394: How to Connect with Plant Allies + Lucid Dream with Adriana Ayales

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place to discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. Grab yourself some herbal tea for this episode because you're gonna wanna be communing with the plant spirits, especially when you hear all of this juicy wisdom. So I love Adriana. She's the found Neema Mundi Herbals, which is one of the most incredible herbal companies I know. They have incredible rainforest and Amazonian as well as local herbs in this really beautifully packaged, organic, completely natural way that really works with the spirit of the plant, most importantly. And I've known her for a few years now and we've had the most interesting conversations really about connecting with the essence and the energy of plants. So I wanted to have her on the podcast because I know so many of us and all of the collective right now is really seeking a greater relationship with herbs and plants. I think the past two years has showed us how important it is to have healthy bodies and immune systems and take care of ourselves and notice what our bodies need. However, what happens sometimes is then we end up taking a bunch of different supplements. We don't even know if they're working, we don't know how long we should be taking them, and we don't really have that relationship with the plants. And I feel that's what's really missing in Western culture. And, you know, you see in other parts of the world, they grow their own plants, they know what season it's best in, they have all these different beautiful ways of preparing it. And I feel so many of us are for the first time just learning that because we were never taught that by our parents. You know, many of our parents grew up in post World War era where things were very, you know, microwave TV dinners, that sort of thing. So right now we're collectively remembering. And what I really want to talk to her about is how to communicate with the plant. So how to know which ones are right for your body, how to know how to ingest them. I ask her questions such as taking plants and tinctures, verse, powder, setting, verse, loose leaf, how to work with different plants. I asked her about some of my favorite ones, such as mucuna, rose, blue lotus. And then we dive into lucid dreaming, which is something that she knows so much about, teaches about, and will be sharing a 90 minute workshop on in Rose Gold Goddesses, which is my divine Feminine mystery school. So if you are curious about learning more about lucid dreaming and all forms of divine feminine spirituality, be sure to join the wait list for Rose gold goddesses@rosegoldgoddesses.com because every single month we have incredible expert guest teachers, your favorite high self podcast, guests, teaching workshops, as well as myself to really take you to that mastery level of divine feminine spirituality. So you can find that link in the show notes. It's rosegoldagoddesses.com and this episode, it's really going to introduce you to so many different herbs and plants. How the taste really reflects some of the medicinal qualities why so many of us in the Western world were used to basically candy coated medicine, and how actually a lot of the Tylenol and Advils and things that we get literally are sugar coated. So how to open ourselves up to receive the bitter and the astringent and the different tastes of different herbs. How these plants are actually growing like weeds are changing all the time and they're changing in species based off of what humanity needs. And different plants are growing in different areas according to what we need there at this time. So these plants really are here as allies to support us. And this episode is really about cultivating that relationship with them. So without further ado, let's welcome Adriana to the Highest Self Podcast. And before we get started, I have an announcement for you. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm going to make an assumption about you. You are that person that your friends come to whenever they need advice, especially on something related to spirituality or purpose. Am I right? Well, have you ever thought about how to make this huge aspect of your life part of your career? Maybe you're longing to one day write books and have a podcast like this and coach with people, but you don't know where to start. Well, if this is the case, I have a really special opportunity for you. Imagine being trained by me for six months to become a certified Sole Purpose Coach. Not only will you graduate as a certified Sole purpose coach, but also a double certification as a spiritual life coach. Well, this is possible for you at Dharma Coaching Institute. We are officially accredited by the International Coaching Federation and so excited to be offering you our six month training program to give you everything you need to hit the ground running with your coaching practice. If you're curious to learn more, head over to dharmacoachinginstitute.com we are enrolling this month, October 2021. Class starts November 1st. So take this opportunity to say yes to launching your new career where you can help others live a life of purpose. Head over to dharmacoachinginstitute.com that's D H A R M A coaching institute dot com and you can find that link in the show Notes this podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. It is so important to have someone that you can openly talk to about your issues and what's going on. Sometimes we use our friends as therapists and but that's really not what they're for. Our therapist is our therapist and I know in my life it has been beyond helpful to have someone hold space for me so I can openly speak about what's going on in my mind and have someone to reflect back my thoughts at me so I can find more clarity and overcome any anxiety that I have been feeling. So I am so excited to be partnering with better help. BetterHelp is customized online therapy that offers video phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist so you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want to. You can even message your therapist throughout the week for additional support. It's much more affordable than in person therapy and you can start communicating with your therapist in under 48 hours. So please don't wait weeks to find someone to talk to. There has never been a more important time to invest in your mental health because you, my friend, are your greatest asset. Again, this podcast is sponsored by Better Help and Highest Self. Podcast listeners get 10% off their first month@betterhelp.com Sahara again, that's Better Help. H lp.com Sahara for 10% off welcome Adriana, to the Highest Self podcast. It's so great to have you back.

So great to be here. Sahara. You're a true pleasure and the first.

Question I'd love to ask you is what makes you your highest self?

My highest self? Lately that has changed. I feel like since the collective changes, my new sense of self is requiring a new connection. So my highest self is when I am completely forest bathing, hopefully naked in nature. Completely connected to the soil, the water, the little moss between my toes. Just completely immersed in the present moment and engaged with Gaia's beautiful intelligence.

I love that so much. And you live in Costa Rica, where there's just such beautiful nature. And every time I'm in Costa Rica, it's such a huge reminder to me of this is what the earth used to look like. This is actually what our planet is like. And we've forgotten because most of us, myself included in Miami, we're surrounded by buildings, we're surrounded by human construct, and there's a beauty to that as well. But I think we're so disconnected from our Actual planet. It's almost like our human body, but, like, we've put all of this, like, makeup and clothes and this and that, that we're like, wait, what does my actual human body look like? That we don't even know what the human body of Earth looks like, that we have to travel somewhere to see what she looks like. And I'm like, wow, like, that's crazy. Like, people used to just wake up and go outside and be on what I would consider a nature retreat, you know?

Exactly. That is so true. You know, when I used to live in the States for many years and I would come back home, I would feel from literally being literally in a gridded place, like, physically gritted into, like, the wildness even of the roads here. Like, you know, like, here everything is so untamed. You're just driving down the road and there's like, a cliff, Someone with their chickens, like a bunch of cows on the street or whatever it is. It's just like the wildness completely uncapturable. You know, everything's just everywhere. And that in itself requires, like, a rewilding just by being in that new environment, you know? So right now we're in that point where that rewilding is so essential to keep ourselves vital and connected in whatever way, even if it's not in the middle of nature, just outside of gridded places, you really receive that transmission. And it's so important.

So important. And I feel like so many of us right now, we are seeking a deeper connection with the plants that we consume, whether it's our vegetables, our herbs, even plant medicine. And the question that I really have, I remember I went to this intuitive a few years ago, and he was like, one of your gifts is to communicate with plants. And I was like, really? Like, I don't hear anything. I always loved, you know, cooking and all that. I even have a cookbook. But I'm curious about cultivating more of that communication and connection with the plants, particularly because I feel like right now we hear about so many different herbs, etc. Being good for us. Have turmeric, have this thing for your liver, have that thing for your kidney, have that thing for your mood. And we're like, what do actually need? Like, how do I communicate? How do I know how long I need it for? And, like, I'm good with that thing and move on. So what are some advice that you have for creating that cultivated relationship with.

