Gifts

This Dilworth Food Scientist Formulates Teas to Help People Find Healing

Meet Lynn Park, Dilworth’s Herbal Entrepreneur & Owner of Kanji Naturals

Meet Lynn Park, Dilworth’s Herbal Entrepreneur & Owner of Kanji Naturals

Lynn Park’s journey of developing healing herbal teas and supplements was a direct result of seeking relief for her own health challenges.

The Baltimore, MD native worked hard to sweat out a Master’s Degree in food science with an emphasis in nutrition at BYU, a private research university. She then spent 14 years managing quality control and governmental programs for Kraft General Foods and Stella Foods.

Meanwhile, Lynn had been struggling for years with migraines and SIBO, a gut condition. She worked for decades with her traditional physician with no resolution, rather only constantly changing pharmaceuticals to try to manage her symptoms.

Lynn then “retired” to raise her four wonderful children and began homeschooling them. She put on her learning hat and spent years studying natural healing methods, especially to help members of her family who had symptoms and conditions until they found success.

Then Lynn really began to dig deep for healing solutions when her daughter became chronically ill with an array of unexplainable symptoms, leaving her doctors stumped. Lynn finally went to a naturopath in the area and her learning curve grew exponentially as she discovered the food allergies underlying her condition. This sparked the next chapter in her life.

Lynn was ready to use her research, knowledge and master’s in food science to begin an entrepreneurial endeavor in herbal healing, which started with courses on herbalism and aromatherapy—and making her own teas. “I love digging into the latest research and experimenting with different products,” she said. “My girlfriends convinced me I needed to sell my teas, as they always enjoyed drinking them. Thus began my adventure into entrepreneurism and my continued path of learning and developing new natural product.

Further Education & Formulation

Thus, Lynn continued her nutritional journey from a different angle. She attended the Franklin Institute of Health in Tennessee for her herbalism courses and read and attended many conferences on herbalism and aromatherapy. She formulated teas, tinctures and aroma blends to help her kids with their ADHD, anxiety, allergies and skin conditions as well as working on nutrition. As she found success, Lynn wanted to find a way to help others on their health journeys as well, offering an alternative path to relief, especially for those struggling with side effects from pharmaceuticals.

“The herbal teas, incense and flower essences I offer help on the journey to better health and understanding of underlying causes,” she said. “There are so many tools that nature offers us to heal and it involves all our senses. I love discovering all these new ways to use nature to heal and to strengthen.”

Behind the Name “Kanji” Naturals

“This is a funny and embarrassing story,” Lynn said. “As I was researching on the computer one day, I came across a story about Chinese writing for Japanese, and they talked about the symbols for ‘tree’ and ‘forest.’ I love trees and the symbols looked like pine trees and I was enamored. As I quickly perused the article I understood that the name for these characters was ‘Kanji,’ so I saved the name for future use. Nothing could resonate more for me than trees; I thought ‘Kanji’ meant ‘tree.’ When I decided to start a business I knew that was the name I wanted. Turns out Kanji is the name for the whole language system of using Chinese characters to write Japanese. Oops. I still like the name and used it.”

Please note: Kanji Naturals does not claim to cure or prevent any condition or disease. Please consult with your doctor before taking alternative medicinal approaches.

The Product Lineup

To date, Kanji Naturals offer 17 herbal tea blends, 15 flower essences, four gomasio blends (spice blends that replace salt and pepper on the table), seven loose incense blends, three types of Balm of Gilead (for sore muscles, joints and congestion), five natural perfumes (aromatherapy) and flower art and photography. Lynn’s Pick.

“For everyday use, I love a hot cup of Evening Repose tea or Zesty Hibiscus iced tea. I have also leaned heavily on the Balm of Gilead muscle balm for calming the herniated disc in my back. In addition, I love having incense making my home smell wonderful and healthy.” For Lynn, understanding the science behind things is very important to her. “I feel very uncomfortable with folklore and stories of remedies passed down,” she said. “But they are a place to start research to understand them.”

To stay at the forefront of research, Lynn regularly learns from great herbalists and doctors such as Rosemary Gladstar, Rosalee de la Foret, Dr Jill Stansbury, Juliet Blankespoor (Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine) and Dr. Christa Sanadinos.

Currently, Lynn is working on a new tea for heart health support. This tea works on normalizing blood pressure, anxiety and improving the circulatory system.

Lynn’s Pick

“For everyday use, I love a hot cup of Evening Repose tea or Zesty Hibiscus iced tea. I have also leaned heavily on the Balm of Gilead muscle balm for calming the herniated disc in my back. In addition, I love having incense making my home smell wonderful and healthy.”

Editor’s Pick

“The Orange Cinnamon Mint tea is a blend I bring out each year from October through December,” Lynn said. “I wanted to develop a tea that reminded me of joyful holidays and tasted amazing. I developed this tea based on my love of the drink Wassal as well as something spicy and aromatic. T vis tea contains peppermint (with some chocolate peppermint), orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and rose petals to soothe the mind and the soul during this busy time of year as well as help the body deal with the heavier sugar load this season tends to bring on.”

What’s Next for Kanji Naturals?

“I am so grateful for not only the customers in the FM area but also other small business owners that are so generous with their advice and ideas,” Lynn said. “I am in a sweet spot right now with being able to grow the herbs I need.” As her business continues to grow, she is looking for contracting opportunities with local organic growers for a few specific herbs she no longer has enough space for.

Last year, Lynn started a community medicinal garden in Dilworth, open to anyone willing to attend and work in the garden. For more details on this contact Lynn at [email protected] or visit their Facebook page at Hope and Joy Medicinal garden. “Learning all of these healing modalities are costly,” she said. “I want to make it available and simplified for anyone desiring to learn.” Lynn’s next dream is to create a healing forest open to the public.

People can find Kanji Naturals online at kanjinaturals.com. It’s also found in a few stores in the area: Unglued, Grateful Cratefulls and Aspen Acupuncture. Lynn also sets up a booth each weekend from July through October at the Red River Market.

 

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