My eyes moisten and salty water drips down the glowing sun on my face. Sitting on a bus in Central America, compassion stirs the wellspring of those tears. With much joy in my heart, I poise myself on the bus that reeks of diesel, swerving this way and that, full with friendly people and boisterous music. I take in the vibrant living with gratitude after spending a couple weeks with very special people of the indigenous Amazonian basin. And it is here, on the stinky bus running on petrol that I begin to try to share my inner gratitude on paper.

Secoya Elder: Don Delphin

I imagine the faces of the Elders in my life. The jungle wizards and masters of deep silence to the endless jokes, chants and wonderful stories of a Traditional Navajo Medicine Man, my life has been deeply touched, deeply blessed by having time-honored Elders in my life.  The wisdom is carved into their faces and shone in their eyes. It is these people, the Elders, who have dedicated their lives in service to the greater picture. These people who have spent a lifetime of learning, accumulating experience and carefully arranging the lore of the plant medicines to be passed down like a packaged gift through the generations for as long as humans are alive on this planet. They are like the flute that plays, encouraging the plant medicine knowledge to dance from one generation to the next. These people have seen so much. They have shared in experiences and can see beyond our fathoming. They are the link between generations. They are the central core of our existence. I embrace the cherished opportunity to participate in a tradition that is so ancient. I acknowledge the requirement to humbly be part of something much bigger and older than myself. A gift beyond words. We call this the oral tradition.  It is the original form of education.

I know it and I feel when I participate and listen to the pure oral traditions. For me, sitting next to a time-honored elder can be the most fascinating of experiences. It’s like an unseen transfusion of timeless wisdom. I feel the tingle of the transfusion in my body as I listen to the words or the songs or the silence. It’s like being transported to another place in time as you experience the story first hand. I can feel the strong link between generations and hear the song of creation that holds the essence of a deeper truth. The stories, songs, become reference points for an inner and outer experience. I know that by listening and participating in the oral tradition I am helping to keep the stories alive.

People have worked so hard to preserve, sustain and grow with these teachings. With much effort, attention to detail, and impeccability through each passing generation. What is it that we do to support this process of allowing the oral traditions to maintain life? Why is it so important? What is the oral tradition? It is defined as the passing of knowledge from person to person, from generation to generation, through word, music, story, art, dance, ceremony, prayer or the deep knowing that comes from sitting silently next to somebody that has paved the path with their time-honored livelihood. The oral tradition can come through in many creative ways.  In my opinion, the oral tradition is more than this. It is the woven threads throughout human and earthly existence that keeps us alive.

I have always intuitively felt that the teachings of the plants were best transferred through the oral tradition. This is how the spirits of the plants and other spirit helpers can be most effective in helping us to learn. This is the exact reason I am so drawn to learning with Doug. Doug teaches so elegantly in the oral tradition. He has been taught directly from the plants, through apprenticeships with special elders and apprenticeships with the spirits. It takes a huge effort to learn in this way. Trials, tests, discipline and commitment. This life path is not easy, it requires unimaginable strength. Doug has been more than willing to endure the path to bring the information back to our communities so we can continue to learn to become better relatives and keep the teachings of the plants alive. I am deeply grateful for all you give us Doug… gratitude from the bottom of my heart.

While writing this , I really want to maintain the integrity of this blog with a felt sense of gratitude, of honoring the Elders. At this very now moment, I don’t think I could write a blog or speak of the oral tradition without mentioning the urgency of rediscovery through connecting to the timeless wisdom of the elders. The essence of the oral tradition becomes more important with each passing day. Bombarded by choices or encroachment from outside influences (like the petrol corporations overtaking the land where the Secoya people reside in Ecuador). Each culture across the world with their oral traditions in tact are consistently faced with the disintegration of their way of living, their communities and therefore threatening the health of our forests and our planet. In raising the awareness of the oral tradition maybe, just maybe, we can create a little change for the better of the future for this incredible planet.

