The Future is Bright!

Greetings Friends,

Happiest New Year to you all! We hope you are feeling the great expanse in your hearts and spirits as we enter this new decade together! 

We have been so full these last few months, re-imagining how to best bring our healing practices to you all, and fine tuning the sweet balance of hustle and rest as we gear up for some pretty big changes in 2020. 

The most exciting news is we have decided to relocate to Western Massachusetts! Our dream is to be closer to family and to open a Flower and Frequency Headquarters! Yow! 

We will be moving in the spring and hope to have an up and running DRIFT Meditation Studio and home base for our True Bloom Apothecary by the early summer. 

We are so grateful for all of the support we've received in the bay area, and plan to travel back regularly for workshops, DRIFT performances, markets, and special events. We are also in the process of creating an online market, so you can continue to have access to workshops, meditation music, herbal products, and wellness tools. 

The last few months have also taught us that our realistic bandwidth for sending newsletters feels more seasonal than monthly! 

For those of you who have been following along all year, thank you sincerely! Our deepest wish is that you have gathered some tools and insights that are helping you to live healthier, more vibrant and balanced lives. 

For those of you just tuning in, welcome! You can expect an email from us with meditation music, recipes, and herbal musings about 4x year! 

We will also be sure to let you know about any big events, launches, or sales as they materialize! 

That being said, we have so much lined up in the next few months, and hope to see you at one of our DRIFT events before the big move. 

Josh takes some time below to outline what's coming up, and he also shares a super fun, end of the year playlist of experimental, playful brainwave music. Enjoy!

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Learn more about how we DRIFT here…

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Space to listen

Drift: Blue Bear Tickets - 1/4, 1/11, 1/18, 1/25

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Enjoy this fun collection of exploratory brainwave music!

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Our new pre-sleep aromatherapy mist is ready to order and comes with a 1 hour sound meditation download to help you deepen your snooze… (Sold Out)

Drift: Sleep Mist & Download - Buy yours at an event or have it shipped to your door!

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DRIFT: at Audium - 2/4/20

Who’s excited for our second DRIFT at Audium??! We extended the duration of our event and we plan on going even deeper in February!

Tickets for our February Drift: at Audium

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Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2020!

with much Love,

Nora and Josh

Power to the People

Greetings Friends,

It has been such a journey welcoming this Fall season. It seems like there has been an extra hustle, an extra energy helping us harvest, make medicine, fine tune our meditation classes, and follow our nose to some exciting wellness collaborations.

We can feel it in our bones that this Fall season is supporting us as we connect to folks who can truly benefit and resonate with our mission, and we could not be more grateful.

That being said, we want to shout it loud and clear, that our mission is to empower ALL people to find full bodied wellness, and to offer holistic, compassionate, alternative healthcare to everyone in our community and beyond.

As we got crystal clear about our mission, we realized that we could use this month’s newsletter to spread awareness for two movements with which we passionately support, and feel fully align with our values.

So hold onto your hats, folks!

We will begin by sharing a bit about why we love Bernie Sanders, and explain why we plan to vote for him in the upcoming primaries. After our journey with Bernie, we will share one of our favorite recipes for homemade fire cider! We believe that making fire cider, and sharing recipes with friends, is one of the best ways you can support the Free Fire Cider Campaign, and keep the dark cloak of capitalism and trademarks away from the tradition of herbal medicine.

We realize how saturated your news-feeds, inboxes, and dinner tables might be with the discussion of politics, and truly do not intend to spark discord with any of our followers.

Instead, it is our hope that this can be a safe space to come to if you are looking for information about either of these movements, and hopefully inspire you to consider if these movements align with YOUR core values.

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why we love bernie

We are formally endorsing Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential primaries! During his first presidential run, his bold proposals, aimed at helping the most vulnerable among us, inspired us to have even more compassion for the disenfranchised in our community, and instilled in us hope for a better future.

In 2019, his proposals have become even more inspiring, addressing the working class and poverty stricken with even more kindness, and advocating for the environment and most vulnerable among us. We find it telling that every other candidate running has been strongly urged to frame their campaign through his grassroots lenses to maintain their relevance with voters.

Below we will detail the policy proposals which guided us to reveal our political preference at this critical time for drawing distinctions between candidates.

We do not see Bernie as an infallible figure. We hold our own criticisms of his record. That being said, his positions are significantly more aligned with our morals than any other person running against him, especially when it comes to holding the powerful accountable and showing the struggling among us his unflinching empathy. It cannot be argued that his loyalty is to helping the poor, and is not to enriching the wealthy.

Medicare for All (Single Payer) has become the metric for gaining the support of modern grassroots movements. While his rivals have had trouble explaining why they support it and tend to try and reshape it so as not frighten their close connections with our abusive health insurance industry, Bernie has taken a firm position that every single human being deserves to have medical attention regardless of the balance of their bank account. Medical insurance should not exist. Poor people do not deserve to be punished for simply getting sick and they especially do not deserve to be punished as unaccountable corporations flood our marketplaces with products that often negatively influence our health. If you are sick or injured, you have a right to immediate healthcare without the burden of jumping through financial hoops or risking bankruptcy. Bernie also understands that we need to cancel all medical debt. Watch this video of Ady Barkan asking Bernie about his healthcare proposal. Ady has done interviews with all of the major candidates except for Joe Biden, who has refused to acknowledge his requests to meet thus far. Healthcare is a human right. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dzRoqVvtZo

Federal Rent Control and Federal jobs guarantee are needed to address an alarming trend in rising rent costs, unemployment, and homelessness across the country as wages consistently stay stagnant and landlords continue to take advantage of their tenants. Landlords should not be able to raise our rent levels beyond our means when there is no possible way to keep up with their frequent rent hikes. This is pure, unchecked greed, and Bernie sees this as a national problem in need of correction. People shouldn’t be evicted from their homes because their landlords are looking for extra income. Housing is a human right. Jobs are a human right.

https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/bernie-says-the-rents-too-high-2020-presidential-candidate-sen-bernie-sanders-i-/409977862953948/

Housing the homeless is not a radical idea. Here in S.F. we see thousands of un-housed human beings forced to live on the streets in tents. These people have done nothing wrong, and they are often victims of corporate greed, yet our city leaders and national politicians are currently placing boulders on sidewalks to prevent these people from resting or creating tent communities. Police and city officials proudly destroy their only shelters and offer no alternatives for a place to sleep. every human deserves a roof over their head as they navigate the complexities of recovering from extreme poverty and the many fall outs of this condition. these people are veterans, teachers, all walks of life, forced to sleep in the street and treated as criminals. Their crime? Falling on hard times. Bernie has a plan to give these people the dignity of shelter to help them back on their feet. Again, housing is a human right.

Student debt is beyond outrageous in our country. a person seeking higher education should not have to spend the rest of their life working to pay off their education when tuition free college is offered in dozens of other countries with great success. Bernie understands this need for free education and has offered a plan to cancel all student debt and provide tuition free education for any person who would like to go to college. Any sane country wants their citizens to be well educated. Being poor should never prevent someone from receiving a higher education. Bernie’s most generous political rivals only offer up to 50k in debt relief which is an extremely insufficient response to this crisis of greed. Education is a human right.

https://hk.tv.yahoo.com/popular/bernie-sanders-explains-plan-cancel-203711030.html

Bernie also possesses a keen understanding that the federal government needs to address income inequality and the rampant prejudice against minorities and people of color. He is the only candidate with the honor of being supported by several Native American tribes and Muslim organizations. He has been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ movement since way way back in 1972, while his contemporaries were nearly 40 years away from evolving on these issues. He protested vigorously for Civil Rights. He also understands clearly that ICE needs to be shut down and that our local police forces shouldn’t be armed like the military. His votes clearly reflect these positions. It seems to us that Bernie sees overlooked and abused citizens in our society as he does his own family. We are all human beings in his eyes and we all deserve to be treated as such. We share that view.

The Green New Deal proposed by the Sanders campaign looks at the climate change situation with sober eyes, seeing it as a global problem which can only be solved if the wealthier nations assist in helping the poorer nations. We cannot solve this impending catastrophe by simply regulating US corporations or reforming the corruption that is inherently built in to our corrupt systems. We need a leader who can stir and unite the entire world to fight for this and make the necessary changes if we want our future generations to have a habitable home.

https://berniesanders.com/en/issues/green-new-deal/

SuperPAC money has given the wealthy an immense upper hand in who we elect and its influence on our democracy has been devastating. Bernie has boldly turned his back on money from these hidden billionaire sources to make a statement that the working class and poor should have an equal voice within our democracy. He didn’t accept their money in 2016 and he refuses still today. We need a candidate who understands that accepting this kind of money is not acceptable under any circumstance. Bernie is the only candidate that is 100% working class funded. The only candidate who hasn’t taken any money from billionaires and he’s consistently breaking his own fundraising records.  

