We have endured the longest stretch of winter, and now we are just rounding out the sharp edges of this almost-spring weather we’ve been experiencing. While the winter blues seems to be just about everyone’s case as of recently, this can oftentimes lead to a severe case of seasonal depression. According to the Mayo clinic, this can not only drastically affect your mood, but it can also negatively affects your physical health.
“Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons — SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you’re like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody.”
Listen Now: Wellness Cafes | kick start your morning and your day by visiting a café
While some may experience milder symptoms, I think we could agree there is an over-all coldness in the air (and I don’t just mean the weather) around this time of year. To remedy some of these symptoms, it is important to take all the extra steps necessary to maintain a health that goes beyond just our physical wellbeing. Believe it or not, the first steps to this could begin at where you get your morning cup of coffee! The Project Best life team visited some cafes and coffee shops around the Queen City that put an extra emphasis on wellness in their menu items that may put an extra pep in your step as we near the end of this long 4 months.
Khari’s Cafe
Located on the West Side of Buffalo, this café is the perfect one-stop shop for not just wellness ingredients, but also the wellness found in community. At Khari’s, you can find coffee, food (with a soon-to-be new menu), wellness juices, along with tinctures and elixirs from Bru Apothecary. In addition to its relaxed coffee-shop atmosphere, owner Kartika Carr or better known as “Tee,” has worked to make this a place for everyone to find community. From poetry readings and open mics to events that discuss pressing issues in our world today, it’s clear that Khari’s has become more than just a spot to grab coffee (although, it’s a great spot to do that too).
Khari’s takes “cafe” to a whole new level with its emphasis on serving the community in ways that affect all aspects of wellness including physical, mental and spiritual. Stop by Khari’s to find ingredients and more that will have you feeling your absolute best this season.
To stay up to date on events or view the menu visit khariscafe.com
128 Fargo Ave., Buffalo, NY 14201 | 716-305-3775
Hours: Mon-Fri: 8am-4pm, Sat-Sun: 10am-4pm
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Kornerstone Café
This café brings the breath of fresh air to these dreary days of winter that I’m sure you have been missing. With bright, colorful foods and drinks making up most of the menu, this spot will have you seeing all the colors of the rainbow even without the sunlight. Jamie Dinero, owner of Kornerstone Café, originally began her entrepreneurial endeavors in hospitality with coffee roasting, which has since turned into her first café located in East Aurora and expanded into her second brick-and-mortar at her Larkinville location.
“We really try to focus on pure nutrition and things with all natural ingredients. I’m really intent on sourcing the best ingredients and we try to get as local as we can with a lot of them. We have sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, a full juice bar and of course, a full coffee bar. I’ve always tried to be healthy myself and I’ve just seen with friends, family how impactful good nutrition can be for a person’s physical health as well as mental health so, when I started my café, it was definitely a non-negotiable that I was going to make it something that would be good for people who came in,” she stated.
This spot brings life back to days that seem all too black and white by using ingredients given by Mother Earth herself. With products that will have you recharged, Kornerstone may be your new favorite one-stop shop for freshness guaranteed.
To find out more about this café and to view its menu kornerstonecafe.com
East Aurora: 33 Elm St., East Aurora, NY 14052 | 716-687-8303
Hours: Mon-Fri: 6am-6pm, Sat: 7am-6pm, Sun: 8am-4pm
Larkinville: 701 Seneca St, Buffalo, NY 14210 | 716-322-0237
Hours: Mon-Fri: 7am – 2pm, Sat-Sun: Closed
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Life Itself
Life itself is changing the game when it comes to our morning brews, and truly kickstarting a phenomenon that puts the magic superpower of coffee to shame. This company specializes in harnessing the power of Chaga mushrooms into tea concentrates and syrups that can be used on their own or as a coffee enhancer. Chaga is known as “The King of Medicinal Mushrooms,” that is known to be adaptogenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and so much more. Owner and founder of Life Itself, Joshua Zimmerman shares,
“The teas we make from the Chaga are generally speaking very pain-relieving. They help to focus and clarify the mind to reduce brain fog. They help to relieve fatigue. They have 215 vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in them. So, it’s like a multivitamin in a cup, and that has an array of different functions in the body. In short, what that does is it naturally refuels the body with energy and then it gently thins the blood so that you can circulate your blood better, which lifts your energy once again. So, it’s all a natural mood booster, but also relieving the pain, clearing the fog of your mind, and allowing you to live a simpler and better lifestyle.”
With an intense foraging process (all of which is done by hand by the Life Itself team), this mushroom could really be considered the “diamond in the rough” when it comes to building back mental and physical wellness. While this company does not technically fall into the “café” or “coffee-shop” category, it can be found at a number of those local spaces, including at Kornerstone Café (specifically the East Aurora Location) who sell both the Life Itself chaga concentrate and have menu items with the tea. Another café featuring Life Itself is Public Espresso with two chaga tea mushroom lattes on the menu. Public Espresso also serves as the spot where the Life Itself production magic happens!
To learn more about chaga tea and the best place to get it visit thisislifeitself.com
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Let’s face it, we could all use a little revamping in our lives, that’s why the Project Best Life team has you covered on some of the best ways to do that! Don’t miss a beat by checking out these spots that will have you fueled for the brighter days ahead.
This series is sponsored by Project Best Life. Buffalo Rising and Project Best Life have teamed up to produce a series on wellness inspiration and advice to direct readers to the people, places, and experiences in Buffalo and beyond that will help them fulfill their health, nutrition, and wellness goals. For more information on how you can live your best life, subscribe to the Project Best Life newsletter.
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In tough times, our efforts to maintain fitness, healthy nutrition, and personal wellness can fall by the wayside as we direct all our energy into navigating our individual storm. Yet, in the face of what’s happening in the world around us, it is essential to make space for self-care and experiences that fortify our physical and mental wellbeing.
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