Plants that is so vital? So I feel like, first off, you know, connecting to nature's mind is connecting to Our intuition. And that's everything that's fundamental to even knowing what we want, whether it's a basic decision in life, whether it's what to eat, intuitive eating. So I feel like generating more intuition practices that build. Intuition is so key to even knowing what you need. Because we live in a world where we're bombarded with information. We're bombarded with collective stress, environmental stress, all kinds of stress, from heavy metals to being outside of nature for too long to. Et cetera. There's emotional stress, mental stress, I think, that continuously depletes our intuitive faculties. And our systems that we have within us become latent because they're not active, you know, they're. They're asleep, they're dormant because they're too busy surviving. They're too busy fighting the fight, whatever it is, spiritual, mental and emotional and physical. So I think the words that I love to use are the ones that help me build intuition, you know, because me too, I also get caught into the daily stresses of life. And I also get triggered from working too much or whatever it is. So I always go back to my meditation with plants number one. And some plants really just de Stress the central nervous system, which is so key to just lift off the weight off before you can even diagnose yourself. So one of the classics that I love for daily use is Passion Flower, for example. Passion Flower is very interesting because it has a whole set of alkaloids that actually help us not only decompress our nervous system, but it is said to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is considered like the spiritual gateway, in a way, because of it being connected to our spirit is when we finally put the brake on and just relax, it finally activates. Some people have, let's say, terrible insomnia, terrible stress that it never even activates, even during sleep, because they're caught up in, let's say, the rat race of dreaming. Real lucid dreaming, for example, won't even be able to kick in. Or just really relaxing sleep, for example. If you wake up exhausted, that means you didn't really activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Passion Flower is such a beautiful plant because it is a true weed. Like here in Costa Rica, it grows absolutely everywhere. It's like through the sidewalk, up the electrical cables. It's just everywhere, and it's beautiful. The flower itself is a mandala. So in itself, the flower essence is used to reorganize our crown chakra and our upper centers, the actual leaf itself, and even the roots are used for Decompression to the next level, frayed nerves, adrenal exhaustion. If you're dealing with that and you can't find your center, drink some passion flower tea or a tincture in order to be able to listen to those internal faculties, to really reactivate our intuition back. So that's a great organizing energy. Another one that I always talk about. And I know even people that follow us on social media are probably fed up of me talking about blue lotus. But blue lotus is just so key. Also an easy to grow flower, beautiful use since ancient times for this very same purpose, to connect. It really helps us connect also with a very interesting alkaloidal nature. It has apomorphine and luciferin, which are like oppositional alkaloids. They either elevate us or decompress us. So when we intake it, it will literally match what you need. In that sense, it's really powerful because if you really need to uplevel your system, it will uplevel you or make you a little more euphoric, or it'll just relax you and keep you in a chill kind of form. Those two can be taken together or separately and they can really help you tune in, sharpen your intuitive faculties and just tune into whatever you need to do. If you have a meditation practice or if you just need to go calm before you have your first cup of coffee in the morning, I really recommend it before you fry your nerves again, disenabling this deeper response. In our body. There's a million other plants, of course, but just I think taking the time which so many of us often don't take because we're just stuck in these survival forms. The hormones of stress are addicting. We're addicted to the race, we're addicted to our heartbeat just going and going and going and we're just tackling a million to do lists. And it's such a modern day dilemma because that really goes against like everything. If you want to age gracefully, it means not being stressed. A lot of people are so obsessed with anti aging situations. Relax, turn into the nervines and nervous system decompressants and just let go. Tune into sharpen yourself, don't even seek it outside of yourself. So I think those plants really are excellent. And we're so obsessed with like stimulants and narcotics and amphetamine like plants that it's just like, it's so hard to like listen in those states. So I really love those. Something I do and something I've been really feeling lately is like I often Go and sit down in the morning before my, even my kids get up. So I've been gotten used to waking up like at 4:35, because I have to, if not I have to rush to make him breakfast or go to work. And so I just go outside and sometimes it's really cold and it's like the last thing I want to do is go outside. I just want to stay in bed sleeping, but I still do it. And I go sit with my cup of tea under a tree or near the river or wherever it's that's peaceful. And I just try to really tune in to the consciousness of the tea. So a simple ritual can be that you're holding your tea in your favorite mug in your hands and you're just like breathing and tuning into the tea. And you're calling in your highest self and the consciousness of the plant at the same time. This is naturally allowing you. You're basically telling nature, okay, I'm ready to be in complete synergy with you. I want to come and be one with you. So that invitation, having your highest self be the receptor and the T being the consciousness, that is being impressed in your receptor, opening yourself up. Anytime any thought comes up, just weed it out. Stay centered, sip your tea, close your eyes, breathe. Regulate your breathing. And I guarantee you that within every day, flexing this muscle, every day, the repetition of it, you will start hearing the plant's consciousness. You will start hearing other things that are not your usual mind, that your to do list is no longer. It's not even important. Nothing is around you. It's like you're just there with it. And I don't want to call the spiritual energy it, but whatever you relate to the energy that comes through and pours into you will be something that doesn't seem, let's say, like your normal self. So that's one way you can really start tuning in, drinking those decompressing plants and you inviting the plant's consciousness into your body in your highest self space, not in the self. Your third dimensional self is just in the everyday battles of the human experience. Just really sit down and tune into it. If you practice this 10 minutes a day, within a week you'll already start feeling different. Within two weeks and so on, and you'll start really tuning into a greater consciousness. And it's really incredible how it works.

So amazing. And how do you know when you're communicating with that plant versus your own thoughts?

That's a really good question. So for example, recently as I've been doing My usual meditation. I started getting all these images from nowhere of doing these, like, mandalas around trees and certain plants. And I started getting these images of, like, plants that I've perhaps not been using, or they're not, like, in my usual everyday reality. And so I started getting clear images of these plants out of nowhere. And the plant was, in one particular case, it was damiana, for example. And this plant was showing me this red liquid all the time. Like something about a red liquid being taken to the feet of the plant. And the plant was, like, in this beautiful bush. And I was asking the spirit of it, like, what would you like me to do about this red fluid? Or, what is this red fluid made from? And so the first few days I couldn't even fully understand, but I kept narrowing in and I kept revisiting the symbology to invoke it in a dream or perhaps a spontaneous insightful burst and just everydayness. And the more I thought about it, I realized it was this particular tea made of raw turmeric and some hibiscus. And so I made the turmeric and the hibiscus because what was in abundance in my kitchen. So I was like, oh, it must be this. So I made the tea and I offered it to the plant. There's a big bush near where we live. There's several of the certain damiana plant, and there's many varieties. That's why I said that. But so I started putting tea offerings to the plant. And once I started doing that, the plan came to me to tell me that I had to give it to somebody in particular in my life that was really struggling with serious mood disorders. It was just really, like, borderline suicidal, just feeling horrible, just very weighed down by the collective energy and the current situation. And so I started making her this tea prepared with all these different things that the plant was telling me what to do. So once I offered the plant what it was telling me, even though I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, I still did it. I still did the little ritual. You know, it didn't take me the whole day. I just went there for a half hour, sat with the plan, did my little ceremony in complete, humble prayer, and then I just went home, went about my day. And so the more I did it, the dream kept telling me more about who that plan needed to be given to, in what way and in what dosage and what extraction and everything. So I loved it, because I was not expecting to tell that person anything. That person was not even in my life that much. But I reached out to them and said, I need. I think you just need to take this. We just need to trust it. And it has been a huge miraculous recovery for her, just taking a simple. Which means just a simple extraction of a plan of Damiana with some other teas going along with it. And the recovery of her mental health has been insane. Like Truly. And something so simple, who would have thought? Like Damiana, it's so easily almost disregarded. It's such a classic plant. But like, sometimes when you align to the spirit of it, and for whatever reason, that spiritual plant was needed inside the consciousness of my friend, you know, so these are mysteries of nature that we will never understand. And a lot of curanderos do that here. They sleep on the dosages. They sleep on what. What kind of plant needs to be impressing its consciousness into the being that is going to take it. And sometimes it's the most classic weed that's growing around you. Sometimes it's just something you would have never even regarded as important. You know, it doesn't have to be this super exotic brew that's the other side of the world that you have to take to awaken this deep, you know, consciousness in yourself sometimes is just aligning to the consciousness of that plant for that mysterious reason, and then you take the next step. So I think following those symbols, those leads, as you're in meditation is important. Trusting that, really exercising that muscle daily and trusting that whatever you're receiving, you have to follow it one way or another. And of course it has to be safe. If you're getting disastrous images of something, don't follow something that's unsafe. Keep following what feels safe and light and beautiful. Something that just opens your heart, not constrictive and strange. That usually can be another energy, which is funny because a lot of people have reached out when they try some of the astral projection techniques that we've shared, that they kind of encounter these demonic ish energies or negative energies. And of course, we never know what might be around us in our environment, the consciousness of the land that you might be living on, something that happened in your backyard. I work with this curandera, for example, that does remote viewing and has taken things out of the land that's like perhaps ancient or been there since God knows how long where certain black magic was performed. So I very much respect those traditions. And it's important that, you know, you really follow the light when you go in your practice. But if there is some particular darkness that keeps pouring in, like that requires more. I Would say more professional help. Or if you have a shaman or curandero in your life that you can work with, that's very important to clear the energy out of you to be able to receive proper information.

Thank you for sharing all of that. And I think it's so important for us to note that every plant has its own consciousness. I think sometimes we think it's just plant medicine, like an ayahuasca or bufo or even chemical ones, I guess. I don't know if you'd even consider that, but like ketamine and mdma and they do have their own, own frequency for sure. But so does everything, right? Like, so does, so do your house plants. So does, so does the weed growing on your sidewalk. And I think it's so important to note that sometimes we only think that consciousness is in those very overt, like, psychedelic experiences. But even just the tree growing in your backyard, like, it has messages for you. Like, maybe it's like watched you grow up your whole life and it has a lot to share.

Exactly. And like, if you really think about it, weeds, the weeds of now were not the weeds of even 100 or 200 years ago. There was other kinds of weeds. And every time there's different kinds of weeds. So, like, how would you explain how a weed became a weed? You know, is that like by chance that it's just nearing this present moment? Or does it actually hold something for humanity and it's a weed for a particular reason? You know, like nature is so giving that it will represent itself in an abundant way to help humanity? Like that is. That is clear to me. There is no doubt in that, you know, so it's not a chance that dandelion is like growing everywhere. It actually, we all could use a little liver decongesting. We all could use certain allies that are just growing everywhere right now. Like for example here. Chanca piedra is like a very well known remedy used by a lot of indigenous people to help support against Covid symptoms. Doesn't matter if they're vaccinated or not, if they get Covid, they've taken this plant. And it has been a true healer for a lot of people because it is a respiratory ally, a decongest into the kidneys and so on, many healing remedies. And a lot of people have been like, how can this weed help me? Like, I have Covid, you know, like, don't even. And I'm just like, yes, sometimes it might just help you just trust a little bit, you know, and it actually has Become a miraculous tea. And it's free for everybody. It's accessible everywhere. It's just. You go into the forest here, and you can pick up like, a pound within. Like, within an hour, maximum. You know, like, it's just really incredible. So nature is symbolic in that way, and we must trust that, too. And I think that opens a doorway already. Trusting that process, that conversation with nature, will open more doors as you keep following it.

And how important would you say, is it sticking with the herbs and plants that grow natively in your area versus having some that are in other parts of the world? You know, I think the struggle is, let's say you live in New York City. Like, there aren't as many options of native plants, though they used to grow there before Manhattan was born. So what do you think is the balance between that?

Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't. Even though I have found so many weeds even growing at the side of Brooklyn sidewalks, I would never consume them, of course, because it's just pretty toxic. But I would just pick them and put them on my altar and create some sort of connection to it. Definitely not internally, but I think what I used to love is going outside of the city and visiting native plants that grow in the forest nearby. So, like, upstate New York, for example, like, it's so much fun to go wildcrafting there. I know the whole Lyme's disease thing is a lot. What people. People stay away from the forest because of that, which is sad, but I feel like there's ways to perhaps be protected and still visit your native environments and get that replenishment one way or another. Or there's so many amazing farms. You know, the Hudson Valley has beautiful organic farms that just are mesmerizing that I really recommend people to take the time to, like, go visit your native plants, get. Get acquainted. Like, what does foraging even mean? Like. Or take a foraging workshop or, you know, get really into the rewilding of your true self. You know, we all have it in us. It's so essential to our biology that taking that time is just crucial to. To really understand where you're standing. And, you know, honoring your land, it's so key. Honoring your land, what plants grew there and why. So.

And do you think there's a benefit to ingesting the plants that are from where your. Your ethnicity is, for example, like, if you came from Asia or Latin America, et cetera, to look at what plants grow there?

Yes, absolutely. I think that symbiosis is key, you know, a lot. There's a Lot of interesting scientific research for coming out for a long time and a lot into the biodynamics on like where even like your saliva connected to your the seed and your garden and how that really mimics your DNA or your environment being like truly in complete reciprocity with you, generating what it is that you need just through the simple scent, like environmental sensory experience. Like nature is already accommodating itself to you even if you're not aware of it, which is so fascinating to think about. So I think anything that's growing around you is for a specific reason and going local is way better than not, I think. Of course there is incredible plant in las, like Rhodiola. You know, rhodiola is such an incredible one I've been working with lately. And yes, it's like native to Siberia. It's absolutely far away from Costa Rica. I'm actually trying to grow it here and have had zero success. But I'm like praying for it. But just even like honoring which plants. If you're working with a plant that's not within your native locality, like be very intentional. Why are you taking it? Is it just a wellness trend or you actually need some PTSD and help in your recovery? Do you really need that? Or if you're struggling with mental health, could rhodiola really assist you? Like really zoom into why and how in the research or work with someone that really knows versus just kitchen sinking, you know, whatever is non local to you and just not even. I think another way that's beautiful is like really if you have a garden or an availability to a farm, like growing even non natives in a beautiful and mindful way can also be very healing, you know, connecting to that. So for example, I was recently in North Carolina and I brought some goldenseal and some American ginseng rootlets and I'm growing them here. I live in a little bit of a temperate rainforest here, so I'm hoping I can continue growing them. They're sprouting and they're just growing with me. Obviously the supply is tiny. If I were to use them medicinally, there would be a need for a lot more. But just the connection of growing with it spiritually is already creating a medicinal experience that is not just some hippie ideal that actually works. Really connecting to it in that way is really, really powerful. So yeah, I think it has to be very selective. Local is best always, always, always. Even if it's local United States, you know, like there's so many Oregon farms that are growing fantastic medicinal Herbs, Northern California. I don't know now, but there used to be fantastic places. So I think that's. That's number one, definitely.

I love that so much. And it's just such a reminder to us of, like, what is our connection even with growing our own herbs? Because you shared, you know, you just, like, picked some seeds up from this place and you, like, grew in your backyard. I'm like, you know, I live in an apartment, so I'm like, you know, I could do it on my balcony, but I think we all just get maybe lazy of just, like, oh, like that. I don't know how it's gonna take work, like, where am I gonna get the dirt from? And I think it's just such a reminder to having that connection with growing something that especially things that we ingest. Because it's, like, one thing to have a houseplant that you, like, look at, and it's cute. But another thing of, like, I grew something that sustains me, and it just really brings back that connection to, like, food is a gift to us from the earth. Like, food actually has no cost in itself. Like, it's growing right there. It's just that most of us have lost that connection with it.

Exactly. And something really happens when you're actually in it. Even if it's a pot or a massive garden, whatever you're dealing with, something seriously happens. Like, when I'm having a rough day and I just cannot deal with more stresses, and I just need to go do something. My number one therapy is gardening. Like, in whatever way, shape and form. Once I start gardening, within 20 minutes, I already forgot the narrative in my mind. I'm already completely into, like, okay, I'm going to grow my next batch of whatever it is. And I completely forget, like, the random drama in my mind, you know, that it could easily have just gone away. And I would have either chosen, just kept struggling, or just do an actual practice that is therapeutic to my soul and will actually feed me in the long run. So I think, like, especially now with this whole apocalyptic energy, a lot of people are really taking that into consideration. Like, I need to learn how to grow my own food. I need to learn how to grow my medicine. You know, like, indigenous peoples all over the world to this day are doing that, you know, And I recently was bringing that up because in the Amazon, for example, when indigenous people had zero access, let's say, to medical assistance, which has happened so many times through several pandemics, not just the current one, they just had to make do with what they had, that's it. Whether medical assistance ever got to them in whatever way, shape and form, they still had to grow their medicine, figure out how to relinquish viruses that were born from that area and just completely survive off the land. And that's what builds resilience. You really have to tune into that. And that's more important than just getting a beautiful little powder from the other side of the world that's sitting in your kitchen, which of course can be healing. But it's just like what is really more vital? What is really building your essentials right now? What's really feeding you, you know?

Yeah, I love that so much. It's such a, it's such a huge reminder for us and I think that that's one of, one of the gifts of this pandemic of like, do we even know where our food comes from? Like, how does this food supply system even work and realizing how fragile everything is and how if we don't have access to food and water, we're not truly really sovereign. And I see so many people for the first time ever, myself included, really thinking about, yeah, where is my local farm? Do I have a relationship with. Why not start now? And now I'm ordering this local vegetables from the farmer and it's so much cheaper because there aren't like 10 million middlemen of like, you know, truck drivers and plastic and this and that that are in between.

Exactly. Well said. 10 million middlemen. Exactly, exactly. And more than ever too. Like if there is actual issues with importing international products because of whatever's going on, like where are you going to get your oil from? You know, if it's not olive oil that's imported, then what's your nearest oil? That's a pretty essential one. I've even been thinking about that. So many people rely on olive oil, for example. And over here, native oils have been kind of like either completely overly processed and toxic for export, that not even are able to be found locally, which is crazy because they're all just in international markets or there's just non existent. So there's hardly any artisan oil, which is so key for our brain health, for our nutrition, for everything. You just really have to make do with your local and understanding what's really local to you. Not like the supermarket reality that just feeds us everything from the world, which is exquisite of course, but it's just what's really local to you. What if the supply chain really collapses? What are you going to eat? Where are you living? What's in Your area, what can you grow? And medicine is key in that way.

So important. I also have a question around when, first of all, how long should we be working with an herb to see its benefits? I've heard people say that you should be working with one herb for months at a time and that's how you start to notice the benefits. And then I also hear other people saying, oh, if you're feeling anxious, have some lemon balm and it will help with the anxiety. So is this more of a gradual or an immediate thing or does it kind of depend on the plant and what you need?

Exactly, it depends on the plant and the acuteness or chronicness of the situation in hand. So with classic let's say herbal, clinical herbalism diagnosis, it's really important to target the fundamental blueprint that's creating the imbalance versus just tackling only acute issues that are manifesting. Let's say you have migraines, something very common nowadays. Everybody has migraines. Especially people living in cities are just dealing with migraines for electro smog or heavy metal toxicity or whatever it is. Instead of just trying to deal with do your walls have mold or is the food you're eating heavy metals, which is very important, loaded with heavy metals. It's important to understand like what is the fundamental blueprint that's perhaps igniting that migraine? Is it within your gut? Is it emotional stress? Is it both? You know, so it's kind of like really understanding the base of that. So based on the importance of what you're dealing with, you have to really kind of see what plants you want to work with. Some plants work longer term, like let's say adaptogens that are very well known nowadays. Adaptogens are more of a long term plan. You're not going to take it one day and just be like, I'm stress free. My endocrine system is just blasting and regulating. You know, some people do have it within seven days. Like ultra sensitive people just like feel it fast. But I would say the greater majority feel it within a month, two months. Especially like everyday use.

Like an ashwagandha for example.

Exactly. Well, ashwagandha is actually a fast acting adaptogen. So that's a great example. With ashwagandha I have seen a Greater majority within 7 days. Seeing already quite a difference. Generally, let's say being very triggerable. Like if you're dealing with like extremely triggerability, aggressiveness, you know, like a mind that just is always on fire, within seven to 10 to two weeks you will have it seven days to two weeks, you will definitely have a response quickly. So ashwagandha is a true miracle pill. Rhodiola to rhodiola within two weeks. People that are dealing with PTSD taking high doses of like up to three times a day have seen already a difference within two weeks. Of course it won't uproot the ptsd, but it will definitely help like the reactivity of how that's manifesting in everyday life.

So fascinating. And what about mucuna? Because I know that that's one that you guys have and it's the dopamine booster. Dopamine bean.

Yes. I love mucuna and that's also a wild weed. Like here it's actually treated like a true legume, which it is. So people here used to eat it like rice and beans. Isn't that wild? It's like rice and beans on steroids. But I mean it's just really fantastic. It grows everywhere, it has these beautif purple flowers. It like hides in the tree canopy. Like when you see it it's just like there, you know, once it's ready to be harvested it's like you can't miss it. And it's just so interesting because it's just slithering through the forest. You can't see it and all of a sudden it's just everywhere, you know.

