Questions To Ask When Buying CBD

We’ve just welcomed Moon Mother Hemp to our Wild Ginger Apothecary CBD lineup! We love this tasty, affordable, women-owned, Certified Organic CBD company. Below is some of their advice for questions to ask when buying CBD. Stop in to try a sample of their oils next time you’re in!

What questions should you ask when buying CBD?

We know it can feel daunting to find CBD products you feel comfortable purchasing.

Here’s a quick list of questions to help you feel empowered when selecting quality CBD:

Are the products made with certified organic hemp?⠀

This is one of the most important  questions to ask when buying CBD. What is the quality of the hemp used? Because hemp is a bioaccumulator it takes up any toxins in the soil. Hemp that’s not grown in certified organic soil, can transfer toxins to the consumer. At Moon Mother, we sun grow our own certified organic hemp in Boulder, CO.

What extraction method is used?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Extraction is how raw hemp material turns into refined, easy to use products. Look for companies that avoid extraction with harsh solvents involving hydrocarbons. Seek brands that opt for CO2, alcohol or lipid infusion methods. Because we care to preserve the beneficial plant properties, energetics included, we opt for clean CO2 extraction in our full spectrum CBD.

Are third party testing reports readily available to review?

CBD is not currently regulated by the FDA. Therefore, tests performed on end products by third party sites are an indicator of transparency and help to ensure that what you’re buying is in the bottle.

A Certificate of Analysis report shows product purity, presence of heavy metals, pesticides, microbes, as well as potency! You’ll find them under the ‘About’ tab of their website.

Above all, we encourage you to take your time, do your research and reach out to our team if you have questions about incorporating CBD into your lifestyle!

Healing Crystals and Stones

Tumbled Crystals and Stones A-Z!

We are a trusted source for crystals and stones from around the world. We have hundreds of tumbled stones that are pocket-size for healing or intention work. Tumbled stones are small, rounded, brightly polished pieces of rocks and minerals. They are made by placing raw or rough rocks in a machine called a rock tumbler, which tumbles them until their edges and surfaces are smooth and polished.

A few of our favorites…

Amazonite
Amethyst
Angelite
Apache Tears
Aquamarine
Aura Quartz (Blue or Gold)
Aventurine
Banded Agate
Black Onyx
Black Tourmaline
Blue Lace Agate
Calcite (Green)
Carnelian
Celestide
Chalcedony
Chrysocolla
Chrysoprase
Chrysoprase
Citron
Citrine
Clear Quartz
Crazy Lace Agate
Dalmatian
Epidote
Fluorite
Garnet
Hematite
Howlite
Jasper (Red)
Jasper (Ocean)
Jasper (Picture)
Jet
Kyanite
Labradorite
Lapis
Lepodolite
Malachite
Mookite
Moonstone
Obsidian
Onyx
Opalite
Pyrite
Rhodonite
Rose Quartz
Ruby Zoisite
Rutilated Quartz
Selenite
Serpentine
Smoky Quartz
Sodalite
Sunstone
Tiger's Eye
Unakite

Raw + Specimen Stones

We offer numerous hand-selected raw stones and rough cut stones, gems and minerals.

What is a raw gemstone? An uncut un-shaped gemstone of gem grade is called 'rough'. It is how the stone is found in its natural form, often in the ground, just as mother nature created it. They are also called raw gems but the ‘proper’ name is rough.

Crystal Points

Crystal points are favorites for intention boards and grids. Crystal points essentially reveal which direction the crystal energy flows from. In addition, the points on a crystal foster our ability to focus and gain mental clarity. Simply put, crystal points direct energy inward or outward and enhance the healing properties of a crystal.

Quartz points are a wonderful addition to any crystal collection and a must-have for crystal healing. They can consist of naturally straight crystal points with either a single or double termination. Quartz points are believed to focus the energy of the crystal and can be used as healing and cleansing tools.

Wild Ginger Apothecary's CBD Education Video Series

We are excited to announce Wild Ginger Apothecary's CBD Education Series. In these videos, we will explore the benefits and use of CBD for health. At WGA, we are a community for health + wellness. We carry only organic, hemp-derived CBD products, with 3rd party lab testing for purity and strength. We pride ourselves on offering the area's best CBD product selection, with complimentary one-on-one consultation in selecting the best option for you.

Thanks to our CBD Educator, Steve, for sharing his knowledge with the WGA community. You can meet him weekly at CBD Coffee Hour - every Friday from 10am-12pm, as well as at our monthly CBD 101 class.

Enjoy!

PRESS: Style Magazine Health & Wellness

As seen in Sarasota Herald Tribune's Style Magazine: HEALTH & WELLNESS: Nicole Leffler, owner of Wild Ginger Apothecary

Wild Ginger Apothecary offers a vast array of alternative and natural beauty and health products. After almost 15 years in the industry, owner Nicole Leffler makes sure to offer cannabidiol (CBD) in many of them. Though it is a derivative of cannabis plants, CBD is not psychoactive, and, in fact, is legal in all 50 states and does not require a prescription. 6557 Superior Ave., Sarasota; 941-312-5630; wildgingerapothecary.com.

