I’ve just returned from a four day solo retreat, immersed in nature. This time away with myself, with hours a day to meditate and follow the needs of my body‘s energy was a great luxury. It was as if the spaciousness of Time, and Nature itself allowed parts of me to return to myself; my vital energy deeply nourished by the simple and ever-present realities of Time and Space.
I understand not all of us have the luxury of taking four days alone to meditate, and found myself wondering again and again what it would take to shift the scales in a society that does not take our innate well-being and vitality into consideration in its quest for limitless growth.
Short of a full-scale revolution, the one thing that kept coming up...that’s within the reach of every human being, and is our fundamental birthright as a member of this species (and would address such a tremendous gap in our daily experience of nourishment & vitality)...is this:
Community.
Humans are social creatures, not intended to live our lives in nuclear families or isolated from close-knit networks of loving, caring humans that help balance out life’s innate bumps.
The ecosystem is inherently pretty simple: fueled by our love and care for each other, and our biological imperative to take care of each other—the natural checks and balances of shared responsibility ease the burdens of being human.
When we are not so resourced, we receive more from the community.
When we are more resourced, we give more from the community.
This may seem over-simplistic and idealistic, which is true to some extent, but the reality is that so many of us are lacking in the inherent vital goodness that arises from community. And all of us (I feel this with confidence), would be even just a fraction better off by weaving our own local communities a little tighter.
So what in God's name does this all have to do with RASA?
When we set out to make a creamer, we had an interesting task on our hands. We had already put the best herbs we know of into our coffee alternative blends, making each cup full of multifaceted holistic benefits from energy, to stress, to digestion, to immune health, to mood, to libido, and more.
Because we are Rasa, we didn’t want to just make a tasty powdered creamer, we wanted to make the apotheosis of creamers, that not only complemented our Rasa Blends, but also made the whole more than the sum of its parts and was great with any beverage, Rasa or no.
And we wanted to use the wisdom and functionality of plants to address (even one iota!) of the pain that nearly all humans experience by daring to be human in an inhumane world.
So, tying this into what I was sharing about retreat and community…
Obviously, we cannot possibly replace the experience of the spaciousness of taking retreat, or the juicy, alive feeling of being held and loved by a community…
But we tried.🙃
And while I will be the first to tell you that no product is going to answer for all the systemic issues in our lives and in society…NO product is the answer, no matter what they tell you…
We did our best to give your body an antidote to the brittle exhaustion that can come with the demands of modern life, and invite a feeling of supple vitality with each sip.
And, as one of my teachers says, “Plant medicine requires participation.“
So go ahead and infuse that first frothy sip with the vitalizing feelings of retreat & community (& why not a dose of revolution while you're at it?) and the intention to create more of these in your life.
Let that first sip BE a moment of retreat.
Let that first sip BE a moment of being vitally nourished by a small community of plants that freaking love you.
And moreover, when you finish your cup, make your FIRST action something that invites more spaciousness into your life; or knits your community one step closer to each other.
Some ideas to get you started:
- Lie on the floor and take 7 deep breaths.
- Step outside, look up at the sky, & observe your thoughts for 2 minutes.
- Text a friend who needs support and see how they're doing.
- Text a friend and tell them you need support.
These actions, while they may be small, are the beginning of an upward spiral that invites more vital nourishment into your life—and you, and all humans, so deeply deserve that.
So whether you choose to froth up some Créme de la Creamer and let that luscious froth nourish the stores of vitality within; or whether you just choose to make intentions + actions toward building a stronger community & inviting spaciousness into your life, know that WE ARE ROOTING FOR YOU.
💛,
Lopa
