more tension. Let each inhale remind you that you are here and you are safe.
Now offer a quiet gratitude for the tea, the plants, and the time you have made for yourself. Set a simple intention. May this tea calm my nervous system. May I move through today with balance and grace.
And whenever you are ready, take your final sip. Notice how you feel. Not fixed. But steadier. That is the power of presence in a cup.
[11:40] Stress Relief Teas from Tea and Turmeric, Laguna Beach
[Vidya]: Your body already knows how to restore itself. It just needs the right support. A pause, a breath, a cup.
Because calm is not found in a week off or a perfect morning. It is built one sip at a time.
You can find the blends I mentioned, our Stress Less tea, Stress Busting Chai, Divine Tulsi Rose, and our Tulsi and Ashwagandha blend at teaandturmeric.com, or come visit us in Laguna Beach if you are nearby.
Until next time, take care of your nervous system, sip slowly, and let your tea bring you back home.
About the Host
Vidya is the host of The Tea on Wellness Podcast, ranked in the top 25% of new podcasts globally. She is co-founder and owner of Tea & Turmeric, a tea and spice shop in Laguna Beach, Orange County, California. Raised in Eastern Canada in an Indian family rooted in Ayurveda, she grew up drinking masala chai daily in her Amma Amma's kitchen long before sourcing loose-leaf herbs for her own shop. Today, Vidya formulates functional herbal teas and spice blends and speaks with customers every day about stress, sleep, digestion, and nervous system support. She shares Ayurvedic tea traditions, adaptogens, and practical wellness rituals bi-weekly on The Tea on Wellness Podcast.
Resources & Links
Shop the Episode:
Stress Less Tea
Divine Tulsi Rose
Ashwagandha
Shop All Stress & Anxiety Teas
Visit Us:
Tea and Turmeric, 1175 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, California
Shop Online: teaandturmeric.com
Instagram: @teanturmeric
Email: hello@teaandturmeric.com
This episode is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.
Episode Length: 12:48
Category: Wellness, Health, Mind and Body, Stress Relief, Adaptogens, Cortisol, Herbal Tea, Nervous System, Ayurveda, Orange County
Publish Date: May 20, 2026
Location: Laguna Beach, Orange County, California
