Create a quiet, tranquil environment for your meal, similar to how you would prepare for meditation. Remove screens, noise, and distractions—allow it to be just you and your food.
Sit upright with your back straight. Close your eyes and recall a moment in your life when you felt deeply happy and carefree—perhaps a serene hike in nature or standing near a beautiful waterfall. Fully connect with that memory and the feelings it brings, then gently carry those feelings into the present moment.
Open your eyes and observe your food. Notice its colors and aromas. Inhale deeply through your mouth, hold for a few seconds, then exhale through your nose. You may already begin to feel as though you’ve tasted the food. Notice your saliva activating, and swallow.
Begin eating slowly and mindfully. Focus on the sensations on your tongue. Avoid conversation. Chew thoroughly, and as you swallow, recognize that you are taking in nourishment and life force.
After your meal, sit comfortably with your spine upright. Close your eyes, breathe through your nose, and, if you’d like, listen to soothing music. Bring your attention to your digestive organs, starting with your stomach, and notice any sensations. Stay as long as you feel called, in silence. When you’re finished, observe how you feel.
Creating space for your body to do what it is designed to do can greatly enhance your energy and clarity throughout the day. Try bringing this awareness into each meal and notice the difference it makes.
“He keiki aloha na mea kanu" — "Beloved children are the plants.”
We are at the beginning of a movement. For many years this land that we call Kaua’i Farmacy has grown and held so many of our dear beloved herbal allies. We are learning that all plant beings have a place, as do we, and our focus of true restoration has now expanded beyond the plants that you commonly know such as Tulsi, Ginger, and Comfrey.
We are on the cusp of transformation and restoration and are so excited to share with you that we have recently begun inviting and tending to Native plants on the farm.
Native Mamaki amongst Lemon Balm
What is a native plant? A native plant is a species that occurs naturally in a specific region or ecosystem, having adapted over thousands of years to the local climate, soil, and wildlife. Natives are a representation of the true and pure identity of a place and all that inhabit it. Their presence is medicine. When nature is in order it is at its highest frequency and that is felt and permeable to all who encounter it. When you are in an ecosystem that is balanced and congruent, it feels divine.
We are currently tending to over 32 Natives here at the farm. Some are Native varieties of herbs you know well. Mamaki is a treasured native in the Nettles family. Ahinahina is a native Wormwood. We also have native Mints, Mallows, and types of Brahmi. Our intention to restore them to the environment is through honorable repurposing and hybrid ecology.
We are planting at risk Natives in and amongst medicine plants such as Lemon Balm, Spearmint, and Bacopa. These herbs are helping the natives to adapt to an environment they are having to relearn how to be in.
Medicine plants are the immunity of the garden and natives are the most immune compromised of this land, having had to adapt to all kinds of external pressures and pollutants - Hawaii being the epicenter of endangered plant species in the world. We are already seeing results of healthier immunity in natives surrounded by these medicinal allies. 
What does this mean for you, us, the world? We are exploring the opportunity to redefine medicinal and ecological practices. To gather insight from the Natives and what they offer through their embodiment of ancient adaptability. What can they teach us about evolving harmoniously with all of life?
The Natives carry with them life lived in reciprocity. A living symbol of remembrance, a time capsule of all that has brought and continues to bring us together. A reminder to carry one another with honor. They are the living reverence of what it means to take care, to give and receive, to be of purposeful service.
Native Ma'o ~ Hawaiian Cotton
Where in your world can you reflect these qualities? Who are the natives growing in your backyard? How can you tend to them, invite them in and offer them a peaceful place to grow alongside the other plants? It is this embodiment of a living prayer that we can create a beautiful world - one in which there is room for all to grow.
Would you like to put your resources to work alongside this living project?
Donate HERE on a sliding scale to support native plant stewardship and this living work of restoration and reciprocity.
What Are Tinctures?
Tinctures are liquid concentrates of plant matter. They provide a quick, direct delivery of herbal compounds to your bloodstream. Our farm-grown, hand-harvested herbs are placed in locally made vodka and left to sit for 4–6 weeks, extracting up to 95% of an herb’s beneficial constituents. They primarily extract alkaloids, resins, balsams, essential oils, and flavonoids.
How to Use Tinctures 
There are many ways to use tinctures — their versatility is what makes them so popular!
Finding Your Dosage
Our recommended dosage is 10–15 drops at a time. The frequency depends on what your body is moving through and the level of support you need.
Supporting the Body in Acute Moments
If you’re working through an acute situation, such as a cold or flu, it is often recommended to take 10–15 drops, 3–5 times a day, until symptoms improve. This more frequent dosing offers steady, short-term support while your body works to restore balance.
