Building a Relationship with Nature

I come from a long lineage of gardeners. While my English mother was slightly horrified at the rapidity of growth in the humid summers of Virginia, she grew both the plants she knew from home and ones new to her. Mind you, we never grew sweet corn; she still had lingering suspicions that it was fodder for livestock. She also made friends with the farmers and gardeners of the mountains in which we lived. From them, she learned invaluable tips such as making sure your vegetable garden was planted before the blackberries bloomed. Blooming blackberries meant one to two weeks of rain. Not every day, but enough to keep you out of the garden and more than enough to get everything that had been planted off to a great start.

Being a typical child, I doubted everything my mother said. But I was a gardener as well, so at an early age, I vowed to see if this was really true. If it was, I had learned something useful. If false, I could prove my mother was wrong about something, at least. Score one for Mum- I gave up trying to prove her wrong on the blackberry rains after about 7 years. I finally had to admit that the locals (and my immigrant mother) knew something I didn’t. It didn’t come from a book or a scientific study. It came from many generations of living in relationship with the land and all that grew there.

In Sacred Plant Medicine, Stephen Buhner relates how the Navaho warned that “if you kill off the prairie dogs, there will be no one to cry for rain.” Years later, after these seemingly annoying burrowing animals had been eliminated in order to protect the native grasses, there was no grass to protect. Without the burrows and tunnels of the prairie dogs which created cooler air that then led to rains, the area had gone completely to desert.

It is a sad but strange truth that the further removed we are from the land, the less importance we grant it and the more emphasis we place on our needs. We have lost more than just the dirt under our nails. We have lost a level of relationship with the plants and the trees, the animals and the insects and not to mention, have become increasingly isolated from our fellow humans and ourselves. Indigenous cultures knew something we have forgotten. That we are merely a strand of the web, not the weaver.

And yet, it is possible to return to relationship. All it takes is the willingness to change one’s perspective. Let’s look at the humble dandelion, beloved of herbalists and scourge of lawn-owners. How many of you look at your lawn in spring with bright yellow dandelion blossoms and start cursing? Herbalists know that dandelion is a wonderful medicinal- slow in its movement, yet powerful in its action. Grieves cites it as a general stimulant for the system, with particular action on liver and kidneys. Yet biodynamic farmers know this as well because dandelion performs these actions in the soil. Dandelions don’t compete with grass for nutrients- their deep roots feed way further down. Moreover, dandelions transport minerals from these deeper regions, making them available for other plants. They also encourage the activity of earthworms who further enrich the soil. Dandelion provides a mineral rich structure that promotes life.

Funny that dandelion has a similar action in human beings. Dandelion is often added to other formulas as it increases the overall potency by providing the minerals needed for optimum health. In the soil, dandelion can be an indicator that calcium is out of balance. No wonder it is used in the treatment of kidney stones where calcium is showing up in places it shouldn’t. To be truly revolutionary, we could see dandelion’s primary action is directed towards the soil and other plants. Its benefits to us are merely a delightful corollary of the fact that we are a part of nature too.

So how do we return to living lives based on relationship rather than alienation? In many ways, it is truly simple. How do build relationship with your community? You say hello, you spend time together, if you say you’re going to meet for coffee, you show up. If you forget to show up, you apologize immediately and vow not to repeat it. It is no different in building relationship with the land, the plants and the myriad birds and other beings we share space with. And by reaching out beyond ourselves, we begin to change our world and our experience of it. To realize something greater than ourselves of which we are a part.

The above article, written by the Reverend Tara Welty, first appeared in Light Bridges. Tara practices Jin Shin Jyutsu, Five Element Energetic Healing and Plant Spirit Medicine at Great Blue Heron Healing Arts in Buffalo NY. For more information please contact her at 716-598-9100 info@buffalohealing.com Tara is also a student at Ongiara College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.

Living in harmony with the Spring

Five Element theory holds that spring is an aspect of the Wood element which, in our bodies, manifests as the liver and gallbladder. The liver is “the general of the armed forces. Assessment of circumstance and conception of plans stem from it.” The liver is more than the amazing organ that regulates and cleanses the blood. On the level of the body, mind and spirit, the liver is responsible for the grand plan, the vision of our lives. It is assisted by the gallbladder who “is responsible for what is just and exact. Determination and decisions stem from it.” The gallbladder is also working on all levels of body, mind and spirit. The gallbladder can be likened to the infantry, carrying out the grand plan of the liver on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute basis. It is the gallbladder who assists us by making the constant minute adjustments that will allow the grand plan to take shape. “But wait! I no longer have my gallbladder!” Fear not- while you may no longer have your physical gallbladder, it is still present for you in mind and spirit. It is the gallbladder that gives us the flexibility to maneuver through our daily lives and stay on track with the grand plan.

Whether you glory in what is happening outside/around you or not, consider this. The seasons are a powerful force for growth, development and inner cultivation. They can be likened to a combination super shopping mall/clean power plant/library of Alexandria all rolled into one and it lives right outside your door. The choice is ours- we can either partake of this amazing offering that surrounds us or not. So how do we begin to partake of the gifts of Spring? 

• Eat spring greens and more sour foods.
• Move our bodies more- go for a walk or practice yoga to get the blood flowing and sinews and tendons moving more easily.
• Try to follow the light- go to bed early, but get up earlier as well.
• Jot down your vision for the year- both small-scale (clean off my desk) and large-scale (start my own business).
• Watch Nature- what’s happening out there? Already the level of activity of the animals is increasing. We hear more and different birdsongs. The ground is alternating between thawing and freezing. The buds are swelling on the trees.                          
• Use complementary therapies to support you in this process. Healing modalities based in Five Element theory (Five Element Energetic Healing, Plant Spirit Medicine, Jin Shin Jyutsu and Five Element Acupuncture) all actively work with the unique expression of each individual as they face the invitations/challenges of each season.

From a Daoist perspective, spring is the season of new beginnings, the birthing of the seeds that were created in the deep of winter. What are the seeds of your life that are now ready to burst forth? In the Neijing Suwen, it states

“The 3 months of spring are called springing up and unfolding.
Heaven and Earth together produce life, and the 10,000 beings are invigorated.
At night, one goes to bed, at dawn, one gets up.
One paces in the courtyard with great strides, hair loose, body at ease
Exerting the will for life:
Letting live, not killing;
Giving, not taking away;
Rewarding, not punishing.
This corresponds with the spring qi.
It is the way that maintains the drive of life.”

This is our potential- to stride forth in spring, with ease and confidence. May it be yours!

This article, written by the Reverend Tara Welty, also appeared in Light Bridges.