My Journey with Sacred Plant-Medicines

Plants are our most important medicine on this planet. Mother Earth has provided everything we need to heal ourselves, right through the ground.

"Plant Medicine" is a general term that applies to many different things, and comes in many forms. There is no one size fits all. Every physical body on the planet is different, so therefore different plants benefit different people. For example, many people thrive off of a vegan diet, whereas other people require some lean meats to be healthy. Food is actually the main (and most important) plant medicine, but perhaps the least "trendy" or "exciting." What we consume every day is SO important to our wellbeing - in body, mind, and spirit. Our vessel quite literally survives off of what we put into our mouth, so if it's a lot of chemicals, excess sugar and fat, or a plethora of processed things, then we simply cannot reach our highest potential. I promise if you have any kind of illness (physical or mental) and you haven't incorporated a highly-nutritious, organic, diet into your treatment plan, then you're doing yourself a disservice. (Now feels like a good time to mention that privilege plays a massive role in accessibility to health. It's unfair, and unfortunate, and I think we should all be striving to create a more equitable world so that health doesn't have to be a luxury, but that's the current world we live in). So, if we have the ability and/or desire to explore "plant medicine," food is a good place to start. Personally, I don't do as well as I could with food. I'm proud to say I drink a good amount of water everyday, and keep a pretty clean diet, but I'm not entirely organic, and I do eat dairy (which is something I think almost no one needs). Teas and Herbal Tinctures are in the same vein as food...SO beneficial, and very accessible. The internet is our friend when it comes to this because there are SO MANY HERBS, and herbal tea remedies for just about every ailment that exists. There's no way I could get into all of it right now, but I love trying new teas and tinctures, and think drinking tea is a good, meditative, healthy habit to get into.

Essential Oils, are another amazing, ancient, "plant medicine," and I love them. Essential oils are by definition, "Compounds extracted from plants. The oils capture the plant's scent and flavor, or “essence.” Unique aromatic compounds give each essential oil its characteristic essence. Essential oils are obtained through distillation (via steam and/or water) or mechanical methods, such as cold pressing." (Healthline.com) Basically, it's a really concentrated version of a plant, and the benefits of each plant vary tremendously. I use Young Living essential oils, because the quality of this medicine is very important to me. There are tons of brands on the market that sell "oils" that can actually be super dangerous and unhealthy to you (they're basically just a chemical fragrance, with a drop or two of actual plant oil). Because I use the oils topically, internally, and as aromatherapy (inhaled), the quality needs to be non-toxic to my body, which Young Living is. Seriously, stop using the cheap Walmart or TJ Maxx oils. They might *smell* good, but they aren't doing anything else & they may actually be harming you because "fragrance" is one of the least FDA regulated products. If you're curious about oils there is SO much information available, and it's easy to go down rabbit holes of learning. Feel free to reach out to me if you want more info, cause I'm learning more every day about them too. So many people have these incredible stories about how certain oils assisted them in healing from illness, and many people use them to keep their immune system strong so illness never develops. Others use them for spiritual practices, or to flavor their cooking...the options are honestly endless. I definitely recommend looking into oils if you're on your journey of self-healing, and not already using them. My biggest use with them are during my meditations, and other spiritual practices to help connect me to divine source.

Another category of plant medicines are the ~hallucinogens.~ These probably get the most attention and create the most controversy. Cannabis, Psilocybin, Peyote, Dimethyltryptamine, Ayahuasca, etc., are very sacred plant medicines. They have also been being used since ancient times, and can be extremely healing and spiritually aligned in a myriad of ways, but they have more of a stigma around them, and aren't legal everywhere. More and more people, states, and countries are recognizing the profound effects these medicines can have, and some are legalizing them. Each one of these plants could really use an entire paragraph, or book, to describe them but I'm not that well versed in them all, so if you're interested please do you own research. It's out there. (Now feels like another good time to mention that privilege, and cultural appropriation, are big issues in relation to some of these plants. They are sacred plants and should be treated as such; some in a ceremonial setting and not 'recreationally,' and always with respect to the culture that they originate from). In fact, all plants should be thanked and appreciated before use by humans as medicine. (And another note, while these medicines do profoundly help many people, as I said before, no one's body is the same, so we all react differently to different things, and they might not be for you. That's okay). I for one, have only used Cannabis and Psilocybin, and while I'm open to others listed above, I do not seek them out. My belief is that this kind of medicine finds us when it's right for us, and there is a deep spiritual connection with these plants so they intuitively come at the right times. If you're feeling called to a plant, there might be a reason why, and keeping an open mind is very important. As is: finding a safe, appropriate, and respectful, time and place to sit with the medicine. Oregon just legalized Psilocybin therapy, so there is a lot of news and scientific information that you can educate yourself with, if you're curious.

I could go on and on about my own life, and experiences, with all these plants, but maybe that's for another time. Right now, it just feels good to bring attention to the basics of what our Mother Earth provides for us, and how we can accept her natural blessings. Plants are Power. Tap in.

~Your growth and peace are within reach~