So and is that one over time or more of the fast acting?

Oh, mucuna is fast acting as well. Mucuna is not exactly an adaptogen but it's a great adaptogenic supportive herb. It has been coined as an adaptogen because it has a lot of research in the regulation on the endocrine system which is like our stress response system and beyond. It's also like a great impact on our neuro hormones which is so key for our mental health. So that's why it's become kind of like a dopamine master plan because it does create that rise in dopamine or reward center. But it is not an adaptogen. It is classically coined as one, but it is not. But it does have a great regulatory defense. So if you're dealing with hormonal issues, you'll see a fast acting response. If you're feeling like you're struggling with a little bit of depression or you just don't have a desire to get up in the morning. And so it will show fast response within seven to 14 days. It's really great. People here have consumed it more like a coffee. So you basically harvest the beans and you either Roast them or you cook them for a long time until you get this dark liquid that looks just like coffee, which is where the term Nescafe actually comes from. So Nescafe, the corporation must have stolen this from the actual tradition. Or maybe it's an actual coincidence. But indigenous people here used to drink that as the coffee more than actual coffee itself.

Wow.

So they would make the tea and then still eat the beans, like rice and beans or in whatever food they were making. And they still drank the fluid. Like if it's like your black bean fluid, you would drink the tea and they would go long hours of work or trekking mountains or just doing really intensive labor of whatever kind after their mucuna. So it is a cognitive booster. It's a stimulant, it's an energizer, but it has no caffeine. That's what's great about non caffeinated stimulants. I really love those. Like rhodiola. Rhodiola is a classic stimulant. It really awakens the body, but it doesn't have the hazardous effects of some caffeine overload. But I think that's why it's become such a popular coffee addition, because they really look alike. It's very dark and it's rich, it's dense, it's high in protein. So when you drink, when you pair them, they're quite an exquisite and euphoric little elixir.

So, yeah, and mucuna, it's like a natural sweetener. Like it really can be a replacement for a sweetener. I put it in my coffees and teas every single day. I didn't even know that. Like, just literally, because I love the taste. That's probably your product. I go through the most because it's like I travel with it, I bring it everywhere. And I wonder too, it's like the sweetness, it almost like I feel like it brings sweetness to my life. Do you feel that sometimes the taste of the herbs are really part of the medicine?

Yes, absolutely. That's like so well said. Absolutely. You can diagnose the entirety of the plant through the flavor. Everything. Like hyper bitter plants, you know, they're just. You cannot even swallow them. Like what is that really telling you? You know, antiviral most likely, or liver master house. Like, you know, it's just what is the plant signaling you? And I think getting really, again, intuitively understanding through flavor is amazing. Like legumes are naturally high in starch. That's part of the sweetness you're feeling and that's the legume, you know, like that's just, that's an amazing intelligent loop just through flavor, you know?

Yeah. And then something else like a nettle, you know, it's like more of that, that bitter, grassy taste. But for example, I love it. And certain people are like, oh, it tastes like weed water or something. So do you think that we are naturally Gl. Gravitated towards the herbs we need, like they'll, they'll taste good to us. Or do you think sometimes, for example, some of your lucid dreaming herbs do not taste good to me? Like the ones that are in the glass, I'm like, how do people. I'm like, do people smoke these or drink these? But I'm like, is that just because it's like so herby and I'm just not used to it or is it just like it's not the right one for me right now?

Yeah. Well, I think that's why the reality of sugar coated medicine has really become a thing even in pharmaceutical reality, you know, like, like sugar coating medicine. It's like that's, it's a real existence.

Even back Tylenol and Advil.

There's sugar on all of those. Yes. Like if you actually like put it in your mouth, you can taste there's sugar outside and then it's like super bitter inside. The pill, right?

Right.

Yeah. So it's just literally sugar coated, like inside, it's just like an actual candy. But I think even back in the day, like if you go to alchemical times, like the pellets they would make like castiles, they're all like hammered herbs and like into powders and fine. And then they kind of congeal it with like some honey or whatever they use and then they make these like let's say herby looking pills and they were actually sugar coated to intake, so. Or even beer. Beer is a classic medium that was used to give medicine and was actually owned by witches. You know, like witches made beer. Even though it's such like a manly, you know, like run business nowadays. Although there's amazing women breweries that I absolutely love.

But honey also, your honey has like schisandra berry and all sorts of stuff.

Exactly. And so beer was actually a ferment made with herbs with sugars to actually have it be palatable as an actual elixir. So it's just really interesting, like true, really, like bitter based beers are just really medicinal or candy, not commercially grown. Like just, you know, ones that are really rich in herbs. Like yarrow was always A classic or nettle beer and so on. But, yeah, I know some of them taste horrible, and that doesn't mean. It doesn't. It's not for you. I agree. It's not easy to swallow some things. I mean, if you go back to even, like, ayahuasca, that is such a craze, it doesn't really taste so fantastic when you're drinking it, you know, like, it has quite a multi sugary, molassy flavor to it, and it doesn't mean, like, it won't do you wonders. So I think it's just. There's a certain threshold in getting used to it, you know, so I've drank plants my whole life, and now I can drink some of the most bitter plants. And at first it was almost impossible for me. I was just like, oh, no, I can never do this. But now that I understand the actual medicinal nature of certain bitter. Bitter flavors or, you know, whatever other flavor, then you can really get into the makeup of it.

So, yeah, I feel like as we progress. Yeah. And as we progress in our own wellness journey, like, you know, before you even eat a vegetable, you're like, Brussels sprouts. Gross. And then you, like, begin to love Brussels sprouts. And then you begin to love things that you once found like. Like bitter or disgusting. And you. I feel like your taste buds continue to expand and grow until, you know, people who. Indigenous people, I'm sure they don't have a reaction, really to anything because they've been used to eating all forms of flavors their whole entire lives. Whereas in the Western world, it's just like we are so obsessed with taste and only, like, specific taste. Carb fats, those really, like, satisfying tastes that basically our bodies want them because they preserve extra energy in our bodies, whereas bitter foods are really detoxifying, astringent foods as well. So we do have this, like. I feel like a child. Like a child has a natural reaction towards bitter because they're. They're growing, right. Their bodies are like, no, give me the carbs so I can grow. But as we get older, we sometimes realize, like, I'm sure I haven't had the chanca pietra, but the way that you described it, is that a. A bitter one? If it's like killing a virus or.

Yeah. Not like super strong, but on the. It's not. It's more of a mild tea, I would say. But it's definitely not, like, particularly pleasant or anything.

And you also have your gynostemma, which is a miracle grass. So can you share a little bit about those qualities.

Yes. Gynostemma is also an adaptogen. It's fantastic. I love it because it's hyper mineralizing. It's considered like an anti aging weed. It grows really like a wild weed. Like you can find it even in North Carolina. You can find it all over. Like even in Florida it would grow easily. I grow it here in Costa Rica. It's native definitely to Indonesia and those areas. And it's been used even in Thailand. It's been used as a tea for such a long time. It's so sweet and it's so delicious. Like that plant, I feel like is the easiest one to just drink as a tea. Although some people have brooded and say it's even too sweet for them. So it's literally borderline, almost like stevia in the sense of sweetness as an herb. So when you steep it just gently, like I never like to recommend boiling hot water unless you're like using like seeds or bark or roots. You know, like when you're using flowers or herbs, you want to use almost boiling like 75% to boiling water. Kind of like if you would do a green tea or matcha. And so if you do super boiling, it will taste bitter and gnarly like most things. Same with Blue lotus. If you do it with boiling water, it tastes not good at all. So it has to be just the perfect temperature. Dinosaur is the same. If you do the perfect temperature. It has this like rounded sweetness. Like it almost is like a thick tea and you can feel the polysaccharides in it, which is what's essential about it. Those polysaccharides is what gives you like that anti aging effect or mineralizing powerhouse. So I really recommend it for that. We love to use it in our collagen boosters because it really helps the skin. It's like a skin detoxifier. It's a skin nourisher. You can do it literally as a face mask. I oftentimes make the tea and just put it on my face and just like clean myself with it. It's just fantastic. Even yoni steams, you can do yoni steams if it grows wild in your area or if you have access to it, just like use it. It's fantastic for the yoni or I like to do yoni masks where you literally label masks, but you literally put the tea around your whole area or just sit in it if you can, in a little tub. So it's really, really incredible. It just nourishes or if you have scars, if you have any kind of skin problems, it's just really fantastic to use in that way.

So interesting because I've always, you know, kind of guessed that the reason why they say certain teas don't put in boiling water is because it would basically kill off the properties. But I didn't realize how it could also affect the taste of it. That's really interesting.

