Penelope Benson

Tell us a bit about your journey in the world thus far? Who are you, what drives you, what are you proud of having accomplished?

I’ve had an interesting life, and a somewhat quite full and eventful one in my mere 34 years on Earth. My dad has always said I’ve done and gone through more things than many people don't get to do, experience and/ or achieve in one lifetime, and honestly I can’t help but agree with him. It’s true (and I’m tired lol) He wrote it in a birthday card once and I think it was the first time I felt seen in my life.

I used to be driven by outside success, and although it’s still nice I’m more driven by being my best and for me these days. Sounds cliché and it is. Personal success. I love to feel good as well as not miss out on a thing. Pleasure, and creativity. Coffee, pastry, movement.. and my projects and ideas all help me get out of bed in the morning.

It’s an obvious one but I am most proud of having beat Hodgkins Lymphona in 2012, and how I have integrated that experience and all its blessings in the years since.. it changed me in so many ways but overall inspired me to live fiercely and not waste a second. This still gets me into trouble but it saves time. I’m also very proud of walking the Camino de Santiago in 2018, because it was incredible and i nearly didn't and now look at the world.

How have you found incorporating our herbs into your daily ritual has altered your reality?

Easy. Once you know yourself and what you like, it’s simply about experimenting with the things you already do. I love tea and so putting reishi in my evening chamomile has been an easy transition. However I’m also a bit of a purist and like to at the same time enjoy things as they are and are meant to be enjoyed, so have opted for the Ashwaganda capsules over the powdered form so not to interfere with life pleasures too much. Even though the experience of taking it has been an absolute pleasure and it has altered my reality by completely altering my day to day/ changing my life.

I have taken so many types of herbs over the years for various reasons but more recently I have been focusing on stress management as I manage a personally stressful time in my life. Between my Reishi and Ashwa of a night and Chaga in my bone broth mid-morning, I’m going to sleep and waking up a completely different person to how I was feeling before I hopping back on the herbs a few months ago. Homeostasis has never felt so good and is truly underrated.

What brings you back to yourself and reconnects you with Nature?

The ocean, I’m in it everyday.. rain, hail or shine. It’s almost a burden having to go and get to but it is the ultimate reset for me and I never regret it. I like to believe it cleans my energy field and connects me with the Earth and to my true nature, which is peace. I’m a double air Aquarian Sun/ Gemini Rising so I need all the grounding I can get.

What are you excited for for the future? What inspires you?

In a perfect world, and it’s no secret but I’m excited to find love, but in an imperfect world I have learnt I am unable to control that, so we'll see.. grow my business.. to see where my creativity and continued self-enquiry take me.

And I’m inspired by the inspired. I discovered this when I lived in New York. There was a passionate person on every street corner and subway station, drumming or reciting or performing things that I wasn't necessarily into but became into them by seeing how into it and themselves they were. Basically, people who love and live and breathe and take pride in not just what they do (sometimes) but mostly what makes them tick. Homecoming has always been about sharing the shit I’m into that other people have created.

What are you doing, small or large, in your daily life to help cultivate sovereignty of mind/body/spirit for yourself, your community and/or the planet?

I have an on and off relationship with meditation, after learning TM in 2014 I kind of do my own thing with it now, and right now after a big move and big heartbreak the relationship is definitely back on.

I also pray. I keep that quite private but I’ve always prayed, ever since I was a kid. I’ve always felt it quite a nice thing to do, and also important and always believed someone to be listening.

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