Sanders is the most anti-war candidate standing on stage with one of the firmest chances of beating Donald Trump. He did not vote for Trump’s military spending increases while others challenging him did.

Bernie values all of the human lives in Palestine as well as the dozens of countries we’ve been bombing consistently for almost 20 years now. US military aggression is used to create instability and to protect US financial interests abroad and Bernie understands this toxic dynamic. We trust him to reign in our overreaching military aggression over anyone else running. 

Flower & Frequency is devoted to helping all people, regardless of their station in life, to attain wellness. Therefore, we are proud to cast our votes for Bernie Sanders. he has been a steady voice for helping all people to receive healthcare, housing, education, and basic human dignity for decades. These policies were not recently adopted just before he began running for President. They are long held beliefs of his.

If you’re thinking “how do we pay for this?” That question has been sufficiently answered many times now by the campaign. The obscenely wealthy will pay for the overwhelming majority of it— the people who hide their money in offshore accounts and use tax loopholes. The immoral corporations who now write our laws and pay very little taxes.

If you’re thinking “how will he even get these things done?” That question is fair to ask. Bernie has a firm understanding of the powers available to a sitting US president and has said that he would use processes such as Budget Reconciliation to advance his proposals with help from us the people. Bernie has a rich history in leading massive grassroots and union movements for workers and generating sufficient momentum to pressure lawmakers and businesses to act in favor of the good of the people. 

In expressing our opinions, we want to make clear that we fully respect your own preferences in this primary should they be different from ours. We want to thank you in advance for respecting our voice and opinions.

If you feel compelled to help support Bernie’s campaign you can do so here.

Let’s do this folks! Bernie 2020!

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Homemade Fire Cider for the Masses!

If you are in any way connected to the herbal community, you have probably heard about the attack on fire cider by now. I hope you add this recipe to your rotation, and get inspired to make Fire Cider for your family and everyone you love!

If you have no idea what I am talking about, it delights me to share this recipe with you even more!

Fire Cider is a longstanding herbal remedy, first coined by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar in the 1980s.

It is basically a bunch of anti-microbial, Anti-viral, Immune supporting, cardiovascular and Anti-Inflammatory herbs infused into Apple Cider Vinegar and honey.

It is especially helpful during fall and winter months to boost the immune system, prevent and relieve symptoms of the cold and flu, and help the body experience optimal circulation and digestion.

In 2013, Shire City Herbals trademarked the term “Fire Cider,” and began sending cease and desist letters to other herbal businesses selling fire cider, even though herbalists and kitchen witches have been making this remedy for well over 30 years (not to mention the versions of Fire Cider that date back to Hippocrates). It even brought lawsuits against three small herbal business owners.

Currently there is a movement, Free Fire Cider, that is working to fight Shire City Herbals, and prevent all herbal traditions from becoming trademarked in the future.

One of the greatest acts we can do to support the Free Fire Cider movement, is to make homemade Fire cider, share with Family and Friends, and keep the tradition of homemade herbal medicine in the kitchen, and out of corporations!

So without further ado, here is our favorite, spicy recipe! We love spoonfuls or even shot glasses full once a day in the winter as a preventive, and several times a day if we feel a cold or flu creeping in!

Enjoy!!

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Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion

1 cup Fresh Ginger

1/2 cup Fresh garlic (or more!)

1/2 cup Fresh Horseradish Root

1/2 cup Fresh Turmeric Root

1/2 cup Rosehips

1/4 cup Fresh Thyme

2 Teaspoons Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1-2 Tablespoon of Cayenne Powder (or 3-5 spicy peppers)

1 Sprig of Rosemary

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Local Raw Honey

Wax Paper

Instructions:

1. Chop up all Dry ingredients (everything except honey and ACV) and combine in a 1/2 gallon jar. Cover with enough vinegar so it covers at least 2-3 inches over the herbs.

2. Cut out piece of wax parchment paper big enough to cover lid, and place between the jar and metal lid. You can also use a BPA- free plastic lid in lieu of wax paper. Basically the vinegar makes the metal lid rust, so you either need to ditch the metal lid, or create a barrier.

3. Now that the lid is on tight, shake like crazy, then put jar in a cool, dark place and let sit for 4-6 wks. Traditionally fire cider is buried in the ground, then dug up after one full moon cycle. If this is not your bag, or if the ground is too hard and cold by now, a shelf in your kitchen will work just fine for storage!

4. Once your fire cider has infused for 4-6wks, strain out herbs then add raw, local honey to taste. Your Fire cider should be spicy, but a little sweetness helps the medicine go down, and honey is an incredible anti-microbial and immune supportive medicine in itself!

You can store your Fire cider for up to 6 months on a shelf, or about a year in the fridge! You can also add ANYTHING into this recipe, and experiment with any number of herbs that are calling to you! Some other herbs we have loved in fire ciders are lemon peel, cinnamon, astragalus, lemon balm, and echinacea to name a few:)

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Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us! We hope you are feeling inspired and empowered, and that you carry this energy with you into the nesting and slowing down of this season!

As always, here is a fresh meditation track to help you slow down, and give your nervous system some tlc.

We also want to remind folks that we have a very special event coming up on Monday October 21st at the Center for New Music in San Francisco. Josh will be joined by Joe from PlantWave to perform a plant/brain music duet! PlantWave is currently raising money for their second generation device as we speak. Feel free to support them by following the link.

https://plantwave.kckb.st/1e6e7f95

Take gentle care out there, friends!

In peace and in power,

Nora and Josh

Herbal Infusions and New Vibrations

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Greetings Friends,

We hope you’ve had a wonderful August! We’ve been so wildly full this month, saying yes to new and exciting projects, and fine tuning our medicine making and meditation practices. The biggest news for us, is we’ve decided to postpone our move to Big Bear Lake until the spring. We are delighted to have some more time in the Bay, and feel especially blessed by the momentum that is building around our sound meditations and community support of our soon to be released plant potions!

Thank you sincerely for all of your support and encouragement as we bring sound meditation and plant medicine to the masses! We have never felt more ignited and aligned with our true calling. It feels so good!

For this month’s newsletter, Josh is going to highlight some of the exciting projects and events he has coming up, and I am going to share two of my favorite nutritive, womb supporting, gut healing herbal infusions. These infusions have changed my life! I’m so excited to pass on these simple, supportive recipes.

Our musical offering can be found in Josh’s section! This month it’s a brainwave generated soundscape with experimental intention! Enjoy!

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New Vibrations

by Joshua W Bruner

Lots of interesting stuff happening on my end and many changes occurring that I’d like to catch you up on.

I’ll no longer be teaching Sound Paths at Anchor Meditation but I will be teaching a new class called ‘Brainwave Curious?’ where we’ll learn all about our brainwaves and use a Muse EEG headband to generate musical soundscapes while we meditate. It’s going to be a lot of fun so join us on Tuesday nights at 6:15 PM for the new adventure. https://www.anchormeditation.com

I’ll also be performing brain & plant generated meditation music every 3rd Monday at the Center for New Music beginning in October which will be really fun. I hope to invite special musical guests to these when possible and look forward to sharing this experience in a new and experimental music space. Hope to see you there! https://centerfornewmusic.com/calendar/brainwave-curious/

There’s a really special project in the works with Worldwide Musicians United centered around a worldwide collaboration with artists using music as a wellness practice. Not a lot of details to share with you at the moment but some interesting things are in the works and I’m super pumped about it. https://wwmu.org/eng/

MidiSprout is getting ready to release their newest update and I’ve been asked to participate in an event for the unveiling. I can’t even begin to say how honored I am about this invitation and will share details as they form. MidiSprout is currently sold out but they’ll have new and improved models available very soon and feel free to use our discount code, Flower, to save 10%.  https://www.midisprout.com

With so much happening I don’t have much else to share with you this month, but please take a look at this video of an amazing pianist named Derek, who might just be the most musical being on the planet at the moment. He’s a special soul and I’m really touched by his story and his brilliance. Enjoy!

