.......Ms Mugwort

Yogis,

I can’t remember exactly how or when Ms Mugwort and I were introduced.

Known as Artemisia Vulgaris, I first got to know her along the edge of the C&O canal.  She is a fairly low lying green plant with toothed leaves spreading out from her center stem. You probably wouldn’t notice her when walking by. She gets a little bushy later in the season and sends up a taller stalk with small white flowers.   

I only remember hearing that mugwort was helpful for vivid dreaming. Which was all I needed to pull her into my life…….

I have never been much of a dreamer. An occasional dream here and there, always in black and white and often something slightly scary. Being chased, falling, finding myself nude in an inappropriate place, or everyone’s personal favorite, walking into a room for a final exam and realizing with horror that I never attended the class.

I knew there was much more to dreaming that I was missing out on and Ms Mugwort seemed to be the assistant I needed.  She is known as a psychic herb and even had a cameo appearance in Harry Potter.  Mugwort is known for her magic.

First, I began pinching off a portion of a plant while out walking and sliding it into my pillowcase, under the pillow.  There it would remain until I changed my pillowcase (note to self to remember she is in there or you find shreds of dried mugwort in your washing machine and clean clothes.) Eventually I dug up a couple of small plants and placed them in the northern quadrant of my medicine wheel near my sage – both plants who guide us to relax the thinking mind and open ourselves to higher insight and wisdom. 

Soon I began cutting and drying her tops so she could continue her teaching over the winter.  Using a teaspoon of the dried herb to make a cup of tea before bed will also open the mind to new experiences. 

I can tell you she does her job quite well! My dreams, often in color now, have depth, feeling, new places, experiences and messages.  Many times a dream will stay with me for the entire day, or linger even longer. The majestic male lion who had men’s green fishing boots on because he had accidently stepped into them and couldn’t get them off.  Lying in a tub of warm water and being lifted and asked to let go. Sensations of floating, connection, touch and color.

As I sit here typing this I glanced up only to realize she is watching me from the vase of flowers and herb cuttings I brought here to the beach with me. She is also a good travelling companion!

I am not sure how I met Ms Mugwort.  But I do know we will remain friends. I would love to introduce you to her……..

Under her spell,
SARAH

......bare feet

Yogis,

It is officially time!!  The time to remove those shoes and begin to go barefoot on a consistent basis!

My feet wait all winter for this. When the ground finally warms, and I take off those confining, dark, constricting things we call footwear, my feet shriek with delight!  Free at last……free at last.  Hallelujah!! (as the chorus of angels sings in the background)

Everything begins with the feet………

I read a book recently about a doctor who works with older patients. The first thing he asks them to do is to remove their shoes.  He says he can read their story by looking at their feet.  What story do your feet tell?

Feet are not meant to be smashed into shoes and held in one position for twelve hours a day.  They are our second set of eyes.  Their job is to feel and send us messages about where we are and where we are headed.  When you look down and see your feet….. there you are.  They ground us. They make us present.

Our feet absorb the earth energy.  The energy of relaxation, steadiness and calm. When there is a constant layer of rubber between them and the dirt, they can no longer do their job. Why take medications when you can simply step on the dirt?

They are also supposed to be spread. Space between the toes and wide across the ball. A lifted arch in the center that becomes strong and defined through rooting down through the four corners of the feet and activating the inner calves and thighs. The arch is home to an important energy center– Pada Bandha. Through this center we make a direct connection to the pelvic floor. Wake up the feet, wake up the body!

Being barefoot is now coined ‘earthing’ and science has gotten involved. Studies finding that going shoeless may reduce inflammation in the body, strengthen the immune system and improve heart health. All I know is it it feels fantastic.

If you always have your shoes on, try going barefoot in the house first.  Have a basket or mat inside the front door to remind you to set those toes free. Then try the grass. The dirt. Step in a puddle and practice picking up sticks with your toes. It’s the old ‘use it or lose it’ to keep the feet strong, toned and alive. By the end of the summer with practice you may be able to walk on gravel!