What are cannabinoids and what are the benefits to humans?
Cannabis plants contain over 100 naturally active compounds called cannabinoids. The human body has a central regulatory system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS) that contributes to a variety of biological processes, establishing the body’s natural state of balance for the central regulatory system.

Why would one supplement with them?
Endocannabinoids interact with the body’s central regulatory system. They’re the cannabinoids our bodies can produce as needed. If we have a deficiency or imbalance, our system recognizes and responds to cannabinoids from external sources (phytocannabinoids) that can promote healing.

How do endocannabinoids accomplish this?
Basically, they bind to cannabinoid receptors in both the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. This is also true for “phytocannabinoids,” the naturally occurring compounds that include CBD.

What’s the difference between THC and CBD?
Both are cannabinoids; THC, however, is psychoactive and requires a medical marijuana license for use in Florida. CBD is the most abundant naturally occurring non-psychoactive cannabinoid, totally legal in all 50 states.

What are some of the health benefits of CBD?
Research shows CBD has helped people with a host of conditions, including multiple sclerosis, arthritis, chronic pain, inflammation, high blood pressure, anxiety and depression. This compound supports feelings of relaxation, and can reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood and sleep and increase mental clarity.

Do you also recommend CBD for pets?
Yes, and for the same reasons. It’s effective for pain relief in animals and reduces anxiety, which is especially helpful during thunderstorms! Older dogs can really benefit from a daily CBD dosage.

What’s a short list of your CBD products?
CBD offerings include everything from tinctures, capsules, edibles (chocolates, gummies, honey, tea, etc.), vape options, topicals (balms, oils, face care, lotions, etc.), and more. We offer more than 100 options of CBD products.

How can our readers learn more?
CBD educators are always available in the store. They offer free, one-on-one CBD consultations, with a focus on individual health needs.

Review: CBD + Mood

I began my CBD journey with a bottle of CBD Oil. I used the 1000mg at first, experimenting with different dosages throughout the initial trial, and am happy to report my experience was a very positive one.

The first time using CBD Oil was in the evening right before bed, and when I woke up the next morning I could tell something was different. The last few years I have struggled with depression that seemed to be most intense in the mornings. It was like a huge dark cloud was waiting for me as I woke up.

After using CBD Oil, I woke up and the cloud was gone. I was in a bit of disbelief at first - but as the day continued I really felt different.  I felt lighter, my thoughts were clearer and it was much easier to focus. As I have continued to use CBD Oil, the biggest thing that I am observing is that not only is the dark cloud gone, but emotionally I feel much stronger on a day to day basis. Where I used to feel stressed, weak or overwhelmed, I now have a renewed sense of peace and resilience.

After having such a remarkable experience with CBD Oil, I wanted to get a better idea of why I was feeling this shift, so I jumped in to the research. What I started to understand was that CBD supports the body by regulating the nervous system, and helps balance the different neurotransmitters that play a role in almost every system in the body. What I was experiencing started to make more sense. CBD is referred to a “smart” supplement because it seems to know how to bring balance where things are out of balance. 

Because I was having such positive results I asked my 15 year old son to try it and after a couple of days he reported that the anxiety that he was living with (and just thought was normal) had disappeared.

After these experiences I am wishing that I would have opened my mind to CBD much earlier. In the short time that I have been working with CBD Oil, my quality of life has definitely improved.  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone whose looking for “smart” way to support their nervous system and bring more balance to their life.

Guest post by Wild Ginger Apothecary customer.

Full-Spectrum CBD Oil and other hemp-derived CBD products are in-stock now at Wild Ginger Apothecary. Visit us at 6557 Superior Avenue in the Gulf Gate Shopping Village. Feel free to email or call anytime at 941.312.5630.  

Stress and Relaxation

We’ve all heard it a million times, chronic stress is unhealthy -- weight gain, inflammation, low energy, illness, and countless more symptoms are attributed to staying in a constantly hyper aroused, high cortisol state. The ill effects of our overbooked lives are no secret -- the phrase chronic stress is thrown around so often, the meaning is almost gone!

What do you think, feel or notice when the concept comes up - do you KNOW if you are chronically stressed? Do you feel able to do something about it? Do you know what stress feels like in your body? In your heart and mind? Does thinking about stress give you more stress?

What about relaxation? Do you have a clear idea of what relaxation FEELS like in your body, heart and mind? Can you imagine or feel that sense of release that comes when you let go of tension? What is the quality of thought or emotion when you’re in a relaxed state? How do you interact with the people around you? What is your relationship to creativity and expression?

