There is something softly enigmatic about the way some plants get inside our sense of time and feeling. Some welcome relaxation, some intensify concentration, and others soften the boundaries of existence just enough to slow down, enrich, or vitalize moments. Kanna also known as Sceletium tortuosum belongs to this latter category. While it’s not psychedelic in the traditional sense, many users describe subtle experiences that feel almost dreamlike. Among these are sensations of nostalgia, emotional softness, and a peculiar bending of time moments that seem to stretch, repeat, or shimmer with the past still lingering in the present.

Kanna is a tiny succulent plant from South Africa, which was traditionally fermented and chewed by the people of the Khoisan culture. Today, it's seen a quiet rise in popularity with people seeking out natural relaxation or wanting to experience a deeper alignment with the emotional world. Kanna, nowadays, is sold under a variety of guises, ranging from the raw powder and extracts, through to tinctures available at places like Healing Herbals, which stocks carefully selected kanna products. What gives kanna a distinct edge isn't a potency, but a subtlety. Rather than hitting the senses hard, it soothers them, often reshaping awareness of the emotions in ways that prove difficult to put into words.

Those who’ve explored kanna often describe a strange tenderness toward their memories. It’s not quite a flashback, and not exactly a hallucination, more like a scene from long ago becoming unusually vivid, as if memory and emotion have been freshly painted. You might find yourself gazing at an old photograph and feeling the warmth of that day more sharply than usual. Others mention that time itself feels fluid under its influence, like the minutes between breaths expanding or collapsing without warning. A song might feel as though it lasts forever, yet when it ends, you realize only a few moments have passed.

These effects are generally attributed to the ways Kanna engages the brain's filters of emotion. Although the science is yet rudimentary, researchers mention that kanna alkaloids such as mesembrine and mesembrenone work on the serotonin system, the same mechanism participating in mood and consciousness. As serotonin activity changes, so might our experience of presence. The payoff isn't a warping of time at the physical level, but a heightening of attention. Time slows down, seeming paradoxically more relative, because you are more aware of every passing second.

Incidentally, this effect does not occur at random. Most people have told us that nostalgia or time distortion sets in when kanna is experienced in a calm setting perhaps at twilight, with gentle music, or during silent contemplation. The distracted-free mind focuses inward. Inward, within the silent stillness, memories tend to emerge, not on a thought plane but on the plane of living experience. The past does not merely arrive at our memory, it seems to come for a little visit.
What’s striking is that these experiences are rarely overwhelming. They’re delicate, almost poetic. Kanna seems to soften emotional edges rather than sharpen them. You may feel a gentle pull toward what’s meaningful: a memory, a person, a long-forgotten dream, and a new sense of appreciation for the passage of time itself. It’s as if  Kanna helps reveal the emotional fingerprints left on our memories.

Naturally, such experiences differ between individuals. Not all users will find themselves nostalgic or experience a distortion of time, and there is no scientific evidence that links the herb directly to either effect. Nevertheless, the thread of user reportage is that kanna promotes a condition of introspection, a subjective openness in which time and emotion intermingle at intriguing, subtle levels.

If you want to experience this for yourself, then the best way is subtle yet conscious. Start with a little, keep the environment quiet, and give your attention space to wander. You might find that kanna's magic isn't necessarily a power, but the fact that it lets you notice the subtle beauty of your own inner world, the way memories, time, and experience merge into something timeless.
For those interested in such profound reflection, natural kanna is provided at Healing Herbals. If seeking a moment of calm or simply looking towards discovering how emotion interconnects with perception, then the kanna encourages you to breathe deeply, slow down, and connect again with the gentle rhythms of time within.

LEARN MORE ABOUT KANNA HERE:

Kanna + Chocolate = Euphoria and Energy in Every Bite

Kanna’s Secret Power: A New Lens On Music, Art & Social Energy

Boost Energy and Memory Naturally with Kanna