Junior & Bertha

“Over the years, I have been working on what I call The New Ethnobotany, an emerging discipline that seeks to enact new methods of cultural transmission to revive, validate, and strengthen the vast plant lore among and within Indigenous and rural peoples’ communities. I believe that the preservation and attentive transmission of Indigenous plant knowledge both among forest communities and the world at large are crucial links in ongoing forest protection. Ultimately millions of hectares of priceless tropical Rainforest lie in the hands of Indigenous peoples’ communities undergoing rapid changes and cultural dissolution, and the fate of these forest lies directly in the ability of Indigenous People(s) to continue renewing their relationship and sustainable approach to living in the forest. Consequently much work is necessary among these communities to, at the very least, strengthen traditional plant knowledge. The problems of deforestation are tremendously complex, yet, that shouldn’t stop people from finding practical solutions to this global concern. We are seeking to discover effective techniques and strategies towards these ends.” Jonathan Sparrow Miller Weisberger

I’d like to offer a great big thank you to Greg Berlin for the two awesome photos of the Secoya Elders!

By Deb

Have you ever noticed how the power of burning a smudge stick can change the course of one day?  How deep breathing can guide a different response in the time of trauma? How remembering to sing a song when your sad or to drink a cup of Dandelion Root tea when you are already feeling spectacular can make life even better? How paying attention to the thermal nature (heating or cooling) of your food can powerfully affect your health? Or perhaps noticing in this very now moment… the effect of the bear root that burns while I am writing this blog which is helping to keep the flow of words and creative energy moving? These simple tasks can be some of the most powerful movements to support a more meaningful life for ourselves..

I invite you to consider and sense a common thread that weaves each of these scenarios together.

Subtlety: The Power of Subtlety.

Since I met Doug, he has taught me, “If you train yourself for awareness, then you see the subtleties and you see their significance.”

From my experience, to truly appreciate subtlety you have to hone your awareness to sense it. In the practice of cultivating awareness, the plants can help us to awaken to subtlety. Tasting them, touching them, deeply observing, smelling, drinking tea…activating all the senses to connect. The subtle power of Plant Medicine is deep, steady and subtle, yet, results are profound and maintained. When we seek to change an imbalance in ourselves we have so many choices and so many approaches. Have you ever noticed that most of the modalities that are based on observations of the rhythms of the natural world have a similar thread woven throughout each modality? Subtlety follows the flow of the natural world and can touch the deeper layers of our being.

The Subtle Strawberry

Contrary to common thought, the healing process does not usually require disastrous results. Being in our human form we consistently have a desire for the quick fix or the cure-all pill with immediate results. And no wonder… because we currently live in a world designed for satisfying instant gratification which can set us up for dis-empowerment and disbelief in the natural process of healing and ourselves. Rather, the healing process requires a deep trust and knowing of the power of subtlety. We can actually move through the process with joy AND empowerment to eventually move closer to the harmony we are working towards.

When we offer a plant medicine, often, we are working to restore the balance and create alignment in the body which is necessary for the body to heal. We are working to create a container in which healing has the opportunity to unfold. The plants simply aid us in recovering our own equilibrium when we lose touch with our well being and fall into imbalance. The plants understand the importance of slow and subtle resolve and the benefits of gentle, yet, consistent and powerful action.

Yerba de la Negrita

I want to honorably mention one of my greatest allies… Mallow… a true teacher of the power of subtlety. Scarlet Globe-mallow, Yerba de la Negrita, Common Mallow, Marshmallow. All of them (and many unnamed here). These incredible plants give such great reminders to me of the importance of gentle, yet, powerful medicine. Mallow is nourishing to the mucous membranes of the body and promotes the cellular integrity from deep inside. The green potency and high nutrient content aids in the reception of necessary vitamins and minerals. The mild drawing action extracts toxins yet simultaneously regenerates healthy tissues. Mallow can help restore balance and cool inflammations/heated conditions and yet moisten/ soothe the tissues of the body preventing excess dryness.  Mallows love to be made into a cold (room temperature) infusion tea or perhaps a green drink, a green powder added to water, food or smoothie. The leaves taste delicious when added into a summer salad. I love to create a shampoo/soap with 1 yucca leaf, a handful of mallow greens & flowers, a little coconut oil, and essential oil of your choice blended and strained and kept in the fridge until it smells a little off (about one week and hopefully you use it all up before it expires).

