Acknowledgements

Methodologies & Traditions 

Holistic Care takes direct cues from your whole self- body, mind, and spirit. Holistic treatments can remedy areas of concern long before serious ailments manifest.

Acupuncture stimulates the nervous system to elicit a healing response from the brain, helping to reduce inflammation and pain, reduce stress and promoting physical and mental well-being.

This Japanese lineage of acupuncture that is traditionally taught from master to student, uses hands on palpation of the abdomen, neck and feet for deep assessment of the energetic imbalances in the body. Gentle acupuncture is then used in specific areas to direct healing within the body for lasting results that are felt immediately. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) understands that disease states are due to obstructed energy that distracts the body from healing itself. TCM practices remove obstructions in order to restore the body’s vital energy. TCM uses acupuncture to balance “yin” and “yang” so that “qi” (body energy) can flow freely. The body system is built on energy pathways called meridians. Each body system utilizes its own meridian, providing points of access for your acupuncturist to guide your body to health. Think of meridians as your body's highways for its energy, and the points as pit stops. 

Ayurveda is a whole-body healing system developed in India more than 3,000 years ago. According to Ayurveda, each individual is composed of the five fundamental elements: Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. These elements uniquely combine within each one of us, creating a distinct and unique blueprint also known as our Dosha. There are 3 main Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Knowing your Dosha will help you determine the best lifestyle choices that will offer optimal wellness for your mind, body and spirit. Ayurvedic rituals involve warm herbal oils that seep into the skin, restoring balance and harmony to the body and mind. 

The body has the knowledge, our practitioners are trained to listen. This therapy works directly with a biofeedback from your body’s nervous system to identify specific areas of body imbalance and dis-ease. A full body scan is used to assess where stress is held in the body. Once we isolate areas-in-need, we are able to formulate the exact nutritional and herbal protocols and dosages that your body craves in real time with muscle reflex tests. You leave with custom-tailored botanical formulas designed to restore your system to its most natural, healthy state. 

Our bodies know how to heal themselves, when provided with the essential building blocks of nutrition and when sources of external stressors are removed. Our bodies are constantly striving to regenerate and detoxify, our role is to help to clear the way for that internal wisdom to unfold. Our unique methodology combines the two biofeedback therapies of Kiiko Style Acupuncture and Functional Phytotherapy for a natural approach that helps to remove stress from the body and improve your capacity to heal. Recommended follow-up appointments keep a watchful eye on your progress. 

From Nordic hot spring soaks to Russian banyas and Japanese onsens, bathing culture has strong roots around the world. Bathing aids in muscle and mental relaxation and deepens healing. We integrate the healing powers of water with dosha specific healing remedies that include coconut milk, botanicals, flowers and essential oils that absorb into the skin to help you to regain balance within the  body, mind and spirit. 

Reflexology has strong historical roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine. This ancient practice focuses on treating specific points in the feet to address other parts of the body. Our bodies’ energy pathways are an extensive map that connect through the entire nervous system. Opening the pathways with small, massage-like movements can alleviate pain, stimulate the immune system, and aid the lymphatic system.The use of these organ points can also be used as a tool to target any stressed out or impaired systems that need support. Using reflexology points can be a therapeutic relief of ailments (think headaches, stress and anxiety) while simultaneously feeling incredibly relaxing. 

The practice of foot soaking allows energy to move through vital channels that flow from the foot through the entire body. If you have ever rubbed garlic on your feet, you will know that within 20 minutes you will taste that garlic in your mouth. Depending on which imalances you present with, Den Mother will custom formulate botanical blends that when absorbed into your body will have targeted therapeutic effects. The use of reflexology and massage in tandem with a ritual foot soak can open these channels even further.

Regular cold therapy like use of the cold plunge pool at the Den has shown to help in reducing anxiety and depression by decreasing cortisol levels, lowering the sympathetic stress response, and balancing serotonin levels. Strengthening your body and mind’s ability to cope with cold conditions can activate our bodies’ natural healing powers and build nervous system resilience to better cope with the stressors of our lives. 

Our Cold Plunge pool uses powerful cooling, filtration, and sanitation that provides cold, clean water throughout the day making it far superior to an ice bath or chest freezer. Our plunge has a robust filtration system that includes uv, ozone, and a 5 micron filter, assuring crystal clear water that self-cleans after every use. 