Exactly. Yeah. It'll be. Blue lotus goes from being a delicious aromatic tea to like bitter and nasty. And nobody likes to drink it at that point. You would have to add so much honey to it to like be able to, or whatever, maple, to really enjoy it, you know, so it's vital. And it's all about alchemy. You know, a lot of these plants, like some bitter plants, no matter what you do, it will always be terrible. But some plants, you just can really alchemize it and make some magic. Like cacao. You know, cacao is the same. Cacao is ultra bitter. Most people don't really realize that about actual chocolate. Nature's chocolate as it is in the tree form, you know, when you eat the pod straight out of the fruit or the little seed, it's actually pretty bitter once you start chewing on the seed. But if you start making it into these delicious. There's so many people doing fantastic things with cacao and you start adding, of course, the sugar coating reality to it. Then you start taking this like alchemy and making a potion that's just fantastic. Also anti aging and incredible in all senses. So, yeah, it's all about alchemizing your medicine. I think that's also part of the trial and error for centuries that people have done with medicine. Like our culinary cabinet. You know, like, it's not a coincidence we all happen to have thyme or parsley or coriander, fennel seed, turmeric. Like, they all became staples for specific reasons. And our palate over our ancestral lines have evolved with these plants. So now, like, our taste buds are so used to integrating this into our daily cuisine, even though they're native to like so many different countries around the world. But like, we've kind of grown genetically with these plants and now we're so used to these flavors. But they became that because they were actual medicines that worked. You know, like, just because they're a spice doesn't mean that medicine has so much power. Like thyme is such a powerful antiviral and respiratory ally. It is indispensable to be used right now for anyone dealing with any kind of you know, viral symptomologies of any kind. You should be drinking thyme like thyme tea or time tincture or whatever form you like cooking with it is just fantastic too. Like I usually make my broths and I add so much thyme, so much rosemary all in fresh form and you make a thick broth of all the classic culinary spices. And then if you like bone broth or you like the vegan side or whatever it is that you're doing, just keep building on that but do it very herb heavy and it's so powerful, it's like micro stimulants to our immune system. So particularly rosemary in time, but so great to use it in that way.

Culinary we'll take a quick break so I can give a shout out to our sponsors. Want an easy way to get organic products delivered to your door that's actually good for the planet? Then you have to check out Thrive Market. They have super reduced prices on a lot of your favorite healthy brands that you already love. I found sun potion ashwagandha there for 38 off plus tons of iron Ayurvedic products including a tongue scraper, toothpaste and sesame oil for oil pulling. Their orders are shipped for free and delivered with carbon neutral shipping from their zero waste warehouses. And to top it off, for every paid membership, they give one back to a low income family. Head over to thrivemarket.com Sahara to get 20 off your first order and a free gift. That's T H R-I-V E market.com Sahara to get $20 off your first order and a free Gift. Thrive market.com Sahara so if you're anything like me, you catch yourself late at night on your computer with all of these words and thoughts and things you want to research. But it's super late and you know you're going to screw up your sleep. And Ayurveda told you your circadian rhythm really matters. So you're secretly mad at yourself but you still want to keep going. Does this sound a little bit too specific? Well if so, so I have the solution for you. And those are blue blocks glasses. So these are glasses that help block the junk light, all of the artificial light, the blue light that's on our phones, our laptops, all these screens, even our light switches. I've actually changed out all my lights to no longer have the blue artificial light that comes through. So it's a lot more soothing for my circadian rhythm cycle. And wearing these blue Blox glasses has been so helpful. I sleep better, I wake up early, easier and I don't have that same digital eye strain. And if you're a little skeptical, all of these glasses use science back technology tested to ensure they work unlike other blue light glasses companies. If you want to get your hands on a pair, head over to blueblocks.com that's B L-U B L-O-X.com Sahara for 15 off your first pair and you can find that link link in the show notes. Yeah, like for me, turmeric growing up, like everyone just used turmeric. It was just, you know, I never thought of it as like a superfood. And now it's such a superfood. People are even taking capsules of turmeric every single day. And it's just like one of those examples that what was just an abundant spice found all throughout Asia, I'm pretty sure really now has become a coined superfood. It's like, it's amazing.

It's amazing. It's like you go anywhere and everyone has a curry spice blend of some kind, you know, or turmeric of some kind. It's just, it's so forgiving too, like turmeric, you can just grow it so easily, you know, it's such a giving plant. It's such an ally for humanity today. It makes so much sense. It's part of everybody's culinary cabinet in a way.

So anti inflammatory and we're so inflamed and like pitta and aggravated and it's just like, okay, I'm here to cool you guys down, help you get regulated again.

Yeah. And going back to what you were saying, you know, like resetting the palate is so ideal for knowing what intuitive eating really is. You know, like if your palate is addicted to certain foods, let's say obviously like sugar is addicting, then you won't really know until you really detoxify that addiction and know what your palate, your body really needs, you know. So if you're someone that's just eating sugar or carbs, it's a multiple. Most of the time bitter foods will taste horrible and it might really be your healer. So I think resetting the palate and integrating all these amazing spices into your foods and actually making it exciting, you know, like you can actually make it fun. Doesn't have to be like this disgusting tea you're drinking, it can really reset your intuition around food, you know, what you really need.

And what do you think about getting things in capsule form versus powder verse leaf? What are the differences there?

I think capsules should really be used only with someone that can truly not take the medicine or create the ritual around it and can just needs it consistently for a long period of time. I feel like they're valuable in that sense. Or if you're traveling and you just need to do it while you're flying, or if you're just unable to have your hot water or whatever, I understand that. But for your daily reality as medicine, I actually can't stand capsules.

Why?

You know, like, you don't know how old they are. You know that little powder and like those little veggie caps or whatever the folder is. I just don't see it as a potent medicine. I feel like a fresh plant will take like 10 to 20 capsules, you know, like for actual, like really side to side dosaging. And unless you have a friend or you yourself capsule yourself the actual powder and you know it's fresh, I really don't recommend it unless it's like just truly necessary. But if you're in your kitchen every day, you should have fresh, vibrant ingredients, fresh powders, not old stale powders at all. They stick in your gut. They don't do anything in the end. They just kind of actually make this digestive system lethargic if it's not really up to par to vitality. So it's so important to get it fresh. If you get it fresh, that's always 100% number one. Number two is like fresh tinctures. If you can't do alcohol or other like glycerites or other menstruums and then just do beautiful teas or decoctions or making your brats like herbal broths are so amazing for health and cooking with them, really getting into the culinary side is just fantastic.

And what about choosing between tinctures and powders? What are the different benefits of both?

So tinctures are usually stronger because alcohol is one of the best vehicles because it just extracts so much chemistry all in one go. It of course doesn't extract everything. Water is also a vehicle for extraction, but not water doesn't pull everything out. Certain, like for example, barks and roots and seeds usually could use an actual double extraction to really withdraw all the wonderful chemistry that it has. So it is really traditional to so many indigenous peoples around the world. Like you go to South America and they have like, they're literally the. We call them like botellas de guaro. Just like alcohol that is just distilled artisan or however they made it. And they just always have plants in there and that's how they take it. Like Catskla was always in like a big bottle of alcohol and people just swig it to like really clear the digestive tract. And they were boosting their serotonin without even knowing probably. And just like, you know, just really amazing. They were just so in tune to the process of what needed to be an alcohol versus not same in India, same in Chinese medicine. Chinese, Tibetan medicine, like so many different indigenous peoples have used alcohol as a primary extractor and they just knew it's pretty wild. But then water too. Like you have to use water and alcohol to extract certain things and really make it like a wide spectrum extraction. And then you can do double extraction. For example. Nowadays like our mushroom powders are double extracted and you need that. If not, it's not digestible. So you can either boil your mushrooms down and make a broth with it to actually be effective or you can do like alcohol and then boiling it or vice versa. Some people boil it and then macerate it in alcohol and you get the double extraction, which is fantastic as you get truly full spectrum chemistry and constituents.

And what about glycerin?

I like glycerin only if you cannot tolerate alcohol. But I also use it, like I love to use it in conjunction to alcohol because it kind of sweetens it up a little bit.

Yeah. Is it sugar?

What is it? It's a byproduct of alcohol, so it's usually distilled. Like a lot of the main derivatives come from coconut or palm or many others. The coconut and palm are like the classics. So it is like basically a leftover from manufacturing. Alcohol can be too, you know, sometimes. Well, they really process it specifically for alcohol. But glycerin is a byproduct of certain manufacturing and there's different forms to derive it. But glycerin is great if you cannot have alcohol. For example, if you're pregnant and you want a little bit of a stronger extraction, I really recommend glycerides or kids. I give my kids a lot of glycerites as well. So it's just a softer extraction. So let's say, I would say like it's maybe less than half as strong than alcohol. So just to gauge when you're extracting it, you might have to either double up on your dosage or use more. Higher volume of herbs per volume of liquid.

Yeah. Because they definitely, the ones I've tried, they taste really sweet. I'm like, is this like sugar water I'm drinking? It tastes really good.

But sugar though, that's True. Yeah. It's just definitely more modern, you know, like, I don't think there is. It's very traditional to use glycerin.

Yeah.

But I think it's a great medium if you really cannot do alcohol. But I understand some people, obviously, if they have addiction or have an addictive history, alcohol is absolutely not recommended. Or if you're diabetic, you cannot take it. Glycerin also, some diabetics have taken it, but it's honestly a tough call because it does metabolize as sugar. So you have to be careful or don't do it if you're not sure.

So fascinating. I think what you mentioned about the encapsulation, it's like what we mentioned. You don't really have that same relationship with the plant. So what I find is like, sometimes I'm just taking supplements. I don't even know if they're working or not. I was just told to take them and I'm just taking them. And I feel like, you know, there's just less of that connection there because I'm just swallowing it with no taste. I don't know the texture, I don't know anything about it. So my question for you is like, when do we know we've graduated from a plant?

