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Discover the Healing Power of Coffee and Reishi Mushrooms with James Wood, Owner of Ascended Grounds

Thursday, July 4, 2013 16:54

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“Over time, I realized that reishi helps tremendously on a physical and energetic level to balance the caffeine from coffee. Ascended Grounds was born. My main goal is to share the medicine of the reishi mushroom, which is a medicine of balance and peace of mind.”

JAMES WOOD

Single Springs, California

Meet James Wood, owner and operator of Ascended Grounds.

On both a personal and business level, James is focused on connecting human beings to a healthy lifestyle that promotes connection to nature, emotional contentment, and physical longevity. James’ background in herbalism (plant medicine) has led him to discover many amazing medicines from the natural world. Two plants in particular, reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) and coffee (Coffea arabica), have sparked an intense interest in James that he has been exploring for years.

In the summer of 2009 while living in New Zealand, James took a trip to the Polynesian Island of Tonga to work on an organic coffee plantation. During this trip to Tonga, James developed a strong relationship with coffee as a medicine, something he could only discover while being in the physical presence of this strong and amazing plant.

James’ vision with Ascended Grounds is to transform the way that human beings view and use coffee as a medicinal plant by bringing in herbs that work in synergy with the energetic qualities of coffee. (Source)

So blessed to share with you James’ dream and vision on Soulspeak.

Who is James Wood? Where is he now on his journey?

Hey, that’s me!

In trying to describe myself, I would say that I am an advocate of living a life of excellence. I have been on a quest for self development for my whole life, but came to the realization that I was on this quest around three to four years ago. I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas where I was intensely exposed to the grandeur of nature at a young age. Nowadays, I am focused on health on all levels: physically, emotionally and spiritually. I frequently practice kundalini and bikram yoga as practices of meditation and discipline that have greatly impacted my quest for self development. I am learning more about the world everyday through my striving to be the best human I can possibly be.

What inspired you to build and grow ‘Ascended Grounds’?

Ascended Grounds is a business that I’ve developed from my experiences with reishi mushroom, along with my love for a good cup of coffee. I was exposed to reishi at the onset of my ‘soul awakening’, and have been exploring its medicine ever since. Reishi was the catalyst for my realization of the underlying oneness of everything in the universe, and has been quite a strong ally of mine to say the least. I became a huge fan of coffee while working on a coffee plantation in Tonga years ago, and have incorporated this medicine into my life as well. Growing up, I often got migraine headaches, which I now understand was due to the caffeine and sugar I was consuming from soda and candy. When I stopped drinking sodas, the headaches went away. After getting into coffee, I witnessed this proclivity for headaches starting to come back, so I was looking for something to balance this out. Over time, I realized that reishi helps tremendously on a physical and energetic level to balance the caffeine from coffee. Ascended Grounds was born. My main goal is to share the medicine of the reishi mushroom, which is a medicine of balance and peace of mind.

I can see that you are an advocate of living Spring Water, how has this and growing your own food changed your health?
Yes! My awakening was heavily influenced by drinking spring water that I began to collect myself. After engaging in this practice, I began to realize that the water I was drinking was becoming my body, 70% of my body that is. I decided that drinking chlorine and fluoride-laden tap water was not conducive to building a healthy body and mind.

As for gardening, I don’t grow a lot of my own food, but I do shop at farmer’s markets on a regular basis to support the ones that do. Mainly, I am believer in the medicine of wild food. I like the concept of building my flesh out of my local ecosystem, which is why I forage from my locale as much as I can.

Years ago, I was eating a strictly (and slightly dogmatic version) raw vegan diet for over three months awhile back, which allowed me to tune into my body on an incredibly powerful level. I now eat all kinds of foods, including wild and consciously raised meat.

Your dreams and aspirations. What do you envision yourself doing in the next 5 years?

My dreams are big. I see myself running Ascended Grounds on a larger level by tapping into the American and global coffee culture. I would like the synergy of coffee and medicinal mushrooms to grow out of the niche market and reach more people. Reishi has a unique ability to elevate consciousness, initiate a cycle of benevolent health, and release karmic baggage. I think the American culture could use a little of that kind of medicine. I plan on roasting my own coffee in the next few years as well and distributing it as Ascended Grounds. I have a friend in South America that I am beginning to build a relationship with to import high quality coffee beans to roast here in Washington. In the long term I would also like to be growing my own high quality reishi to produce an ‘Ascended Grounds’ reishi extract. Bringing reishi to the collective consciousness one cup at a time.

What passions do you enjoy?

My passions mostly revolve around health. I enjoy spending time in nature gathering food and spring water, which deepens my connection to the life cycle that powers this entire planet. I consider myself an herbalist to some extent. I love learning about wild plants that have a medicinal or tonic effect on the human body, gathering, and making medicine from those plants.

