South Coast Prime Times Magazine, May/June 2016
Healing Stones
What would inspire a woman who holds a M.D. and a Ph.D. and is a Harvard-trained research scientist to give all that up for a totally different career?
- by Greg Jones
That was one of the first questions asked of Dr. Hannah Hershoff, who is the woman behind Sara Yo Spirit Jewels. It all began in 2013 with a phone call from a cousin of hers who had just returned from a trip to China, Dr. Hershoff’s homeland.
From a Strange Land
The cousin told her of the jewelry she found made from a mineral mined near Dr. Hershoff’s home village, located in the southeast region of China. Dr. Hershoff was familiar with the stones as her father was a manager of the mines where the mineral was extracted.
The crystals are mainly composed of kaolin, also known as “China clay.” Using a long treatment process involving water, fire, and wood in a kiln, you end up with a jewel that only becomes more beautiful as it is worn.
“I was familiar with the stones and knew they were beautiful, but I never thought I could make jewelry from them,” she said. She thought she might give it a try, just to have a few items she could give to members of her family.
“So I got a few pieces from the local area, made some jewelry, and then forgot about it until one day, my sister-in-law came to visit” said Dr. Hershoff.
“She was drawn to one of the items sitting on the kitchen counter.” Hershoff let her keep it.
“Then two weeks later she called up, asked what was in the jewelry. I asked her why she asked,” said. Dr. Hershoff. The woman explained that she had been feeling “really low in spirit,” but that she now felt empowered – felt she could overcome her problems.
“Three weeks later she started her own business,” said Dr. Hershoff. “She was really happy, so that made me feel like I could help. “
Healing and Success
Sara’s Stones began when Dr. Hershoff made a half-dozen bracelets and gave them to six women, whose ages ranged from 16 to 64. “After two or three months, to my surprise, six out of the six women told me how wonderfully the bracelets had changed their lives,” said Dr. Hershoff.
“The 16-year-old, she had huge problems in her life, she never thought she was pretty, even though she was a model, so we gave her jewelry,” said Dr. Hershoff. “After a month we interviewed her and she was feeling much better.”
That experience was, in essence, the beginning of Sara Yo Spirit Jewels. Dr. Hershoff left her well-established 25-year medical career and started to provide her healing stones to customers via her online store, www.myspiritjewel.com, out of her home in Tiverton.
“It’s not really the jewelry, it’s the mineral the jewelry is made from,” explained Dr. Hershoff. “I tried to find out just how it worked…I was trained at Harvard University, so with my scientific background I had to do some research on the mineral, finding out what compounds made people feel better.
“I couldn’t find what chemicals were in it,” she said, “but there was certainly something happening.”
Now, Dr. Hershoff and her husband, Randy, are the owners of Sara Yo Healing Fashions. Dr. Hershoff exhibits a line of more than 400 designs, and each stone is unique.
Dr. Hershoff also provides her customers with a complimentary “Five Element Healing Program,” based on Taoist philosophy that has been practiced in China for thousands of years.
From a Strange Land
The cousin told her of the jewelry she found made from a mineral mined near Dr. Hershoff’s home village, located in the southeast region of China. Dr. Hershoff was familiar with the stones as her father was a manager of the mines where the mineral was extracted.
The crystals are mainly composed of kaolin, also known as “China clay.” Using a long treatment process involving water, fire, and wood in a kiln, you end up with a jewel that only becomes more beautiful as it is worn.
“I was familiar with the stones and knew they were beautiful, but I never thought I could make jewelry from them,” she said. She thought she might give it a try, just to have a few items she could give to members of her family.
“So I got a few pieces from the local area, made some jewelry, and then forgot about it until one day, my sister-in-law came to visit” said Dr. Hershoff.
“She was drawn to one of the items sitting on the kitchen counter.” Hershoff let her keep it.
“Then two weeks later she called up, asked what was in the jewelry. I asked her why she asked,” said. Dr. Hershoff. The woman explained that she had been feeling “really low in spirit,” but that she now felt empowered – felt she could overcome her problems.
“Three weeks later she started her own business,” said Dr. Hershoff. “She was really happy, so that made me feel like I could help. “
Healing and Success
Sara’s Stones began when Dr. Hershoff made a half-dozen bracelets and gave them to six women, whose ages ranged from 16 to 64. “After two or three months, to my surprise, six out of the six women told me how wonderfully the bracelets had changed their lives,” said Dr. Hershoff.
“The 16-year-old, she had huge problems in her life, she never thought she was pretty, even though she was a model, so we gave her jewelry,” said Dr. Hershoff. “After a month we interviewed her and she was feeling much better.”
That experience was, in essence, the beginning of Sara Yo Spirit Jewels. Dr. Hershoff left her well-established 25-year medical career and started to provide her healing stones to customers via her online store, www.myspiritjewel.com, out of her home in Tiverton.
“It’s not really the jewelry, it’s the mineral the jewelry is made from,” explained Dr. Hershoff. “I tried to find out just how it worked…I was trained at Harvard University, so with my scientific background I had to do some research on the mineral, finding out what compounds made people feel better.
“I couldn’t find what chemicals were in it,” she said, “but there was certainly something happening.”
Now, Dr. Hershoff and her husband, Randy, are the owners of Sara Yo Healing Fashions. Dr. Hershoff exhibits a line of more than 400 designs, and each stone is unique.
Dr. Hershoff also provides her customers with a complimentary “Five Element Healing Program,” based on Taoist philosophy that has been practiced in China for thousands of years.