That's such a good question. It oftentimes is confusing, you know, if you're taking it, especially if it's not a specific intention, like, let's say, just general wellness can be a tricky line. So there's plants that are great for like everyday tonics. Like, the true meaning of a tonic is safe plants you can intake daily forever and it won't be harming. Like gynostemma is a tonic. Adaptogens are tonic herbs because they actually help you sustain long term. And because they actually adapt to you and your environment ongoing, it kind of helps you take long term. So it's not like it stops being effective. So that's part of the amazing nature of adaptogens, for example. But herbs are perhaps slightly toxic in tiny ways, even in ways that we wouldn't know, we wouldn't recommend it as a daily or because it can really be damaging after, let's say three months use, six months use or one year use. Like a mugwort. Mugwort is not a tonic herb, but if you take it for a year, it's not going to harm you, you know, like it's a very classic plant. Same with yarrow. It's a classic plant, not necessarily a tonic herb. But it's fantastic for Your gut. It's a great antiviral. It's like a pharmacy in itself. So you want to take it long term. Especially, let's say, in the years we're living in. Like, if you're in a pandemic and you want to be fully protected and armed at all times, Taking plants like that make absolute sense, like right now. A very popular one for Covid also is Sweet Annie, that has a lot of research to help respiratory illnesses of any kind, or just imbalances or just an antiviral. And it's a fantastic weed. You know, it grows anywhere. It's just in Africa. It grows like a true wild weed. It grows in different parts of North America. It can even grow here, Costa Rica and so on. But it's a fantastic one to take long term. Right now in the process, we're living in. So a year or two. If you just feel naturally strong and protected. That's a great signal right there. If you feel like it's not doing absolutely anything for you, you have to think of dosage, other pairings that might exalt the chemistry and really start alchemizing in your own way. Or, of course, if you work with an herbalist, they'll tell you, oh, it's not working the three month mark. Let's see what we can add into your formula. And kind of you go from there.

Yeah, it's great to know. And again, continue that checking in and give something enough of a chance. I think also sometimes we try a million things at once that were like, I don't know what's working and what's not, because I bought 10 new herbs and I'm taking them all, you know, So I think having that time of like, okay, let me try this one herb for the next couple of weeks. Let me see how I feel. Like, try the next one. And before necessarily making all the shifts overnight.

Yeah. And I think also the pill reality has become very much a placebo effect, you know, like, it's like a 50, 50 chance. Of course it does something. But I think the nature of feeling like you're taking something really helps your mind to receive the medicine, too. So all the placebo studies are actually very interesting with herbs and pharmaceuticals because they can actually act like a placebo depending on how you're taking it or the ritual around it, or how you feel about your pill or tea or whatever it is. So the power of the mind is quite important as well, you know. So if you're taking your pill and you really feel like it's Working on you. Your mind might be doing more of the work than the actual medicine sometimes and or in conjunction at the same time. They're just one in the same in a way, you know. So our mind is key here when it comes to what you're taking, which also signals intuitively are you really taking the right thing or are you just going with what you read online or what someone told you, which is so classic, you know, and it's just so important to narrow in what your intention is. What do you really need right now, you know, and going from there and not kitchen sinking, which is so classic. I used to do it too. I drank so many herbs for so many years. I was just like, I think I took like a two year break and they didn't take anything except like mukuna and my coffee. Basically I was doing for a while only herb medicinal mushroom. Very tonifying and nourishing. But you have to really pay attention and start listening. Going back to that intuition, like really listen what's going on, what's going on inside.

I love that so much. And yeah, for me too, it's like very intuitive. Sometimes I'll be drinking a certainty a lot and then I'll just kind of to stop. Not really know why. I just am drawn to something else and I sort of just let that flow. And one that I also have every single day is your rose powder. I love it so much ever since you introduced it to me, which is like years ago now because to me it's like that vibration of beauty and the divine feminine. So can you share more about your rose powder and also how you guys cultivate it?

Yes. Oh my goodness. I know. Rose is just. And I mean Sahara rose, it is your spirit ally right there. Yeah, Rose is just an incredible plant. Also very bitter. You know, if you have the tea, it's quite astringent and bitter. Like anytime we think of rose, it sounds like a culinary fantastic flavor. Whatever you associate it to, it doesn't remind you of like bitter compounds and a need to add sugar or something, you know. So that is another plant that like it's all about alchemy, the temperature of your water, how you engage with it, which is also part of the signature of itself on like how the plant wants to be respected and treated and integrated, you know. So those are all cues too on how to use your medicine. But anyways, rose is just of course a heart opener. It's been used for so long as a symbol in so many different traditions. Whether you go to India, which I'M sure you've seen or you go to like Mayan scriptures or you go to different indigenous peoples. The rose was always like the actual symbol of an expanded heart. The true expanded connection between brain and heart. True synergy of those two centers. And the rose in my opinion, creates that gateway. Like it really tones the vagus nerve. So it really creates this like decompression, relaxation and opening of your spirit body. So beautiful. It's really relaxing to your nervous system. The actual rose hips are fantastic for vitamin C, antioxidants, blood purification, nourishment. Incredible. For tightening the skin. It's become kind of like a cosmetic dream for years because it really does wonders to our skin, to our immune system. It's just like a true helo. I do feel like I've read a few interesting planet intelligence studies by Stephen Harod and other people that the DNA of roses is very similar to that of humans. That the biology that we've created together for so many years, our ancestors revered roses. It became part of our bloodline. It's imprinted in our DNA and the co evolution of these two of us and it them however you want to express this wonderful entity, it became this like synergy. It's become part of our actual need to consume it and become allies with it. So like we were saying, culinary plants. The co evolution of these plants with us is like ancient. They're part of our DNA, it's part of our daily living. It's like part of the actual ritual of being human to consume these wonderful allays. So rose is just incredible. And we source it from this incredible farm in India actually. And we don't use the actual rose that it's like the classic, the Bulgarian rose that you see in most places as like the rose. I feel like India is actually India's rose over Bulgaria's is actually some of my favorite cultivations. I think India just has incredible. But there's so many species, you know, like nowadays there's like over 20,000 kinds of roses, you know, I think, or even more, I forget. So it's became such a genetic modification, not just like due to modernity, but people actually splice roses. My dad used to do that. He used to splice roses and combine genetics to have different roses be born in our garden. And it was just so amazing like how easy it was to create a new genetic flower, a new genetic forehead. You know, it was just different patterns and smells come out and it's just beautiful. But yeah, the co evolution with roses is really fascinating. And there's a lot of myth and alchemical writings on it, even ancient European alchemical writings, writing about the sacredness of roses and how it really represents the spiritual trajectory of our soul and how it goes from this like rugged spiny process, which is very much the spiritual experience. And then you come into the culmination of the blissful entry into heaven to higher consciousness and beauty and magic, which is so exude in the flowers physicality and taste, you know. But roses are so key, like a rose powder. I think it's so funny. Some people are like, I can't stand the flavor of rose. Like I can't even deal with it. I was like, are you insane? Oh my God. But just I think it's all about alchemy again. Like if you oversteep it in hot water, the powder, it just, you don't see the color, you don't taste the deliciousness. You can't really work with it. It doesn't taste so good. So it's just all about how much water, how temp the temperature you're using. What are you combining it with Such a interesting energetic process that has to be revered and done. Yes.

I sprinkle it on top of my coffee like the way that you would do cinnamon. So it's just like a little like, I call it my rose gold latte. And it's just so beautiful because it's not really even steeping in. I'm tasting like that pure vibration of the rose. And it's just a new taste that we don't normally get to have. And also the rose is such a huge part of like Goddess Isis and the whole sisterhood of the rose, which is really the original mystery schools of the divine feminine. And they would work with rose alchemy. So it really is, I feel, one of the most high vibrational plants out there, especially for tuning into your heart and all of the realms of divine feminine spirituality, which are a lot more subtle. Like, you know, for example, ashwagandha in Sanskrit means strength of a stallion. Right. So it's like strong and that's really what it was used for. Where was rose? I see it much more as like mysterious and and playful and luring you in.

I agree. Same with Blue Lotus. I love the Latin name to the neem fire. It's a nymph. It's like the water nymph. So it activates the spiritual centers. It activates obviously that tantric beautiful energy and really awakens sexual organs in such a profound way. Not just like to get horny and excited. You know, it really awakens, like, these latent systems connected to our vitality so deeply, you know, and that's what I love about it. Same with Rose. I feel like it just awakens this, like, amazing creative energy inside us. And that's so much our sexuality. Not just sexuality as the Western mind, more the sexuality of, like, the vitality of our being and our creative center. And so many of these ancient cultures, I think it's fascinating how they all knew that, that. That sexual vitality was key to resilience and health, was key to immune protection, was key to our fundamental happiness. Once we feel like that vitality goes down, we start getting sick and imbalances start happening. It's almost like the fruiting tree. If we stop creating that fruit, we just. What happens to us? What happens to us on a biological level? You know, we start aging differently. So I think that vitality is so important, especially now more than ever, for humanity. Like, these plants really awaken this. This core center of who we really are and what we're really here for and how we're just wired to be blissful beings 100%.

And speaking of Blue Lotus, so when I went to Burning man, like, two, three years ago, I brought my Blue Lotus that I got from you, and I did not take any form of psychedelics, did not drink alcohol, nothing. I was just drinking my Blue Lotus every single day because I was like, you know, I really just want to stay in my body and just, like, stay in my center with this. And everyone was like, making fun of. Of me. They're like, oh, like Blue Lotus. But it was just such a great companion for me to feel like I'm having something without having some form of psychedelic. And for me, like, also, every single time it was different. Like, when I took it, we were driving there, I kind of just fell asleep. And other times I just felt communicative or explorative. So it really does just maybe work with whatever you kind of want to do at that time and support you.