My feet have a permanent ‘earth stain’ on them which can’t be removed with soap.  I wear it as a badge of honor.  I am hoping many of you have one soon.

Freedom,

SARAH

.....in awe

Yogis,

You would think that after some fifty plus years it would lose its sparkle. That by now I would find it blasé. So predictable. Nothing special as it happens every day. But oh no.  Quite the opposite. 

Every time it takes my breath away……..

How amazing is this Earth we call home! That I am able to take a seemingly lifeless dry seed the size of my pinkie fingernail and place it into dirt and a week later see that telltale small crack in the earth’s surface.  The unmistakable hint of what is to come. And later that day taking my evening stroll through the plants to see what they are up to, only to discover a sprout spreading herself wide open, clearly grateful to have finally been released from her temporary close quarters.  Welcome Green Bean!

My heart skips a beat. We all long for miracles to take us away from the mundane when all we really have to do is look down. 

I am one of those gardeners that trusts the earth to know what to do. Perhaps it is really that I lack some patience. I don’t test the soil, add minerals or ‘feed’ my plants. I simply get on my knees, turn the soil for a moment or two, dig a little hole and drop the seed in. No fuss, no muss.

Then all that is required is water, which somehow miraculously happens to fall from the sky above us with frequency, and bright light.  What brighter light could there be than that the enormous ball of fire that rises above us every single day without fail?  I watch each day as this new life I co-created reaches toward it.

And did I mention that in a few weeks I will be enjoying her delicious gifts with my dinner?

No, I never tire of it. And if I feel at all removed, it only takes about 15 minutes of quietly sitting in nature to pull me right back in. Miracles all around! The deep throated croak of the frogs that crack me up. The deer I spot resting in the leaves in the woods with his newly formed fuzzy horns and that large purple ball of a flower that amazingly manages to sit perched on top of a three-foot high skinny stem for us to enjoy. 

The wonder of earth. Let’s all be kind to her. 

Humbled,
SARAH

.....a cup of tea

Yogis,

As I sit here writing this to you all (on the floor, of course!) I am sipping a cup of tea. A new Pukka flavor my sister gave me last week called ‘Womankind’.  A blend of rose, vanilla, shatavari root, licorice, chamomile and peppermint. The perfect antidote after a long walk on the canal in the soaking rain. 

Arriving back home with a dog that resembled a drowned rat, soggy socks and frizzy hair I felt the need to be warmed from the inside. Something that harmonized with the sound of the rain on the roof. Looking through my vast collection of teas, this one fit the bill perfectly.  The soothing energy of chamomile yet a gentle lift from the peppermint, surrounded by the heart opening feminine energy of rose. Just what I need on this gray Sunday afternoon.

So often a cup of tea is all you need…………………

It’s funny because I always hated tea.  I never understood how the British could drink it every afternoon and I was always embarrassed when someone served iced tea at an event because I simply couldn’t pretend to like it. Looking back the choices in teas were pretty limited and the quality was not that high, but in my mind tea equaled gross.

It wasn’t until someone gave me some Tazo teas one Valentines Day, in particular the Wild Orange, that I began to look at tea differently.  Perhaps she had something to offer which I hadn’t opened myself to.  Maybe the judgment I had made 25 years ago could afford to develop some cracks.  My love affair had begun.

Now I even have a tea station in my home with close to twenty choices……

I drink tea now. I invite people over for tea. I dry my plants to make tea. I have little mesh tea bags where you can make your own blend for a single cup. My bright yellow kettle gets a good workout.

Teas, like the plants they are made from have unlimited personalities. There are those teas who help with sleep, improve focus, calm the nerves and make you dream (thanks mugwort!). Blends for digestive concerns, immune system builders and those that calm menopause symptoms.  Lemon balm when I need to smile more and a good hearty Chai when life seems unsettled.  

Tea has become a dependable friend. Tea is good for the soul……..

Sereni-tea,

SARAH