Get to Know Life Itself: The Story of Our Wild-Foraged Vermont Chaga
Quick Takeaways:
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The Origin: Founded by a former competitive powerlifter who discovered the profound mental clarity of ancient herbalism.
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The Source: 100% wild-foraged Vermont Chaga, ethically harvested from the Green Mountains.
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The Difference: Never lab-grown. We rely on the ancient soil and living birch trees to provide essential compounds like Betulinic Acid.
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The Process: Extracted using 6-stage reverse osmosis water, a 3-step grinding method, and a 72-hour slow brew for maximum potency.
The Founder's Story: Discovering Chaga Mushroom
My name is Josh and I'm the proud founder of Life Itself. To properly set the stage for what has come, I have to start at my past life. I was a competitive powerlifter from the age of 17 to 25. I was training to become the strongest person in my weight class in the world. I would train two times a day, drink protein powders, and take all types of supplements in an effort to gain an edge. At 25 years old, I was training in the gym I owned at the time, and I was about to attempt the national record-breaking squat. I ended up actually breaking the record, squatting 385 lbs at a bodyweight of 114 lbs. As I broke that record, I had a strange experience.
(Josh and his business partner Joe hanging the sign to their gym)
I stood up with the weight on my back and before I racked it, I felt my powerlifting coach slapping me on the back, and my vision started going out like an old TV set. In that timeless moment, I started to have a vision—a vision of myself shrouded in darkness with a spotlight on me standing on a podium. I was on the top spot indicating I had won the gold medal for strongest in the world in my weight class. However, all I could focus on was my face and body language. I was completely depressed. I could read the mind of future me and I was saying, "I can't believe I wasted my life doing this."
Suddenly, my vision and awareness of my surroundings started coming back and everyone in the gym was gathered around clapping and cheering for me. I had an unshakeable feeling of dread as I knew that the pursuit of my dream had ended and I was left not knowing what was next for me. I went home that evening and sat on my bed thinking, "I'm done with powerlifting...but now what will I do? Who will I be?"
I spent the next few weeks trying all sorts of different movement practices, staying adjacent to powerlifting, but attempting to break out into something more meaningful. I tried modern dance, parkour, calisthenics, a Brazilian martial art called capoeira, and in all of this exploration, I started learning how to handstand. It just so happened that my handstand teacher was a yogi, so at the end of every training session, I breathed and stretched (something I never did in my entire life), and laid down in what I learned was a pose called savasana.
Savasana was so interesting to me...a time to lay motionless that was somehow deeply productive and restorative. It brought me all kinds of insights and space to enjoy my own consciousness. And it was a discipline in remaining still when my mind wanted to keep my body in motion. I loved it. And it dawned on me. Yoga was the next leg of my journey.
The very next day after my savasana "aha", I opened the gym at 4:50 am, got on the computer and looked up yoga retreats. I had $200 to my name, so while I was looking, it felt like a dream and a longshot. I filtered them from "least expensive" to "most expensive" and clicked on the first one. It was a scholarship program that I had to apply for, and it cost $600. I saw $600 and thought—yes, I can do that. Simultaneously I saw where it was hosted...the birthplace of Yoga: India. I didn't overthink it. I filled out the application, mostly feeling like I wasn't going to get it.
The very next morning I got an email: "You've been awarded a scholarship to Akshi Yogashala's 30-day 200 HR Yoga Teacher Training." My heart started racing and the only thing I could think to do was call my parents and tell them, "Guys, I'm going to India to become a yoga teacher."
While my story in India could be a book of its own, I will summarize it by saying my entire inner world was replaced with life's divine truth. Upon my return to America, my only desire was to share the sense of peace, love, and understanding I had experienced through those ancient teachings. I learned quickly that the people who needed a revolution in consciousness the most were the least likely to practice yoga or meditation. I asked, "How can I reach these people who most desperately need a transformation in their consciousness and the end to their suffering?" and that's when everything came full circle.
I used my passion for supplements that I acquired from my time powerlifting and I funneled it into herbal study. The mechanism of ingesting something to help me reach a goal was so familiar to me after countless protein drinks, pre-workouts, and things of the like. But now the goal had changed: supplements that alleviated suffering. So I studied...like I always had...and I went deep into Eastern Culture (China, India, Tibet) to learn about the most powerful herbs that could address the suffering of modern humans.
I was learning so much, but it wasn't until I looked in my own backyard that I found the answer. I was reading a book called "Healing With Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford at the time, and he had introduced me to the concept of mushrooms as herbal supplements. I dove in headfirst. After reviewing the most popular ones that were studied for their effect on alleviating suffering, one stood out to me as particularly unique. Chaga, coined "The King of Medicinal Mushrooms," instantly had my attention.
Beyond the nickname that pointed to its apex nature, it had properties unlike any other. It was an irregular mass of fungal cells unlike any other—not a shelf mushroom, not a stem and cap, a strange black mass that pulled my attention. I was living in Vermont at the time and it just so happened that after doing some research, Chaga was growing all around me. So I took a walk in my backyard, and after 10 minutes of confused wandering, BOOM! There it was. A black mass so interesting...so compelling...I was immediately captured by it. I had found Chaga! And the act itself was so powerfully enriching that I could feel my body saying "yes - this is it".
(Josh's first ever packaging designed for farmer's markets)
I took my chunk of Chaga home that day and put it in my crockpot to brew for the next 48 hours. While the anticipation was maddening, I waited to make sure I was going to get the full experience. And two mornings later, I sat down to meditate and drink a cup of the rich dark liquid. Admittedly, I was a little nervous. I had never consumed Chaga before and it was something that I found in the wild. But feeling inspired and confident, I drank a 12 oz cup in the 5 am darkness, then sat for a 30-minute meditation where I would then witness the effect on my mind.
