Plant Spirit Medicine in summer

At times clients ask me if they still need to receive Plant Spirit Medicine healing in summer, or if it’s better for them to just go outside and enjoy being in Nature. While it is wonderful to take advantage of the many opportunities summer provides us to be out in Nature and connect with others, it is absolutely important to receive Plant Spirit Medicine healing in summer, just like any other time of year. The plants know what we need in every season. They provide us the physical, chemical and spiritual nourishment we need in every season. For example, when we eat locally-grown produce in the season when it is available (berries, beans, lettuces, tomatoes and so on) we are inviting the energy and the nutrients of the plants into our bodies at the time of year when (according to Nature in our specific area) we most need those colors, those nutrients and that food. And just as we are encouraged to eat locally-grown produce in the season when it is available, receiving PSM in every season is also extremely important. When we receive PSM healing in summer, we help nourish our hearts and our connections.

How are the plants and our healing different in summer?

In summer the plants are at their most radiant. Yes, it is a marvelous time to be outside, to sit around the fire with your friends, to go for long Nature walks, to canoe, sail or go running. But it is also a perfect time to receive Plant Spirit Medicine. The warmth of summer primes the pump for our hearts to be more open, more ready, more aware of the importance of connection. While in winter this medicine is one of deepening and nourishing, in summer the medicine of the plants works with your own heart and spirit to build on connections, expand your ability to develop relationship with yourself, with friends, neighbors, family and yes, of course, with the plants as well. We still face the same challenges every single season of the year. We still feel stress, we still get depleted, our difficulties don’t just go away just because it is summer. It is important to tend to our health so that we can be fully present to the joys of the season, while remembering to also tend to our hearts, our physical, mental and spiritual health.

So … though it may be tempting to just say, “Ah, in summer I go for a walk in the woods and that takes care of all the healing I need,” it isn’t really the case. Healing is a process. It builds over time, supports us over time and is different over time, based on how well we assimilate, how open we are, and what is available to us at any given time.  It is a relationship. It requires continuity and attention. It requires depth over time to truly begin to transform us.

Plant Spirit Medicine is healing for every season

Plants are communal. In my garden, native plants all grow together. They are also aware of whatever is going on with its plant neighbors. They look out for each other, send each other messages, and many work together to ward off danger. It occurs to me that just like plants, we actually thrive in the company of our neighbors. Summer is a wonderful time to build and grow relationships with our neighbors. Just the way the plants do. They too live in close proximity, often face the same challenges, must deal with the same environmental difficulties and they are our neighbors for a reason. It’s no coincidence that summer is the season of block parties and barbecues. It is a time of connection, gathering, joy and warmth. Receiving PSM in summer is amazing because, unlike in winter when we tend to hunker down to protect ourselves from the cold, in summer we are more open, warmer, more receptive. In that sense summer can also be seen as a season of relationship miracles in Plant Spirit Medicine. In summer, with Plant Spirit Medicine, everything is possible!