Goosy Goosy Ashwagandha

Found myself choked with tears mid-chat in the local gorgeous crap-you-don’t-need shop; smells so good, reminds me of happy hippy teen-days.  That’s not why I was choked with tears, or perhaps it was; the aromatherapeutic scent reminding me of younger, dafter, more hope-filled times.  Anyway, the lovely owner gave me a hug and mentioned she had a new herbal capsule which was good for overwhelm, anxiety and general not wanting to leave the houseness.  This magic capsule is called ‘ashwagandha’; not quite the new black, but am probably the only person who had never heard of it.  It is never a good idea to start taking ad hoc herbs when feeling overwhelmed.  Better to buy some bonnie cards, a candle, go home and do some research first.  Apparently, short-term use of ashwagandha may help some people but allegedly, has side effects that have been shown to adversely affect the liver and/or the thyroid in others.  There is no research on long-term use.  Three red flags, right there.  A quick google reminded me that yoga breathing and a newsbreak could give similar positive effects without these alleged risks.  Unless driving or operating machinery when full attention must be given and let the breathing take care of itself as usual.  In short, ashwagandha is not for me.  The brief reading I did, sparked some ideas for experiments in September.  Social media break, a month off, just to see what happens, or rather, not to see what happens.  Especially in the ‘pants on fire’ world of paid for PR, or as it is known colloquially, newspapers.  Haven’t bought a paper for years, but look at the front pages on the BBC news website of a morning.  That way I can click on the links I can cope with and scroll past the rest.