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Shanti Wellness will release a new line of Ayurveda-inspired CBD products this August. Ayurveda is a traditional medicine system which focuses on mind-body-soul alignment. With names like Tranquil and Soothe, Shanti Wellness products aim to help customers maintain a healthy balance in their lives.
Mohnia Patel, a California marketing coordinator, was under a lot of stress. Few jobs generate more stress than legal work. Working as the marketing coordinator for a law firm might be one of them. She was looking for relief. She considered pharmaceuticals but wanted an alternative. Her family had owned a health food store, and she wanted a natural solution. “That was always a part of my life,” she said, “What herb can you take? What pro-biotic could help you? What holistically can we use to make ourselves feel better?”
She decided to do her research. There were plenty of natural alternatives, but one stood out most: Cannabidiol, or CBD. CBD comes from hemp just like THC, but isn’t psychoactive–it doesn’t get you high. It does, however, cause the calming sensation associated with smoking pot. “It seemed really in-tune with what I was looking for, and I used it myself every day.”
She enjoyed the calming effects of CBD, but the taste of the popular gummy delivery system was terrible. She set out to find alternatives, a quest which eventually led to the decision to start her own company. “It’s just crazy how much (CBD) really helped me. I was passionate about the effects I had, and so I really wanted to provide that to others.”
She spent more than a year researching. CBD wasn’t as well-researched or as mainstream as it is today, especially outside of the area of California where she lived, but she studied everything she could find. She read the research and talked to experts.
Patel eventually landed on a product line–Shanti Wellness–inspired by Ayurveda, a cultural medical system from her Indian heritage. “East meets West is really what I am as an individual,” she said, “and that’s really what our product line offers, is cutting-edge science and technology in the West, with ancient rituals from the East.” Shanti Wellness products use traditional herbs such as ashwagandha–a traditional remedy which is part of the nightshade family–as well as minerals like magnesium. They come in softgels, tinctures, capsules, and balms.
Now nearly a year old, Shanti Wellness is releasing a new line of products. While the specifics of the products have yet to be released, Patel is excited about the prospect. “We have some exciting things coming,” she says, “I can’t release too much information right now, but it’s really gonna be deeply rooted in my Indian heritage, and that’s the next frontier for Shanti for sure.”
Shanti Wellness also plans to expand. Patel and her husband have focused on California, where lawmakers and consumers better understand the misleading connection between CBD and THC. Now that she’s more established, Patel is looking east–including to New York City–but also towards national distribution. “Right now we’re really in an expansion phase. We’re hiring, we’re growing, and we’re looking into office spaces. It’s really an exciting time because it’s so interesting to go from a direct consumer online e-commerce business to really having a much bigger retail arm.” New York is tough, she says, because of legislation surrounding CBD, but Patel says they are talking to a few stores in NYC.