New business offering herbal medicines, eco-friendly products

SALUDA — Since opening the doors to her studio this past spring, Saluda’s Laura Polanco has helped keep her neighbors fit through yoga lessons and their attentions mesmerized through her artwork.

Now, she is focusing her attention on keeping visitors to her shop healthy, through a selection of herbal medicines and other naturally made products.

Polanco recently launched her new business, Herbal Remedies, located inside her Art of Yoga studio at 19 Pearson Falls Road, Saluda, and is celebrating a monthlong grand opening event, offering discounts on select products. The business owner is selling a number of herbal medicines — designed to help customers with everything from chronic pain to insomnia — made from all-natural ingredients.

Polanco, a certified herbalist, also offers customers on-site consultations to help them determine which products will fit best for their particular health concerns, considering factors such as body type, age, etc. The shop also offers environmentally conscious products, such as natural soaps and shampoos and biodegradable toothbrushes.

For the Saluda woman, Herbal Remedies represents the next step of her lifelong journey of health and fitness, she said.

A native of Colorado, Polanco has worked in the field for more than 40 years, as a personal trainer, yoga instructor and other similar roles, she said. When she and her sister moved to the area around eight months ago, she decided to open her own studio, where she could not only show off her paintings but could also share her knowledge of yoga with her new hometown.

“It’s something I’ve done my whole life, helping people to be healthy and happy,” Polanco said. “So I’m still doing it here, too.”

She has been interested in alternative healing practices for decades, she said. In comparison to contemporary Western medicine, which relies heavily on chemically based medication, alternative medicine focuses on natural solutions to problems that treat the root causes of problems instead of just symptoms, Polanco said.

“It’s more like a lifestyle,” said. “It’s learning how to incorporate herbal medicines into your life instead of just trying to put a quick Band-Aid on your problems.”

Initially starting the apothecary off with a small selection of products, Polanco has slowly grown her inventory — which has increased along with her number of customers, she said.

The business is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and will be open late this Friday, from 6-8 p.m. In addition to purchasing products during normal store hours, customers can request items for delivery.

Those interested in learning more may call 803-627-5293.