Cassandra Vantriet is the founder and CEO of Woash Wellness, a home-centric wellness brand evoking wellbeing with the therapeutics of tea and timeless designs. Woash Wellness is reimagining the sense of home with a multi-functional approach inspired by Cassandra’s many overseas travels as she sought a sense of home, familiarity and comfort while away – the universal practice of tea became that sense of home no matter where she inhabited.
What have you done to prioritize your wellbeing today? This question may have evoked a sense of anxiety or possibly a wave of gratitude depending on how you perceived your day. Prioritizing your wellbeing is essential to your vitality, immunity and mental health. The good news – you most likely have unconsciously given to your wellbeing today whether that was allowing yourself to sleep a little longer, ate a nutritious meal, choose an herbal tea over another cup of coffee, read a book instead of ‘Netflixing’ or engaged in a deep conversation with a friend.
All of these may seem mundane but they are actively giving nutrients and support to your wellbeing, whether that is reducing stress on your nervous system, strengthening your immune system, detoxifying your body or providing nutrients. The idea of enhancing your wellbeing is to give your body what it needs by listening to its cue’s. Our bodies are consistently communicating to us mentally, physically and intuitively through our level of energy, focus, aches, pains, cravings, emotions and intuition.
This concept may feel out of reach at the moment or overwhelming but giving yourself permission to eb and flow and pivot your practices as needed (even daily or hourly) while listening to your body is the framework for infusing your wellbeing into your everyday life.
How Herbs Can Help Enhance Wellbeing
Herbs are an effective and easy way to enhance your wellbeing by utilizing their natural benefits and versatility for many aspects of your life. As I spent most of my 20s overseas traveling and submerging myself in different cultures I noticed a common theme – wellness and wellbeing wasn’t a trend in Vogue, it was a part of their everyday life, embedded in their culture and never treated as an obligation or a goal. I strive for this unconscious approach and allow my body to guide me intuitively in what I need.
Each herb has its own unique make up of constituents, properties and energy that carry therapeutic benefits. Herbs can benefit your physical, mental and spiritual self. Exploring which herbs are best for your body is a life-long exciting journey! Herbs can help calm the nervous system and reduce daily stressors causing anxiety, boost the immune system and relieve symptoms, promote mental clarity and focus, address the root cause and balance unwanted emotional states, support healthy digestion, reduce pms and menstrual cramps, I could go on forever. To make it simple to navigate and introduce herbs into your daily routine we have created a quick Tea Mood Quiz to give you a personalized recommendation based on your needs.
Different Ways To Infuse Wellbeing Into Your Everyday
How To Infuse Your Nourishment and Hydration
Food and water are our bodies’ foundation to feeling well, infusing your favorite recipe or simply making a cup of tea or iced herbal infusion boosts the nutrients and benefits instantly. The best thing about herbs is how versatile they are with the abundance of culinary and taste friendly ingredients.
Simply replace a cup of water with an herbal infusion or sip on a cup of tea to hydrate and nourish your body. Non caffeinated tea blends can increase your hydration especially for those who don’t love drinking plain water. Kick starting your morning with a cup of energizing green tea will help to nourish and support your body from first thing! Check out our PICK ME UP Tea Blend designed to energize and nourish.
When you are cooking your favorite recipe or trying something new, if the recipe calls for a portion of water or liquid try replacing it with a complimentary herbal infusion to enhance the flavor and benefits of the meal. This works great with morning oats, soups, bone broths or salad dressings (by infusing it in oil).
Photo by Kezia Photography
How To Infuse Your Beauty Routine
Skincare can be one of the most overwhelming aspects to ensure it is benefitting and not harming your skin. We can look to ancient beauty rituals to discover easy at-home spa-like treatments to help your skin be naturally radiant. We created a tea blend in collaboration with celebrity facialist and skin expert, Colette Yeomans of Clarite Wellness to design a multifunctional blend that is effective both topically and internally to balance, brighten and fortify the skin.
A few of my favorite ways to infuse my beauty routine with the benefits of these herbs is through a facial steam, hydrating facial mist, infused facial oil or a cooling ice facial. Each offering a different benefit from purifying, hydrating, nourishing and balancing the skin topically. Meanwhile sipping on this amazing blend helps to balance the skin from within, with each herb chosen to target a specific organ related to the skin as our skin is a direct reflection of our internal wellbeing.
Photo by Cristina Gareau
How To Infuse Your Self-Care Routine
Whether you have a self-care routine or are trying to create one you are going to want to add this one to it! The simple practice of bathing can be incredibly replenishing for the mind and body. A simple way to enhance your therapeutic experience to calm the nervous system and detoxify the body is to tea bathe.
Submerging yourself in a calming or detoxifying blend of herbs has the power to absorb through your skin and effectively enhance your bathing experience. To calm the nervous system and relax into a parasympathetic state I enjoy soaking in our Me Time Tea Blend of adaptogenic Tulsi, Ashwagandha, Chamomile and Lavender. To purify and balance my skin I enjoy our Beauty Base Tea Blend of Rose, Chamomile, Calendula and Horsetail.
Photo by Cristina Gareau
How to tea bathe:
- Infuse a pot of tea with your choice of tea blend and pour the infusion directly into the bath (less clean up)
- Sprinkle the dried tea blend directly into the bath as it is filling (a little more clean up but extra beautiful)
Prioritizing your wellbeing may currently feel overwhelming but simply taking inventory of your daily habits and finding out what wellbeing means to you will be your guiding light to enhancing it daily. Herbs are an effective and versatile way to leverage your current practices or be inspired to create new ones. Exploring which herbs are right for you and your current needs will forever evolve, remember to listen to your body’s cues and trust what it is trying to communicate.