Dear Visitor,

This brand I have been trying to manifest since I was 23. It’s been a path of re-membering. The skills of plant knowledge, herbalism, formulating, design all came quite easily to me. And the exposure and visualisation as a business owner felt familiar to me and very achievable. As I kept tinkering, partnering, and creating ways I could offer plants to people as a means to connect to themselves, I wasn’t able to connect the final dots- also known as ‘the right time’.

And only now, in my 20-20 hindsight vision, I see that there was a large void in my work and connection between plants and people regarding healing. I kept attributing the power to the person and I kept associating the wisdom to the plants. I was missing the largest most incredibly beautiful piece of it all- our creator. Allah (swt), our divine source, so graciously and openly tells us that he has provided us everything to us to heal ourselves and to be well on this earth, with a cure for just about everything except death. In my journey back to Allah, I see that I was being guided to build skills with creative pursuits, foster connections with plants, find confidence in my abilities in order to connect people to plants with Allah-Consciousness, taqwa, through Nia.

Nia means intention in Arabic, the basis I believe to all healing pursuits and the truth that lives in our hearts. True intention is something that only we and Allah have access to. No one else can hear that deep in your heart, and often times we can’t even access our own heart due to our blocks. Nia is also the name of my first child, my daughter who now exists in the everlasting garden in Jannah after spending a brief 8 month lifetime here on earth. Nia was my first best friend. She was so cunningly true to her wits and so incredibly present when she was intentionally engaged with. She continues to share powerful lessons with me on honouring my energy and setting boundries but always with respect and care.

When I want to feel closer to Nia, I visit a garden. Sometimes a wildflower field, and sometimes and botanic garden. And everytime I walk through the garden, I feel alive with pure energy receiving a message that I can only understand as- share plants with people. Show them how plants can help them connect to themselves and how a person holds all their answers in their heart.

I’m inspired by the land I was born on and the land Nia rests in, Malawi. Malawi is also known as The Warm Heart of Africa. Through Nia, I will try my best to connect artisans and farmers to a global market with direct trade and Nia Botanica’s CSR donations will be sent to female farmer groups working on watershed resilience in rural communities. (See our Hibiscus Tea- we directly source from women in Dedza, Malawi who are implementing permaculture planting methods to protect from soil erosion and flooding!).

Life and death are our truths. I invite you to truly connect to yourself and your purpose. We are told our life here on this earth is a test, but we are also given the magnificent diversity and beauty in nature to remind ourselves of our divine connection. If you are feeling lost or confused or uncertain, I invite you to step outside into a natural space, exhale and inhale intentionally, choose a plant ot focus on, soften the gaze, and just observe at all that it has to offer. Take in its colour, texture, movement. How did it get here? How does it continue to be? How is it helping its fellow ecosystem? Subhanallah there are a million and one examples of the true wisdom and magnificence of Allah’s creations, and plants are such a clear and clean way to have that truth resonate within.

Your support helps me work everyday with Nia. Your support helps me say her name everyday. Your support helps me feel purpose in my ever-quivering heart. Your support helps us give back to the land she called home. And I pray that Nia has something beneficial to offer back to you and your heart, inshallah.

With love and consistent commitment to well-being,

- Mahin