The more sentient we strive to be and align ourselves with the other sentient beings who live here, like the plants, the more we can attune ourselves to the essence of deep healing. In my opinion, Doug lives by one of the most powerful mantras. He reminds us that, “we are here to learn to become better relatives”.

Where I live, near the San Juan mountains, each day is a constant reminder to continue the journey inward with the Autumn season.  I have watched the leaves in their brilliant color fall and the skeletons of the trees are beginning to show. The cold wind blows and the creek behind my house is dried up. The balance of dark and light are moving towards shorter days and longer nights. I feel the changes deep in my bones as nature reflects the deep transformation.

Autumn is a time of change, of taking care of loose ends. It is a time to assess and integrate the movements of the year and let go of that which no longer serves you. It is time for us to gather our resources and prepare for the coming darkness of winter. It is time to slow down. It is time to slow down. We are transitioning from the hot, expansive summer into the cool, contractive seasons. Our bodies do the same.  Humans are extensions of the earth and can find much insight into ourselves as we observe the patterns of the animals, the trees… our relatives. We can observe how things move as the contractive energy settles in to attune ourselves to more harmonious living.

The Gift of Autumn

The journey inward begins.  YIN energy lies inherent in all things. It is… The shadow. The feminine. The quiet. The moist. The darkness. Emotion. The moon.

It’s up to us in how we choose to invite balance in our lives. It is a consistent work in progress. We can attune to the seasons and the cycles within nature to prevent disharmony or dis-ease from arising in the body. We can hone in our observations and live accordingly to the season.  We can educate ourselves on how to do this.  We can make the choices for a more harmonious lifestyle. Seasonal changes can be a huge dis-empowerment to people due to disconnection or seeing ourselves as separate from the natural world. We can remember how to navigate the transition gracefully.

This is what Doug teaches throughout all his classes and his walk of life.  He teaches the basic foundation for walking in balance with the rhythms of nature and how to invite plant medicine’s to support a harmonious lifestyle.

We live in a culture which honors achieving a goal rather than embracing the process of life. When always seeking to achieve the goal, it is much easier for the body to become a container for the imbalance.  In a yang driven culture, we are consistently faced with the opportunity to make unhealthy choices to accommodate for “working hard” to achieve that goal. We seek out fast food/convenience food, we forget to breath deeply, we compromise the quality and amount of water we drink. There is audio and visual stimulus everywhere. We are continuously moving fast. To me, it is apparent why we as a culture have stepped in to a rampant era of specific dis-ease’s.  In the sense of western culture, yin energy can and often is seen as a weakness. In my opinion, it is the long forgotten essence of life by some. It is the essence which brings the fullness of being to our amazing gift called life. The yin and yang energies exist in all things.  They are interdependent.  The yin and yang energies of the universe hold the fabric of the universe together.  We need them both.

There are so many ways to nourish the yin in ourselves. It is just taking the time to do them. Soak in the hotsprings, wear a kidney wrap, dress in darker clothes during the yin seasons, go for a long, slow walk alone, drink and eat kidney building and liver nourishing teas and food, practice slow yoga, meditate. Take time to soften, nourish and invite balance for yourself.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

What do YOU do to nourish the yin? 

By Deb

It has been a long summer season of celebrating in the the hot summer sun accompanied by the sweet essence of the water the monsoon rains have brought to the Durango region.  Now the bears are very active eating crab apples and such, the bucks are gathering in the field next to my home, tomatoes ripen on the vine in such an expression of abundance as we transition to the season of inward motion.  I reflect upon the seasonal summer adventures and am reminded of the consistent presence of the plants around my home.