Supporting Long-Term Balance
For more chronic situations — including diabetes, high blood pressure, or anxiety — 10–15 drops, 2–3 times a day, is typically best. Consistency is key when working with herbs over time.
Most long-term herbal protocols benefit from taking a break. This may mean pausing within the month (if you’re taking Chaste Berry) or taking a 2–3 week break every couple of months to allow your body to recalibrate.
Simple Ways to Take Your Tincture
Tinctures can be placed directly into your mouth, under your tongue. This sublingual method is the quickest way to absorb herbal compounds into your bloodstream. You may also add the drops to a small glass of water or tea.
If you’re sensitive to alcohol, place the tincture in a cup of hot water or tea; after about 10 minutes, the alcohol will naturally evaporate.
Creating a Daily Ritual
When working through an acute condition, many people like to add a full dropper to a water bottle. This is so that throughout the day you are getting a continual dose of potent plant compounds - helping you stay connected to the earth, your body, and your healing.
What Tinctures Should You Take?
We are confident that there is an herbal tincture for just about any ailment under the sun. Certain herbs have different affinities for specific organs and functions of the body.
Here at the Farmacy, we use single-herb tinctures so you can experience the power and potency of each plant.
Tinctures for Anxiety
• Blue Vervain
• Lemon Balm
• Tulsi
• Kava
• Ashwagandha
Tinctures for Women’s Hormonal Balance and Blood Renewal
• Chaste Berry
• Mamaki
• Mugwort
Tinctures for Digestion and Detox
• Ginger
• Lemon Balm
• Mulberry Leaf
• Noni Leaf
• Turmeric
• Laukahi
Tinctures for Colds, Flus, and Coughs
• Ginger
• Lemon Balm
• Loquat Leaf
• Propolis
• Hawaiian Chili aka Niʻoi
Herbal medicine is not about quick fixes — it’s about relationships. Relationships to the plants, to the rhythms of your body, and to the seasons of your life.
I want an easeful death as much as I desire an easeful life. Doing my best to die gracefully is my responsibility, not just to myself, but to my loved ones. I envision my later years to be filled with lightness, mobility, discipline, service, and laughter. Leading up to those most precious remaining moments, I seek to build a foundation of well-being, do my best to transcend my core issues, and expand my life practices.
I appreciate that the more joy I cultivate within myself, the more capable I will be of showing up for all the responsibilities in my life. For it is these responsibilities, including children, partner, pets, land, home, plants, and life’s work, that will inevitably feed my soul the balanced energy I seek. Therefore, I strive to root my longevity practice right here, in the present moment, step by step.
I work everyday to balance my well-being with the responsibilities I choose. As I experience stress or frustration in my life, I must go within to elevate my self-care practice – and intentionally let go of some if not all of my responsibilities for the moment. I trust that prioritizing my self-care practice will inevitably result in my ability to show up even more in service. The ease and grace we are able to cultivate in this dance between responsibilities and well-being, I refer to as longevity.
This is my longevity practice. I sit and deepen my breath, straighten my spine, and clear my mind. With my eyes closed, I breathe gently in and out through my nose. I acknowledge my being. My time off the court when the game is not on the line, when I practice being human - with no noise, no schedule, and no one else anywhere to be seen, except when my 12-year old princess yells “Dad!" I practice the simplest and maybe most profound functions of being human: breathing, posture, self-observation, alignment and stillness.
Sometimes I light a candle, burn some camphor wood, and/or massage some AURA Serum or Soothe Serum on my body. Sometimes not. I often sit for over an hour at a time, next to my bed, on a firm yet sacred throne of meticulously stacked and folded blankets. I sit on the edge of my throne, using it to tilt the back of my pelvis up, stack my sit bones, stick my tail out, and make sitting upright for a long period of time as easeful and graceful as possible. I love finding epic places to sit - by the ocean or in the river, on the beach, or perched up on a rocky cliffside. I will sit anywhere and everywhere, but as a householder, I sit most often and conveniently by my bedside. I will sit anytime of the day or night, but love sitting most during the wee hours of the morning in the dark.
I begin to observe the chaos of my thoughts, attachments and stories I am carrying from the day. “How could I have become them so quickly?” From the littlest to the biggest of stories and circumstances. I feel the accompanying emotions of frustration, resentment, and anxiety move through me. I intuitively deepen my breath, realizing they are just thoughts. I remind myself they are not me. I choose to breathe deeper and surrender them as I realize their compulsive nature. I begin to trust the liberating practice of emptying out the mind and body through a strengthening spine and deepening breath.
