For People/Breath

For People

Breath

For breathing that is clear, open, and easy — a moistening, soothing blend for the channels of air.

Breath is built for one outcome: air that moves freely. When the throat feels dry, the chest feels tight, or each breath seems to catch on something, the body is telling you the channels of air have lost some of their ease. This formula was composed to bring that ease back — to moisten what has gone dry, soothe what has gone rough, and open what has gone narrow, so the simple act of breathing returns to what it should be: unnoticed, effortless, full.

Reach for it when the air is dry and the season is changing, when you talk or sing or teach all day and your voice and chest pay for it, or when smoke, dust, and city air leave the passages feeling raw. It is also a daily companion for anyone who simply wants their breathing to stay supple and open — the people who walk far, breathe deep, and want the body's first and most constant rhythm kept in good repair.

The four herbs here are not a scattering of remedies thrown at the chest. They are a single, convergent gesture. One moistens the deep tissue of the airways; one opens and freshens the upper passages; one gathers and steadies the breath so it doesn't scatter; one coats, sweetens, and binds the whole blend into a soothing draught. Together they ask the respiratory system to do what it already knows how to do — only with more moisture, more room, and less friction.

This is structure and function, plainly: Breath nourishes the tissues and rhythms of respiration. It is food for the breathing body. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. We bring the system back toward ease; the body does the rest.

What it supports in the body

RespiratoryImmuneLiverDigestiveKidney/Adrenal

The body systems the herbs in this formula are traditionally understood to nourish — resolved through our knowledge graph, where the classical record and modern biology are read together. Structure and function, never a claim of treatment.

For People

$20.00/ 1 oz / 12 g

Small-batch. Dual-extracted where it matters. Made by hand.

How to take it

1/4 tsp (up to 1 tsp) of extract powder in hot water, tea, coffee, a smoothie, or food, once daily. Begin with light doses — our extracts are very potent.

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What you get

What this formula gives you

Supports clear, open, easy breathing as the everyday baseline

Moistens and soothes a dry, rough, or tickling throat and airway

Helps the upper passages feel fresh and uncongested through dry seasons and changing weather

A steadying daily companion for big talkers, singers, teachers, and deep breathers

Comforting support when smoke, dust, or city air leave the chest feeling raw

Four convergent botanicals working as one — moisten, open, gather, soothe

How it works

The science of Breath

Not buzzwords — the actual biology of the plants in this formula: their compounds, the targets those compounds are measured to engage, and the systems they nourish.

The keystone of Breath is asparagus root — Tian Men Dong in the Chinese materia medica, the great moistening tonic of the lung. Its tissue is rich in steroidal saponins; in our own molecular library we hold its measured fingerprint compounds, diosgenin and sarsasapogenin, confirmed by their PubChem identity. In the classical reading, these saponin-bearing roots are profoundly yin-moistening — they restore the slick, fluid quality that a dry airway loses. Galenic physicians would have called this exact action 'humectant and pectoral'; Culpeper grouped such moist, sweet roots among the plants that 'open the breast' and ease a dry, tickling throat. Different centuries, one observation: this root carries water back into the channels of air.

Tulsi — holy basil, sacred across the Ayurvedic tradition as the queen of herbs — supplies the opening, aromatic current. Its character lives in its volatile oils, chiefly eugenol, alongside the flavone apigenin, which in measured ChEMBL data binds a defined set of human enzyme targets including cytochrome P450 isoforms and casein kinase II. You do not need the laboratory to feel what tulsi does: it is warm, fragrant, and clearing, the aromatic that lifts heaviness off the chest and freshens the upper passages. Ayurveda placed it at the center of respiratory and breath-work practice for exactly this reason, and the African and Mediterranean traditions reached for the same family of aromatic, camphoraceous herbs to keep the breath moving.

Schizandra and licorice complete and govern the blend. Schizandra — the wu-wei-zi, the 'five-flavor berry' — is astringent and gathering; its signature lignans are why the classics use it to keep the breath from scattering and to steady the lung's qi rather than let it leak away. Licorice — Gan Cao, the great harmonizer of Chinese formulas and the soothing demulcent root of Western herbalism — is built on glycyrrhizin and 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid, compounds with documented binding at the 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes. In the tradition its role is simpler and older: it is sweet, moistening, and coating, the throat-soothing root that calms a raw passage and binds four herbs into one gentle, agreeable draught. One root moistens, one herb opens, one berry gathers, one root soothes and harmonizes — a complete respiratory gesture in four plants.