Born prematurely at just 25 weeks, Derek Paravicini has suffered from blindess, learning impairment and severe autism for his entire life. Despite his impairment, Derek has the unique gift of perfect pitch, and is able to play any piece of music after hearing it only once.

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The Life Changing Magic of Herbal Infusions

Friends, if there is one thing you do for yourself this month, let it be falling in love with herbal infusions.

I am embarrassed to say that although I have been recommending herbal infusions to my clients all year, I have never gotten into a routine of daily infusions for myself until now!

What I have learned, is that it is one thing to witness another person’s transformation with continued ritual and relationship to plants, but it will always be quite another to experience it firsthand.

I can now say without a doubt in my mind, that herbal infusions are life changing!!

If you are a body type that is often running on fumes, that is leaning towards adrenal fatigue, that is typically dehydrated, stressed, or dealing with excess heat, or if you are just looking for some extra tlc for the GI, Reproductive, and Nervous Systems, herbal infusions may be the missing link to your routine!

My amazing herbalist, Hannah Pearl Walcott, has been sending me home with infusion recommendations for months, and I have made every excuse in the book not to begin this ritual.

Crazy, right?

When I finally came to my senses and invested in a bulk order of herbs for my infusions, I realized that it literally takes 5 minutes before going to bed, and five minutes in the morning to prepare an insanely nutrient rich, calming, juicy infusion that makes me feel amazing.

At this point you may be wondering, what the heck is an herbal infusion?

Basically it’s just brewing a cup of tea for a very long time so you can pull out the medicinal constituents of the plants.

I’ve been taught that medicinal qualities of a plant begin seeping into water at about 20 minutes, but that a true magical herbal infusion happens anywhere between 4 and 10 hours!!

This makes infusing the herbs overnight the perfect window of time! I’ve also found that the ritual of preparing my infusions before bed, to be a beautiful way to set my intentions for the day to come. It feels like a promise to myself that no matter how the day unfolds, I will be prepared with fresh herbal medicine, and that I deserve this kind of loving forethought.

Here are the two infusions that I’ve been enjoying, and the two I seem to recommend to clients the most! I truly hope you make the commitment to trying out this ritual for yourself! Your body will thank you:)

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Chamomile, Meadowsweet, Marshmallow Root Cold Infusion:

You read it right folks, that’s cold water for this one! Cold water is going to extract the mucilaginous properties of the marshmallow root and chamomile that are so incredibley soothing and hydrating to tissues in the GI and really any tissue in the body that is inflamed or dehydrated.

To make this infusion, add equal parts of chamomile, meadowsweet, and Marshmallow Root to a quart sized mason jar. Typically with infusions you are going to add about one heaping tablespoon of herb per cup of water, so about 4 tablespoons of herb per quart jar.

Mix all the herbs together, then pour cold water to the top of the jar. Cover, shake like crazy, then leave on the counter and go to bed.

In the morning, strain out the herbs and enjoy!

This infusion is going to be slimy, gold colored, and oh so healing. The chamomile and marshmallow root help the cells in your GI actually open up and receive the water you drink, so your body can actually hydrate instead of peeing everything out immediately.

This translates to healthier kidneys, which every modern human needs, and more energy! One reason we are so dang tired as a culture, is that we are severely overworked and under hydrated. Helping to Balance our body’s relationship to water is a serious game changer for energy and stress levels.

The chamomile in this blend is also so beautiful for folks who feel stress in the stomach. It soothes the nervous tissue in the GI, and truly sets you up for a cool, calm, and collected day! I love thinking about chamomile as an herb for children too. When I drink this infusion it feels like I am connecting directly to the child within. I feel soothed, playful, and cared for.

The meadowsweet in this blend, is an extra magical component that is great for GI spasms, is a natural pain reliever and antacid, and generally is cooling and calming to the GI tract. I was also taught that in Traditional Celtic Medicine, Meadowsweet is a sacred plant to the well of fire. If you have an ancestral connection to this plant, you may find it especially soothing to your GI for this reason, but I have seen it work beautifully with all sorts of folks.

I love this blend because it is juicy and hydrating, but it also feels like it soothes my entire nervous system. I know so much of our stress as a culture is rooted in poor diet and poor digestion, and the link between depression and the Gut Microbiome feels impossible to ignore. This blend for me, feels like it’s repairing tissue and disharmony that may have been inherited that is no longer serving me.

My entire system feels kissed by Gold.

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Nettle, Raspberry Leaf, Oatstraw:

You are going to use the dry leaves of the nettle and raspberry leaf, and the stalks and dried pods of wild oats for this one.

This is a tried and true, beautifully nutritive infusion that is AWESOME for birthing bodies preparing their womb space, and equally amazing for folks who are just looking to boost their mineral and vitamin intake while supporting their nervous, Urinary, and Musculoskeletel systems.

I love this blend so much. For this infusion, you are going to take your quart jar, fill it with equal parts of this blend, then pour HOT water over the herbs. Cover, and leave on counter before heading to bed.

In the morning, strain and enjoy straight away, or store in fridge and enjoy throughout the day. This one tastes really awesome cold. For me, it feels like taking a liquid vitamin that I can FEEL flowing through my body in such supportive ways.

All hail the mighty nettle. Nettles are rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, proteins, and many other nutrients. They help build healthy blood and bones and are awesome for joints and skin. They are an effective remedy for anemia, they are anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic, and they are such a beautiful tonic for the kidneys. A strong infusion of nettles will be deep, dark green! You can see and FEEL the magic of this plant!

Raspberry leaf is fluffy, boundaried goodness. It is known for growing in thorny thickets, and protects its berries much in the same way that it helps us protect our little ones. it strengthens uterine muscles for childbirth and helps prevent and relieve morning sickness. It is also helpful for reducing cramps and regulating cycles, and is soothing and toning to the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestinal lining. I’ve personally noticed its anti-inflammatory actions have helped with inflamed gums and mouth sores, and it can also be awesome for Crohn's disease and IBS because of its astringent properties. It is also nutrient dense!

Oatstraw is the sweetest, gentlest little warrior. This is a great plant to take over time, as it slowly and steadily restores and rebuilds the nervous system, acting as a gentle nervine that is also a great source of calcium and silica, making it awesome for hair, teeth, and bones!

Since I’ve been drinking both of these infusions daily, I’ve noticed that I feel relaxed, supported, hydrated, energized, and cooler overall in my body, since I am a body that tends to trap heat. When I am not practicing herbal medicine, I am working at a very fast paced bar that demands juggling many tasks at once and interfacing with toxic energy at times. This can be a troubling equation for my trapped heat, as it often manifests as frustration, anger, or utter nervous system depletion. I have found that since drinking these infusions daily, I am less triggered at work. I feel calmer, and cooler, and less inflamed in my body. My skin, my cycle and digestion have improved, and I feel juicy, playful, energized, and just overall awesome.

I cannot believe it has taken me so long to try herbal infusions!

There are so many combinations of herbs to try, I look forward to hearing about YOUR favorites and continuing to explore new recipes with clients and at home.

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Thank you for tuning in to this month’s newsletter! We look forward to keeping you updated with all of Josh’s events and collaborations as they unfold, and hope to see you at one of his tuesday night ‘Brainwave Curious?’ classes!

We will also be hosting more Sunset Meditations in the coming “Summer” Months of San Francisco, and are very much looking forward to popping up at some Fall and Holiday Markets with fresh batches of our handcrafted herbal medicine!

We hope your transition into this new month and new moon is full of re-calibration and connection to all of the practices that make you center and shine!

With much love,

Nora and Josh

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Pre-Game Brain: Athletes and Performers

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Greetings Friends,

We hope you’ve had an easy, restorative July! We have been rolling with the waves, letting the water energy of this season flow through us, and surrendering to the flow as we go:)

For this newsletter, Josh is going to break down the mechanics of how sound meditation and neurofeedback can benefit athletes and performers. We have found in our clinical work that this is a population of folks who greatly benefit from deep relaxation, cardiovascular, and nervous system support.

This week we have been lucky to spend time with a top notch athlete (my father!) who is in town to run the San Francisco Marathon! We recorded a neurofeedback session he had with Josh, and for this month’s musical offering, we are sharing the track from his session! If you ever wanted to hear how a marathoner relaxes or get a glimpse into the brain of an athlete, now is your chance:) This is also an example of the kind of ambient, meditative, personalized track you would receive of your own brain waves making music if you had a session of your own!

We are so excited about the health benefits of neurofeedback and look forward to turning many people on to these practices.