Lifting my chin, I carefully circle my neck again and again, then slowly change directions, gently reacquainting myself with the acute pain that stifles the full mobility of my neck. I will be doing neck circles forever to counteract my daily head-down phone use. For I trust that if I am able to loosen my neck and begin to tilt my chin up, my heart will inevitably open. My spine and physical body are then able to expand upward into the ether towards the stars with every inhale, and root downward into the core of the earth with every exhale.
I slowly raise my arms by my side, with my hands and chest open, and raise them up, bringing my hands together in prayer over my head. I hold them there for as long as possible with minimal stress; with the intention to invert my spine, kick out my tailbone and freely circulate the breath to nourish my body and mind. My petty thoughts begin to dissolve as my spine deepens its inversion. Crack! Pop! It is most likely the first of many deep lower spinal realignments I will experience during my longevity practice.
I naturally inhale the rich garden air to consciously expand my chest cavity. I intentionally hold the breath to bask in the life-giving oxygen. Then slowly exhale the air from my chest and throat, and out through my nose, consciously grounding the energy through my coccyx bone. I gently engage the perineum area, as I empty out through every extended exhale. My legs intuitively embrace the process as well, centering my life force in the deepest part of my sacrum. The energy flows. The space opens and energy is channeled through the antennae of the spine.
I consciously think about the vast possibilities in the universe. I have become one of them! Then, after emptying out my breath for a final and most exaggerated exhale, I hold and hold, until…I almost die. My consumption of energy becomes completely still, if only for a moment. My entire upper body begins to tingle. And then, a sudden gasp of air, like my life depends on it. I open my eyes for the first time in well over an hour. A feeling of trust, ease and bliss begins to embody me. So grateful to be alive!
I try to make space for my longevity practice whenever things aren’t going so well, but also when grace has been bestowed upon me. The more the merrier. When the full moon or new moon roll-around, I intuitively find myself sitting for hours to align my energy. I have learned that the more I practice being human off the field, in the simplest posture known to man, the more I expand on the field- ready, willing and able to be of service. For practice makes perfect - if there is such a thing…
So much peace in the garden as I reflect on all the real-life growth and expansion during this past year. Mystic vibrations emanate in silent yet powerful collaboration. The plants thrive in their awe-inspiring stillness, unity, and cohesion, grounding any compulsive behavior that may possibly come their way. An egret moves through the stillness, flying gracefully under the garden canopy with its beautiful white wingspan. A shama bird’s playful, high-pitched chatter breaks the silence.
The stillness and silence are ever so prevalent on the surface, but when I look and listen more closely, the understory of the gardens tells a different story. Bees buzzing intently around the tulsi flowers remind me of a mother I recently witnessed gently kissing, kissing, and kissing her newborn infant.
The garden floor resonates with life, but this is equally mirrored by so much death. I am forced to surrender any sense of “knowing,” as the fruits, flowers, and seeds convey infinite possibilities. Plants, bees, birds, worms, soil, air, and water work symbiotically to thrive amongst one another. There is so much life, with absolutely no fear of death. Mortality exists all around in full acceptance, allowance, and surrender. Life and death coexist in harmony, co-creation, and community.
Fat green and orange papayas grow in abundance, shaded beneath their humungous tropical leaves. Black pepper vines climb the trunk of the soursop. Giant lilikoi engulfs the guava branches, and vanilla threads its way up the cacao tree. Finding friends in the garden to trust and lean on is critical for the community’s prosperity.
I get buzzed just looking at the gorgeous ruby-red coffee berry, juiced as I bite into a plump Surinam cherry, tantalized by the blue butterfly pea flower, mystified by the iron-rich mamaki leaves, humbled by the life force of the ashwagandha root, and balanced by the divine feminine energy resonating from the chaste berry.
No words can capture the story of this sacred land in 2025, so I won’t try. Instead, I will focus on the garden and the profound healing abundance we have manifested as a community. I am deeply grateful for the foundation and peace that the gardens embody, holding space for all of us well beyond this physical dimension. As I look forward to 2026, I can’t help but mirror the gardens and feel an easy, graceful, and prosperous way forward for us all.
- Doug Wolkon
Cacao has been cherished for thousands of years — from the ancient Olmecs and Mayans, who called it the food of the gods, to modern herbalists who celebrate its mineral-rich medicine.
Few plants rival cacao’s mineral profile. It’s one of the richest natural sources of magnesium and manganese, vital elements that help every cell in your body create ATP, the pure energy that fuels life itself. Magnesium soothes the nervous system and relaxes muscles (maybe why we crave chocolate when stressed!), while manganese supports the enzymes that keep metabolism and bone health steady. Alongside them, cacao offers phosphorus to help store that energy, zinc to renew and repair, copper to bring oxygen to the blood, and iron to carry it through the body.
