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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