SAN DIEGO PREMIER HOLISTIC HEALTH DESTINATION

OUR STORY

In September 2012, after years as a community leader and entrepreneur had taken its toll, Saffron & Sage founder Cristin Smith searched for a season of rest and a break from the constant activity which she’d grown accustomed—and she found it in Mexico. During her time of restoration on sabbatical, a friend noticed a lump on Cristin’s neck that was later confirmed to be four tumors rapidly growing in her neck and thyroid. Her doctors both in Mexico and the United States suggested the typical slew of surgeries and medications. Instead, she chose to explore more natural options and began a journey towards wellness of the mind, body and spirit.

Cristin began meeting with a Naturopath who was the first practitioner to provide answers for the sudden emergence of these growing masses. Her diet radically changed and she had her amalgam fillings removed—detoxification, clean eating and colon hydrotherapy became part of her normal routine. She began practicing yoga and incorporating acupuncture. Homeopathic tinctures, essential oils and Chinese herbs were all used in her efforts to heal holistically. Going beyond treating the physical manifestation of illness, these efforts were getting the root of thoughts, traumas and toxicity.
 
An idea was being formed in her mind, and she wondered why resources on integrated or holistic wellness weren’t organized in one central place where they could be accessible to those with similar experiences. Over the course of a year Cristin had formed a multi-disciplinary team of practitioners, from Los Angeles to Tijuana that consisted of two Medical Doctors (one with a background in Chinese Herbology and the other in Homeopathy), Naturopath, Nutritionist, Colon Hydrotherapist, Massage Therapist, Yoga Instructor and Chiropractor. These practitioners, along with her Therapist and Spiritual Director, whom she had been journeying with for years prior, understood something that the prevailing healthcare system did not. They understood that Cristin was an integrated human being, with a heart, soul, body and mind. They listened to her story in addition to her symptoms. They are highly educated in their respective fields, rooted in scientific understanding, yet they incorporated and treated Cristin with the wisdom from ancient traditions like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

It wasn’t long before Cristin’s friends, family and community began to notice the positive changes in Cristin—physically, emotionally, spiritually. These observations lead to questions. Questions about the practices and products Cristin was using and the practitioners and places Cristin was visiting. This was the beginning. Cristin began connecting and referring friends and neighbors to these precious resources that she had researched and curated in her own struggle to heal holistically. These referrals and recommendations eventually took the form of classes, workshops and retreats where Saffron & Sage created multi-sensory experiential events. Therapeutic spaces to learn, grow and heal. A space to connect with local practitioners as well as community members on the same journey towards health and healing.
 
These events grew from her hometown in Riverside, CA, progressed some miles west to Los Angeles, CA, eventually made their way down to San Diego, CA and circled back to where her journey began in Tijuana, BC.
 

 
Today, Saffron & Sage connects communities to consciously curated wellness resources: practitioners, places, practices and products. We do this through creating therapeutic healing spaces, from our daily social media contributions to our weekly blog offerings. Our teachings become tangible through our multi-sensory experiential events held in Southern and Baja California as well as in our bio-individualistic in-home and on-location holistic healthcare services offered in San Diego. All of which will soon be available under one roof in San Diego with the opening of Saffron & Sage's first Urban Studio & Spa.
 
Saffron & Sage is a lifestyle brand that dreams of seeing humanity live therapeutically and sustainably. Our mission is to create therapeutic and healing spaces for those who, like Cristin, are looking for another way. A path that brings together community, hospitality and vulnerability. A path that invites us to journey inward and move beyond cultural norms and health trends. Saffron & Sage wants to meet you where you are on your journey. We want to companion you towards wellness—towards wholeness.

 SAFFRON & SAGE CORE VALUES

ETYMOLOGY

We dream of a world where humanity lives therapeutically and sustainably.

We contribute to the fulfillment of this dream by creating multi-sensory educational spaces where we connect communities with consciously curated practitioners, places, practices, and products.

Together we are Saffron & Sage. 

We are founded on the belief that every human life is valuable, more precious than gold. We believe that every person possesses the capacity for resilience and that the environment in which we call home, can in fact be renewed. We believe that, even though we are surrounded by disease and darkness, light can, and will, make its passage through.

Our vision for transformation is embodied by ‘saffron’ inspired by the saffron colored robes worn by Buddhist monks during The Saffron Revolution when the monks took to the streets in protest burning themselves alive against injustice. Saffron continues to remind us that the quest for justice comes through sacrifice. A representation of both pain and passion, absorbing trauma and releasing compassion, we are invited to let go of that which binds us and holds us back. Sage with it's beautiful green color is representative of nature and our habitat. It symbolizes growth and regeneration, bringing forth balance and harmony to our lives.

Sage, ‘Sophos’ in the Greek, is an ancient symbol for wisdom, used to describe a person of profound wisdom who offers guidance. The Sage serves to remind others of who they are and encourages them on their journey of becoming more fully themselves.

We concur with the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, who writes, "Ruin is the road to transformation," and activist Dr. King who taught that, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that."  We hold true to the claim found in an ancient holy text that, "Beauty will rise from the ashes."

Here at Saffron & Sage, we believe that it is possible to alter our course and begin a new journey; a pilgrimage that is also the destination, a therapeutic and sustainable life.