“When your life path deals with certain experiences, I believe that it is part of our purpose to use those experiences for the benefit of others.” Cynnara Wodecki speaks with a wisdom seemingly far beyond her years, yet her life and her business are testaments to the power of extracting the beauty from the dark, cavernous corners of the human condition.

  “I have dealt with a lot of trauma in my life, painful losses…but I believed in transmuting those experiences to help others.” Thus, the clinically trained herbalist and owner of Whispering Roots Apothecary has chosen to direct her endeavors and naturally cultivated products towards emotional health and wellness as an integral part of both physical and overall wellbeing.

  Cynnara’s love and admiration for the plant kingdom began at an early age. Her first meaningful encounters with the splendor of nature came while growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania. “We were in the heart of the mountain, in the middle of nowhere,” she recalls. “My graduating class had 86 people, but I spent a lot of time outdoors and began to see the natural world as my ally. As a kid, I connected more with nature than with people.”

   When she became pregnant with her daughter Lily at age 26, Cynnara began making her own cleaning and wellness products for personal use. “I became acutely aware of all the chemicals in so many everyday products and how harmful they are to the body,” she explains.

  “I had always worked with herbs privately, but then five or six years ago, I started Galveston Island Moringa. I sold live plants and some products, but I was missing a very important piece—confidence in myself. I thought, ‘How am I going to do this? I don’t want to hurt anyone.’”

  During the time of Galveston Island Moringa, Cynnara had learned to work with stones and become certified in aromatherapy, but she decided that clinical training was necessary for her to confidently proceed with her business. She enrolled in a course based in Austin that was partially taken online but often required her to drive to campus for in-person instruction.

  “I became certified in clinical herbalism, but the program also showed me how to condense the knowledge I had accumulated, and I was able to blend it with my esoteric side, I was able to combine all of these healing modalities,” she explains. The result of this newfound knowledge and confidence was a rebrand and expansion of Galveston Island Moringa into Whispering Roots Apothecary. 

   Because of her past experiences, Cynnara says, “I didn’t feel called to work on the ‘big’ issues like cancer or chronic disease, and I instead centered my focus on emotional health and wellness. Everything that manifests in the body has some sort of emotional root. That is why I called it Whispering Roots,” she explains.

  “Because my practice whispers to the roots of both mental and physical conditions. The level where a person ‘vibrates’ energetically directly translates into your emotions, and your emotions translate into mental and physical wellness (or sickness). I do work on a clinical level that gets to the root of issues.”

  She continues, “At first, I got really angry that we [herbalists] could not use the word ‘cure’ for anything related to our products. But then I realized that herbs do not heal-treat-cure you, and neither does medicine in fact. The use of any medicinal product, but especially herbs, is about supporting the body so that the body can heal itself.” 

  All Whispering Roots products are formulated and handcrafted by Cynnara herself using stones, essential oils, and one hundred percent organically grown herbs. “I grow what I can, but there are some things I use that simply cannot be grown in this climate,” she says.

  For the ingredients she outsources, she supports organic farmers all over the country. She tries first to buy from local area farmers but is quickly establishing a nationwide network of organic suppliers. “I have met many of the farmers personally, and anything not from a private farm is USDA Certified Organic. I believe that a big part of the integrity of this practice is knowing and trusting your sources, knowing exactly where everything comes from.”

  Cynnara’s line includes herbal salves and balms, a variety of moringa-based teas, herbal teas, herbal extracts, aromatherapy, and an expansive array of wellness products. The products vary seasonally, but they are all chemical-free, pesticide-free, non-GMO, and she even has some vegan options. She also keeps every ingredient in its purest and most natural form. This, she explains, is why tea is such a powerful wellness tool.

  “When you separate the compounds [such as in essential oils] sometimes you lose some of the potency, but drinking tea is consuming the vitality of the plant in its natural form.”

  Some of her most creative wellness concoctions include Hippie Hot Cocoa made from raw cocoa and Reishi mushrooms and loaded with antioxidants and nutrients. Golden Milk is a milk additive, an Ayurvedic recipe that uses cardamom, turmeric, and ginger. Roll-Ons provide an easy delivery of essential oils, blended into aromatherapeutic formulas like Empath Rejuvenation, Sweet Dreams, Serenity, Expansion, and many more.

  Whispering Roots is steeped in the natural world and thus beholden to the seasons, but that proves an advantage as the New Year has dawned. “People are coming out of the holiday season, which for many is a time of so much stress and sadness, people are faced with potent reminders of loss and grief,” Cynnara says.

  She adds, “Where we’re at—ending a 10-year cycle, whether we are conscious of it or not, we are releasing and purging.” For this, Cynnara recommends her Heart Opening series, like Sacred Integration that aids in digestion and “helps to connect the heart to the gut—this can become imbalanced when we are grieving.”

  Other winter products have been formulated to help to support the body during cold and flu season, such as Fire Tonic, an herbal cider that contains raw local honey and is full of natural antibiotics, anti-virals, and anti-microbials.

  “This is my number one go-to for illness,” Cynnara says. She has also created an Organic Herbal Cough Syrup that is made-to-order fresh and shipped the same day it is ordered.

  Most importantly, Cynnara maintains that the New Year is a time to remember that even though the heart is often directed to follow the mind, it is the mind that should follow the heart.

  “Self-care is so very important, given that January is the time where many make agreements with themselves about change. When we care for ourselves and heal ourselves, this energy ripples outward to others and creates change.”  

To view the full line of products or set up a personal consultation with Cynnara:

 Find Whispering Roots In-Person. Every Sunday at Galveston’s Own Farmer’s Market and the Bay Area Market, Saturdays at the Nassau Bay Market, and once a month at the Lake Jackson Market. 

Find Whispering Roots Apothecary Online. Instagram @Whispering Roots and Facebook.com/WhisperingRootsApothecary. 

Order online at www.Etsy.com/Shop/WhisperingRootsShop.