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Pre-Game Brain: Athletes and Performers

by Joshua W Bruner

Things can get overly intense before a big game or an important performance. Everything is on the line. The pressure is overflowing. If you feel like this stress has been impacting your sleep and your mental focus you could be sabotaging yourself simply because you didn’t take the time to relax and reset. Sound meditations embedded with Alpha entrainment can play a crucial role in helping you stay sharp and in the moment when you need to perform at your best. 

Were you aware that high level athletes have a unique advantage over most of us when it comes to their brainwaves?

Athletes naturally produce more Alpha activity which allows them to occupy “the moment,” make incredibly quick adjustments, and accurate physical decisions at speeds that are incredible.

“An athlete’s actions are much more than a set of automatic responses; they are part of a dynamic strategy to deal with an ever-changing mix of intricate challenges. Athletes may perform better than the rest of us because their brains can find better solutions than ours do” (http://discovermagazine.com/2010/apr/16-the-brain-athletes-are-geniuse).

Meditation states are also associated with our Alpha brainwaves.

So if an athlete/performer already produces more Alpha brainwaves why would they need to meditate? Great question! The accumulation of pre-game/pre-show stress, repetitious training routines, high self-expectations, and more, can lock a person’s brain into unhealthy Beta loops, causing them to make avoidable missteps and unnecessary errors. If there are too many Beta brainwaves being produced we get stuck overthinking every move, become overwhelmed with anxiety, freeze, or even become overly aggressive. By simply adding 12-20 minutes of sound meditation to your daily routine, you can begin to chip away at those stressful edges and sharpen your mental focus and physical performance.

Elite athletes have recently been using neurofeedback and meditation to further improve their attention, improve emotional control, to slow cognitive decline, improve sleep, and to restore brain function after traumatic brain injury. Neurofeedback is a passive technology which encourages the brain to improve its capabilities without drugs or invasive techniques.

In our neurofeedback music sessions at Flower & Frequency, we monitor your Alpha and Theta brainwaves and translate your brain data into ambient music in real time. The more you relax into Alpha, the more musical notes are played. The more Theta brainwaves you create, the higher the musical note will be. The act of generating music with your meditative brainwaves creates positive neural connections which quickly elevate any level of meditation to new heights.

You can experiment with neurofeedback at home with the Muse EEG headband or book a private brain music session with us at Anchor Meditation. Save 15% on Muse by clicking here.

If you don’t have access to neurofeedback you can also try using entrainment techniques like binaural, monaural, or isochronic beats to stimulate your Alpha brainwaves before a game or performance. It takes about 10 minutes for the mind to sync into the desired brainwave state. We highly suggest the MindPlace Kasina if you want to add visual stimulus to upgrade your entrainment game.

The next time you have a big game moment coming up in your life, take full advantage of meditation, neurofeedback, or brainwave entrainment to help you easily center your mind and relax enough to perform at your highest capabilities. 

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Gathering On The Grass: Ambient Sunsets on Saturday 8/3/19

Oh, and while we have you here, we’d also like to thank those who have ventured out for one of our sunset sound meditations! It’s been a pleasure watching the skies change colors and the birds swooping casually by all of us as we drift. The combination of meditating outdoors with ambient music generated with nearby plants has a special calming quality to it that can’t be put into words. We’re looking forward to hosting several more of these outdoor events before we leave the Bay Area for Big Bear Lake this fall! We hope you can join us for one or all of these ambient sunsets. Our next Gathering On The Grass will be on Saturday, August 3rd. You can book your headphones here.

With Much Love,

Nora and Josh

A Summer Love Song from Lemon Balm

Greetings Friends!

Happy Summer, and happy Summer Solstice! We hope you’ve been soaking up the sun (or fog if you’re in SF) and finding ways to honor the playful, bright eyed energy of this summer season!

For this month’s offering, we decided to focus our attention on one of our favorite medicinal plants, Melissa officinalis, commonly known as Lemon Balm.

We love Lemon Balm for so many reasons, and had a strong feeling it was time to give them a microphone!

To begin our journey, we will first share a beautiful sound meditation that is 100% generated by one of our potted Lemon Balm plants.

Once you hit play, we encourage you to brew a cup of Lemon Balm tea if you can, and really take a moment to relax and get acquainted with this very special plant.

After our sound meditation, we will share some of our favorite medicinal uses of Lemon Balm, and explore a few of the special ways you can bring this sweet, playful medicine into your home.

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Lemon Balm Meditation

If you have access to a Lemon Balm plant, try sitting beside it as you enjoy this meditation. Introduce yourself to the Lemon Balm. Touch and smell the beautiful leaves. Close your eyes. Take several deep breaths, and focus on exhaling anything that is no longer serving you. Know that the sweet medicine of Lemon Balm is here, helping you to slow down.

Can you sense the ways that Lemon Balm would like to show up for you?

What else doe Lemon Balm have to say?

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Working with Lemon Balm

We so hoped you enjoyed your meditation.

One of the sweetest messages I receive from Lemon Balm, is that it’s ok to be soft and slow. It’s ok to be playful. It’s ok to stretch out beneath a shady tree on a hot summer day, turn off your phone, and just lay there.

This seems like a no brainer to some, but the energy of Summer can sometimes trick us into being overly social and hyper productive. It keeps us out a little longer, up a little later, and into the habit of saying an emphatic YES, when our bodies are begging for a re-charge.

Many people associate Lemon Balm with the light of the sun. I feel that energetic lift and brightness so strongly, but after one of my teachers, Rylan Sîan, shared his belief that Lemon Balm carries the light of the moon, I cannot shake this association.

To me, Lemon Balm is laying in a hammock on a warm summer night. You are weightless, swaying back and forth between two California Redwoods. The moon is illuminating and expanding your connection to the earth and your ability to hold all the moving pieces.

There is a childlike energy to Lemon Balm.

Picture catching fireflies or running through a front yard sprinkler. When you work with Lemon Balm you are connecting to your inner child. You may notice a softness in your heart, or extra bit of playfulness and creativity show up.

It is not surprising then, that Lemon Balm is a wonderful and safe remedy for children. It’s fantastic for children who are stressed, having trouble sleeping, or experiencing anxiety that manifests as tummy aches or any kind of issue with digestion. It can also be helpful for colds and flu.

Making a folk method preparation of a Lemon Balm Glycerite is a wonderful thing to do if you have little ones running around, or if you’d like something on hand that is not alcohol extracted.

To do this, simply fill a mason jar 1/2 full of dried lemon balm or 2/3 full of fresh lemon balm. Cover with 3 parts vegetable glycerine to 1 part water. Shake like crazy, then let sit for 4-6 weeks before you strain and enjoy! Make sure to shake it every day to get your wellness wish into your medicine, and to help with the extraction process! This medicine will be sweet and delicious.

I like the idea of new parents having this on hand, and creating a ritual of a spoonful for them and a spoonful for their little one when they are both needing a little support. Lemon Balm is such a fantastic ally for nervous exhaustion, burnout, and extended periods of emotional stress. Ideally you would have time to make yourself a cup of Lemon Balm tea for this, but sometimes the convenience of a glycerite or tincture is the way to go.

In addition to being a wonderful plant for children and parents, Lemon Balm cools the thyroid, supports the liver and digestion, lowers blood pressure, and has a general tonic effect on the heart and cardiovascular system.

It also has anti-viral and anti-microbial properties, is a remedy for heart disease (and heartaches) and is specifically indicated for folks with insomnia that is caused by grief or sadness.

In my clinical work, I have seen Lemon Balm be the life raft that pulls folks up and out of depression, insomnia, and feelings of extreme overwhelm.

If you have access to fresh Lemon Balm, we suggest you use the remaining summer months to cool off and chill out.

Try Lemon Balm infused water. Just pick a few leaves (if the plant says it’s ok!) and throw them right into your water bottle! You can also make sun teas! Try throwing in Lemon Balm with Hibiscus, Mint, or Lemon Verbena! Yum!

If you have access to dried Lemon Balm, know you are brewing a mighty, restorative tea that is perfect for this summer season.

We love this plant so much. We hope we have piqued your interest, and that you begin to deepen your relationship with this beautiful, medicinal plant.

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Thank you so much for going on this Lemon Balm journey with us! We feel we have barely skimmed the surface, but trust all things will continue to deepen and unfold in their own sweet time!