In the spring, a significant event happened in my garden.  We welcomed a new arrival, a new family member. Her name is Motherwort.  I chose to transplant this plant near the front door as a reminder.  A reminder to utilize the tools to cultivate pathways back to my true nature.  When I leave or come home Motherwort, in her consistent presence, gives me this opportunity to remember to connect with the deeper essence of self.  I chose to plant Motherwort in my garden as my relationship with her has grown over the years. I recognize the value of having her sweet essence in close proximity.  I transplanted her from the garden at work.  At work, I would often chew on a leaf  during more difficult days to shift my perspective of the challenge.  Through time, I have recognized the power of this plant to assist me in maintaining balance in my daily life.

Motherwort canopy

Motherwort, being a nervine, can support our nervous system to create harmonious alignment between body, mind and spirit. Nervine’s in general (to name a few others… Valerian, Pulsatilla, Skullcap) give us the opportunity to shift into harnessing the present moment and bringing ourselves into harmony with the moment. The use of nervine’s is subtly powerful. Especially when we can recognize when and how to ingest them. Creating the opportunity for alignment helps us to deal with challenging situations in a more harmonious way then what was previously accessible. Doug emphasizes delving into the subtle power of the nervine’s during acute situations.  Such as flu, fever, cold, emotional distress, parenting, moon cycle imbalances, difficulty sleeping, traumatic situations, etc.

Motherwort flowers

Throughout Doug’s experience, he has built a relationship with Motherwort as a heart tonic. Motherwort can help to correct imbalance within physical heart issues. This lovely plant can assist us in the strengthening of a weak heart muscle and nerve weakness in the heart. Traditionally, she has been utilized as a tonic to maintain greater balance in the heart center.  She allows us to maintain a good relation in one’s heart, open our hearts more easily and feel safe in doing so.

Like Yarrow, Motherwort gives us the opportunity as women to become deeply connected to the moon cycle, our fertility and to keep the relationship with our womanhood a priority.  Often times due to cultural and societal impacts, women, being bringers of life (whether they birth children or not) can stray away from this relationship and Motherwort can help us to rekindle that.  Not to mention that this plant remedio has an incredible affinity for relaxing uterine cramping.

Doug reminds us of the power of building relationships with plants, “We learn to depend on them, when we are meeting these plants and developing relationships, these are relationships for our whole lives.  These guys aren’t going anywhere, they are going to be here as long as we are.  You begin to realize that is an amazing part of a plant relationship, they are always there for you.  We begin to build these relationships that you depend on always.”

Photos courtesy of Alex Pullen. Thank you Alex!

Yarrow in the Wild Community

The trees tower overhead, they dance, beckoning me to an open meadow satiated with life. In the open meadow, the rain passes and reflects the light of the sun upon on the stunning, vivid white Yarrow flowers.  I acknowledge the relationships people spanning across the continents have intimately shared with this plant for thousands upon thousands of years. I contemplate the depth of this relationship between humans and this plant for such an extended period of time. My thoughts are drawn towards my personal relationship with Yarrow and the many experiences we have shared over the past 15 years. As I feel into the connectedness of the larger web of life, I am reminded of how small I am in the midst of the larger web of life Yarrow is one of my very first plant relations that I began building with intent and consciousness.  This gives me a reference point of how relationships are sustained and consistently nourished over time.  One of Doug’s philosophies of why we are here on earth is, “to learn to become better relatives”.

Doug reminds us that, “Everything is alive. All the stones, the water, everything, and we have the ability to communicate with them.  It is only because of conditioning that we question that or think that we don’t know how.   It’s really very simple, and time is what gives us the confidence and experience.”

Being in relationship to my surrounding, wild community motivates my actions to become a better relative to my human community. Each time I return to the wild places, the experience encourages me to deepen my approach to create more sustainable relationships. I am ever grateful for the wild places on this earth where we can come home.