The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
HARMONY FOR ALL
Couple offers herbal medicinals for ailments, balance at little tea room and apothecary
HADDAM » Stacey Wood and David Soule are partners — one ying to the other’s yang — practicing a philosophy of balance and whole-body awareness that has become their mission in life and business.
The couple runs a tea room and apothecary, Whole Harmony 4 U, at 1572 Saybrook Road in the Tylerville section of town, where ambient music and the scent of lavender, lemon balm, rosemary, gojiberry, chamomile and more permeate the air on the ground floor of their shop in an 1850 Italianate house.
“Medicine is much more than a pharmaceutical pill,” said Wood, who became certified in Chinese medicine after taking classes at the Connecticut Institute of Herbal Studies in Wethersfield and Goldthread Organic Herb Farm & Apothecary in Conway, Massachusetts.
“It could be a good laugh, a walk at the ocean, meditating,
running, exercise: all kinds of things,” Wood said. “We have a different definition of what medicine is today. One of the biggest things I learned is how disconnected I was from my own health, thinking it was always physical, not realizing my mental health, my emotional health, my spiritual health, my sexual health are all connected all the time.”
The couple moved to Haddam in 2014 and bought a plot from the Haddam Land Trust, which is now a 3-acre farm off Nedobity Road in the Higganum area of town that supplies all their herbs.
Those seeking repose at the tea bar are invited to sample shots of various infusions, and the quiet encourages a focus on the self — and the sip.
An overriding sense of mindfulness is something Soule and Wood not only espouse but practice themselves.
“The more subtle we become, the more apparent, or aware, we are of everything: our surroundings, our bodies, slowing down,” said Soule, who worked in the corporate world for 14 years before returning to his farming heritage as a profession.
Subtle, he said, is a way of living in the present that balances the passive and active forces that govern human beings. The opposite of subtle, he said, is “gross” — consuming excessive food or just doing too much as part of one’s lifestyle.
“‘I’ve got to have all this stuff done,’ ‘these possessions,’ ‘I’ve got to have all these friends,’” he said as examples.
An upset in one’s constitution can be remedied with herbal medicine, the couple said, but Western medicine, which often focuses on alleviating symptoms, is the opposite of the approach taken by Eastern herbalists.
That’s where Whole Harmony, teas, infusions, tinctures and syrups come in.
“I only really considered myself sick when I was physically sick and physically is usually the last to show up,” Wood said. “That’s only when we may or may not take care of ourselves. There are herbs out there that help with emotions.”
Dr. Edward Bach, the late English homeopath, bacteriologist and spiritual writer, studied flower essences for 80 years: how flowers themselves can help
emotional health, Wood said.
Wood introduced Soule to the world of herbs.
“Ten years ago, I went to go see Chinese herbalist for health issues. I heard they were a great success. After a few months, I noticed they changed my health for the better,” she said.
A consultation followed during which the practitioner “asked questions that seemed random but in herbal medicine, you’re taking any information for a landscape of what you’re going to work with to see where the imbalances are.”
She began taking 5,000-year-old Chinese formulas prescribed by the herbalist.
“I was so fascinated by how it worked, I did more research and realized she taught school so I took an introductory course for two weekends in Wethersfield,” said Wood, who soon after joined the certification program, which runs one weekend a month for two years. “When we took a class, it’s very experiential, so you’re sitting in a field of (flowers) and all the bees are buzzing around you and it’s very hypnotic. You deeply inhale the essential oils or we do shots of (the medicinal herb) gotu kola and you’re ultra-focused.”
“Or we’re in a classroom and we’ll be taking tinctures and passing them around,” Soule said. “The teacher said ‘herbs are going to change your life.’ Soon after, it did. “Now I’m a farmer and a business owner,” he said.
The couple sells Whole Harmony mixtures at health events, craft fairs, farmers markets and other venues throughout Connecticut. They began selling teas and other herbal products six years ago, said Wood.
“The biggest reason we opened a retail space is we’d get questions: ‘Where’s your store?’ ‘Can we come see you?’” Wood said.
Over the two and a half years that Whole Harmony has been in Tylerville, the couple has created various items containing herbs, such as popsicles, herbal chocolates and lollipops. They carry herbal items from vendors whose product philosophy is education based, rather than focused on sales, Wood said.
The shop’s walls are lined with shelves containing a large array of teas in neat little metal containers, mycelium extract tinctures, which boost the immune system; syrups, tonics, first aid products, herbal bitters and digestives.
“For essential oils, they’ll go where the herbs are native,” said Wood of vendors they trust.
Tonics, made into an alcohol extract, are much stronger than brewed tea, Soule said. “When you do these, you squeeze the dropper and 30 little drops go in your mouth — a tenth of a teaspoon — and it’s like drinking five cups of tea,” he said. “That’s how strong it is.”
NoRA Cupcake Co., based in the North End of Middletown, even commissioned a custom blend.
“Carrie (Carella, coowner) wanted a tea that helps cut through all the sugar,” Wood said. “There’s nothing like having a nice cup of tea when you’re having a treat. It tastes like a cupcake without the sugar.
“There are really good herbs in there that balance your blood sugar if you’re having a craving or you are trying not to give into your cravings,” Wood said.
“We’ve probably all overdone it on alcohol. We know what that feels like, how rotten, however, alcohol used sparingly can be used as a tincture. It’s steeped for six weeks and strained,” she said. “Just a couple drops is a very effective medicine.”
One of the most common questions Soule said he gets is “‘are all these herbs medicinal?’
“The answer is yes and one of easiest ways to think about that is food is medicine and herbs are an extension,” he said. “It’s the same as eating a leafy green salad, you’re getting all herbs and minerals — lemon balm, nettles, tulsi and mace — in some of these teas, they are literally almost salad greens. You could have them in a salad loaded with the vitamins and minerals that would be found in regular lettuce greens.”
“Teas are the simplest and safest form of herbal medicine.”
One of the things Wood, Soule and their classmates had to do in one class years ago was harvest calendula “in this big huge beautiful field: 25 of us in a circle had to do it in silence and meditation, pick it and dry it and get it ready,” Wood said.
“It’s very difficult for people to do a task in silence with other people. It goes against what we know: We’re social, talk and chatter, joke; all good fun things but it was a different eyeopening thing to do it in silence,” she said.