Plant Cunning

Sometimes I find myself just looking at the plants in the garden.  I look up at the trees.  I notice a blade of grass, its shape, its sharpness and its bright green leaves. 

I see and then I see more deeply.  

When I first started studying herbalism, I would look at the plants to identify them or I would wonder if there was anything medicinal about this or that plant.  What I didn’t realize was the plants were studying me also.  And that as I breathed, the plants received my breath.  And as the plants breathed, I received their breath.  This communication guided me deeper into the invisible world of the plants.  

I realize that I was open to it, even though I didn’t know it.  I didn’t feel like I knew anything about utilizing medicinal herbs and I felt vulnerable and inadequate a lot of the time.  Because of this openness to my not being very good at remembering, herbal actions or botanical names or what this plant did or that plant did, I was being prepared for my journey to become a shamanic herbalist.  

When I learned to listen to the plants and what they had for me, I became confident and skillful.  

I have been doing this for almost twenty years now.  I have been listening, breathing and being present with the plants.  

What I have discovered from doing this and teaching it, is that it doesn’t matter whether you know anything about the medicinal qualities of the plant to receive wisdom and healing.  You can listen to a plant and hear a message of wisdom.  You can harvest that plant and make an herbal preparation.  You can utilize that herbal preparation on your food, as infusion, as tincture, in honey…..and what the plant had for you will be received by you.  

This is called plant cunning.  This is the very old way of being intimate with the plants.  This is the way of exchanging energy with the plants.  It isn’t medicinal.  

Plant cunning is a way to contact the whole plant as a wisdom teacher and dance with it, sing with it, be present with it.  

What you discover in working in this way with a plant, is that you become expansive and connected into the invisible worlds around you.  You begin to experience a more expansive realm of presence.  

This isn’t a fancy method.  This you can do it with a blade of grass.  You can do it with your kale plants.  

There is a vast amount of wisdom that the plants are holding.  They want us to connect with them and receive it.  They are waiting.  

Plant Cunning Exercise: 

• Go outside and find a plant to which you are drawn.
• Notice your breath. 
• Breathe seven breaths, breathing in the breath of the plant you have chosen and breathing out offering your breath. 
• Ask the plant, “What have you for me?”  
• Listen.  
• Offer gratitude.  

May it be in Beauty.  

Transformation of a Garden and Hugel Bed Creation

Hugel Bed: First we added fir cones and bark. 

I have written about my garden transformation many times.  It continues still.  Yesterday, one of my apprentice graduate brought her apprentices to my farm and my garden to build another hugel bed.  

It began when we first moved here.  The very first year of my garden, it was completely cultivated.  So many vegetables, flowers and herbs.  It was magnificent.  

And then I began to teach my classes in shamanic herbalism here and offer apprenticeships for women.  My time to garden became less as I began to teach more.  

The first couple of years I still cultivated quite a bit and I started noticing that I liked the grasses that were growing in the garden, I like the weeds a lot.  I became somewhat enamored of the Canadian thistle.  And I also felt guilt and shame around not having garden that looked like it was supposed to.  

Hugel Bed: Next we added apple sticks. 

I would make excuses when people would come to my garden about why there were weeds and grasses where beautiful groomed plants should be. One person even made a comment about how my garden wasn't what she expected.  It became a source of anxiety for me to love the wild plants, the umkempness of the garden and the thoughts that ran through my mind that I should just get it together and have a groomed garden.  

A few things led me to a new way with this.  I teach shamanic herbalism which has a lot to do with the invisible space where you can here the plants speaking to you.  My practice was getting deeper and deeper as I communicated more and more with the wild plants.  I had learned practices at a yearly gathering called, The Fairy Congress about communicating with the elementals, the fairies and other beings that did their magical work on the land. The last time I attended this conference, I ended up sitting next to and conversing with a number of different bee keepers about their practices.  

I had hired a work exchange student to help me in the garden.  I was beginning to have strong feelings that I didn't want to disturb the micro-ecosystem that lived in the soil.  She

Hugel Bed: Then we added goat manure
compost. 

 wasn't really on board with me about this and then she quit.  I had a physical challenge at that time and so I really needed the help.  I was in shock for a few days since it was June and the time was ripe to really do some gardening.  

I could have freaked out about this but instead I had this bright idea to let the garden go wild.  I called it rewilding.  I didn't pull weeds, I didn't plant seeds.  I just let it go.  I wasn't sure what I was doing. I wondered what would happen.  

What happened is that I began to also let go of the guilt and shame and anxiety that I had about making it perfect.  And what else happened is that I began to communicate with the being that inhabited the garden.  I had always loved the insects, the bees and the ladybugs and the beetles.  I had grown to like the wasps, telling them they could stay in the garden if they didn't bother me.  But then after returning from the Fairy Congress and allowing the garden to rest in its natural form, I noticed the insects were communicating with me.  I learned that they are messengers and that they were coming around to tell me things.  

I rewilded the garden for over two years....letting it do its own thing. 