Exactly. And you know what's so fascinating about Blue Lotus, too? Like, the alcohol extract really extracts the apple morphine, which is the alkaloid that's considered psychoactive. So if you want to have that, like, psychoactive experience, it has to be an alcohol extract or it could even be infused in wine or some people use vinegar. I haven't tried the vinegar version yet, but the wine or the alcohol is really lovely. So if you're looking for a heightened experience or a. Or a substitute of other perhaps things you're Consuming. I really recommend that.

And you shared that back in ancient Egypt, when they would have these orgy parties, they would ingest blue lotus because it would just open them up in that way.

Exactly. And that's where the name comes from, right? Nymphaea. Back to the nymph that we have within many of us, not all of us, but whenever whoever wants to activate that is really powerful in that way. So even in Egyptian carvings, you see, they always have this receptacle of sorts. And of course we don't really know exactly what the receptacle was or what alchemy they did, but it was clearly a liquid, a derived liquid of the blue lily. So what did they do? I don't know exactly. But the most suspected theory is a ferment or an alcohol extraction poured into the orgiastic parties. So I wonder what it really was.

And it's literally like blue lotuses on water.

Correct.

Because I mean, when I open it up, it's blue petals.

Exactly. So it is not an actual lotus. The actual lotus family is Nelumbo nucifera is the actual Latin name. And this is Nymphaea caerulea. So they're actually not technically related, but they do have similar function. Like a lot of the blue lotus seeds and petals of the actual Nelumbo family were also used for these deeply anti anxiety relaxing plants. You know, both of them really work. But the Nymphaea family has been particularly psychotropic in this way when extracted in this way.

So it's like a blue lily.

Technically it's a blue lily, but everyone calls it lotus since forever ago, even though it's not exactly a lotus. Definitely looks like one though. But it's not exactly a lotus.

And you speak a lot about lucid dreaming and using plants to support particularly blue lotus and many others. And I know you'll be teaching a workshop and rose gold goddesses at the beginning of next year, all lucid dreaming and how we can get into those states. But can you share a little bit about how we can use plants to support us to get into lucid dreaming? And first of all, how you would define lucid dreaming.

So lucid dreaming is being awake within the dream. It's the moment you realize that you're dreaming. So it is very much like if you're standing in the bridge from awake and sleep, it's that middle point. So you're crossing the bridge from consciousness to subconscious. And it is a beautiful point that has been studied for so long. And it's also very traditional to many cultures that it really has been a process of awakening on a very, very deep level, like lucid dreaming. Actually in the most ancient form known to this day, it comes from Tibetan Yoga Nidra. The Yoga Nidra is actually a very profound practice that they describe to this day as a practice to prepare for death. As many of you probably know, Tibetans have always revered death in such a beautiful, majestic way. It's not the death that we all fear and you know, have been in culture to believing that it's something to, you know, feel sad about and create grief, which of course it hurts to lose somebody and, and it's not that it's that. But their celebratory rituals and preparation for death is so profound. And their lucid dreaming practices, for example, have been some of the key markers within like modern day research as to what lucid dreaming really does. So to this day there's a lot of scientific research coming out and the most incredible ones is about coping with ptsd. Any kind of emotional trauma of any level, sexual trauma, for example, has been like renowned specifically with lucid dreaming and just rewiring addictions and bad behaviors of any kind. So what's incredible, it's like think about it as if you're in the chamber in your dream and whatever you're impressing your subconscious in that moment, it's creating like, like true eco effect. You're like in the chamber and one action in that chamber just echoes profoundly within your neurology. So why? Nobody knows why. Of course it's a mystical process. But like the fact that you can actually control your dreams and get good at it and practice it has created a huge biological response. Like huge. And I think a lot of it is because like, once you get good at it, if you really start flexing the muscle every day. There's so many practices, but I'll review them in a second. But once you really start going in and getting good at controlling your dreams, you can literally rewire habits on the spot. And I think the difference is that impossibilities don't exist when you're in that state. You can fly, you can breathe underwater, you can become an animal, you can transcend time and space within a second. You can do whatever you want and your mind never holds you back, back. The moment you feel like, I can't breathe underwater, what am I doing? You will wake up. But as you get good at it and you start doing the impossibilities within your subconscious mind, you're literally creating new neural pathways and Literally changing your DNA in that moment. And this is absolutely proven, which is so fascinating, you know, like, of course ancient traditions knew this, they called it something else, but they knew this. You rewire profoundly in those states. So there's actually quite a lot of interesting new episodes on like ET encounters and getting exposed to certain entities, whether they're made up in your mind or not. You're really visiting different entities and spiritual beings when you're in those liminal states, which is fascinating. Tibetans, for example. One of the many practices of Yoga Nidra is called deity Yoga. It is the process that you're in your subconscious mind, you're awake in the dream, and you invoke the deity that you're wishing to receive blessings from or become completely in synergy with. So you're in such a vibrant state. The coherence you create to the invocation you're calling in is really profound. Like you literally become what you're praying for in that moment. If you're praying, let's say if your deity or entity has a specific name or a specific look or a specific whatever, you invoke it in that moment. And you right there can ask whatever you want. It's almost like a wish wand, you know, you can just, just create on the spot. And I think that's why people have lifted off trauma in that moment. Trauma just like peels away from you as you're navigating the labyrinth of your life. And that sacrifice in that moment is so profound, you're rewiring your biology, like literally. So it's really incredible. But there's so many practices. Some of the classics that I'm sure many have seen out there is keeping a dream journal, which actually works so well. I know a lot of people say like, like really, does writing really help? Like, I don't know, blah, blah, blah, but it really does. So repetition with anything imprints your subconscious mind. The more you repeat whatever it is that you're doing, you're impressing your biology. So the more you wake up and create the five minute intention to write whatever it is that you dream, even if it made no sense, just take those five minutes. If you do it every day, your body will start realizing, like, oh, you're recollecting your dreams. Okay, we're going to start waking up, then let's do this, you know, so it really starts creating a response, a stimuli, which is what you need when you're dreaming. Second most classic is saying, am I dreaming any time in the day? Say it. 30, ask yourself 30 times in one day if you can. Am I dreaming? Am I dreaming? The repetition of that will naturally create you to repeat it in your dreams and will propel a response while you're dreaming, which is key. All you need is basically a biological marker when you're sleeping to be like, all right, this is a crazy dream. I need to get out of this nightmare or the situation. Or simply wake up in your dream, which is great. That one's a real, real classic one. And then one I still do to this day, which is my favorite. It's like if you wake up in the middle of the night, let's say you have to go to the bathroom or you just can't sleep and you went to go get a glass of water or whatever. Waking up for those five minutes and being aware and then putting yourself back to sleep in an intentional way, like, okay, this time I'm going to remember, I'm going to go back in my sleep. You can even sip your bedside tea, whatever it is that you have, and put yourself to sleep and really like feel like you're walking backwards. Okay, well, if you were dreaming something, you can say, okay, I was dreaming. And you're recollecting, reconstructing as you're putting yourself to sleep. And little by little you'll see that there's like this fine thread. And you can even imagine the fine thread. And you're holding it and either walking forwards or I like to walk backwards. And you go into the dream aware, just never let go of that thread as you're imagining, as you're going in. So that is a classic that has helped many to regain consciousness as you're in that process, because it's so easy to pass out, you know, if you're not aware of it, you're just like, ah, whatever. But you make the slightest effort and you won't be tired. You will wake up in your dream and you will wake up nourished and revitalized. You're not going to be like exhausted from having the best dreams ever. Like, trust me, you're going to be feeling fantastic. You're not going to lose your sleep sleep. You're in fantastic REM sleep cycles. Some people enter into the highest brainwave activity, which is known to be like anti aging, anti neurodegenerative. It produces melatonin, which is the most powerful antioxidant known in our body, produced by our own pineal gland. You can do so much in those states just by doing the attempt to go there. Anyways, that's just a Tidbit of how magical it can be and how powerful it can.

So excited to learn more from you and your Rose Gold Goddesses workshop on all the tips and techniques to do that. And it reminds me of, you know, when I was a kid, I would lucid dream unintentionally. Like, I remember several times of waking up in my dream and but then I was like, trying to wake myself up of like, shit, I'm dreaming, like, so it was more of a panic energy than like, oh, I can do whatever I want. It was like, how do I get back into my body and, like, wake myself up? And then I also remember, like, maybe when I was a kid, I watched some show and it was like, before you pee, make sure you have a shadow, because you don't have shadows in your dreams. And I remember, like, I was like, in my dream I needed to pee because, you know, as you're a kid, you pee in your bed, like, all the time. And I like, I had to pee so bad in my dream and I checked if I had a shadow, but I already started peeing and I didn't have a shadow. And then I woke myself up because I was all warm from my piss. So then for like my whole childhood, probably until I was like 20 years old, every time I peed, I would check if I had a shadow first.

Wow, that's actually a great way to remember. Time never works, right. And I love that. Or beyond space and time. That's why time doesn't work everybody.

Exactly. So I think it would be really helpful to be able to go into, realize you're in a dream and be like, okay, let me follow my dreams and see what's going to happen or rewire this trauma even, and do things from a more intentional space. So are you lucid dreaming, streaming every night now? Like, how often are you doing it now that you know, you know how?

