Time does heal things but just like the skin, we can aid in the healing process and have less scarring. The same is in our emotional, physical and spiritual life as well. When we go through any type of trauma (like we all have over the last 2 years), we are shifted and changed both in our brain and our body. Our body holds the memories of our past and a lot of times, things we never worked through over the years will begin to come out as pain and inflammation. Sometimes we are walking around tense, anxious and depressed and don’t even know it. This tightens the muscular system and squeezes the nervous system and throws our entire life out of balance.
Nothing in this life comes without pain, disappointment and struggle but I want to struggle well, take as much of the pain out of struggle as possible. So I am working on being hyper conscious on my every thought and emotion so that when I am thinking or feeling a way that does not help me cultivate joy, I immediately shift that thought into something more loving.
In my quest to bring back Joy, I have been guided to begin incorporating different roots and mushroom/fungi into my diet. The fungi system that lives in the ground is a super complex system that connects the trees and plants all over the earth and actually have a communication network. It’s actually incredible. Ancient teachings will tell you that these fungi are actual sentient beings that have an intelligence that goes far beyond this earthly realm.
Everyone knows how much I love my teas and I always infuse different herbs and minerals into them, well now I have been adding different mushroom and root powders into them as well.
Here are a few I am into right now:
Lion’s Mane
Apart from extensive vitamins and minerals, Lion’s Mane also contains some specific compounds such as hericerins, erinacines, erinaceolactones and specific glycoproteins and polysaccharides, that all collaboratively assist to many clinical functions. Components and extracts of Lion’s Mane have proven antibiotic, anticancer, neuroprotective, fat- and glucose-lowering effects. This mushroom also protects against stomach ulcers, improves anxiety, cognitive function, and depression, and has anti-fatigue and anti-aging properties
Reishi
The reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum), an edible type of medicinal fungus that has been used for various healing abilities for thousands of years, is a true “superfood.” Also known as Ling Zhi in Chinese, these mushrooms are strongly anti-inflammatory and tied to longevity, better immune function and mental clarity — perhaps that’s why they’ve adopted the nickname “king of mushrooms”. In Chinese the name for the reishi mushroom represents “a combination of spiritual potency and essence of immortality … it’s tied to success, well-being, divine power, and longevity. Among cultivated mushrooms, G. lucidum is unique in that its pharmaceutical rather than nutritional value is paramount.
Cordyceps
Cordyceps has been widely used as an energizing “heal-all” in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. Of the many healing benefits, it was mainly used for fatigue, exhaustion, protection of the liver, improving kidney function, alleviating respiratory illnesses, and enhancing libido. It was also recommended for those with excessive stress, frailty, weakness, and lack of strength (mentally and physically). Cordyceps is also used to improve energy, endurance, stamina, appetite, and disrupted sleep patterns.
Ashwagandha
What’s fascinating about Ashwagandha, and fellow adaptogenic plants, are that they hold this deep intelligence that provides the body with what’s needed for healing. For example, if you’re anxious, Ashwagandha will calm you; if you are constantly fatigued, Ashwagandha will boost your energy and stamina. To this day, scientists don’t understand how adaptogenic plants can medicinally provide this based on each individual.
Ashwagandha can help support the immune, cerebral, neurological, endocrine and reproductive systems. Clinically proven to help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and may increase brain cognition, support thyroid function, support adrenal health, as well as help balance blood sugar levels.
You can find these powders most places, even in TKMaxx or Marshalls in the food section I’ve come across many of these mushroom powders. Here are few online options that myself or others have shared with me:
https://oregonswildharvest.com/