Hugel Bed: And then we added plant compost.
All these things we used to create the hugel bed
were from our land.

And then I was introduced to a man, Masanobu Fukuoka and his book, The One Straw Revolution.  In this book he talks about his transformation from being a scientist studying disease in rice, to a farmer who practiced natural farming.  He said most people talk about doing this and doing that....he said what about not doing this and not doing that.  I found his writing to reflect a Taoist perspective.  What he was talking about in his book was what I was yearning to do, and I was doing it.  

That was last year.  And then a friend sent me information about hugel kultur a type of permaculture gardening.  And I was excited.  I was going to do this.  And I did this with the help of a very inspiring young woman, Sophie Geist.   

We just built our eighth hugel bed in the garden.   The other thing I am doing or not doing is weeding big patches of grass out of the garden like I have done for years.  We are cutting the grass and cutting some of the buttercup and disturbing the soil ecosystem as little as possible.  

The Hugel Bed is complete.

The is a beginning for me. 

Right now when I go out in my garden, there is this little “field” of buttercup with the horsetail male flowers emerging from it.  There is swamp grass and amongst it is comfrey, marshmallow and elecampane, some mustard and motherwort.  There is a lovely pie cherry tree with red tulip blooming below it that are naturalizing and spreading.  There is a wild rose that showed up a few years back and near it is a native crone wort plant.  

I love my wild garden.  I can breathe in it.  It makes me happy like when I was a child in the little grassy vacant lot near my home.  

May it be in Beauty.  

Beating Exam Stress!

This is dedicated to all my students taking exams this summer!

It’s nearly Exam Time and the next couple of months are a busy, stressful and sometimes overwhelming time for students. With children as young as 15 complaining of headaches, insomnia, nausea and anxiety, it can be equally worrying for parents trying to help their children to manage such uncharted waters.

Over the years, I have been using gentle and supportive herbal remedies to help young people manage stress. These include simple herbal teas like Chamomile, Lime flowers and Rose petals, which gently support the nervous system and ease anxiety. I like to combine these with Rosemary, Shakespeare's herb of remembrance, and Mint which refreshes and helps to keep those sleepy mid study moments at bay.

Here are some top remedies to help you get the most out of your study sessions and to help ease those moments of anxiety:

Study Blend herbal tea

A delicious blend of herbs, including lemon balm, rosemary and liquorice, to keep the brain sharp and focused throughout long hours of study.

Study Blend Essential Oil

Our Study Blend is a range of essential oils including invigorating Peppermint and Rosemary, to aid concentration. It also includes Basil, which is excellent for memory and mental fatigue. Sniffing rosemary essential oil can also boost memory as studies have show. Read more on it here: http://roberttisserand.com/2013/04/new-rosemary-memory-research/

 Skullcap, Oat & Passionflower

A blend of herbs to help sooth the nerves at this critical time. A Nerve Debility Tonic can deal with stress and anxiety. Containing over 20 different herbs, it contains Skullcap, Oat and Passionflower Compound but is just as effective.

Vitamins and supplements for Studying and Stress management

Fish oil is great for brain function –  good brands are   Read my previous post on the benefits of fish oil here: http://yaso-shan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-fats-of-life.html and http://yaso-shan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/krill-vs-green-lipped-mussel.html

Vitamin B Complex - is effective in dealing with stress, anxiety and tiredness so aim for a daily supplement of B-complex which contains between 50 and 100mg. Good brands are Solgar, Viridian and Nature's Aid.

Bach Rescue Remedy drops – a favourite flower remedy for getting through stressful times.

L-Theanine – Theanine may reduce mental and physical stress, improve cognition and boost mood and cognitive performance. We also stock L-Theanine and Lemon Balm - lemon balm has been found to reduce stress.

YOUR EXAM TIME FIRST AID KIT!

Echinacea Tincture:

Keep your immune system well supported! Echinacea supports and promotes immunity – if you support your immune system then you will be much better able to deal with stress.

Elderberry and Honey spray (with Echinacea)

As well as the well known positive effects of Echinacea, Thyme has anti microbial and anti bacterial actions, Garlic has been used for centuries to manage infection and Sage supports the immune system.

Botanical Candles

Scented with either Lavender or Rose pure essential oils, these candles create a wonderful calming scent as they burn. The perfect antidote to study fatigue. 

Rosemary Essential Oil

Rosemary essential oil can be diffused into a room by placing four drops on an aroma stream fan diffuser or an oil burner and preparing the room for study. Rosemary is also an uplifting herb so will keep the mind alert as well.

Vitamin C

A great immune system booster which will help to keep you fighting fit in the run up to exams. It increases the production of antibodies and white blood cells, which fight infection, and helps prevent the entry of viruses. It can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as lowering blood pressure.

Lavender Essential Oil

Used in a burner, Lavender’s calming scent can help in reducing anxiety and enabling relaxation.

Reference: http://clinic.deeatkinson.net/dees-blog accessed 1 April 2016