Together, these minerals form a living network of intelligence, a natural code that your body recognizes instantly, helping restore balance, energy, and calm from the inside out.
With Kauai Farmacy's fresh, raw cacao, the beneficial compounds remain close to their original design. The minerals stay intact, allowing your body to receive them in the way nature intended. Each sip is a reconnection with that ancient intelligence, the same force that keeps the heart beating, the muscles fluid, and the mind clear.
With Cacao and herbs rich in mineral information, it is more than consuming, it is communing with that intelligence to find balance, rhythm, and connection with the living harmony of nature.
When I moved to Kauaʻi 15 years ago and left my finance career behind in NYC, I knew nothing about herbal medicine. I was first introduced to noni, then turmeric, and tulsi. I was hooked, crafting and drinking tea by the gallon daily. The plants healed me from the inside out, like nothing I had ever experienced. So simple and gentle, yet effective. I couldn’t help but ask, “How could tea provide such radical transformation?” My body, mind, and life energies were revitalizing themselves with every sip. As our trust in plant medicine grew, we emptied out our medicine cabinets and planted a medicine farm on the north shore of Kauaʻi, akin to the healing powers of the Spice Islands of yesteryear. We dug deep every day—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Through this experiential process, we were introduced to the infinite powers of Kauaʻi-grown plant medicine.
After a 10-year career on Wall Street, I was ready to franchise Kauai Farmacy before I even put a seed in the ground. There was no such vertically integrated, boutique, quality-centered medicine farm on the planet. I was certain the world was ready for this, but the land and plants were not concerned with my ambitious plans. As long days on the farm turned into months and then years, I was soon forced to surrender to the speed at which Kauai Farmacy would come together, grow, and expand. For example, cacao, soursop, loquat, amla, and all-spice trees, as well as vanilla and black pepper vines, all take six-plus years before they are ready for harvest. Moreover, the permaculture systems necessary in the tropical jungles of Kauaʻi for such a refined herbal medicine operation were beyond our farming community’s collective experiences and resources. Eventually, I learned to scrap the business plan in full acceptance of what is, allow, and embrace the unfolding, and humbly surrender control of the outcome to the elements. We learned, out of survival, how to deepen our alignment with the land–step by step. Holistic wellness is now embodied by our team of farmers, alchemists, and healers through their balance, longevity, and enjoyment on the journey.
Our Tea House, where we craft our herbal medicine, is surrounded by four lush acres of jungle medicine gardens. We listen, we observe, and work in a humble connection with the plants, the land, and the elements to produce the highest efficacy herbal medicine possible. We now grow over a hundred tropical plant varieties, harvesting roots, flowers, berries, fruits, seeds, and leaves to create organic teas, salves, serums, tinctures, honeys, and more. We operate a closed-loop, small farm permaculture system, cultivating the vast majority of inputs from the farm itself. Our aim has always been to start from the ground up, cultivating the fertility of the soil and the diversity of the jungle gardens, which transfers an integrated harmony into the plant medicine alchemy. Our seventy-plus healing products are crafted with minimal heat or intervention. They naturally embody the colors of the rainbow and are derived from the highest frequency of volcanic vitamins and minerals on the planet.
Late summer is often a period of intense productivity for us. We receive the sun’s strong energetic rays directly and through our food, working to “photosynthesize” it into personal growth. The herbs help us ground our intentions and balance our life energies. Burn-out is our biggest health concern during this time, as we insatiably try to capture all the abundance that is readily available to nourish us. I love all the herbs, but I am particularly drawn to cranberry hibiscus for vitamin C, Lemon balm for calming, moringa for protein, kava for restoration, tulsi for enhancing self-awareness, ashwagandha to boost libido, noni for circulation, and chaste to balance hormones during these high-productivity months. The plants and our community are our inspiration. The healing powers of Kauaʻi-grown plant medicine are cleansing, restorative, and revitalizing in nature. We are inspired to share these superpowers with mankind to heal each other and the land.
- Doug Wolkon - excerpt from 1 Hotel interview
The only way to truly heal is to experience and observe the healing, with all its intensity, truth and revelation. We must go through it, evolve, and grow. Herbal medicine sets the foundation for our healing. Kauai Farmacy’s medicine cabinet is here to guide us, liberate us, and hold us fully accountable for this beautiful and sometimes painful life experience.
Yet healing and sickness is not always the story that we perceive it to be. So often our fears, pain, and blockages distort our reality. In my opinion, most "sickness" or "dis-ease" is our human nature's never-ending search to find equilibrium, optimal balance or ease in the system. The system is literally spitting out the sickness within, in order to heal itself.