We hope these last few days of June are full of the sweetest summer energy, and that you find moments to restore and re-balance as needed:)

If you are looking for a relaxing event this weekend, Josh is hosting another Sunset Meditation this Saturday June 29th at Fort Mason. We’ve been loving these Sunset Meditations! Check out the Happenings Tab at the bottom of our website to book your wireless headphones if you’d like to join!

With Much Love,

Nora and Josh

Meditative Music and Herbal Self Care

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Greetings Friends!

What a month it has been! Now more than ever it feels like a radical act to take care of ourselves, and create rituals to regulate our nervous systems and sleep cycles. We need to be well rested and have tools to calm our nervous systems if we want to keep showing up to fight for ourselves and for each other.

This month we are so happy to share over three hours of relaxing, ambient music. Each track is associated with a specific brain wave state, and has specific entrainment pulses to get you into that state. Josh will explore each of these brain wave states to give you an overview of how this album can be used therapeutically. After our Music and Mind journey, we will explore some of our favorite herbal self care practices that help to regulate the nervous system. We imagine you pairing these practices with our new album for ultimate restoration and relaxation.

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Music and Mind 

by Joshua W Bruner

Western civilization requires us to maintain a hectic pace to keep up with the cost of living. Sustaining this toxic lifestyle can run down our parasympathetic nervous system and create mental disturbances due to excessive anxiety.

The constant pressure can cause immune system failures, sleeping complications, depression, stomach issues, and many other ailments. Creating a sound meditation practice can help us to preempt the negative side effects of our fast paced society by regularly relieving stress through visiting meditative brainwave states with the entraining guidance of sound pulses.

Here in America we are being confined to an abusive healthcare system, which is best avoided, if possible. This is why preventative measures are so crucial for us to adopt into our daily routines. What easier way to do this than simply relaxing with some meditative music? 

Scientists are uncovering astonishing connections to mental health and music at a rapid pace. Doctors and dentists are now using meditative music to help reduce the amount of anesthetic used on patients. NASA uses entrainment techniques to help astronauts keep a stable sleep cycle while in space. Everywhere we look, sound is showing us a way towards a higher functioning lifestyle in an ever-changing world. 

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Our brainwave states and how they shape who we are

Gamma: Our Gamma brainwaves join all of our other brainwave states into a single coherence. According to many studies, stimulating this brainwave state we may be able to strengthen failed connections in the mind in such cases of ADD, ADHD, Autism, and more.  

Beta: By stimulating our Beta brainwaves we can break up patterns of depression, sharpen focus, stir energy, and help with conditions such as ADD, ADHD, and Autism where there is usually a lack of Beta brainwave activity. 

Alpha: Our Alpha brainwaves increase drastically as soon as we close our eyes, lie down, or focus more on our breathing. By stimulating these meditative brainwaves we can relax more and become more tuned in to our environment. Exceptional types and elite athletes often have higher Alpha brainwave activity than the typical human mind. 

High Theta: The higher Theta brainwave state is an actively creative field of our mind. By stimulating this state we can deeply relax and explore a daydreamy atmosphere during meditation. This brainwave state is typically lower in instances of people with ADD, ADHD, and Autism. Research suggests this would be a great area of the mind to stimulate for these non-neurotypical brain types.

Low Theta: The Lower Theta brainwave state is on the cusp of our conscious mind. Our "gateway to the subconscious." This is where the creativity of our imagination is formed. By stimulating this area we can deeply relax and explore our neurally rich Theta dream state, which may become elusive during our sleep cycle. 

Delta: As we age we produce fewer and fewer Delta brainwaves. This is found to be true even more so in the male mind. If we don't visit our Delta brainwave state during our sleep cycle we may feel sluggish during the day, lack empathy, heal more slowly from illness and injury, and more. By stimulating this brainwave state we can help the mind make the needed neural connections to the Delta state during our sleep cycles and assist in resetting our parasympathetic system.

Epsilon: Our Epsilon brainwaves are the slowest brainwave state and are believed to regulate our body's most primal pulses through what is known as our parasympathetic nervous system. By stimulating this brainwave state we can relax and reset this system in a person suffering from any negative effects of anxiety and stress in their life. When our parasympathetic system is out of alignment, we slip into our sympathetic nervous system, or "fight or flight" mode. This pulls energy, oxygen, nutrients, and blood away from virtually every organ and system in our body that is not connected to our stress response. As you can imagine, this seriously effects the body long term, and keeps us from functioning and healing properly. Getting our brains to an Epsilon brain wave state pulls our nervous systems back into alignment.

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Herbal Self Care

Loving up on yourself with herbs and building self care herbal rituals into your daily, weekly, or seasonal self care practices is one of the most profound gifts of healing you can give to yourself. I’ve found that my favorite rituals with herbs are often the simplest, and I am so happy to share some of my go-to herbal practices that restore balance to the nervous system and encourage the body to rest and recover.

Morning and Evening Tea

Never underestimate the power of a hot cup of tea. The ritual of making ourselves tea is an act of healing in itself. It forces us to slow down, to lovingly pick out the herbs we will use, and to wait patiently while the tea steeps. This is an act of loving awareness that opens our hearts. We are telling the universe, the plants, and our bodies that we deserve this moment of respite, that we are worth these extra moments of self care. When your tea is done steeping, place your face over the cup and inhale. The herbal steam works to loosen pores, open nasal passages, and encourages deep, slow breathing. This lowers blood pressure, and signals to our body that we are safe to enter into our parasympathetic nervous system. If you enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, you can work this tea ritual later into the day, or if you are feeling brave, try a coffee substitute. This is a really lovely coffee alternative from herbalist Kami Mcbride:

Kami McBride's Dandelion Mocha:

3 tablespoons Roasted Dandelion Root

1 tablespoon raw cocoa nibs or raw chocolate

1/2 cup milk or almond milk

1 TB maple syrup or honey

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

A dash of nutmeg or clove powder

Decoct the roasted dandelion root and cocoa nibs in 3 cups of water, letting mixture simmer for 30 minutes. Strain then add the remaining ingredients, stir to combine, reheat as necessary. Drink as you please!

In addition to this awesome recipe, I like to keep it simple with my teas throughout the day. Lemon Balm, Tulsi, Rose, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nettle, Red Raspberry Leaf, Hibiscus, and Astragalus seem to be the herbs I reach for most, often in combinations of up to five, or just on their own. One of the beautiful things about making yourself a cup of tea, is that you get to really check in with your body to find out what it is craving. This act of loving awareness and inquiry is an empowering self care skill to develop.

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Herbal Baths and Foot Soaks

Recently a dear friend reached out to ask what on earth she could do with all the roses in her garden! She wanted a way to preserve and continue to enjoy the many rose petals she might otherwise compost. Among the many rose medicine ideas I excitedly shared with her, my favorite came from a recent episode of the Herbal Highway. Herbalist Karyn Sanders shares that adding a strong batch of rose tea to a hot bath is a wonderful way to ground your body and help your nervous system develop protective boundaries. The medicine of rose is such a beautiful ally for the nervous system, and often overlooked, or thought of as just a pretty flower. Bringing the medicine of rose into a bath with Epsom salt is such a beautiful self care ritual. If you are conscious about the amount of water you are using, or if you don’t have a bathtub, try a foot soak! This is a luxurious spa treatment you can give to yourself at home! All you need is a big enough bowl for your feet, and a towel on the floor. I especially like suggesting this to clients and enjoying myself, because our feet literally HOLD US UP every freakin day. It’s so important to say thank you, to give them a rest, to let the roots of your body experience tending. In addition to rose, I have loved adding lemon balm, chamomile, ginger, and lavender to baths and soaks. In addition to making a tea prior to your bath and adding that to the water, you can also add about a cup of herbs into in a muslin bag and just throw the bag into your tub as it fills!

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Lavender Face and Room Spray

I love this nervous system hack, because it is SO easy to make and even easier to use. All you need is a two ounce spray bottle, distilled water, witch hazel or alcohol, and Lavender essential oil. The beauty of this spray is that it works to calm you down by soothing your nervous system, specifically targeting stress that is held in the shoulders, neck, and forehead. If you are someone who gets stress headaches, or who feels stress and anxiety manifest as tense muscles in their upper back and neck, this will be a beautiful remedy for you. Another beautiful thing about this spray is that you can take it with you anywhere! Lavender is also a powerful antiseptic, so this makes a beautiful spray to take with you when you are traveling, camping, or using public facilities of any kind. Just spray it on your hands or onto your surroundings as needed.

