My name is Maharig Edna, founder of the Medna brands and co-founder of Medna.Shop. I am a nutritional consultant, Master Herbalist, doctorate student of Holistic Health, holistic enterprise enthusiast, keen soap maker and formulator of herbal remedies.
My journey into holistic health and living began long before the establishment of Medna.Shop. It developed through my professional experiences, my personal health journey, my studies and, most importantly, my growing curiosity about how the different parts of our lives influence our health and wellbeing.
Where My Journey Began
I spent time working within the pharmaceutical industry, where I gained experience in the operational and strategic side of pharmaceutical projects. It gave me an understanding of how the pharmaceutical world works and the importance of research, development and evidence. At the same time, I became increasingly interested in prevention, nutrition, plants and traditional healing methods, and in what we can do to support our health before problems become overwhelming.
My five years working in the UK as a personal care assistant to elderly and disabled people gave me another perspective. Some of the people I cared for became among my first practical learning experiences. I saw the realities of ageing, disability, chronic conditions and long term medication, but I also learned how important everyday care, environment and quality of life are to a person's wellbeing.
One experience that stayed with me was seeing medical grade Manuka honey used in wound management. I found it fascinating that something derived from nature could have a place in clinical care because of its particular properties. It made me want to learn more about plants and holistic formulations, not simply because they were natural, but because I wanted to understand their properties, their potential, how traditional knowledge could inform their use, and what modern research could tell us about them.
That curiosity led me deeper into the study of plants, nutrients, herbal remedies and holistic healing modalities. Plants, botanicals and oils, especially essential oils, became a particular passion of mine. I was fascinated by their complex natural compounds, their traditional uses and the possibilities they offered for holistic formulations.
I wanted to understand plants more deeply, from their constituents and extraction methods to their properties and how they could be used in thoughtful formulations. This became an important part of my work as a Master Herbalist and formulator.
Then my own health journey made this work much more personal.
What Holistic Health Means to Me
There was a period when I was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. I was under enormous stress, my anxiety had gone through the roof, my digestive and nervous systems felt chaotic and my skin was screaming for help. I had reached a point where I knew I needed to look at my health differently and change the way I was living and caring for myself.
I began studying more deeply and dedicated a great deal of time to nutrition, plant remedies, holistic lifestyle choices and selected case studies. The more I learned, the more I understood one of the fundamental principles of holistic health: the body, mind and spirit are interconnected, and wellbeing cannot be understood by looking at one part of us in isolation. What affects our mental and emotional state can affect the body, just as nutrition, digestion, stress, environment and lifestyle can influence how we feel and function.
I began applying this understanding to my own life, paying closer attention to my nutrition, digestion, stress, rest, lifestyle and the plant based approaches I was studying. It took me around six months to feel that I had restored my balance. Gradually, I felt stronger and more focused. My anxiety eased, my mood improved, I regained my motivation and my skin began to glow.
This experience made holistic health much more than something I was studying. I was experiencing for myself how closely our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing are connected. This is what a holistic approach means to me: understanding the whole person and supporting balance between body, mind and spirit.
At the heart of my approach is a principle I consider essential: Primum non nocere, meaning “First, do no harm.” To me, this means that natural does not automatically mean safe, and that responsible holistic health should never ignore evidence, risks or appropriate medical care. My background has taught me to value research and to look critically at both conventional and natural approaches.
When working with plants, nutrients, essential oils or other natural materials, I believe we have a responsibility to understand their properties, appropriate uses, limitations and potential risks.
For me, holistic health is about nourishment, prevention, responsible personal care, our environment, the plants and ingredients we use, and becoming more conscious of the choices we make every day. It is about caring for the whole person while respecting the complexity and interconnectedness of the body, mind and spirit.
How My Journey Became Medna.Shop
My relationship with natural living has also been shaped by the environments in which I have lived. I spent seven years living by the Atlantic Ocean, another five next to the Mediterranean Sea, and I now live right beside woodland, surrounded by mountains and fields. Being so closely connected to the sea, forests and open landscapes has given me a deeper appreciation for nature and has naturally influenced the way I think about health, the environment and personal care.
Over time, avoiding unnecessarily harsh chemicals and conventional cleaning products became a natural part of my lifestyle. I became increasingly conscious of what I used in my home and how my internal and external environment could affect my wellbeing.
My passion for plants, oils and especially essential oils naturally extended into soap making and formulation. I became fascinated by working with botanical ingredients, different oils, essential oils and sustainable ingredients, and by understanding how they could be combined into practical personal care, health and beauty formulations.
This naturally led to the development of the Medna Hygiene and Medna Skincare collections.
For me, hygiene and skincare are not separate from holistic health. They are part of everyday living. What we eat matters. What we put on our skin matters. What we use in our homes matters. How we manage stress matters. How we care for our digestive and nervous systems matters.
In 2014, I established the Medna Holistic brand and began offering plant based formulations. By then, my passion for health foods, healing plants, herbal remedies, nutrients and natural formulations had developed into something I wanted to share with others.
Medna grew from there. My herbal remedies came from my studies and passion for plants. My interest in nutrition came from my belief in prevention and supporting the foundations of health. The hygiene range came from my own approach to the products I use in my environment. The skincare collection grew from my love of oils, essential oils, soap making and formulation.
Eventually, these different parts of my life came together under Medna.Shop.
Today, Medna.Shop brings together my interests in nutrition, herbal remedies, plants, essential oils, hygiene, skincare and formulation. It is a place where I can share the products I formulate, the knowledge I continue to develop and the approach to natural living that has become such an important part of my life.
I am still studying. I am still learning. I am still researching and formulating. I don't believe the learning ever really stops, especially when it comes to plants, nutrition and the complexity of the human body.
My goal is to continue developing thoughtful formulations and to share what I learn with people who want to take a more conscious approach to their health, personal care and everyday living.
For me, holistic living is not about searching for one perfect remedy. It is about looking at the whole picture and understanding that the choices we make every day can become part of how we care for ourselves.
That is the philosophy behind Medna.Shop, and it is the approach to health and living that continues to shape my journey.
This is my journey, and Medna.Shop is where I bring that journey to life.