It was about 5 minutes into my meditation when I began noticing the powerful effect of clarity. I was tempering my giddiness and my desire to laugh with joy so that I could continue experiencing my spacious, undisturbed mind. I knew it right then, this was it. Chaga was going to be my offer to the modern world to help alleviate suffering and clarify our minds.
Fast forward a few months to my move back to Buffalo, NY where I was brewing Chaga and putting it in ball jars to sell at the Farmer's Market. Nine years ago when I started, no one knew about herbal mushrooms, and it was mainly just me giving it away to people who seemed interested in exchange for their promise that they would try it for 1 week straight and report back to me at the next week's market what they experienced. The stories I heard validated what I felt in my heart. This was going to be my offering.
Now, 9 years later, Life Itself is steadfast on its mission to end human suffering. And even with a national footprint, my dreams and visions are so ambitious that this is only the beginning.
Why Vermont Chaga? Wild-Foraged vs. Lab-Grown
The reason we forage Vermont Chaga started with serendipity. I first discovered Chaga when I was living in Vermont, as you read in my founder story. As time went on though, I learned that Chaga from Vermont was special. The Green Mountains of Vermont are made from some of the oldest mountains in the world with some of the purest and most complex soil in the world.
The age (wisdom) and purity of the land are so important because it affects the quality of the Birch tree on which Chaga grows, and hence the Chaga itself. The growing environment of Chaga is arguably the most important factor in the quality.
If you're new to Chaga, it's important to know that there is no comparison between Chaga grown in a lab and Chaga that grows in the wild. And it's very important to know that if a brand doesn't specify where their Chaga comes from, it is likely grown in a lab.
The complex soil imbues the organisms growing in it with minerals, and therefore, life-force. The Birch tree offers Chaga its unique compounds such as Superoxide Dismutase and Betulinic Acid, two of the most important compounds in Chaga. Both the soil and the Birch tree are essential components in our Wild Foraged Chaga, neither of which exist in the lab-grown variety. I feel personally compelled to draw this comparison because many companies exist to profit from Chaga's name. We exist to end suffering and provide the highest quality products in an effort to make that possible. This is why we have an uncompromising promise to always wild forage our Chaga.
Our Unique Chaga Extraction Process
I have pioneered many unique processes in an effort to extract the most from the Chaga we forage and maintain the highest quality possible. I apply ingenuity to the process for two reasons:
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I aim to reduce the amount of raw Chaga we need so we remain in integrity with sustainability efforts.
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I want to make the most potent Chaga products available.
While I hesitate to go deeply into the proprietary methods we use, I do believe that they are some of the most compelling reasons to choose Life Itself. And if other companies copy us, it would be better for the world, so here's to setting the standard:
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6-Stage Reverse Osmosis Water: Life Itself only uses 6-stage reverse osmosis water to extract our Chaga. Quality of water is one of the most essential and non-negotiable foundations of our brand.
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72-Hour Slow Brew: We brew our Concentrate for a minimum of 72 hours before bottling it to ensure it is supersaturated.
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Freeze-Drying Technology: When making our Instant Chaga, we use a proprietary method that involves freeze-drying instead of spray drying to achieve a powder. We do this because spray drying uses such a high heat that it destroys some of the more sensitive elements of Chaga. While freeze-drying is far more time and energy-intensive, we have an uncompromising standard of quality to uphold. This is why our "Awaken" product has a quality unlike any other mushroom coffee on the market.
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Medical-Grade Red Light Therapy: After foraging, we dry our Chaga in a combination of sunlight and air drying during the day, and we apply medical-grade red light overnight. It was my intuition that believes this has a positive effect on the organism given its high concentration of melanin - a light-sensitive compound.
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3-Step Grinding: We take our Chaga through a 3-step grinding process to increase the surface area. This results in a more complete extraction and therefore a higher potency.
Finally, our Chaga is always wild-foraged by us in the mountains of Vermont. We do so on retreat with a group of friends, new and old, infusing meditation, laughter, joy, and friendship into the entire process. It's an energetic undertone that creates a foundation of togetherness and connection that we believe makes its way into the brand and the product itself.
Beyond the Chaga itself, maintaining an ethos of connection and positive relationship with Life is the ultimate differentiator, and in my opinion, the unique process that I pray all other businesses take from us.
The Foraging Experience
The foraging experience is rugged, wild, and takes grit. However, to me, there is no more beautiful way to live. Staring up at the canopy of trees, smelling the rich soil of the forest, feeling the wind on my skin, and being integrated with creation full of life that no human had a hand in creating. It's purely magical.
Beyond the appeal of simply being in nature, Chaga foraging adds this "treasure hunt" component that I have personally fallen in love with. I realized early on that the experience of foraging itself was one of the most potent benefits I could share, especially when doing it as a community. That's why I started hosting retreats and inviting others to join in.
The way stress visibly melts off people who come on retreat with us to forage is one of my favorite phenomena to be a part of. In a world divided over so much, foraging for Chaga has been a great equalizer that reminds us that when we share a common goal, get back into the wilderness, and share our stories around a fire each night, we remember how deeply connected we truly are.
See the Magic for Yourself
Want to see exactly what it takes to harvest the King of Medicinal Mushrooms? Watch our short documentary, Our Wild Nature, to join us in the Vermont forests and experience the foraging process firsthand.