TendingShen
Newsletter
Spring edition
(April 2010)
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.
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