I also enjoy physically demanding pursuits like rock climbing, slacklining and yoga. Lately I’ve been getting into fermentation as well. I love making my own meads and wines from medicinal ingredients like chaga mushroom, dandelion, reishi mushroom and other herbs.

I am also an avid fly fisherman and hunter. Through my hunting and fishing experiences, I have developed a deep connection with wild animals that has gifted me with an appreciation for the life cycle of my ecosystem. I have come to the understanding that life feeds on life. That’s the way nature works. When I am successful in my hunt or get a salmon on the end of my line, I give thanks for the nourishment that it will provide for me. I feel very close to the salmon, as they have provided nourishment for the people who have lived here in North Western Washington for millennia.

Your greatest mentors and teachers.

My greatest mentor/teacher is without question my own father. Growing up, my father instilled principles of character in me that I am beginning to see come out in every aspect of my life. Things like strength, integrity, honor, passion, FUN, courage, and others were all seeds planted in me by my father. My dad has always been an entrepreneur, believing that you can have anything you want in life. No limits. It takes hard work and dedication to live the life of your dreams, but it is without question very possible to do so. Nowadays, I am learning what the life of my dreams actually looks like. Every day I am discovering what I really want out of life, and using discipline and self development to reach my goals. All of this was influenced by my father’s guidance, love, protection and wisdom.

I have also been profoundly affected by the teachings of Daniel Vitalis, an advocate of ‘rewilding’. Daniel has impacted my consciousness on many levels, and has been a guide to living my truest potential as a physical organism. I was actually turned onto spring water by Daniel years ago. From this practice, my pineal gland has been cleansed

. I have learned about the magic of wild nature from Daniel as well. Wild nature is our true essence, and from the wild we can gather the most strength in this life. Since incorporating wild foods into my diet, I feel stronger and more in tune with the life cycle of my ecosystem around me, giving me an intuition that I previously never knew existed.

What have you learned from yourself from this experience? What have you unlearned?

Reintegrating with nature has allowed me to see through the passing times of civilization and a culture of domestication. Granted, I have compassion for everything that has happened leading up to this point of illusion in our global consciousness, but I do not want to be a part of it. I am aligned with the principles which govern nature, not the principles that govern a civilization. Call me wild if you will. Reintegrating with nature and practicing self development has caused me to unlearn a lot. I have unlearned beliefs that hold me back from reaching my truest potential in this lifetime. Most all of these limiting beliefs that I have been letting go are caused by fear. Fear causes us to delay and procrastinate, to close off when we should open, to settle for less when we should shoot for the stars. I am mainly unlearning limitations.

Now, I am focused on becoming a man of character. A man of integrity. Of right action, honor, endurance, sincerity, courtesy, respect, correct thought, and balance.

What is the meaning of the word “Love” for you?

In a nutshell (if that’s possible), I see love as the dance between polar opposites that animates everything in this universe. The balance between yin and yang, masculine and feminine, dark and light, positive and negative. The dualism that exists in nature comes together to produce life, out of love. We can’t talk about the masculine without referencing the feminine. This is the nature of the universe. Love is the goal of nature, since love is what keeps everything going. As a culture I think we have forgotten this balance, and for me, nature has reminded me of this ancient relationship between the opposites of the universe. Love is our true nature, and when we strip away all the dust we’ve accumulated from years of illusion we find that love at the center of everything.

If you could share one message to the children of the world right now what message would you share?

Follow your heart, and develop integrity along the way. I think the single most dangerous thing in our culture today is all the programming instilled in us from an early age. We are presented with a predetermined set of paths to take from a list of options. This limits our creativity and halts our ability to develop our minds and hearts to their truest potential. Following your heart, although it may be difficult, allows us to create whatever kind of life we desire. Desire has got quite a bad reputation, at least in the spiritual community. I don’t see desire as a bad thing at all. In following our heart, we go through many experiences that teach us right action, honor, character, integrity, endurance, compassion and other virtues. If you are committed to following your heart’s desire, you will be molded into someone whose desires are truly worth following.

Over the course of my own life, I have become dedicated to following my heart and have seen that my desires have begun to revolve around the greater good of the planet. Perpetuating the evolution of oneness is the underlying factor for my important decisions in life. So in order to find out what you need, and what the planetary organism needs, you have to go after what you want.

Any regrets?

Regrets? Any regret I have at this point in my life is not being true to my heart’s desires. But there are really no regrets. Every decision I’ve made in my life has led me to be the person I am today. I’m alive, thriving, and learning, and that’s beyond satisfactory.

Connect With James:

Website: www.ascendedgrounds.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/jamesfromthewoods

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