You might have seen the phrase Find Your Best Self on our boxes, our website or on the thank-you cards I love to write. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking it another piece of "wellness world jargon." Optimise. Upgrade. Be better. Become faster. Become more than, as if you were a puzzle or a problem to be solved.
That's almost the opposite of our intention behind the mantra. And after almost 10 years since Inner Atlas became a kernel of thought, we thought we'd tell the story.
What 'Find Your Best Self' Actually Means
For us, Find Your Best Self draws on the seeking nature of Inner Atlas. Using the Atlas to dive deeper. But your best self isn't somewhere out there in the wide world ahead of you to be chased down. It's already there. It's underneath the noise. It's waiting to be met.
I often think of our physical bodies, our mental bodies, and our emotional bodies as changing landscapes, like the weather, new day each day. They're constantly in flux. And amidst the fast-paced nature of this modern world, it can be really hard to hear them. To pick up on their cues. To listen to what's shifting within us.
We have to come into relationship with ourselves to get in tune with ourselves. This seems easy in theory, but can be tricky in practice. So much of our modern world is, not to sound too dystopian here, algorithmically designed to grab our attention and hold us there. Things thrust in front of us, crafted to draw up an emotion or an opinion, confirm a preference, or sell to us (the irony isn't lost on me here).
It's up to us to know how to come back to centre, whether this means time in nature, a moment of meditation, a little ritual that grounds or connects us, and then once we're there, to listen, to connect with our inner landscape, to tune into what we need, and to feed it.
And for us that's where working with the natural world comes in. We are part of nature, and I truly believe working with it, being a part of the natural world, allows us to better hear the whispers from our inner selves; a walk in the bush, listening to bird song, watching a sunrise, sitting with the moon, swimming in the ocean, feet on the earth, moving with the rhythm of the seasons, eating with the seasons, tending plants, working with herbs, and of course mushrooms, our love.
We Are A Part of Nature
Humans aren't a closed system on this earth. We're part of a larger, greater web. The soil. The seasons. The flora, fauna and funga. Fungal networks that have been here far longer than we have, quietly supporting life on earth and teaching it connection. So, whenever we think of ourselves as separate from nature, we're mistaken. We are born of nature, part of nature. And every action we take has a reciprocal, symbiotic relationship with the world around us. We can look to nature not as a cure-all but as the way back into the rhythm of the natural world. Mushrooms, for us, are a very big part of that.
We've often described mushrooms and adaptogens as a best friend. We've all got that one friend who knows exactly what we need, who senses where we're at and meets us there. Many scientists have described adaptogens as having a natural intelligence. Not sentience, exactly, but a remarkable ability to sense what the body needs and adapt accordingly. For instance, if the immune system is underactive, specific adaptogens (like Reishi mushroom) can enhance the immune response. On the other hand, if the immune system is overactive (in the case of allergies or inflammation), Reishi can help re-regulate the immune response, lowering overactivity. This bidirectional effect is unique and is what has led researchers to conclude that adaptogens respond to what is needed in the human body. And this is one of the main reasons why we marvel at these mushrooms, these wonders of nature.
Don’t get us wrong, medicinal mushrooms are incredible, but they aren't a cure-all. The focus for us when we're working with a particular medicinal mushroom is using it intentionally and consistently, in order to take us closer to that space of equilibrium.
That's why so much of what we've shared over the years has come back to one question: how are you feeling? We've never been the brand that says you need this mushroom and that one and another, mix them all together. Yes, different mushrooms work beautifully alongside one another. But you'd more often find us saying: start with one. Pick the one you feel the call toward. Try just a little, every day, consistently, and see how you feel. See what you notice.
For us, Find Your Best Self has always been the bigger why. The turn inward. Navigating your own inner landscape: physically, emotionally, spiritually. Atlas is the binding metaphor, the map of the inner terrain. Inner Atlas was born of something very intentional, for both Dan and I. It's a reflection of the way we live, the way we navigate our health, our relationships, and our sense of wellness.
Who We're Here For
The intentionality behind what we share, the words and the products, is the whole point. Inner Atlas is for those who take their inner life seriously, and their relationship with the earth even more so. For people who treat wellness as an inquiry, not a prescription. For people who want connection, not transaction. People who think wellness should be a conversation with their own body, not a checklist.
Things ebb and flow. Mushrooms might be part of your ritual for a season, then off, then back. So, if you're an OG 2019 customer or have stumbled across us in more recent years, thank you so much for being here.
Find Your Best Self is, at its heart, an invitation. To pay attention. To yourself. And to the world you're part of.
Tara X
Author Note:
Tara Seymour is the founder of Inner Atlas, an Australian medicinal mushroom brand founded in 2019.
