ABOUT US

 

Anima Mundi (n) = The soul of the world

Anima Mundi is a Latin phrase meaning "the soul of the world", contemplated by philosophers, as "the soul of nature"; the animating (anima) force within nature.  The world soul is, according to several systems of thought, an intrinsic connection between all living things on the planet, which relates to our world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body.

 Our Vision

Preserving the Wisdom of Ancient Botany

Anima Mundi Herbals is completely devoted to providing the freshest and most vibrant botanical goodness. Most of our ingredients are primarily sourced from native people and small farms from the rainforest lands, as well as different parts of the world. We love to work directly with our producers, to not only personally meet them, but to also have first hand access to the highest quality farmed or wildcrafted goods. Our purpose is to bridge native medicine into 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 grassroots businesses. We carefully ensure that all ingredients used are carefully harvested, dried and packed in accordance with our standards. We also care to source ethical and sustainable packaging as much as we possibly can. We don't only go by certifications, we truly want to work directly with farmers that are doing genuine good work in this world. In the rainforest, most farmers or wild-crafters do not have the paperwork and certifications for many reasons: primarily due to economic setbacks and lack of access, as well as them being in extreme rural areas and simply not having the means to make it happen.

This is who we love to work with the most, and this is what we are proud to support: farmers and ethical wild-crafters that know the jungle, and prioritize mother nature above all else. We care to support them directly and ensure that 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 a great team. We believe that by supporting traditional practices and native people directly, we contribute to the revival of ancient medicine. Anima Mundi cares to preserve the sanctuaries left in the world by celebrating them through ethical wildcrafting, sustainable trade and medicinal creations.

 

Our Technique

Anima Mundi infuses several botanical traditions, from Rainforest Tribal herbalism to Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. Each formulation has a unique composition of herbs with a story. All of our liquid assets are extracted between 28 days and 6 months, slowly extracting into different menstruums. Currently we use organic cane alcohol, vegetable glycerin, and oils. Each formula is handcrafted biodynamically in our laboratory in NYC, which means that we extract each herb using a biodynamic (lunar) calendar to extract all the constituents properly. We carefully craft one of a kind formulas for mind + body, as well as source high potency single-origin extract powders. We make it our mission to constantly search for new herbs, meet new sources to elevate the potency of our blends, sticking to our integrity as we sustainably expand.

Phytomedicine: Ancient Medicine for Modern Times

Wellness is a cosmology, an all-encompassing landscape that embodies the emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual worlds of existence. A true state of wellness is not merely dependent on the condition or mindset a person currently inhabits. Our level of wellness is finely interwoven 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 echoes the logic of quantum physics, suggesting that we exist in a relative, process-oriented ecosystem in which there is no “objectivity” to the world we’re experiencing. The components essential to healing disease cannot be resolved simply by measuring the illness in itself; rather, this 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, human beings are perceived as microcosms of the universe, suffused with the same forces controlling the cosmos. In Daoism, for example, humans are imagined as part of the unbroken whole, called Dao—a singular relational continuum expressing itself within and without[lc1] . This thinking predates the separation of the mind from the body. It was the Western mind that created the idea that human beings are independent living systems, unbound by basic natural needs. We escaped from our dependency and attachment to the natural world, pursuing egotistic principles of invulnerability, invincibility, and immortality. The long-term survival of our species is threatened by an unrestrained lust for short-term gain, deceitful beliefs about accomplishment, and false assumptions about our civilization’s autonomy from nature. Modern-day human beings have contaminated their own nests, a clear sign of disease and future troubles, especially considering the consequences of our actions on the wider animal kingdom.

Today, many of us seek to reclaim the sense of connectedness that existed universally in ancient cultures, when human fate was wholly entwined with nature. In the ecological understanding of these cosmologies, all things were inextricably bound together. The world was seen as a symbiotic entity in which all living organisms interacted with and supported each other, from the innermost cellular level to the outermost cosmological level.

The call for plant medicine in today’s culture is a symbol of humanity returning to its source. A profound rebirth is in process, and the role of the plant kingdom is increasing in significance. An essential bridge is being rebuilt between humans and nature, allowing us to access the realm of the transcendent and the land of the luminous. Plant medicines aren’t just here to provide us nourishment, shelter, and protection from pathologies—they’re here for a much larger purpose, and that is to bring us back to the original consciousness that prevailed on earth for millenia. Herbalism is the medicine of belonging, a gateway through which we keep alive a very sacred aspect of this same consciousness.

Excerpt from ADAPTOGENS : Herbs for Longevity