Article: Anima Mundi
Anima Mundi
OUR HERBALIST AND FOUNDER ADRIANA AYALES
Hello! I'm Adriana Ayales, rainforest herbalist, medicine maker, educator and general lady behind the curtain at Anima Mundi. I was born and raised in Costa Rica and have extensively studied various healing traditions, as well as master herbalists and shamans for 13+ years. I started Anima Mundi in Brooklyn NY as a means of bringing ancient remedies back to the modern world.
My goal is to create a farm-to-pharmacy experience that not only creates a sustainable system of healing, but has at its core the pursuit of wholeness. I am deeply committed to sourcing from honest farmers, wildcrafters and from indigenous peoples whenever possible to alchemize and create truly high vibrational medicines for the mind, body and spirit. I believe that by preserving ancient forms of native botany, we keep alive a most sacred aspect of our source.
“OUR MISSION IS TO BRING ANCIENT REMEDIES BACK TO THE MODERN WORLD
Adriana Ayales
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What does Anima Mundi mean?
Anima Mundi is a Latin expression meaning "the soul of the world", regarded by philosophers as "the soul of nature"; the animating (anima) force in nature. The world soul, according to various systems of thought, is an intrinsic connection between all living things on the planet, relating to our world in much the same way as the soul relates to the human body.
"Anima Mundi - Soul of the World"
Our vision
"Preserving the Wisdom of Ancient Botany".
Anima Mundi Herbals is completely dedicated to delivering the freshest and most vibrant botanical goodness. Most of our ingredients come primarily from indigenous people and smallholder farmers from the rainforest, and from different parts of the world. We enjoy working directly with our producers, not only to meet them in person, but also to have first-hand access to the highest quality farmed or wild products. Our goal is to bring indigenous medicine back to today's world, through the magic of ancient botany and herbal remedies.
Our project supports true fair trade practices, ethical wildcrafting, herbal education, supporting small economies and local businesses. We ensure that all ingredients used are carefully harvested, dried and packaged in accordance with our standards. We also want to use ethical and sustainable packaging as much as possible. We're not just going for certifications, we really want to work directly with farmers who are doing fantastic work in this world. In the rainforest, most farmers or wild crafters do not have the paperwork and certifications for many reasons. Mainly due to economic hardship and lack of access, and the fact that they live in extreme rural areas and simply don't have the resources.
This is who we most like to work with and this is what we are proud to support. Farmers and ethical wild crafters who know the jungle and put mother nature above all else. We want to support them directly and ensure that the aspect of life is nourished and maintained economically and energetically.
All of our products are formulated by Adriana Ayales , clinical herbalist, and handcrafted, with love and care, in New York City by an amazing team. We believe that by directly supporting traditional practices and indigenous people, we contribute to the revival of ancient medicine. Anima Mundi preserves the sanctuaries left in the world through ethical wildcrafting, sustainable trade and medicinal creations.
Our technology
Anima Mundi uses various botanical traditions, from Rainforest Tribal herbal medicine to Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. Each formulation has a unique composition of herbs with a story. All our liquid products are extracted for between 28 days and a maximum of 6 months. We currently use organic cane alcohol, vegetable glycerin, various oils and/or honey. Each formula is biodynamically created by hand in our NYC lab, meaning we extract each herb using a biodynamic (lunar) calendar to properly extract all of the constituents. We carefully create unique formulas for body and mind. Our mission is to continually seek out new herbs, find new sources to increase the potency of our blends, and adhere to our integrity as we expand sustainably.
Phytomedicine: ancient medicine for the modern age
Wellness is a cosmology, an all-encompassing landscape that embodies the emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual worlds of existence. A true state of well-being is not solely dependent on the fitness or mindset a person currently possesses. Our level of well-being is intricately intertwined with the intimate relationship we have with our community, our environment and ourselves. The multifaceted universe of health and healing is cyclical, a living organism in constant metamorphosis.
Healing is the logic of quantum physics and suggests that we exist in a relative, process-oriented ecosystem in which there is no "objectivity" to the world we experience. The components essential to curing disease cannot be solved by simply measuring the disease itself; Rather, our healing ecosystem is active, with its own unique interactions and relationships. It is through this process that the healer balances the equation of physical, mental and social well-being.
In Eastern healing traditions, people are viewed as a microcosm of the universe, imbued with the same forces that govern the cosmos. In Daoism, for example, people are imagined as part of the unbroken whole called Dao – a single relational continuum expressing within and without. This thinking predates the separation of the mind and body. It was the Western mind that created the idea that humans are independent living systems, untethered by basic natural needs. We escaped our dependence and attachment to the natural world and pursued selfish principles of invulnerability, invincibility and immortality. The long-term survival of our species is threatened by an unbridled desire for short-term gain, deceptive beliefs about achievement, and false assumptions about our civilization's autonomy from nature. Modern humans have contaminated their own nests, a clear sign of disease and future trouble, especially considering the consequences of our actions on the broader animal kingdom.
Today, many of us are trying to regain the sense of connection that existed universally in ancient cultures, when human destiny was completely intertwined with nature. In the ecological understanding of these cosmologies, all things were inextricably linked. The world was seen as a symbiotic entity in which all living organisms interacted and supported each other, from the innermost cellular level to the outermost cosmological level.
The call for plant medicine in contemporary culture is a symbol of humanity's return to its source. A profound rebirth is underway and the role of the plant kingdom is becoming increasingly important. An essential bridge is being rebuilt between man and nature, allowing us access to the realm of the transcendent and the land of the luminous. Plant medicines are not just there to provide us with nourishment, shelter and protection against pathologies (diseases) - they are here for a much greater purpose, and that is to return us to the original consciousness that reigned on Earth for thousands of years. Herbalism is the medicine of belonging, a gateway through which we keep alive a most sacred aspect of this same consciousness.
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