Yeah, no, I used to. All the time. Like, all the time. I would have such bizarre encounters and, you know, it was interesting. I would, like, do it spontaneously in, like, hotels or when I was traveling. And it became kind of scary at certain points that I was just like, interacting with the spirits of different places and rooms. And I was just like, I really don't want this. I don't want to be susceptible to environments that have potential trauma and within the walls or the soil or whatever. So I think that's really important. Setting up a really sacred space, no matter where you are, Creating a sacred container and like, really doing it with intention versus just like a Kid in a candy shop and you're just eating everything possible, having the best time ever, you know, so. Because it is a pretty profound spiritual experience, you know, like, once you get good at it, it's like literally waking up as you do every day in your life, but in your dream, like you're like 100% aware and you're just moving through life like normal, but without the impossibilities. Like you can fly, you can walk on water or whatever, you know. So that's what becomes semi addictive to some people. So I think there's thresholds when it comes to dreaming and you start escalating. And if you just eat out of the buffet all the time, I don't know how healthy that really is. So I feel like there's a way to just do a regenerative sleep and just not necessarily go there, have intentions. The spaces you're doing in be sure you're just like, really safe on a psychic level.

And do you do astral projection, too?

Yes, yes, I do. It's really. We're very similar, you know, they're very similar in a way. And I feel like astral projection can feel a little less. Or lucid dreaming feels a little less unsafe. Lucid dreaming still feels like you have, like an umbilical cordon in a way. And astral projection feels like you're just like floating in space or my personal experience. So I kind of tend to. But they're very similar, you know, it's like you're projecting yourself into these realms and dimensions, essentially, and you have to have a practice on how you get back so you don't get lost in a way. You know what I mean? So it's just actually that movie. There's a great movie that really depicts it fantastically and Inception, I think it's called, that really depicts the dimensions that you can enter and how sometimes you just don't make it back, depending on how awake and far you go in, you know.

Wow.

Yeah. So I think it has to be done with caution. But just as a great trial, it's totally fine. I think it's. Once you're just really exercising your muscle to do it daily, it becomes a little wild.

Yeah. I remember my husband, we were in Tulum and. And he had this dream that he was astral projecting. He recognized his body was going above the hotel down the beach strip. And he was like, holy crap, I'm astral projecting right now. And he could see all the buildings. But then he got to a point that we had Just never gone past that point before. So almost his consciousness didn't let him continue, maybe because it's like we don't know the way, we don't know what's next. So once he reached that point that he physically had never gone past, he woke up up. So I wonder if it was like maybe your consciousness or his consciousness needed a roadmap to like have a reference or it was just like, hello, these are sacred, you know, ritual grounds. Don't go further.

Yes, exactly. I think the roadmap is vital to establish before it's like you're just in it floating in space, you know? Yeah, that's so true. And a lot of people that have like sleep paralysis that's given the spontaneous react spontaneously astral project and then they kind of come in contact with these liminal beings. And a lot of experiences are like dark beings or like long shadows that become a little scary or just like the energy is scary. And you become paralyzed and you can't get back into your body. In a way you're like, aware you're seeing yourself from the ceiling of the room, wherever you are, and you can see yourself paralyzed on your bed. I've only had it happen to me once, thankfully. But I've had a lot of friends and even an ex partner back in the day that would been. Have happened all the time. He could not wake up, but he was like mumbling, frozen, unable to wake up. And he was feeling as if like the liminal beings were consuming his soul. It was like a very strange experience. But yeah, back to these like entities and deities. Right. Like it's just always been witnessed and seen. And I think it's just, you know, we have to go in with reverence, with security, with a roadmap, like where you're going, what your intention is. And I just like, like eat out of the buffet and have a great experience until something happens.

Yeah, the lucid dreaming thing, I feel like I've had it happen to me like once or twice. But Steven, it used to happen to him all the time. And the way he described is the way that I feel like everyone has described it of like, you wake up and you know you're awake, but you can't move into this. Yeah. This dark shadow being right on top of you. And I wonder if it's like maybe you haven't totally entered back into your body yet or. I'm not sure what it is, but I feel like it's pretty crazy that everyone's experiencing the same thing and really has a Fear based frequency to it as well.

Yeah, same with lucid dreaming. Similar archetypal tendencies happen to people all over the world. You know, when they do those dream laboratories and they see people dreaming the same archetypal reality. It's so incredible. Like, what is it, you know, what is it that we're all collectively having a similar story, regardless of culture, regardless of race, regardless of whatever, we are having this archetypal experience that becomes the same.

So, and I think it's different dimensions, like real dimensions that exist that we're traveling to. So for example, a lot of like visionary artists. Like I heard this visionary artist once saying that he just started, he takes LSD and he paints and he started just painting this almost like a dreamland, like his utopian version. And another person's like, I literally have been to that place. And now he's had hundreds of people saying, been to that place in a dream. I've been to this place in a plant medicine or whatever it is that they've all collectively been to this same place that they're all like psychically tuning into. So it does exist on some level or some memory from a past life or again, happening here in the now, because time doesn't really exist. Or for me, it was Lemuria. Like the energy of Lemuria. When I first saw this like card of Lemuria and just the waterfalls and the trees and the lushness, I just stared at that picture for like an hour and I'm like, like, that's my soul's home. Like, I've been craving that home since I was a kid. That's why I was obsessed with like moving to Hawaii and being a marine biologist, but because my soul knew I needed to get there. And I hear so many people saying that's exactly it too. So it's almost like these are real dimensions that we're traveling to. And again, just like everything, some of them are denser and some are super high vibrational.

Yeah, it's really interesting. And I think we really tune into our bloodline and our ancestry too. And I think that's why also it's great for trauma recovery because. Because you're really going to where you come from in so many ways. But it's so beyond space and time that it's not the past. It's not like it already happened. It's like really all coexisting all in one infinite way. And you're just really tuning into. Like, for example, I've been to like so many of my ancestors, like homeland, like I was literally experiencing myself as my great grandmother. And I had no idea until later when I got the download that I was like, wow, that was her. I thought it was like a friend I made in an interdimensional reality or whatever. And it was actually my grand, my great grandmother. And it was just incredible. It was like she was there with me, 100% real. Like it was happening right now and it still is happening right now. It's like it doesn't never stopped existing. And so it's just fascinating that we can do that. We can visit ancestral locations, deceased ones, and they're, they're vibrant, existing in one dimension.

And sometimes having that healing or reconciliation with them, it just heals your entire lineage in ways that we can't even understand.

Exactly. So powerful.

So much magic. This is making me want to go drink a cup of Blue Lotus tea right now, which is what I'm going to do after this. So where can listeners connect with you? And of course, try the Anima Mundi products, which we have an epic 20% discount of.

So animamundiherbals.com is where we have our awesome blog. We have all sorts of information always coming out. We love to publish, publish like cool articles of any kind, from like spirit to astro herbalism to anything health, cellular detox, you name it. We have a wide array of plants. You know, we have tons of different ingredients that we now sell individually as well. So like anything you're looking for, like, we most likely will have something wonderful, if anything specific. We also do a lot of people email us for them to have a specific tea blend made, which we do. So you can even do that online. Request your own blend to be made by somewhere in our stores in Brooklyn. And then also you can find us on social media, of course, same handle animamundiherbals and share your experience with us. We love it. The community has grown so wonderfully and having people share is just really what feeds our purpose and fire. And it's just wonderful to create this true sacred container of people sharing their integrative herbalism plant practices.

So I love it. And that code for the 20 off guys is Sahara. And I have to say that now instead of buying people like flowers or something as a thank you, I send them an even Mundi herbal products because I'm like, this is actually going to last them a lot longer than me paying like, you know, 60, $80 for some flowers. They're gonna die in four days. I'm like, if I send them some rose powder, they're gonna be a lot happier with me. So great to be able to share it with all my friends and colleagues, etc.

Oh, that makes me so happy. And that's so true, Rose. That lasts a month versus Exactly.

And they get to have it every day. I send it to my team. I'm like, okay, send them all the brain tonics. And they all love it too. And they're like, oh, my God. I literally feel like happier when I have the happy one. Or, you know, the. I also really love your the golden milk with blue lotus blend. So nice. I go through that one so fast because I'm like, I love turmeric and I also love blue lotus and it's just an easy. It's a powder form, so I love that one as well. Highly recommended.

Golden milks are just the best. I love them.

And the dirty rose chai, that's like a classic staple in my life.

Yeah.

You know, good for an ice try too. That one.

So good.

Right? Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, your magic, and all of your intuitive gifts with us.

We're so grateful. So grateful for you. I love being part of your magic and I'm grateful for everything you put out there. Thank you. Sahara are so great, girl.

I am running over to make my blue lotus tea right now. But before I go, I wanted to drop that discount code again for anima mundi herbals. That's 20 off any order with code Sahara. So head over to animamundiherbals.com that link is in the show notes and use code Sahara. It's such an amazing gift right now for the holidays or, you know, random things show up. We want to give people gifts. I love doing this because it lasts and it actually improves their life. Again, again, my personal favorites are their dirty rose chai, their golden milk blue lotus. It's their nighttime version. The rose and the mucuna. Those are my absolute favorites. Everyone has their own, but you really can't go wrong with the products. So be sure to head over to animamundiherbals.com and use code Sahara for your discount. And stay tuned for her 90 minute workshop on how to dive deeper into lucid dreaming in rose gold goddesses. That link is also in the show notes, rosegoldgoddesses.com I'm so grateful to have you here on this journey and I'll see you in the next one.

Namaste, Sam.