I like to tune into The Five Elements within to take full responsibility for my life experience, as well as clearly comprehend all that is happening as we heal, or “be sick”. The Five Elements and their corresponding percentages are rooted in Yogic Science. Our systems are constantly recalibrating the Five Elements to find more balance within; including water (72%), earth (12%), air (6%), fire (4%) and ether (6%+). This recalibration, however harsh or gentle it may be, is typically construed as sickness, as we find ourselves lying in bed, unable to eat, drinking water, going to the bathroom, and consciously or unconsciously focused on the deepening of our breath. However, in my opinion, this recalibration is clearly the body taking the intentional time and space to heal.
Typical examples of The Five Elements recalibrating in order to experience more balance in the system is as follows:
We have so much wisdom to gain when it comes to healing. The plants divulge “what is”, create clarity, and ultimately make us responsible for our enlightening healing experience.
The Noni and Turmeric Hydrosol we bring with us everywhere to help heal our children’s booboos.
The Tulsi Hydrosol we spray every morning to inspire that blissful smile, soaked in conscious awareness.
The Comfrey Salve we place by our bedside to massage into our back and feet.
The Kauai Herbal Tea we drink every day to keep our system’s alkaline, organs clean, and body circulating at optimum levels.
While the Hibiscus Tea is ready to go in the fridge for the entire family.
The Curry Powder we sprinkle-on to elevate any culinary experience, and the Cacao Ginger Turmeric Honey we spoon or make yummy tea from to address any acute respiratory issues.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to grow, craft and share our high efficacy Kauai-grown medicine, as well as our authentic experiences along our healing journeys.
For 15 years now, I have immersed myself in the nurturing healing qualities of Kauai grown tropical plant medicine. I humbly began my plant medicine experience eating raw herbs and drinking herbal tea, and thereafter organically ventured into more curated raw juice extract, oil, alcohol and honey infusions, skin therapy applications, steam distillations, superfood spices and more. The profound learning and expansive healing experience continues to this day.
The daily plant medicine journey has cultivated a relentless devotion and connection to self-healing, the land and plants, as well as to the gardeners, alchemists and herbalists that have chosen Kauai Farmacy as their life path. However, approximately 10 years into the journey, I began to realize that our offering at the Farmacy was somewhat incomplete. There was a giant void that I was feeling not just in my personal healing journey, but also in the Kauai Farmacy medicine cabinet and gardens.
We grow, cultivate, and alchemize plant leaves, roots, fruits, flowers, seeds, nuts, and more into herbal medicine products, but no mushrooms of any kind. There have been no medicinal fungi whatsoever in our gardens. From Turkey Tail to Reishi to Cordyceps - we tried and failed time and time again to cultivate them, as so many other farmers on Kauai have. The great “wood wide web” of nature was missing from the Kauai Farmacy plant medicine cabinet, and I could feel a blatant energetic void in my healing journey. I wanted to go deeper, expand into another plane of plant medicine, and felt I needed the unique power of medicinal fungi in order to do that.
According to Mushroom Mycologist, Paul Stamets, “What makes fungi so unique is the fact that their cell walls are made of a molecule called chitin instead of cellulose that you’d find in plants. Chitin is bendable yet tough. Its ability to defend itself from outside pathogens makes it valuable in medicine and food.”
I admittedly first tried the Kauai Grown Reishi Mushroom with much trepidation but soon found myself immediately forced to surrender to the process. For if there is anything the Reishi mushroom medicine combats is resistance, fear, and a perceived lack of anything. It rather profoundly teaches how to accept what is, allowing the unfolding and surrendering of the busy mind, whether you like it or not!
Restoration is its vibration. A retreat within, irrespective of the outside circumstances. Sounds so wonderful, doesn’t it? And somehow, someway, as we accumulate our rest, everything still continues to get done with a relaxed laser-like focus. It's like “being” on a spiritual retreat, but the “doing” of everything around you becomes more efficient, productive and easeful - as the doing becomes being.
If there was one word I would use to describe what Reishi Mushrooms cultivates within us, it would be grace. Can you imagine? A plant medicine that can be used to cultivate grace? So after much persistence and patience, we have gratefully seeded at Kauai Farmacy and sourced Kauai grown Reishi Mushrooms from Kauai’s own mushroom grower and mycologist, Joell of Tropical Fungi.
According to Adriana Ayales, in The Herbal Astrology Oracle, “Reishi Mushrooms are synonymous with retreat, recovery, meditation, hibernation, spiritual contemplation, and replenishment of spirit.” Ganoderma multipileum in Latin. Called lingzhi in Chinese, Reishi represents immortality and is considered the “herb of spiritual potency,” meaning success, well-being, divine power and longevity.
