The work that we do in life is that of community. We bring our gifts to the table to be shared and spread through the people we touch, the screens we watch, and the words or actions we take in every day life, work, personal, family. It is all connected. Meditation with herbs is no different… it becomes a part of your day to day work, presence and physical body.
At the end of each day I sit, I breathe and let my mind simmer down from what was buzzing through it with the movement of all that I do, I sip some tea, or finish drinking my daily water, and I give thanks for all that I have around me. These moments of calm are vital and essential to maintaining a balanced nervous system and state of awareness. How this time I take for my mind brings peace to each night is irreplaceable, and this is because the more that you show up for this peace, the more your body and being resonate with it. It allows the ease of words to flow, for my dreams to teach clearly, and the whispers of natural rhythms in the forest to talk loudly.
Not only does our human community come into these rituals, but our flora family has great virtues to bring to our practice of daily peace as well. Letting the cloud of societal teachings, what we should & should not be thinking, saying or doing be relieved. We are able to thin the veil between the realm of spirit & physical, bringing our soul spiritual teachers into our conscientious mind.
The Plant Buzz
How do we calm ourselves down from the buzz of the subconscious, or the day of work and chatter? What is the best way, and what works for each individual is completely different. The plants that I work with in my meditation practice, are ones that have spoken to me through my time studying the plant medicine realm. They speak to my meditative mind, to which I have taught myself to listen. Some call this mind the intuition, I like to know that this ethereal body is that of Creator, where my soul resides, it is the connection to the path that I was put on this earth to fulfill.
This aspect of my work with plants was one I did not ask for, the language that they speak reverberates through my energetic body in ways that I cannot explain even to this day. When nettles are around the bend on the creek, I can feel them. When yarrow touches my body, I can feel her in my heart, calming down anxieties from the day. Hawthorne adds a sense of strength to this heart body, and most of this medicine that I feel is spiritual in nature. When I am in search of specific mints, they call to me and I walk to their bed of freshness. Watercress tingles my nerves and stimulates my salivary glands so much that they are what I feel leads me along the swampy creeks to find them with their leeches and slow moving ripples of water.
When and Why
When we wake or when the time comes to sleep at the end of the day are both great times to implement ritual of prayer and meditation. Our modern lives are usually so busy that we don’t feel we have the time to even sit and enjoy a mid-day meal let alone implement a meditation practice. The way it starts for everyone is as different as choosing the plants to work with.
Thus, as we tune into where and when we are able to form practice, this, is the best way to start. It may be morning, to get us going and before we know it, every moment of our work day we are mantraing along. Or, your meditation might call to you at night. Calming the mind before entering the dream realm for nourishing sleep & a peaceful subconscious. These practices take time, and one need not to expect them all to come to fruition at the same time.
As this has been my life for many years, my days are structured in these ways, but even when I let a few days go, falling into the rhythms of being too busy… I have to start again. For you, some day soon, this will be a part of your existence you feel was always with you.
Favorite Herbal Allies
In the morning time, I take rose, Osha, plantain, Oregon grape, and raspberry tinctures together. They have created a morning balance that my body needs more than I think I realized when I started this addition to my waking up.
Those moments with my plants of tonic and strength for living up here at elevation I thank them for their medicine and take the time to remember where I was when I harvested them. Giving thanks again for those memories and experiences in the forest creates a mantra of gratitude and this fills my day with many moments of thanksgiving.
Lots of us share the tradition of a dark stimulating morning brew, and being originally from the greater Seattle area, coffee and I go together like peas and carrots.
A Usual Morning Ritual
Coffee and I are best of morning time friends, and that rich exciting brew takes me into the day time in a way that I do not want to go without. It rejuvenates my body and my soul, and gets the forces moving through me. This in its self is a ritual and meditative herbal practice! SO if you have this as your morning ritual…you are closer than you think to having herbal meditation time a part of everyday life.
May I suggest to give thanks to your Coffee. Smell the beans & visualize where they might have come from. The tropical farms who grew them. The roasters down the road in your town. Give thanks to what led the bean to your kitchen & feel how much more aware you are to your coffee…
Humans have been stimulating their senses for centuries with this brew, the grinding of beans grown in the sunshine of the tropics, scooping out a measurable amount for your own taste into your vessel, and adding hot water… it s a decoction of the ages, and with it in your life, you have herbs by your side throughout the day. Appreciating the stimulation is all it takes to say thank you to nature.
Dream Land with Soma…
Night time, during the quiet hour before writing, and then finding dream land, Peganum is my girl. She brings me to a calm place, a peaceful cocoon to go into dream land, and brings the spirit of the divine into my body. Some say that she was the Soma, the plant that would connect our physical body to that of Creator, effortlessly. A great herb for anxiety and working with the spiritual teachers that some plants can greatly be.
The sacred plant of the ancient peoples of our deep history. She would bring upon and incarnate the divine feminine into the bodies of our ancestors. So much, that they would feel connected to their creator, and the mysteries of the universe. This plant they called Soma… and Peganum harmala fits the description well.
She is able to rednder a dream like state and numb out the mundane noise of modern life so well. When I have the chance to work with her, the plants break into my energetic body and their voices rise. The dream land that I find these nights is incomparable to the normal.
Messages are clear, potent & graspable. The ancestors & my guides show me wisdom that nourishes my path in the waking life.
Exploring Plant Meditation at Home
Being a plant person already. I am sure you are drawn to certain herbs, flowers, trees or shrubs already. This is a que to bringing this plant more deeply into your life. Next time you see this plant, or next you notice a new bush on your daily walk. Follow this nudge. Begin to explore this being that is speaking to you in a subtle way.
You can ask permission to take a snip home with you. If it is edible, make some tea, or add it to your dinner. If it is an ornamental plant, place it in a vase on your altar.
Explore written information on this plant. Read as much as you can. Observe it in nature, and how it tastes, feels, smells, or looks in it’s space in your home. Each act of getting closer to this plant will solidify your meditative connection.
Let this sweet being lead you to conversation in the meditative mind. See it in your third eye. Watch how your body responds. This my loves, is the beginning of the journey in meditation with plants.
I look forward to exploring this with you more.
Green blessings,
