rē•spin Your Wellness with Equitea

We’re overmedicated. From antidepressants to opioids, many Americans are prescribed more medication than they actually need. Make no mistake – medication is life-changing, life-saving, and essential care. With deep reverence for holistic health and an acknowledgment of how it can strengthen modern medical interventions comes a curiosity about how the healing could be extended. Does the earth have offerings that can help us heal? How can we safely begin the journey of leaning into natural resources? And most of all, what will keep us well in this lifetime?

Meet Quentin Vennie, co-founder of The Equitea Co., wellness expert, international speaker, and author of the celebrated memoir, Strong in the Broken Places. He is a living example of the extraordinary changes we can make in our lives when we live in alignment with the earth’s natural reserves. He overcame diagnoses of anxiety and depression plus a prescription drug addiction through yoga, meditation, and tea. His story struck a chord with us for a few reasons.

First, he embodies the hope we have for anyone who is struggling. Things can always change, and in turn, things can always get better. Second, he is an example of someone who healed himself through non-mainstream methods, taking no easy way out. Finally, he has continued to spread a mission of wellness to others through his work, creating Equitea as a home for some of the essential tea blends that help him stay on track.

Vennie isn’t a wellness expert just by way of books and intellectual studies. Instead, it is his experience of healing himself with a complete lifestyle shift. He was diagnosed with severe Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder, endured a two-year prescription medication addiction, and survived an overdose and two suicide attempts. Overcoming these life challenges gives wisdom that no school of thought could ever rival.

When facing many ailments, doctors who paint with broad strokes as they state a lifetime of medication is the likely outcome, and the stigma our world carries against those who are hurt, Vennie had his work cut out for him.

“My story and Equitea’s story go hand and hand. We launched in 2020, inspired by my son’s ADHD diagnosis,” Vennie shared. Drawing on his own experiences with healing, he found it incredibly important to manage his son’s diagnosis holistically. This looked like pulling him out of traditional schools, hoping to reduce the distractions that trigger ADHD symptoms. Then, the healing component clicked. His son’s neurologist suggested that his son consume two to three ounces of green tea about 20 minutes before any big test or assignment. The idea is that the theanine and caffeine would give his brain a calm focus – and it worked.

“We have eastern research that supports many of these things that western research won’t acknowledge,” Vennie explains. This realization lends to how he is rē•spining our understanding of holistic wellness. For example, when ideating the Equitea blends, it became clear they’d function best as an interconnected regimen, with each of the four formulas designed for a particular point in your day.

The Focus blend, green tea, lavender, lemon verbena, and lemongrass, is excellent for the morning. It is designed to be something to sip on when you’re on your way to work or munching on your morning meal. Once you hit the lunchtime slump (you know exactly what we’re talking about here), it is time to grab a Recharge tea. The Recharge blend is made of black tea and cardamom. Black tea has a caffeine bump, while cardamom is great for your digestive health. The best of all? No caffeine crash or coffee jitters, just a smooth lift to carry you through your day.

By the time your day is done, you’ve survived traffic, interfaced with tons of people, and likely sent out more emails than you can count. So it’s time to up your immunity with the Recover tea. Hibiscus, rosehip, lemon peel, and elderberry team up to boost your system back to health. The high vitamin c content makes the Recover blend pure magic for a taxed mind, body, and soul. You can drink it on your way home from work or as you prepare dinner in lieu of an evening glass of wine.

Vennie’s final blend is one he has found especially helpful for anxious symptoms. After noticing chamomile and valerian root didn’t only relieve his insomnia but also turned down his ruminating thoughts significantly, it was apparent this gift needed to be shared. This combination led to the birth of the Unwind tea blend, a natural medicine to soothe a nervous mind and body, serving as the punctuation mark of the daily regimen.

Wellness is more than what we put in our bodies. It is also what we energetically consume. When asked about how he takes care of himself outside of tea, Vennie shared that he is mindful of how he moves through his day. He looks at tea as more than a liquid he drinks. Instead, he considers it a ritual that grounds him in the here and now. Taking a moment to rest, rather than buying into the idea of grind culture, is a non-negotiable for him. He doesn’t watch the news either, thus minimizing the shock our nervous system can experience when watching trauma play out on the screens in front of us.

“It isn’t necessarily about Equitea. It is about moving the conversation forward and breaking the stigmas associated with mental health and mental well-being, especially in the Black and Brown community,” Vennie concluded. Each one teach one, and we just might rē•spin wellness for all.