Chill the Eff Out Spray:

for 2 ounce bottle:

1 part alcohol (for two ounce bottle 15ml)

3 part distilled water (for two ounce bottle 45ml)

5-20 drops of Lavender essential oil (for two ounce bottle up to 10 drops)

• For your alcohol, you can use either witch hazel extract, vodka, or if you want to get really fancy, use an herbal tincture for added benefits! I like to use rose tincture or lemon balm tincture as the alcohol portion of my sprays.

Have so much fun with this one! Shake well each time (as the essential oil can often rise to the top!), then spray directly into your face and all around your body for immediate stress relief. Use before, during, and after stressful situations.

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We hope you are feeling inspired to put on some of our meditative music and try out some of these herbal remedies! We are so grateful and honored to walk beside you on your healing paths!

We are also excited to announce that in addition to private sessions and weekly sound meditations at Anchor, Josh is beginning to host sunset meditations with wireless headphones at various outdoor venues in the bay area. Join us this Sunday, May 26th, 7-8pm at the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon to experience this very special offering. Bring a blanket and cuddle bud and get cozy with us as we meditate to gorgeous ambient music as the sun goes down. To reserve your headphones for this unique experience click the link below.

With Much Love,

Nora and Josh

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Portals of Change

Greetings Friends!

We've been thinking of you, sending ripples of support as we move through the dynamic energy of this Aries Season! Anyone else feeling the fire of transformation at their doorstep?

We hope you've been taking gentle care of yourselves and of each other, and that you are feeling ready to embrace this season of change.  

This Month we are happy to announce that Josh is officially offering private sessions at Anchor Meditation! For our sound section this month, we are sharing a beautiful testimonial written by the founder of Anchor, Kelly Ryan. We are so grateful for Kelly, and hope her words inspire you to experience a session for yourself!

After Kelly's testimonial, we will explore a host of plants and herbal formulas that are supportive for working with addiction. The energy of spring, and of the Aries season in particular, are fantastic allies for folks looking to create new relationships with drugs and alcohol. We fully believe that adding the power of plants to this equation will amplify your intentions, and truly support your body transition into new ways of being.

A look inside the Portal

by Kelly Ryan

My Private Sound Paths Meditation with Josh was amazing!  The session took place at The Portal at Anchor Meditation.  I lied down on a massage bed over an amethyst crystal heated mat. He provided a heavy pillow that lightly vibrated, which provided weight and coziness on my belly. 

Josh placed a "Muse" Headband gently around my forehead. This headband was to monitor my brain waves. I had no idea what to expect, as I've never done anything like it.

He also hooked up a "MIDI Sprout" to a plant placed next to the massage table I was on. The midi sprout enables Josh to co-create music, and the muse allows my brain to participate!  WHOA....!!!

Josh began the session with some aromatherapy, and a brief explanation of what was happening.  He demonstrated the sound he was playing, the sound the plant was creating, and described the sound my brain waves would make as "like a harp."  Still very unsure what to expect, the session got underway!

Upon starting the session, my monkey mind immediately began racing, as our minds tend to do!  The harp sound was prominent!  I was thinking a lot about what the heck was going on.  The music was beautiful and calming and put me into a state of peace quickly. 

After a period of time, I became aware that the harp had ceased playing.  I was in a state of deep relaxation, and I guess my busy mind had a little lull.

I believe we manifest things when we are crystal clear about what it is we desire to create for our future, and we feel the feelings associated with having those desires come true!  I decided to play around a little bit since there are many things I am currently manifesting.  It was SOOOOO FUN!  When I realized that there hadn't been harp noises for a period of time, I'd think about the feelings (excitement, freedom, relaxation, satisfaction, peace) that I will feel when I am in Hawaii for that trip I am dreaming of) and the harp noise would come through the earphones with a burst of beautiful music!  Spoiler alert, I leave in 2 weeks for Hawaii! I played around with this experiment throughout the session, and was amazed that each time I allowed myself to feel "as if" the things I am creating are actually coming true, the harp would appear! 

It feels like proof of what I know to be true about how we co-create our reality, and this feels wildly exciting to me!   

I also tried "sending loving thoughts and feelings" to the plant that was hooked up to the MIDI Sprout.  The plant was generating beautiful music throughout the session. I have read lots of studies about how you talk to plants and direct your energy towards them effects the plant’s ability to thrive and grow.  For example, if you plant 3 seeds and say all negative things to seed #1 (You suck. I hate you. Etc.) it typically does not grow into a healthy plant.  If you are neutral to seed #2 it grows a bit but does not thrive.  If you harness all positive thoughts and words to seed #3 (I love you.  Thank you.  You are beautiful. Etc) this seed tends to grow, thrive and prosper.  

My experiment of sending love to the plant was a little less obvious than the sounds of the harp, which were brilliant and distinct.  I did experience a sense of union with the plant, but it's more difficult to define, and I'm not quite certain if I was just slipping in and out of deeper brainwave states. I believe the plant felt the love though, and I am very grateful to have had this experience!

Thanks Josh for your musical talent, creativity and cool gadgets!  I loved every minute of the session, and recommend it for music lovers, plant lovers, meditation lovers, and mind/body/brain enthusiasts and seekers! It would also be lovely for anyone who just wants to relax and receive the healing benefits of sounds, but for me the opportunity to test some of my beliefs surpassed my desire to rest and receive this time around.

Herbs for Addiction

Throughout my journey into plant medicine, I have found that learning about herbs that support folks who are working with addiction to be a great source of hope, comfort, and activation for me.

On a very personal note, I have lost many people I love to drugs and alcohol, and can trace the persistent threads of addiction throughout my life and nearly every life that touches mine.

When I began delving into the science of addiction, I became very curious about my own relationship with drugs and alcohol, and realized that for me, there were various social, biological, and spiritual conditions that predisposed me to have unhealthy, impulsive, and addictive relationships with both.

As an experiment, I decided to take a year off of drinking alcohol, to try to break the chain of addiction that runs through my entire ancestral line, and to re-wire my brain to make healthier choices when I am feeling stressed, scared, under-resourced, or even when I have something to celebrate.

It’s been an absolutely illuminating year that has given me the chance to re-negotiate my relationship to alcohol, and get to the root of imbalance in my system that had me reaching for cocktails in the first place. It has now been a little over a year booze free, and I feel open and curious to see how a healthy relationship might develop and what that looks like. I know this relationship will be on my terms, and carry a new kind of full body and heart consciousness that earlier versions of myself could have never imagined.

I want to pause here to say that I am privileged beyond measure to have the kind of family, community, and economic support to try this experiment in the first place. I am by no means suggesting that giving up alcohol or drugs is as easy as making a hard lined decision to do so, and I am certainly not advocating for moderation if it is clear that abstinence is the healthiest, life-saving, and desired plan of care.

I am just eager to share my experience, and highlight some plants that have worked for ME, as well as plants that have broader applications for addiction.

Into the plants we go!

In general, teas or oxymels (vinegar and honey extractions) are beautiful preparations to reach for when you are working with addiction. This keeps alcohol completely out of your system. It is worth noting, however, that a tincture has about the same amount of alcohol as a ripe banana, so if you do not consider yourself, or person in your care, as an addicted person, and someone who desires 100% abstinence, I believe alcohol extractions, or tinctures, are just fine to use.

To organize what feels like an infinite amount of plants, I am first going to highlight the herbal actions we are looking for, then explore several plants I have found useful under each of these categories.

Adaptogens

Adaptogens help our body deal with stress. This can be physical, emotional, environmental, ancestral, you name it. Adaptogens are vital when working with addiction, because often the addicted person is trapped in a cycle of feeling stressed, then not having the right levels of dopamine and serotonin, or the proper function of dendrite receptors to receive these stress relieving hormones. This is when they reach for drugs or alcohol to self soothe and provide short term stress relief, which only depletes the body further of these stress relieving hormones, while depleting and damaging every system in the body.

Adaptogens can help break this cycle by nourishing our adrenal and nervous systems, and basically mamma bearing us into a state of balance.

Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum)

• Fantastic for folks just entering sobriety. Makes a beautiful tea. I’ve personally enjoyed at least 1 cup a day this entire past year! Therapeutically, you can try 1-3 cups per day.

• Talks directly to the part of our brain that generates stories of heartbreak and trauma and helps us re-write these narratives

• Especially helpful for ancestral trauma

• Supports the Heart, Cardiovascular and Digestive Systems

• Helps with cerebral circulation, memory, and concentration (helpful for folks who experience mental fatigue and brain fog when they stop using)

Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus)

• Protects body from toxic effect of substances

• Helpful for anxiety

• Helps body heal relationship with “time.” Often called the white rabbit plant. If you are finding yourself scrambling to get everything you need to get done in a day, this is a great plant to reach for. It prevents burnout by giving you energy while simultaneously nourishing your adrenals.

