Often voted the public’s least favourite month, January can be tough for us humans. The Christmas come-down, tight purse strings, bitter weather, laundry that refuses to dry and just as you start to shake your metaphorical fist at life, you get a cold.
So we thought what better time to host a workshop all about resilience? And that we did.
What is Resilience?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines resilience as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness, or the ability of a substance to spring back into shape after bending or stretching”. Applied to daily life it is exactly that: the ability to bounce back from life’s stressors and regain balance when life does a 180 unexpectedly.
To us, this looks like fortifying your body’s physical health so that all of your internal systems are supported, and when stress hits in the form of an infection - your body can recover efficiently.
Our workshop was inspired by the launch of our newest tincture, the Resilience Blend, a multi-mushroom tincture housing four functional fungi - Chaga, Shiitake, Reishi, and Oyster - designed to support both body and mind during the colder months.
Meet Your Hosts
Collaborating with the exceptionally knowledgeable Justine (@ma.roemca), who brings seven years of foraging expertise and is a tincturist at the Bristol Fungarium, and our very own Elle, co-founder,Brand Director and Herbal Apprentice, who’s been at the helm since the beginning and brings deep knowledge of the energetic, folkloric and functional properties of our fungi friends, we welcomed an intimate group of twelve.
Our workshop took place in Radical Roasters and quite aptly Bristol’s first woman-owned, queer and non-binary lead micro-roastery on St. Marks Road in Easton. Not only is their ethos aligned but their coffee is delicious too.
The Workshop
As they arrived, each person found a pencil and paper, an empty glass jar with lid, and a bar of Lion’s Mane Chocolate (because no workshop is complete without snacks, of course) ready to dive into the history, folklore, and science of four mushrooms, ready to make their very own resilience Oxymel.
Elle and Justine led the group through each mushroom - Chaga, Reishi, Shiitake and Oyster - and passed around dehydrated, ground-down mushrooms, all grown and processed at the Bristol Fungarium farm, to add to their jars as they built their personalised remedies.
Once each mushroom was added, the group topped their jars up with raw Apple Cider Vinegar and local honey for sweetness. This concoction - known as an Oxymel - in the simplest of terms is a herbal extraction of vinegar and raw honey. When you add herbs (or in our case fungi) to these ingredients they can extract the beneficial properties of whatever is submerged in them. Vinegar also happens to be a perfect PH level for the extraction of many of the compounds of interest in mushrooms - so this remedy was sure to pack a punch.
By the end of the evening, each participant had created their own Resilience Blend - a personalised oxymel infused with Chaga, Reishi, Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms and learned how these functional fungi can support physical and mental wellbeing especially in the gloomier months of the year.
If you’ve found yourself deep in the winter slump - we strongly recommend a dose of nature’s apothecary (even better if it’s made by you!). There’s something incredibly grounding and empowering about using the land around us to help heal us and not to mention it’s a great excuse to get outside at the least appealing time of the year.
For anyone curious about working with plants and fungi, Justine hosts regular foraging courses and hands-on workshops suitable for all levels and if you’d like to hear more about the science and history of functional fungi give us a follow over on our Instagram.
**We’re unable to share any of the workshop content surrounding the benefits of these mushrooms due to current regulations. Legally, we’re not permitted to discuss specific health claims online, so we encourage anyone who’s curious to explore this further by doing their own research - a quick Google search will point you towards a wealth of scientific studies, traditional uses and trusted resources.
