The Plant That Changed Me
Without pretense, I can say that Ashwagandha has changed my life. It is rare that I write about a plant that I have never cultivated, harvested, or even met face to face. But after working with its medicine, and having such a profoundly healing experiencing, I simply could not wait to share the gifts it had offered me with the world.
I would very much like to meet Ashwagandha in person. And though I have not yet had the pleasure of doing so, I have perhaps had the privilege of experiencing the next best thing. You see, I like to be introduced to plants by people who already share a deep and longstanding connection with them. It is the difference between meeting a potential lover on Tinder and being introduced by a dear friend to someone they know you’ll hit it off with.
This was the case when Jeff, the man behind Portland Ashwagandha Farm, decided to send me a bottle of the Ashwagandha he’d cultivated, harvested, processed, and made into medicine of the highest quality. I’d known about Ashwagandha for years and had even recommended it to clients and taught about it in classes — but you don’t really know a plant until you’ve experienced the magic of its medicine in your body and in your own life.
The sense of wholeness I have experienced since starting to work with Jeff’s Ashwagandha has been transformative. Without exaggeration, I can say that I feel like a totally different version of myself. My nervous system has completely shifted and as a result, my experience of the world feel profoundly altered. The low-level anxiety and PTSD I have experienced for as long as I can remember has dissipated almost entirely.
Ashwagandha has invited me home to myself. It has helped me to make space for me in my life again. Its medicine has brought my awareness into a deeper part of my being than I’d ever previously had access to. My movement feels slow and steady — graceful in a way I never knew was possible. My speech is relaxed and my voice emanates from a place of deep knowing. My body feels grounded, strengthened, and safe at last.