Said to have been discovered in 396 B.C. in the Changbai Mountains of China by Taoist monks, it is one of the oldest mushrooms used in medicine. It has long been called an anti-aging mushroom used to nourish the spirit.
In China’s oldest materia medica – The Herbal Classic, written around 200 C.E. – Reishi held first place above ginseng. The text says Reishi helps:
“Reishi’s borderline miraculous properties include how the mushroom profoundly relaxes the nervous system, calms the mind, and induces a state of relaxed focus. Another known attribute of the Reishi Mushroom is the spiritual experience it unlocks when in meditation.”
In my experience however, Reishi Mushrooms as a healing medicine requires a trust in the process that exists outside the physical realm. An over-the-counter plant medicine that delivers “spiritual potency” is certainly unique to the prescription vocabulary in the west.
When crafted using a double-extract method (which involves both alcohol and water) to capture a wider range of bioactive compounds, Reishi Tincture has been scientifically supported to help:
The Missing Link, Kauai-grown Reishi Mushroom.
- Doug Wolkon
Life on this beautiful planet means that we are surrounded by cycles and seasons. We live within them, but they also live within us. Women have the unique ability to live within our own cycles much like those of the earth.
At Kauai Farmacy, we’ve crafted three herbal allies - Endurance Powder, Women’s Wellness Tea, and Chaste Berry Tincture—to help you reconnect with that rhythm. These aren’t quick fixes, but time-honored, plant-based tools that help women return to the wisdom of their bodies—mirroring the sacred rhythm of winter, spring, summer, and fall within our own hormonal cycles.
Menstruation as Winter
Winter is a time for rest and deep nourishment. To best support our bodies at this time, it’s important to think of herbs that build the blood and reduce inflammation and pain.
- Yarrow - traditionally cherished by midwives to minimize heavy bleeding and menstrual pain, Yarrow promotes circulation and relaxes uterine muscles to promote easeful cycles.
- Mamaki - native to Hawaiʻi, Mamaki has been wildcrafted and used to build up our Koko, our blood. Mamaki provides deep nourishment - boosting the body with minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc.
- Ginger - before there was ibuprofen for pain, there was Ginger. Ginger reduces excessive prostaglandin production, easing cramping and pain. Ginger also assists with bloating, gas, nausea, and indigestion.
Find this herbal trinity in our Women's Wellness Tea Blend
Follicular Phase as Spring
Spring is a time for new beginnings. We feel a heightened energy and sense of vitality in our bodies. Invigorating the liver during this phase provides endurance for the rest of our cycle.
- Turmeric - yes, Turmeric is everywhere and for good reason. Consistent Turmeric use helps liver enzymes become regulated and promotes healthy bile production. Our liver filters out excess hormones that build up in our bodies over the course of a menstrual cycle, so taking care of our liver should be a top priority for hormone health.
Turmeric is found in both our Women's Wellness Tea Blend and Endurance Powder.
Ovulation as Summer
Ovulation is a natural time of fertility, abundance and celebration. Sensations are heightened and pleasure becomes natural. This is a time to richly reward our bodies with sensuous herbs and a summer-like spirit of joy for the many changes that have occurred.
- Ashwagandha - this venerated herb gives us exactly what we need at this time. It works directly to fortify the adrenals - the powerhouses behind our hormones.Famous for its libido enhancing, stress soothing, and spirit brightening qualities, Ashwagandha is a must have in every woman's medicine chest (works well for your partner too.)
Ashwagandha shines in our Endurance Superfood Powder.
Luteal Phase as Fall
This is the longest phase of our cycle so we need to be sure to take exquisite care of ourselves. A healthy Luteal phase requires that we reach for herbs and practices that rejuvenate and restore us.
- Chaste Tree Berry aka Vitex - Chaste has been studied extensively and been found to work directly with the pituitary gland to help balance progesterone and estrogen levels in the body. If you struggle with any p.m.s. symptoms such as bloating, cysts, headaches, mood swings, and achy breasts, consistent use (3-6 months) of Vitex can be a real game changer. Chaste is to be used with awareness and patience. Start with only a few drops in the morning at the beginning of the Follicular phase and up until the first day of Menstruation.
Chaste Tree is elevated in our Tincture and Women's Wellness Tea.
Embracing the wisdom of cycles reminds us that our true strength lies in honoring our natural flow. The rise, the release, the quiet, the surge—it’s all part of a deeper rhythm that’s always been there.