• I’ve also found Eleuthero to be helpful for the overwhelm and emotional response that come with fatigue. If you are on the verge of a breakdown because mentally you can’t wrap your brain around the size of your to-do list, Eleuthero (perhaps because it is a root medicine) really helps to ground and calm you down.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifers)

• I’ve especially loved ashwagandha and turmeric as a soothing golden milk before bed.

• It’s calming to the nervous system, and awesome for stress induced insomnia and nervous exhaustion

• Energetically, it is great for lifting the spirit and is helpful for depression

Nervines

Nervines support the nervous system by strengthening and restoring, easing anxiety and tension, calming the body and mind, and stimulating the nervous system when necessary. Long-term alcohol and drug use often frays the myelin sheath of our nerve endings. We end up ingesting more of the substance of choice to calm these nerves, thus causing more damage, and more physical manifestations of withdrawal when we try to quit. This is why someone dependent on alcohol might shake before their first drink of the day. I was beyond excited to learn that two plants in this category actually work to re-coat the myelin sheath of nerve endings and help our bodies reverse this nerve damage. We will explore these two plants, Skullcap and Milky Oats first, and then I will share a few other Nervines I have found especially helpful over the last year.

Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)

• Helps sever attachments to addictions

• Cools and calms the liver (this is important!)

• As a result of its interaction with the liver, skullcap also cools and calms ANGER! (it is believed we store Anger in our Livers. This is SUCH an important energy to clear out of the body!)

• Amazing for acute anxiety or nervous tension

• Fantastic for circle thinking that keeps us in a loop of infinite, anxious thinking. Pairs beautifully with Passionflower and Lemon Balm as a night time formula to help quiet your brain and self critical thoughts

• Repairs and coats frayed myelin sheaths

Milky Oats (Avena sativa)

• When tinctured fresh, and used over a long period of time, milky oats repair the myelin sheaths as well

• This is a beautiful, deeply restorative plant for a person’s long-term plan of care. It soothes and calms the nervous system, but more importantly it FEEDS the nervous system

• As it feeds our nervous system, it works to decrease the desire of wanting to use our substance of choice

• It can also help with symptoms of withdrawal

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)

• Motherwort has an affinity for the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, and the liver.

• Energetically it is used to heal all relationships with the mother archetype. This can be relationships with our actual mother, the divine feminine, how we show up as mother to ourselves, or our identity as mother to others.

• Motherwort calms anxiety, and is an extremely bitter herb, which supports and heals the liver. As we saw with Skullcap, the liver is where we store anger, which feels important to think about. Our liver is not only processing the toxins in our body, it is also processing our heavier emotions. Motherwort works with our cardiovascular system to get our hearts pumping optimally, then supports our liver to process what is flowing through our veins. All while cooling the body, and calming irritability, anxiety, and stress.

• Lowers blood pressure and helps with heart palpitations caused by stress

• Helps with exhaustion and the kind of stress that stems from feeling there is never enough time in the day

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

• I have loved making cold infusions of chamomile each evening, letting steep overnight, then enjoying in the morning first thing when I wake up. I find it calms my digestive system, which is where many people including myself, tend to hold their anxiety. In addition to calming and cooling the nervous system and GI, cold infusions of chamomile help your body hold onto and use the water you drink throughout the day. This is a vital part of restoring the body after and during long-term drug and alcohol use.

• Hot infusions of chamomile are also great for calming the digestive system and particularly indicated for restless sleep and nightmares, nervous headaches and anxiety related to withdrawal symptoms

• One of my teachers, Rylan Sían, describes Chamomile as the Mother of all healing plants. Coincidentally, chamomile is a wonderful, safe plant to use with children, and also great for reaching and healing our inner child. This can be powerful healing work when working with addiction, as a lot of the trauma that leads us to substance use traces back to our experiences as children.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

• Lemon Balm brings in the cooling medicine of the moon. It floods the body with light, but not in an oppressive, overwhelming, I need sunglasses way

• Can be used as an anti-depressant

• Indicated for insomnia caused by grief or sadness

• Beautiful as a tea when you are feeling tired, burnt out, and emotionally fried

• Has a tonic effect on the heart and entire cardiovascular system

Sedatives

Often we use drugs and alcohol to help us get to sleep, which actually keeps us from reaching healthy brainwave states that restore the body. This ends up making us more exhausted and depleted in the long run. As you break free from the ritual of a glass of wine or two to get to bed, there are a handful of beautiful, restorative plants that can support you as you find healthier bed time rituals. I have especially loved using passionflower, which I gushed about in our last newsletter. California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) and Hops (Humulus lupulus) are also fantastic sleep allies.

Hepatics

Plants that support and protect the Liver are extremely important when working with addiction. As we discussed, our livers are the organs in our bodies that help us process toxins. After and during drug and alcohol use, it is vital to take care of our livers!

Burdock (Arctium Lappa)

• Helps move toxins and heat out of the blood

• Taken as a food (try pickled burdock!) it is a nutritive, and works to strengthen all body systems and assists in general recovery

• Supports the liver and is especially helpful for skin issues associated with heat in the liver

• Useful as a lymphatic, which gets lymph moving through the body, and is therefore supportive to the immune system. This is important when we are transitioning off of using substances as our immune systems are extremely compromised

In addition to Burdock, Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) and Dandelion Root (Taraxacum officinale) are fantastic liver herbs to reach for.

Nutritives

The last category of plant powers I have found especially helpful, are nutritives. Nutritive plants work to restore and support our adrenal glands, they help our body absorb nutrients, and they support the detoxification process.

Nettle (Urtica dioica)

• Nettle makes a great herbal infusion (tea steeped for 4-10 hours)

• Fantastic tea to drink when you are overworked and stressed, or feeling like you need a little boost

• It’s especially helpful to drink as a spring time tonic, as we gather the energy we will use for the vibrant times of spring and summer

• PACKED with minerals and nutrients that support every system in our body

Some other beautiful nutritive herbs are Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) and Wild Oats (Avena Sativa), which are the dried aerial parts of the milky oats we discussed earlier.

Home Again Formula

The last piece I want to share with you is a formula we’ve made to specifically support folks working with addiction.

My intention for this blend is for it to ground a person deeply in their body, and allow their heart to defend, honor, heal from, and reach for, a sense of "Home."

The combination of adaptogens and nervines are specifically helpful for trauma, and the lymphatic properties of burdock support the body as it deals with stress and helps it to process and heal from toxins. The honey and flower essence blend inspires courage, boundaries, a sense of safety in the home, and forgiveness.

Home Again Formula

8 parts Albizia

5 parts Hawthorn

3 parts Linden

2 parts Burdock

1 Motherwort

1 Lemon Balm

Tulsi, Cinnamon and Rose infused Wildflower Honey

Flower Essences of Yarrow, Willow, Motherwort, Borage

Since addiction can often be thought of as a dis-ease of the spirit, there are SO MANY flower essences that are helpful, which we will get into in another post!

In the meantime, there is a list of flower essences for addiction, as well as flower essences for friends and family of addicted persons, at the end of a pathology report I began working on last year, which investigates herbal applications for Heroin Addiction. I am happy to share this document as another resource for our community, although it is just the beginning to my investigations of herbal medicine and heroin. I look forward to having so much more information and resources to offer in the future.

Wow this has been a lot!

We hope you will keep this post tucked in your back pocket for times when you are needing extra support surrounding your relationships with drugs and alcohol. We passionately support your endeavors and look forward to being a resource and loving ally along the way.

Thank you from our whole hearts for taking this journey with us, and special thanks to one of my mentors, Dana Aronson of Wild Kin Botanicals, for so much of this information, and for all the work she does to empower and heal Drug and Alcohol Users.

As always here is a fresh meditation track from Josh! We suggest making a cup of Tulsi tea, putting on some headphones, and letting yourself have a restorative moment or two.

With Much Love,

Nora and Josh

Sound Tables and Sleep Medicine

We hope you are reveling in this new moon energy and that you are feeling supported and inspired as you set intentions for the coming months and find new ways to offer gentleness and compassion to yourself and the humans around you.