Take a few moments to pause where you are, sit up tall and take a few deep breaths.What’s present for you here? Explore more deeply, and begin to notice the difference between stress and ease :

-Draw your shoulders up by your ears on an inhale, release all tension on the exhale
-Make fists with the hands on an inhale, release all tension on the exhale
-Draw navel toward spine, creating tension in the belly on an inhale, release all tension on the exhale
-Move through any other parts of your body you suspect may hold stress, inhaling to exacerbate and deeply experience that stress, exhaling to completely release

Pause for a few moments to feel the difference in your body, heart and mind -- are you surprised to notice that some part of your body was holding or gripping under your conscious awareness? What do you notice about your ability to be present after finding some release? What do you notice about the quality of thought and emotion now?

Decreasing stress levels doesn’t have to mean changing everything about your lifestyle -- it can be as simple as starting to notice the difference between stress and ease. Take a few seconds throughout the day to pause and notice where you’re holding tension in your body, to take a few deep breaths, and to let it all go. In those seconds, choose how you want to show up to your day - with presence, ease, kindness or whatever else.

The more often you experience a state of relaxation, the more deeply it gets patterned into your neurology, the more easily you will be able to tap into that feeling, no matter what you’re doing or where you are.

Of course, there are practices that can help cultivate that state -- regularly attending yoga classes, especially restorative and frequent massage can help make ease your default state.

Join Leah Van Winkle RYT-500 on January 20th from 2-4 PM at Wild Ginger Studio + Lounge for a Restorative Thai Mini Yoga Retreat, where you’ll learn to the difference between stress and ease, and drop deeply into states of surrender.

Leah Van Winkle is a Sarasota native, back for the winter from her home in Kentucky to share all that she has learned with the local yoga community! She has trained extensively in various styles of yoga at Kripalu Center in MA, The Om Place in Winchester, KY, and with teachers such as Doug Keller and Tom Myers, most of this training with a heavy focus on anatomy and the subtle details of alignment. Leah is also a professional Thai Bodyworker, trained with renowned teachers like Michael Sitzer, Noam Tyroler, and soon to train in the Soma Veda Lineage. Besides yoga, Leah loves outdoor adventure, delicious, nourishing food (especially ferments!), and learning as much as she can about whatever she can. Feel free to reach out with questions and clarifications about any of these offerings!

Buti Yoga in Sarasota

Buti Yoga is officially in Sarasota at Wild Ginger Apothecary with instructor Leila Carlson.

Buti Yoga workouts transform your BODY + SOUL with cardio-intensive bursts of tribal dance, primal movement + conditioning woven into a dynamic yoga practice. 

Buti is an Indian Marathi word that means "a cure that has been hidden or kept secret." We believe EVERY woman has the power to transform and heal her body from within. Buti Yoga focuses on activating the Spiral Structure of the core to engage the deep abdominal muscles and stimulate the endocrine system.

We're thrilled to welcome Leila and Buti Yoga to Wild Ginger.  Join her for weekly Buti Yoga classes - including Mommy & Me offerings!  Class schedule available below. 

CBD Arrives at Wild Ginger Apothecary

Wild Ginger Apothecary has recently started carrying Sarasota-based Mindful Medicinals products!  Stop by to try for yourself or join for a CBD information class in the lounge monthly.

The following information is from MM:

Our most frequently asked question is, “What is CBD?” Simply put, CBD is an abbreviation for Cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid naturally found in cannabis. What does that mean? Quite a lot actually.

Recently people have begun to discover the seemingly miraculous benefits of cannabis, specifically CBD. Unfortunately, too many people still believe cannabis, in all its forms, is illegal. Propaganda perpetrated by the US government along with major players in pharmaceuticals and commodities industries in the early twentieth century successfully fooled the status quo into believing cannabis was a dangerous drug. Nearly a century later, peer-reviewed science has proven that notion utterly and patently false.

The human body has an intricate endocannabinoid system (ECS) built with receptors throughout the brain, central nervous and circulatory systems as well as the gut, heart, kidneys, spleen, liver, bones, blood vessels, lymph cells and even the reproductive system. CBD is the most abundant cannabinoid accounting for up to 40% of the typical cannabis sativa plant. The last two decades have delivered countless studies showing the benefits of CBD in the limbic system (affecting memory, cognition and psychomotor performance) and the mesolimbic pathway directly relating to pain perception.

CBD is one of more than 100 active cannabinoid chemicals in the marijuana plant. Unlike the main psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD does not produce euphoria or intoxication. Cannabinoids have their effect mainly by interacting with specific receptors on cells in the brain and body: the CB1 receptor, found on neurons and glial cells in various parts of the brain, and the CB2 receptor, found mainly in the body’s immune system. The euphoric effects of THC are caused by its activation of CB1 receptors. CBD has a very low affinity for these receptors (100 fold less than THC) and when it binds it produces little to no effect. There is also growing evidence that CBD acts on other brain signaling systems, and that these actions may be important contributors to its therapeutic effects. […]

CBD has several benefits including but not limited to

• Anti-Depressant

• Anti-inflammatory

• Antipsychotic

• Anti-Anxiety

• Anti-Seizure

• Neuroprotective Properties

• Analgesic Effects

• Nausea Relief

• Anticonvulsant

• Antitumoral

• Antioxidant

• Cardiovascular Health