herb drops

When I read articles like this one on Goodkin by Adrienne Breaux, it makes me remember why I got into this business. It really does make my heart do a little dance to know that someone out there has come to feel better because of a product I had a hand in.

My personal favorite line:

“Editor’s note—for busy parents out there who never seem to find enough time to do it all—Peak Power could be the formula for you!”

So that’s why my Peak Power bottle is often empty….

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This is a testimonial from a mom, Christine Braile, who in the interest of full disclosure is my sister-in-law:

“As a busy mom of 3 kids under 8 years old, being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis [RA] was devastating.  Suddenly I could no longer run after my 2 year old, play a game on the floor with my twins, or even stand long enough to make dinner without tremendous pain.  Just waking up in the morning was painful enough to make me not want to go to sleep at night.  Then Jeanine suggested I try the Peak Power formula for its immune-modulating properties.  Seeking to avoid the powerful and dangerous prescription drugs usually given for RA, I started taking Peak Power in May. By late June I noticed an easier time walking, less stiffness and pain in the morning, and my fatigue had lessened.  I have continued taking Peak Power as part of my alternaitve treatment plan and it has helped tremendously.  The two times I’ve stopped taking Peak Power for a week or so to see if it was still helping really proved to me that it was indeed a crucial part of my path to wellness.  All my symptoms began to return, and only dissipated when I resumed taking the formula.  I am immensely fortunate to have been introduced to it.”

To be fair, when I recommended she try Peak Power, I didn’t suggest it with the expectation that it would solve her RA symptoms.  What I saw was a really worn out mom showing severe fatigue, and that is what Peak Power is meant to help. It does contain a large dose of astragalas root, which is a fabulous immune modulator. I expect the astralagas root is the reason her RA symptoms have improved. Also of note, Christine told me in a phone conversation that her RA antibody count has dropped way down, such that it doesn’t show up in her blood work anymore. That doesn’t mean she is cured, it means that she’s improved. One of those happy, unintended consequences.

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This testimonial came to me from the very lovely and talented Aurelia Rocha. She writes:

“My life, career, and my work is the Arts. As such, I have many demands placed upon me to teach, to research, to perform, and to keep my personal studio afloat. When you work in the Arts, you wear many hats. So I was very excited when Jeanine began her line of herbs. From what she had told me the different formulas could be used for a variety of situations and ailments and all of them were safe to use everyday with little or no side effects. So the first thing I tried was Decompress. While I did not notice any sudden changes, I did begin to notice that all of life’s little mishaps were easier to cope with. I was able to continue my day, craziness and all, with my sanity intact. Over time I tried several of the other formulas as well. Deep Sleeper I have found is excellent for performance anxiety, and does not disconnect me from the music, which is a common problem with taking beta-blockers. Other formulas that I have tried include, Easy Breather, which I found works well, even during cotton ginning time, and Back in Action which is a big help after a long run in the summer heat of west Texas.  I would highly recommend trying some of these formulas out, and

she uses Deep Sleeper to calm performance anxiety

you may find that they work better than you may have expected.

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Many moons ago, and I won’t tell you how many because I have reached that point in my life where I am getting vain about my age, before I started acupuncture school, I had a computer programming job in the financial services sector in Boston. My work place is not what I would describe as having been a nurturing or healthy environment. Probably toxic is the correct start to a description of the place.

In retrospect, it comes as no surprise that I had a lot of health problems. Migraine headaches, chronic neck pain, acne, digestive woes, atypically high susceptibility to colds and flues…. I once had a double ear infection that ruptured both ear drums; nothing quite so comforting as waking up to find blood dripping out of both ears.

Blah, blah, blah, started getting acupuncture, blah, blah, realized my lifestyle was having a significant impact on my health, blah, blah, needed a career change, blah, started acupuncture school part time while continuing to work full time in the emotional super-fund sight. Wow, what a year that was.

Traditional Chinese medicine places a premium on the effects of lifestyle on physical health. When I started acupuncture school, I also started to make an extreme effort to improve my lifestyle. I cleaned up my diet (more vegetables, less French fries), I made sure I slept enough (I even got B’s on some of my tests because I prioritized sleeping over cramming), and started doing Tai Chi. My health got moderately better, but it was by no means perfect.

The first Christmas break I went to Texas to visit my family for 2 weeks. During that two weeks I did all sorts of things that are not in keeping with the TCM longevity lifestyle- I stayed out too late drinking too much alcohol, didn’t sleep enough, smoked stuff I shouldn’t have, and ate questionable food. I ate fried beef- it’s a Texas thing- more than once. And at the end of those 2 weeks, I felt better than I had in 6 months. And then I had my proverbial light bulb moment. I felt like crap most of the time because of my job. In hindsight, I would like to thank my boss at the time. If she had been even 10% qualified to have the job she had, I would probably still be working in financial services. Luckily for me, she was completely incompetent, and I figured out to quit, move to Austin and go to school full time.

OK, so what the heck does this lovely anecdote have to do with shoemakers? Or herbs for that matter?

To my way of thinking, the unsung hero of our herb line is a formula we call Decompress. It’s based on a traditional Chinese herbal formula called Xiao Yao San. This formula is usually translated into English as Free and Easy Wanderer. Personally, I think this is a terrible translation. In America, if you are a free and easy wanderer, it pretty much means you’re homeless. I think a better translation would be Unencumbered Spirit. But that was too long to fit on the label, so we went with Decompress.

People, those of us on the Herbalogic team included, often say this formula is for stress. But that is such a vague description. After all, taking Decompress yourself won’t make your boss magically competent. But it might make it moderately more tolerable to be in the same room with her. Decompress allows your mind to let go of the day to day trivialities that somehow seem to grow to mammoth proportions. And when that happens, the physical manifestations of emotional stress, see my list above, get under control. A lot like my 2 week Christmas vacation did, only without having to take time off work.

Shoemakers?

It’s true confession time. The other day, I was on the phone for the fourth time trying to straighten out a situation with my financial institution. Apparently, it cannot be straightened. I actually broke down crying with the customer service representative. I believe I concluded the conversation with, “I have a 7 month old baby and a husband in Iraq. I have spent hours on hold trying to get this resolved. Hours I don’t have to spare. And now you tell me you can’t help me?” Commence sobbing. “Well perhaps if you went into one of our offices?” “The next trip I take into one of your offices will be to close my accounts.”

Another light bulb moment- when was the last time I had some Decompress? Yeah, about that…

I am feeling much better now.

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I have used Deep Sleeper for several months and find it to be most effective in helping me get a really restful and deep sleep.  I have had trouble  sleeping fgor a long time and this product really works.  K.S.

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We love this picture. Emily De Guzman took a bottle of Peak Power and Back in Action with her on her climb of the highest point in Africa and the highest free standing mountain in the world– Kilimanjaro.

She reported that while others in her group, who were all quite fit, experienced quite a bit of delayed onset soreness and she had very little soreness. She also said that on the summit everyone else was nauseous and had headaches and she did not. Here is her experience in her own words.

“Please find attached the picture of me at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro with Peak Power! There is no scientific evidence that these herbs helped me reach my goal but I personally believe in their power and like you said, even a 3% difference in how the body reacts at altitude in conjunction with these formulas could determine whether or not one could make it to the summit with no nausea or headache as was my experience.”

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