It's been a busy month for us! We've loved offering our weekly Sound Path Meditation Classes at Anchor Meditation and Passion Project, and especially loved taking our Sound Paths class on the road! Thank you to Andrea Cortez of Mind Body Music for hosting us in Austin, and creating such an inspired evening of community sound healing and meditation.

We also loved connecting with the radical, kind folks of Aural Canyon, an Austin ambient tape label that released Josh's latest album, Gathering on the Grass.

It feels so incredible to expand our wellness community, and our intention for this month is to continue expanding and deepening our relationships with everyone in our wellness tribe!

For this month’s newsletter, we’d like to pull back the wizard’s curtain and share some empowering, technical information for all you sound and plant curious readers!

To begin, Josh will explain step by step, how to build your own DIY vibroacoustic sound table! It is our dream that everyone we love have access to the benefits of a daily vibroacoustic practice! After your sound table journey, we will explore the magic and benefits of one of my favorite sleepy time plants, passionflower.

Memory Seed Family Garden

A Vibrant Touch

D.I.Y. VIBROACOUSTIC THERAPY

By Joshua W Bruner

This month I’ll be talking about sound vibrations felt through the body, specifically on a sound table. Vibroacoustic therapy uses musical frequencies in a variety of ways to help calm the mind and body. A sound table can be considered a haptic device, which translates sound into the body through sonic vibrations. You’ve probably experienced vibroacoustics before in a rumbling movie theater seat or a video arcade where they shake you during the exciting parts to amplify your sensory experience. Today we’ll be talking about ways of using this technology to specifically relieve stress instead of just shaking your body as an entertainment gimmick.

The term Vibroacoustic Therapy (VAT) was coined in the 1980s by the Norwegian sound therapist, Olav Skille. With deep sub bass range frequencies it is possible to deeply stimulate our bodies on a cellular level. Imagine this feeling like a sonic hot tub with no water. Sound travels five times as fast through water as it does air so it really stimulates our bodies, which are known to be roughly 60% water. This sound based therapy has been researched as treatment for autism, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s Disease, arthritis, depression, recovery from surgery/trauma, pain and anxiety relief, insomnia, blood pressure, Parkinson’s Disease, and more.

The first time I personally experienced a sound table I immediately recognized that after 20 years of making all kinds of music, I knew absolutely nothing about sound. This was a welcomed awakening and extremely humbling. I immediately began seeking more information to learn how to create my own DIY sound table and was lucky to find a few interesting videos out there that showed just how easy it is to make your own. There is something to be said for a professionally made sound table (See here) but if you don’t have $3,000 to spend, you can create something that’s very enjoyable for only a couple hundred dollars, maybe even less if you’re crafty.

What you’ll need to make your own DIY sound table!

Bass shakers or transducers:

This is where the mojo lies. With bass transducers you are able to translate a lot of vibration without as much room noise. You would need to blast massive sub speakers into your body to get the same desired effect, and that would be terrible for your ears. After trying out several types of transducers over the last year I’d suggest you start off with two of these shakers. They’re really affordable and provide you with the exact kind of vibrational response you’ll need.

Amplifier:

Dayton Audio DTA-120BT2 Class D Mini Amplifier 60 WPC is affordable, doesn’t overheat, and pushes these two bass transducers really nicely. If you already have a decent stereo amplifier you can save some money here.

Table:

Massage table, couch, chair, or even build a portable table out of plywood. I’ve made several now and like cutting a piece of 3/4 inch plywood down to the size of a standard yoga mat and adding short coffee table legs. Just mount the two shakers under near where the shoulders and the tail bone might normally be positioned on the average sized person lying down.

Hook up the bass shakers to the amp with speaker wire.

Other suggested items:

Headphone extension with volume control to be able to adjust the headphone volume separately from the table volume, 1/8th inch splitter hub, and noise canceling headphones.

Special thanks to Memory Seed Family Garden for providing both of these pictures of one of Josh’s DIY tables!

Make the table comfortable. Use an extra thick yoga mat. Add a bolster for under the knees. Use a comfy pillow. I upgraded mine with a matching far infrared crystal heating pad and pillow. After you deck it out to your liking, you’re all set.

Once you experience music in this new, deeply vibrational way, you’ll be changed in ways that will surely surprise you and encourage you to continue experiencing the many health benefits found within vibroacoustics and sound meditation.

I’m sharing all that I know about this and many other amazing sound meditation techniques in hopes that you’ll take this knowledge and serve your community with your own unique musical tastes and talents. Spread the literal vibes!

Let us know how your own journey goes and remember to keep it mellow and do no harm!

Avoid Vibroacoustic Therapy if you have:

Active or borderline psychosis

Open wounds, external or internal bleeding (except menstrual)

Recent thrombosis

Pregnancy

introducing:

Passionflower

We are gearing up to release a Sleep Ritual Box this May, which will include meditation music, meditation mist, a sleep tincture, and sleep salve! Passionflower has turned out to play a staring role in our ritual box, so we thought we’d gather some of our favorite things about them to get you all acquainted! May your relationship be cloaked in magic, curiosity, and joyful reciprocity.

Can you even believe passionflower exists?! When I first gazed into a passionflower bloom, I felt an overwhelming sense of curiosity, electricity, and the kind of kindred feeling that happens when two outer space creatures meet.

I could tell that the medicine in this plant was profound. The deep blues and purples indicated to me that this might be a portal plant, I immediately felt a sort of calm hypnosis spread throughout my body, and especially my heart.

The more I learn about the constituents and herbal actions of this plant, the more our first encounter, and the striking bloom of this flower makes sense to me.

To begin, Passionflower, or Passiflora incarnata, is a perennial vine native to the tropical and semi-tropical regions of the Americas. In our neck of the woods, it is native to the southeastern part of the Unites States, but is easily cultivated and can be found thriving all over the place.

Medicinally, Passionflower has an affinity for the nervous and cardiovascular systems, and is considered a Nervine, Antispasmodic, Sedative, Hypnotic, and Anodyne.

In less medical terms, Passionflower helps you chill the heck out, helps you release tense smooth muscle and nervous tissue, helps you ease into restful sleep (without sleep hangover), and is pain relieving.

Historically, Passionflower has been indicated for circular thinking (windy condition that keeps thoughts cruising through your head like a Ferris wheel on speed) that causes insomnia, especially if the thoughts or worries stem from grief, or matters of the heart.

Passionflower pairs beautifully with Skullcap, Hawthorn, Motherwort, Milky Oats, and Blue Vervain for Nervous System support.

In my practice, I have especially loved using Passionflower to help anxious “circle thinking” clients with high blood pressure. The depressive actions it has for the central nervous system act as a hypotensive (lowers blood pressure). This feels like such an important piece. When we are anxious or stressed, our veins tighten, our hearts start pumping faster, and our blood pressure goes up. This can lead to a host of health concerns. Introducing Passionflower into our systems during times of stress supports the proper function of our hearts and helps prevent the constriction of our veins and arteries.

Something special about Passionflower on a chemical level, is that it helps our body break down serotonin and norepinephrine in slower, more efficient ways. This leads to a more even, gentle hormonal cascade and peaceful state of consciousness. This also may be a reason why Passionflower has historically been used to help folks struggling with addiction.

Personally, I’ve had beautiful results pairing Skullcap, Tulsi and Passionflower together for this purpose.

I just love this plant so much! Taking a look at the bloom again, notice how the pistil and stamen might remind you of some sort of underwater, oceanic creature. This has lead me to experiments pairing sea essences with Passionflower, and I’ve had great fun tracking the interfaces between these two energetic medicines! You can look forward to some of these pairings in our sleep box!

There is so much more to share about Passionflower, but the last thing I will share, is how mush I’ve loved experiencing the medicine of Passionflower through my skin. On a whim, I began experimenting with Passionflower as part of a sleep salve this past year. Since I’ve made copious amounts, I often end up coating my entire body in this salve on a daily basis, even when I’m not ready for sleep. What I’ve noticed, is that I feel calm, that my muscles feel spacious and relaxed, and that I spend less time worrying about things I may have done wrong throughout the day. Intuitively, I feel like this is Passionflower teaching me how to be gentle on myself, and showing me that If I stay relaxed in my body, my heart can surrender to the curious magic of being a human.

We hope you have enjoyed getting to know Passionflower, and look forward to hearing about your own experiences with this beautiful plant medicine.

Thank you for coming on this sound table and Passionflower journey with us!

As always, you can find a new meditation track on our Bandcamp to enjoy!

With Much Love,

Nora and Josh

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