Kanna: The Power of Plants for Conscious Evolution

I recently had the pleasure of talking with and meeting Stephanie Wang, the founder and CEO of KA! Empathogenics, who has dedicated her life to helping people achieve full-spectrum wellness and aliveness. Through her journey from finance to plant medicine and psychedelics, she discovered the power of Kanna, a natural serotonin reuptake inhibitor and serotonin-releasing agent, which can calm and uplift individuals simultaneously.

In a recent interview with the Mindfulness Experience podcast, Wang shared her expertise on the power of plants for conscious evolution and her session at the Wonderland Miami 2023 Conference. KA! is an empathogenic company focused on promoting the power of plants for wellness and offers a unique perspective on the traditional use of Kanna by the Khoikhoi and San people of Southern Africa.

Kanna has been used for centuries by indigenous people for its calming and uplifting effects. It is a plant with small succulent leaves and flowers that grows in the dry regions of South Africa. The plant has a long history of traditional use, including ceremonial and medicinal purposes. Current research suggests that Kanna may work by inhibiting serotonin reuptake, similar in mechanism to modern SSRIs, while also releasing serotonin, producing a distinctive calm-and-uplift effect that distinguishes it from other plant medicines.

From Finance to Plant Medicine

Stephanie Wang's journey is a compelling example of how the pursuit of meaning can redirect a life entirely. Having built a career in finance, she found herself drawn toward questions of wellness, consciousness, and human potential that her profession couldn't answer. Her encounter with Kanna and the broader plant medicine landscape led her to found KA! Empathogenics, a company dedicated to making the wisdom of plant-based empathogenics accessible for modern wellness.

The emerging science around Kanna supports what indigenous traditions have long known: that plants carry intelligence, and that conscious engagement with them can facilitate genuine shifts in mood, perception, and relational capacity. For those on a path of healing or expansion, Kanna offers a gentler entry point, one that doesn't require the intensity of a full psychedelic experience but still opens the door to greater aliveness.