This Functional Mushroom Helps Me Find Chill Like Nothing Else

Look up advice on how to address any health concern and you’re pretty much guaranteed that one tip will always appear in your search results: manage stress. And, as admittedly annoying as it can be to be told time and time again that we simply need to chill the heck out to resolve everything from hormonal issues to a drab complexion (and ward off every chronic disease under the sun), stress often feels like the common denominator of every conversation I have these days. Case in point: A third of American adults feel so stressed on a daily basis that they don’t have the capacity to think about the future. Uh, clearly, Houston, we have a problem.

As someone who has certainly not been exempt from the epidemic of stress (staring at the ceiling for hours at night with my mind in a full-on sprint is an experience I’m plenty familiar with) but who is also deeply committed to supporting my health holistically, I’ve tried about a million and one things to help my system find more peace.

In my experience, all of the cliche suggestions on the internet work. Meditation? Wonderful. Yoga? Leaves my body and mind feeling loosey-goosey. Breathwork? Near-instant calm. For a long time, all of those practices kept me grounded, even when my inbox overfloweth and news headlines begged for a panicked response. And then I became a mother.

Now, don’t get me wrong, truly nothing on the planet Earth can make you forget the very definition of “stress” like a spontaneous smooch from a toddler. However, as the parent of a little one who absolutely must be halfway on top of me to sleep well, my long beloved (and somewhat lengthy) morning routine of meditation, breathwork, journaling, etc., etc., has become a thing of the past.

Enter: Reishi

I spent the first couple of years of motherhood playing around with all sorts of new routines and supplements to find a greater sense of chill. Deep breathing during naps, mandatory daily walks outside, plenty of herbs and supplements—I tried it all.

What I learned throughout my many trial runs? Pretty much everything did help. A quick stint outside is pretty much guaranteed to soothe a dysregulated kid (or parent); magnesium really does help me fall asleep in record time; calling in for backup from friends and family on rough days stops overwhelm in its tracks. But of all the tactics I’ve tested out, there’s one that I’ve become unwaveringly devoted to: a daily dose of reishi mushrooms.

Read More: 6 Physical Signs You’re Way Too Stressed

Real quick for those who aren’t familiar with these buzzy fungi: Reishi mushrooms grow in many parts of the world and have been used for thousands of years to support health (they’re a staple of Traditional Chinese Medicine). In addition to supporting a healthy immune system, reishi is famous for its adaptogenic benefits a.k.a. its ability to help the body cope with stress. It accomplishes this, at least in part, by keeping the stress hormone cortisol in check.

You can take reishi in a few different ways, whether in a liquid extract, capsules, or a powder. It’s also a popular ingredient in loads of functional teas and mocktail-style drinks.

I opted for a liquid extract—it just felt the simplest to me!—and never looked back. For the last few months, I’ve taken a dropperful of Host Defense Organic Reishi Extract morning and night.

Reishi And Me, A Love Story

What struck me most about starting my reishi routine was how quickly I noticed a shift in my state of being after downing that first dropper. I could feel the mushroom working its soothing magic in real-time, like every cell of my body had let out a sigh of relief.

That very first day, I noticed myself moving through our morning routine with a greater sense of ease. Cooking up breakfast was an act of devotion, not a frantic race; I giggled at my toddler’s three wardrobe changes instead of feeling tempted to rush her along. I just felt…chill.

Read More: 8 Small Ways To Support Your Mental Health Today

Now, I can’t say I experienced any profound changes after my evening dropperful of reishi (my sleep goes smoothly since making magnesium a bedtime ritual, touchy-feely toddler and all). However, the effects of that morning dose continued to leave me in awe every morning as I felt my body and mind relax in just minutes—until, at some point perhaps a couple of weeks in, that settled-down sense became my baseline.

Keeping Calm

I’m not here to pretend I now never experience stress. There are still plenty of days during which I’m behind on work, my toddler has decided to feed her breakfast to the dogs, and, would you look at that, the kitchen sink has sprung a leak. But (and this is a big “but”), I’ve found that consistently supporting my body with reishi (and, of course, my rotation of other practices) to establish calm has given me more space to navigate the hiccups and curveballs with grace—and far fewer “my life is on fire”-type thoughts.

In fact, I’d argue that I wasn’t even fully conscious of just how frazzled and tense my typical state of being was until I started using reishi and settling into a more grounded energy. That realization was a gift in itself!

Today, reishi continues to be a consistent and truly nourishing part of my daily routine. Of course, tending to ourselves is much more complex than taking an herb or supplement, especially given the crazy reality that is existing as a human being in the time of AI and about six hundred other life-changing and Earth-shifting issues I could list off. But if this 10-second regimen has the power to help me show up with more peace and presence, you’d better believe I’ll be a reishi girl for life.