Why Do We Call It Anchor?

It is something people ask us more than you would expect. They hold the inhaler, look at the name, and say, "Anchor? Does it mean like on a ship?"

Yes, exactly like on a ship.

Wellness products always get such nice and poetic names as Calm, Bliss, Serenity, words one could use in describing the spa's menu. However, we did the opposite of it; we gave our product one of the least poetic and light names of all time – Anchor, which is an image of a heavy object lying deep in the muddy depths of the ocean.

We did it on purpose. This name was not chosen because it sounds nice. It was chosen because it reflects what this inhaler is supposed to do to its owner. To clarify this point we have to start with the ship.

What an anchor actually does

It is easy enough to look up in a dictionary. An anchor is a massive metallic instrument that is attached by means of a chain to a boat or a ship, dropped into the water and holds it against any movement.

Now think about what the definition fails to mention. An anchor is not responsible for any calming of the water. It does not turn the wind off or calm down the waves in any way. The ocean keeps doing what the ocean wants to do. The vessel is rocking. When the tide changes, it continues to swing left and right.

What is different is that the vessel remains stationary where it should remain.

And that is all it does. It gives the vessel something to hold steady in the world where everything else is constantly changing. This is the part that most people fail to see: the vessel needs it even on a calm day. Drift never comes in a grand fashion. On a calm day, when there is no anchor, the vessel will drift several meters every now and then until the crew notices that the shore has moved.

We drift too

Now think about an ordinary Tuesday.

Your alarm goes off and you grab your phone even before your feet hit the floor. There are forty unanswered messages. You might not even get to have breakfast, and if you do, it will be done while standing up. Then it is calls, traffic, and deadlines and something that someone said that keeps playing in your mind. By the afternoon your shoulders are touching your ears, and you can't remember when you last breathed.

No disaster struck. It did not storm. All you did was drift.

That's how it works for most of us. We don't suddenly become off-balance. We do so in small ways - each one too small to matter until we realize we have come a long way from where we were that morning. Our bodies feel it first. A clenched jaw. A foot bouncing underneath the desk. A mind that cannot turn off while the rest of us beg for sleep.

This image came up again and again as we developed this product. People don't need the ocean to pause. They need an anchor to hold on to while it moves.

So we made something to hold on to

ANCHOR is an Ayurvedic inhaler for the nose, so small it will fit easily into your pocket or a little corner of your handbag. There is no need to charge, prepare, or ingest ANCHOR. Simply open it up, bring it up to your nose, and inhale deeply.

This is its only ritual. It will take you a matter of seconds, and no one else will need to know.

The idea behind ANCHOR is just like the idea behind the name itself. An anchor on a ship grounds the boat so it doesn't get moved by whatever currents want to carry it. ANCHOR was designed with this in mind to ground the body. On days when you feel like the currents are pulling you away, it provides a single grounding element. A breath. An aromatic element. A few seconds without reactions.

Like the anchor, ANCHOR does not struggle against the ocean. Emails will still be in your inbox. Traffic will remain on the streets. All it provides is grounding within that, so the waves swirl around you instead of moving you.

Why an inhaler? Because breath is the chain

Without the chain that ties an anchor to the boat, there is no use for the anchor. The chain is the breath for us.

Breath is the one and only thing that you carry around with you all the time and that doesn't require you to plan ahead. Another unique aspect of breathing is that it is one of the few bodily functions that you can consciously control. Though your heartbeat can't be deliberately slowed down, you can consciously take a single slow breath and it will affect other parts of your body as well. It has been known since times immemorial.

The sense of smell provides us with a second connection. Smell is well known for its direct pathway to memories and emotions. Take a sniff of rain falling on parched earth and you are transported back to age eight as you stand on the verandah of your grandmother's house. Once you combine a long inhale with the same smell each time, your body gets used to it.

Choosing a container for our inhaler, then, had nothing to do with packaging. It is the fastest method that we have to create space within the chaos of the moment.

When to drop anchor

Sailors do not wait for a storm to drop anchor. They do it whenever the ship needs to stay put. The same goes here. A few moments where it fits naturally:

• Before attending a major conference or presentation, especially if the mind is racing ahead.

• Traffic situation where the honking of the vehicle behind has continued for a whole minute.

• When you have spent many hours looking at the screen, and your eyes and mind are both exhausted.

• When traveling, airports, queues, and delays tend to frustrate one.

• When all is said and done, you want to leave your job behind and actually be home.

Notice that none of these are crises. These are all regular instances, and that is the entire idea. Balance is created in small intervals practiced frequently, not in one big act once a year. Carry it close by, on your desk, in your briefcase, by your bedside, and use it like a sailor uses an anchor: quietly, whenever you have to maintain your position.

What the name does not promise

We want to be honest about this, because the metaphor cuts both ways. An anchor holds a ship steady. It does not sail the ship, repair the hull or plan the route. Those jobs still belong to the crew.

ANCHOR is the same. It is an AYUSH-licensed Ayurvedic inhaler, made to support a moment of calm and balance in your day. It is not a cure for anything, and it does not replace sleep, food, movement or a conversation with your doctor when you need one. If you want to know exactly what goes into it, the full ingredient list is on our website at www.varaeindia.com

We would rather promise one thing and mean it. Steadiness, when you reach for it.

A name you can hold

So that is why we call it ANCHOR.

It does sound strong, and we like that. But we chose it because every one of us is a small ship on a very busy sea, and we all deserve one thing that keeps us from being carried away. An anchor is not exciting. It is reliable. It sits quietly until it is needed and then it does its one job well. That is the kind of product we set out to make, and the kind of brand we want VARAÉ to be.

Our line is three words long: Breathe. Balance. Belong. The name ANCHOR is how those words become something you can hold in your hand. Breathe in. Find your balance. Come back to where you belong.

The sea is not going to get any quieter. You do not have to drift with it. Just drop anchor.