A healthy mind is one that has clarity, or a clear perception of reality. A healthy mind is unoccupied by chatter. Unconscious mental chatter consumes precious life energy. A healthy mind is not scared to be empty, spacious, and void of identity. When we want to cook a meal, we prefer a kitchen sink that is empty, clean, and ready to use. Imagine washing the same dirty dishes over and over again every time you walk into the kitchen. We cultivate negative emotions of fear, worry, anxiety, guilt and blame with our cyclical compulsive thoughts. Are we aware of what we are thinking, moment to moment, or are we washing the same dirty dishes over and over again?
How do we empty out our mind and keep it clean from pervasive karmic memory so that we can prosper in our authentic dharma? Its so simple, really! We 'brainwash' our mind with our breath. Yes, the air we breathe cleanses our mind of unconscious chatter, egoic stories and compulsive thought. That’s right. We all have the power right now to take full responsibility for our mental health in every breath and every moment. We scrub the mind with oxygen with every nourishing inhale, and empty it out of carbon dioxide with every deepening exhale. As we make the conscious breathwork practice a priority, we eventually observe our monkey mind’s debilitating thought forms that cultivate feelings of distrust, anger, frustration, doubt, blame, and worry.
As our breath deepens through practice, the conscious space towards the back of our head begins to play witness to the unconscious chatter in the frontal lobe. It then becomes a matter of desire. Do we want to have self-mastery over our mind? How would such mastery of our mind serve us anyway? Would it make us more attentive? More pleasant to be around? More successful? More joyful? Could we really have spent 15 years of our life training our minds to understand math, yet never ever training our minds to understand the mind itself? Self-mastery of our mind allows us to intentionally guide our life experience. In other words, regardless of the situation, environment, or circumstances, we have the unique ability to manifest our destiny, and along our journey cultivate joy, happiness, and pleasantness within through conscious thought. Let's do this!
1. Be humble in our thoughts and open to the vastness of the universe. Repeat after me, “I don’t know.”
2. Breathe or inhale calmly through our nose to wash our brains (i.e. brainwash) and exhale deeply through our nose to empty out or dissolve all that is not us.
3. 'Accept' what is in our perception of reality. 'Allow' the unfolding of the phenomenon of being alive. 'Surrender' the mind and call in the infinite possibilities.
4. Realize that judgements and opinions such as likes and dislikes can create separation within and all around us. Unity is where the synchronicities are experienced.
5. Take 100% responsibility for our mental health by cultivating appreciation, gratitude, and joy in our life experience.
6. Empty our minds to let go of identification and attachment to anyone or anything. Appreciate that we are not our bodies or our minds.
7. Recognize the mortality of being human and live each moment as if it is our last.
8. Practice yoga, union, and connection. Increase our flexibility, lower our resistance, and align our posture.
9. Sit still with strong spine, be quiet, and meditate. Consciously close our eyes while awake to observe the movement of our thoughts without judgement.
10. Eat watery, simple and whole foods from the ground that nourish the mind. Avoid complex recipes, acidic, and processed foods that cultivate compulsive thoughts.
It is believed that the monks that live upwards of 200 years graze on wild Brahmi (Gotu Kola and Bacopa) to promote longevity. Brahmi is known to quell the chatter, clear the mind, and calm the system. It is profound in its ability to lower mental consumption of precious life energy in the system. Today we share a trio of Kauai Farmacy products crafted with Brahmi in them with the intention to support mental well-being. They include our most popular Gotu Kola tincture. Gotu Kola is synonymous with brain health in Ayurvedic medicine. This fragile and precious plant pops up only as a volunteer in the gardens. Its sister herb, Bacopa, is crafted in our Brahmi Tincture, which is also intended to support mental clarity and a calm nervous system. Lastly, is our newest Tea blend we call Claritea. This Tea blend has been exquisitely and mindfully crafted to relax the mind, clear our thoughts, and support mental clarity. It is within our power to be fully responsible for our mental health with every breath. These plants are here to teach our precious, little, and powerful mind how to be.
So much responsibility. I don’t even know where to start. How did I get myself into all these responsibilities anyway? Did it just happen 'to me' or was it a choice, conscious or otherwise? Children, family, relationships, work, dishes, laundry and my aging body, diet, exercise, ambitions, dreams. Am I really responsible for all of it? Where did all this responsibility come from? Is it really all mine or can I just take a vacation from it all? How about a sabbatical? That sounds even better. What if I take on more responsibility; more clothes, more relationships, more work, more friends, more food, and more possessions? Sometimes I can’t even look at it all; so, I run from it. Other times it feels like I am blessed and honored to have the opportunity in the first place. When I am truly able to show up for my responsibilities, there is nothing better. It is a feeling of reciprocation in nature that does not exist anywhere else. An exchange of energy through committed and unfettered daily service that fills our soul in a dimension far beyond the simple pleasures in the physical realm.
