Exploring An Alternative Way To Healing Inside The Warmth Of The Nurtury

Don’t be surprised if your peek inside The Nurtury turns into an extended stay.

It’s hard to leave this modern apothecary where nature, science, spirituality and magic converge to offer healing and wellbeing. Whether you want to sleep better or lessen a gnawing pain, whether you want to reduce wrinkles or repel mosquitos, The Nurtury has a solution in the form of natural potions and wellness notions.

As an aside, it smells wonderful inside and before you know it, you’re relaxed without thinking about it.

Loree Powell, her youngest daughter, Alexis, and son, Sean, are behind the business at 6619 Main Street. Loree is a Pennsylvanian, but moved to Virginia in 1992 and Gloucester in 1999. Her interest in natural healing dates to her ancestry. One of her great-plus grandmothers was a Native American Susquehannock medicine woman. When her tribe was massacred, she sought refuge with a German settlement and married a physician.

“They were kind of like the first integrated medicine pair,” Powell says.

Both of her parents were ill much of the time, and Powell spent an inordinate amount of time in hospital waiting rooms.

“I think, even as a child, I somehow thought there was a better way,” she says.

Powell raised her family of five in a natural way. When her mother passed from dementia, she used the inheritance to open the Main Street shop.

“The Nutury is a culmination of my whole life experience and education,” she says. “I am continuously adding to it.”

Powell holds certifications in HeartMath, Personal Reinvention and she and Alexis are certified hypnotherapists with past life regression specializations. Additionally, Alexis does Tarot and dream analysis and Sean reads Runes.

The emphasis on wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic added to her customer base, which includes many longtime customers. The shoppe contains an almost overwhelming offering of natural wellness options from herbs and lotions to tinctures and essential oils well beyond lavender. Additionally, three tables are devoted to particularly persistent problems. One is for stress issues, such as anxiety, depression and sleep; another is for pain and inflammation, and the third focuses on hormonal-related issues for men and women. Each offers many options from topical balms and oils to drops you can add to water and teas, or powdered formulations that can be added to food or smoothies. What’s most effective depends on body chemistry, but even more, what a customer will actually use.

“If you’re not going to make tea, then don’t get tea,” Powell says.

The center of the store features multiple tables with stones and crystals. All boast their own healing abilities for mind, body and soul. Rose quartz is all about love; amethyst is purifying – it takes the negative and turns it into positive. Mexican opal delivers motivation and energy. A Super Seven Crystal Slab can induce a chakra cleanse and emotional detox. Many of the stones are dug or procured by the Powells themselves.

The stones and crystals have scientific base. “Everything has an energetic value. We are energy,” Powell says. “If we’re lacking something in our energy field, it makes sense that you can get a crystal that can help you fill that hole with its energy.”

A comfy seating area in the rear of the store encourages visitors to linger for as long as they’d like. Thumb through a book or take one home from the lending library. A chess set encourages a game. When the pandemic passes, classes will return.

If you’re a doubter, Powell isn’t looking to convince you of anything. It’s pleasant to browse in the shoppe; neither Powell nor her children pushes products, but they are happy to answer questions and make recommendations. She knows there are doubters, noting, “You can’t teach somebody something if they’re unwilling to learn. We offer our explanations.”

The Nutury is also a zero-waste facility and conscious about the footprint disposables leave behind. They offer discounted refills for returning bottles, and will take back any packaging that a customer gets from their shoppe. They also support 4ocean, which pulls a pound of plastic from the ocean for each product sold. Their selection of bracelets and reusable bottles was recently restocked.

Powell touts the Main Street Preservation Trust and Main Street Association for helping the business owners weather the pandemic. She says, “We are also infinitely grateful for the support of this and surrounding communities so that we remain on Main Street.”

The Nurtury is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays and closed Sundays. Call (804) 695-4417 for information.