ASHWAGANDHA (Withania somnifera) is a deeply treasured tonic herb that dates back to 6,000 BC where its uses first evolved through India’s ancient tradition of Medicine, Ayurveda. It has been traditionally used to support body strength and cognitive abilities such as memory, focus, and mental recall. In healthy males, virility and sexual function may also be enriched.
However, it has been used typically in Rasayana (“path of essence”), a traditional Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy that promotes the rebuilding and revitalizing of strength within the body and mind, particularly from a state of depletion, illness, or convalescence.
Ashwagandha’s effects can be felt as pacifying and soothing, yet invigorating and energizing. This gentle tonic herb balances these internal struggles of highs and lows, excesses and depletions. In the purest sense, nurturing all that needs to be nurtured, in order to bring us back to ourselves. This deep inner harmonizing brings peace to our internal elements, so that one may adapt and then exist from a place of equanimity and nourishment.
REISHI MUSHROOM: First discovered by Chinese healers over 2000 years ago, Reishi (Ganoderma lingzhi) is a potent and sacred mushroom, also referred to as the elixir of immortality. Being a herb of spiritual potency, it allows one to connect with their divine power, balancing the spirit, embodying consciousness, and enhancing longevity.
Reishi allows the immune system to return to a state of precious balance and restoration. It is a potent antioxidant, reducing formation of free radicals in the body. In accordance with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Reishi nourishes the respiratory tract, alleviating coughs and expelling phlegm. It offers relief from feelings of weakness, fatigue, and weariness, yet equally soothes in states of sleeplessness.
The calm alertness it provides permits the body’s Qi to be replenished and restored, whilst tonifying and invigorating the heart Qi – our sincerest force of life. This sacred mushroom facilitates connection to our truest essence, so that one can live wholeheartedly, and in good health.
AMERICAN GINSENG: First discovered and harvested in the forest of New England in the early 1700s, American Gingseng (Panax quinquefolius) is since one of the most readily used adaptogens in Western Herbal Medicine. It belongs to the genus Panax, meaning “all healing” in Greek.
American Ginseng has been used for hundreds of years as a nerve tonic, acting therapeutically to bring a sense of sedation that serves to calm the nerves and enliven the mind. It peels away layers of tension, stress, fatigue, weakness and weariness, allowing for expansion into a greater sense of bliss and pleasure.
Adaptogens assist in counteracting the damaging effects stress has on our various interconnected bodily systems. They have medicinal and stimulant properties that assist in neutralizing such harmful effects, bringing us back to a stabilized state of inner equilibrium and composure. Adaptogens allow one to remain grounded and held with an open heart, despite the uncertainty of the world around us.
