I met the shaman in his Tuki, a sacred living structure and treatment room. The smoke and scent of the fire were grounding, comforting, centering. My heart began to melt. Now I could really listen. After talking for a while, the shaman asked about the activities in my work day. Hearing how many hours I spent on a computer, he said that every day I needed to stop what I was doing and go outside, to be out in nature. “Bundle up if you have to, and go. Every day.”

Spiritual awakening

In my mid-twenties, a friend and I decided to leave everything behind and go cross-country. We drove for months, living in different places. I remember Sedona, really well. Somehow the veil of reality had lifted. Life as we thought we knew it was not the answer. There was so much more to life, to spirit, to healing, to connecting. The chance to explore our country, its plants, animals, its Nature called us forward.  Plants, omens, birds, fish, four-leggeds were our beacons, our guides. We read the signs and on we went. And it deeply transformed our lives. It was that time that probably paved  the way for my Plant Spirit Medicine healing practice.

I know people who love gadgets and who work in technology.  In order to “find themselves,” find their meaning, they often have to leave work, family, old lives behind and either motorcycle cross country, or go on a retreat in the woods, or take up a sport that forces them to be out in nature.

The curse and the blessing of technology

During my day, I can do so much more because of technology. I love the gadgets. I use them. A lot. I am hugely productive thanks to them. But, I’m not at all convinced this way of life is better.  The tradeoffs are huge. Yes, I can connect with many people online and reach out. I can find answers and run business from anywhere. But I have less time for meaningful conversations in person or on the phone. Being productive still puts me (and keeps me) in front of a computer much too much.

Back to the shaman’s advice

Though I have felt very inspired by blogs, videos and online music … none of it compares to the sense of profound healing  and rightness I feel while going for a walk on the snow during a pitch dark evening.  None of it compares to the heartbeat I felt when I came face to face with the presence of my first mountain in Caracas.  Or to the involuntary gasp on experiencing my first ever snowfall in Paxton my freshman year.  Or to the power of coming face to face with a hawk after hearing a rustling outside my apartment.  Being in contact with Nature, with the Earth, with its beings and creatures heals us. Profoundly. It nourishes us, It transforms us. It opens us. It affects us in ways we cannot even verbalize. It addresses, spot on,  our desire for meaning, for connection.

How Plant Spirit Medicine helps us heal

It is precisely this hunger for connection and balance that Plant Spirit Medicine begins to address.  It happens gradually and organically. So beautifully – just like in nature. A patient comes with a complaint. They understand we are not treating the symptoms but rather allowing their own Self to come into harmony and balance. At the end of the treatment, they often feel uplifted, held, relieved. This goes on and on. Changes begin to happen. The plant spirits take them by the hand, so to speak, and help them to see more clearly those things in their lives that bring balance and healing and those things that zap their energy. It is a dance, a flow, a conversation. It is a beautiful natural, sacred, gentle process. Witnessing the healing and generosity of the plant spirits is forever magnificent, forever humbling.