The molecules, measured

A formula is a community of compounds. Below are active molecules from the herbs in this blend and the proteins each is measured to engage — the precise points where the plants meet biology. So you see not just that it works, but how.

Asparagus Root

Asparagus cochinchinensis

Diosgenin (steroidal sapogenin aglycone of A. cochinchinensis saponins)

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Oxysterol-binding protein 1

A protein that shuttles cholesterol and lipids between compartments inside the cell.

Sarsasapogenin (steroidal sapogenin)

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 1B3

A liver transporter that draws compounds from the blood into liver cells.

Solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 1B1

A liver transporter that helps usher substances into the liver for processing.

Amyloid-beta precursor protein

A membrane protein in brain cells whose fragments play a role in neural signaling and structure.

Tulsi (Holy Basil)

Ocimum sanctum

apigenin

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Cytochrome P450 1B1

A liver-family enzyme that processes hormones and foreign compounds the body needs to clear.

Transthyretin

A carrier protein that ferries thyroid hormone and vitamin A through the bloodstream.

Cytochrome P450 1A1

A detoxifying enzyme that breaks down environmental compounds the body absorbs.

luteolin

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Cytochrome P450 1B1

A liver-family enzyme that processes hormones and foreign compounds the body needs to clear.

Macrophage metalloelastase

An enzyme immune cells use to remodel and break down connective tissue.

Receptor-type tyrosine-protein kinase FLT3

A receptor on blood-forming cells that signals them to grow and divide.

Schizandra

Schisandra chinensis

Schisandrin B (Wuweizisu B)

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Serine/threonine-protein kinase ATR

A guardian enzyme that senses DNA stress and helps coordinate repair.

Serine-protein kinase ATM

A sentinel enzyme that detects DNA breaks and signals the cell to mend them.

DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit

An enzyme that helps stitch broken DNA strands back together.

Schisandrin C (= Wuweizisu C)

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Prostaglandin G/H synthase 2

The enzyme that drives the body's inflammatory response.

Cytochrome P450 3A4

The liver's busiest enzyme for breaking down compounds the body takes in.

Cytochrome P450 3A5

A liver enzyme that helps metabolize and clear many compounds from the body.

Licorice

Glycyrrhiza glabra

18beta-Glycyrrhetinic acid (enoxolone)

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1

An enzyme in tissues like fat and liver that activates the stress hormone cortisol.

11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2

A kidney enzyme that switches off cortisol, helping the body manage salt and fluid balance.

Protein kinase C eta type

A signaling enzyme involved in skin cell growth and how cells respond to their environment.

Liquiritigenin

PubChem ↗

Measured to act on

Estrogen receptor beta

A receptor that reads the hormone estrogen, helping govern reproductive and other tissues.

Tubulin

The building-block protein of the internal scaffolding that gives cells shape and moves their parts.

Measured molecular activities drawn from public scientific databases (PubChem, ChEMBL), shown as the characterized chemistry of the plants in this formula — every edge traced to its source record. This describes the molecules, not the product. Structure and function only; these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

In practice

Who it’s for, and how to use it

Who it’s for

For anyone who wants their breathing kept clear, open, and supple — especially through dry seasons and changing weather, after long days of talking, singing, or teaching, or when smoky and dusty air leaves the chest feeling raw. A gentle daily companion for deep breathers and active people who want the body's first rhythm well cared for. As with all our formulas, if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking prescribed medication, speak with someone who knows your full picture before beginning.

How to use it

Stir 1/4 tsp of the extract powder (working up to 1 tsp) into hot water, tea, coffee, a smoothie, or food, once daily. A warm cup is the most traditional and the most pleasant way to take Breath — the steam itself opens the passages while you drink. Begin with light doses: these are true extracts and they are very potent. Take it consistently through dry stretches and demanding seasons; the moistening, opening work of these roots and berries rewards steady, gentle use over time.

Measure · 1/4 tsp (up to 1 tsp) of extract powder in hot water, tea, coffee, a smoothie, or food, once daily. Begin with light doses — our extracts are very potent.

What’s inside

Inside: asparagus root (Tian Men Dong), tulsi (holy basil), schizandra berry, and licorice root (Gan Cao) — four whole botanicals, nothing else. Each is a concentrated full-spectrum extract of the pristine herb, blended in equal measure so no single voice overwhelms the chord. We name every plant openly because you deserve to know exactly what you are inviting into your body. The most pristine herbs on earth.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Introduce one formula at a time and notice how the body responds; if you are pregnant, nursing, or on a prescription, know the interaction before you begin.