Den Mother’s traditional steam Tea Sauna experience is inspired by the Nordic tradition. Our sauna provides heat with humidity that is regulated by sprinkling tea on hot stones (“löyly” in Finish) to create steam. The natural infrared benefits from the heat coming off of the rocks and stones make this experiential style of sauna bathing as enjoyable as it is therapeutic. Infrared rays penetrate deep into the skin providing soft heat that helps drive stored toxins out of the fat cells and into the sweat glands and bloodstream where the body is able to excrete it via sweat — one of the most effective ways to assist the body in removing toxins. 

Alternating extreme temperatures of hot and cold between our cold plunge pool and sauna reveals a host of benefits: It stirs the lymphatic system, reduces inflammation, increases red blood cell count, increases growth hormone levels, improves endurance and recovery, keeps veins and arteries supple, detoxes metals and toxins, improves sleep, relieves anxiety, reduces stress, and aids in weight loss. 

Supplements & Sourcing

The Den Mother Apothecary carries high quality nutrient dense supplements, botanicals, teas and nutraceuticals that add nutritional value, target particular imbalances and augment health.

We believe that your personal care products should never compromise your health and safety. We are committed to upping your health on every level, and this includes safe consumerism. By curating beautiful, effective and safe products to meet your needs we aim to bring you, and the planet, the best of what is available for your skin, hair, body and home. To that end, our green beauty and lifestyle boutique offers only products that are good for you and the environment—free of harmful chemicals, additives and preservatives whenever possible. 

Our boutique stocks products that are free of the following harmfuls: synthetic fragrance, synthetic dyes, parabens, petrochemicals, formaldehyde releasing preservatives, phthalates, sulfates, triclosan, PEGs, PPGs, BHT, BHA & chemical SPFs like homislate and oxybenzone. All products found at Den Mother are cruelty free and many are vegan.

All of our bodywork therapies use herb infused oils that are based on ancient healing Ayurvedic recipes in a base of organic sesame oil. They are nourishing for all body types and balancing for all 3 doshas. For those with sensitivities we can use organic Grape Seed oil. Ingredients are sourced from organic farms, with the large bulk of ingredients coming directly from small organic farms in India. What makes our body oils truly unique is the way in which they are prepared. The power of whole herb plant medicine is slowly infused into the oils over multiple days to allow for complete infusion of their beneficial actions & healing energetics. 

Herbal tea preparations are an excellent way to experience the subtle properties of different medicinal plants. Herbal teas are a blend of different flowers, barks, seeds, leaves, stems and roots that are steeped into hot water to extract unique phytonutrients for differing therapeutic benefits. We source our organic, biodynamic and wildcrafted herbal teas from Wild Terra in Highland Park. They are served and sold in our boutique as specific blends to help support such things as sleep, relaxation and digestion. The herbal blends can be enjoyed in our garden or taken home for daily rituals of health and balance. 

Den Mother is committed to sourcing the highest quality herbs and botanicals for our plant-based medicine, herbology and Ayurvedic treatments. By securing a plot of land in Cook’s Garden down the street, we can locally grow, source and customize our fresh herbal offerings. And due to our coastal California climate, we are able to grow most of our herbs and botanicals year round. You’ll find our fresh lavender in our ritual foot soaks, blue tansy in our sauna steams, and lemongrass infused into our house cocktails.

Den Mother ‘s private range of nutraceuticals are synergistic blends of whole food nutrition, therapeutic vitamins and herbal medicine formulated to positively impact your biochemistry and physiology at the micro-level. Each nutraceutical is made of the best ingredients with the most bioavailable delivery systems, and all are quality tested and monitored throughout the manufacturing process. Den Mother supplements are manufactured at FDA-inspected facilities, our quality control and documentation practices conform to NSF/ANSI Standard 173 and FDA Dietary Supplement Good Manufacturing Practices and we are triple GMPed certified meaning we do 3 audits on each ingredient from third party auditing companies. We guarantee that every nutraceutical product we offer contains only the finest raw ingredients and meets the highest standards for quality and purity.

We've partnered with LA's own Huxbrook Tea to offer our guests a truly exceptional true tea experience. We celebrate the tea plant and the cultures that collectively made it magnificent - the same cultures from which our authentic healing practices were born. Our Pure Tea menu features directly sourced, organic, and single origin teas from among the best growing regions in the world, showcasing the care, craftsmanship, and shared ritual of specialty tea. Join us in the garden and enjoy tea in a way you've never experienced before.

We want you to feel informed, empowered and confident about your decision to Den. We’ll continue to refresh this space with information as we add more services. As always feel free to reach out to one of our Den Guides with any questions.