In order to fully acknowledge and accept all my responsibilities that I have assumed to date, I would need to choose a path of optimal health and wellness (mind, body, soul). A conscious path that puts my responsibility to my self first (i.e. self-care), and will also hold me fully accountable each and every day. Our “responsibility” is otherwise known as our “ability to respond”. Our ability to respond is in sync with the level of our health and wellness. So as our responsibilities grow, so must the level of our health and wellness. When our responsibility and well-being support each other in lock step, we experience joy, grace, love, and happiness in our life. 
But what happens when we start to drop some of the balls of responsibility we are juggling? Maybe not on purpose per se, but because we just have too many balls in the air and we can’t quite move fast enough to catch them all. It happens to the best of us. In fact, it happens to all of us. We have all these responsibilities, and even continue to take on more, but our self-care or health and wellness begins to falter. Maybe it was a late night out, poor food choice, or an argument that didn’t serve us. In any case, our commitment to our self may not always be as steadfast as we think it is when we sign up for all these responsibilities. So instead of joy, grace, love, and happiness, we begin to cultivate and experience negative thoughts and feelings of stress, anger, resentment, frustration, disrespect, and fear (to name a few). Could our physical, emotional, and mental health be so interrelated? And could it really be this simple? Cultivate health and wellness that is in a balanced relationship with our responsibilities and boom - joy, grace, love, and happiness. Alternatively, let our self-care practices go, and experience our responsibilities with overwhelming feelings of stress, frustration, resentment, and anger – yuck! And depending on the level of responsibilities, good luck to you when you decide to take that sabbatical.
The good news: it can be a choice! Be overwhelmed, stressed, and angry; or joyful, loving, and happy. Which one will it be? So we consciously commit to a life path of health and wellness. What does that even mean? For me, I diligently pursue such foundational life practices as high-quality nutrition, herbal medicine, mindfulness, breathwork, meditation, flexibility, dance, and yoga. I fully trust that such life practices will produce a stronger, more flexible, and more aligned me. A me that also has a greater ability to respond. This way, I can be more responsible, for myself and for all those around me. And as a byproduct of this balance between well-being and responsibilities, I do the work to cultivate joy, grace, love, and happiness within and all around me.
Kuleana [koo-lee-ah-nah] is a Hawaiian word roughly translated as “responsibility” and privilege. It refers to the idea that each person has both responsibility and privilege to care for and protect the land and the community to which they belong. This concept of Kuleana is a reciprocal relationship. For example, as Hawaiians care for the land, the land also provides for them. Each person would have a function. The community would work together to ensure everyone was cared for.
Kuleana is a privilege or honor. In other words, its an honor to have Kuleana or responsibility. For example, we know better than to say “we own this land”. Conversely, its our Kuleana or our honor to steward and care for the land we call Kauai Farmacy. Beyond the responsibility, Kuleana is all about the reciprocal relationship that becomes a gift from taking responsibility. A relationship that is built on love, trust, honor, and respect and just keeps giving.
We know that Kuleana begins with ourselves. As we have already discussed, if we cannot be responsible for our own life experience, then we certainly can not be responsible for others. Those who live the value of Kuleana know that it's an inside job. They choose how they react to circumstances, not let the circumstances determine how they feel. So your Kuleana is first to yourself - through self-care, self-awareness, and health and wellness practices that cultivate joy, love, compassion, and healthy boundaries within.
Kuleana is also all-encompassing. Meaning, its all our Kuleana. The air we breathe, the health of our neighbors, protecting our community, the water we drink, the health of the land, and our children’s education is all our Kuleana. Its not one or the other. Yes, it is our free will to choose which to prioritize, but in the end, the ultimate responsibility or Kuleana is to ensure everyone and everything in the community is cared for.
At Kauai Farmacy, our Kuleana is to grow and cultivate plant medicine to help heal ourselves, the land, as well as our community. The lemongrass, moringa, tulsi, spilanthes, turmeric, loquat, papaya and ashwagandha are all our Kuleana. The health of our soil is our Kuleana. The clear intention of our alchemy and how we craft our products is our Kuleana. The way we educate our people about plant medicine and well-being is our Kuleana. Our Kuleana begins within. As our team’s well-being thrives, we are able to take on more responsibility individually and collectively. As our gardens grow, our team grows, and our Kuleana grows. We are honored and humbled to serve all of you in this symbiotic reciprocal nature. We feel you healing as we heal. It feels so good! It is an honor to serve you in this Kuleana Collective.
