replenishing our nervous system

how our plant kin can support us

when i first sat down to write this newsletter, i was at odds at how to begin. do i pretend like the news isn’t newsing? focus on my little corner of the world?

i would be remiss not to acknowledge that what is happening before our eyes each day is an abomination on the earth and our existence as human beings. not doing so would ignore a single truth i hold dear: that everything is connected.

but instead of just adding to the noise, how can we add to hope, a single act of resilience, while holding it all? and more specifically, how can we support ourselves so we that can support our world?

plants can help.

plants have always been there to help.

accepting the help of nervines, when needed, is an act of resistance.

if i’m not taking care of my nervous system, if i’m not establishing boundaries where necessary, if i’m spinning out on news titles, i’m simply giving away my power, arriving tired and alone at the fight.

nervines are such an amazing group of plants because we can feel their affects almost immediately. something shifts in our body and in our state of consciousness — and tension is released. taken over a substantial period of time, they can work wonders on burnt out nervous systems.

the importance of a healthy nervous system cannot be understated. our central nervous system influences almost every other organ system in our body (often through neurovascular control of circulation).

when our sympathetic nervous system gets activated, during a stressful situation or thought, it triggers a fight/flight/freeze response. this causes blood flow to push out from our core to our periphery: our face gets red, our pupils dilate, and our heart rate increases so we can run away. this is our body’s intelligent response to danger.

but when we are constantly activating this response, we run the risk of exhausting our nervous system and our body begins to reap the rubble — so often seen in chronic digestive issues.

here’s another way of thinking about it: picture a river and a dam. this river is our blood, flowing to near and far towns (our organs), supplying them with food, water, nourishing the riverbeds and underwater creatures. now think of stress/sympathetic response as a dam, stopping the flow to these people and animals in the towns. when the dam is erected, the residents of these towns have to get by with what they have. they might starve, get sick, or start to send signals for help.

this is one major way the health of our nervous system affects the health of our entire body.

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given this information, what do we do?

well, it doesn’t help that we live in a sympathetic excess culture, where it’s completely normal and applauded in our society to be going nonstop. & under capitalism, it often feels like the only way to survive — i feel it too.

the important question to ask is: where do we have agency?

are there small ways we can lean into rest? can we lean on our plant kin to nourish and support us here when scheduling time for ourselves feels impossible? can we ask for help?

oftentimes what i find working with plants or an herbal protocol, is that at first it can feel impossible to change our lives to meet the needs of our body — and this can feel very overwhelming for clients. so we start small. we start with a tincture, taken daily, or a tea, drunk nightly. slowly our consciousness shifts, our body feels slightly better or we’re sleeping better - whatever the issue may be - and we become more open to change, and we start creating more space for ourselves, for our bodies, in our life.

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there are so many ways we can work with nervines — whether through water infusions, tinctures, flower essences, or simply spending quality time with a plant.

some of my favorite nervine herbs include:

oat tops, rose, linden, hops, st john’s wort, pedicularis, blue vervain, passionflower, lemon balm, hawthorn leaf and flower, chamomile, and motherwort

— though there are many more, and i encourage you to explore! you can find many of these herbs at your local co-op or herb store, or if you need a solid place to order online, message me and i’ll send you some suggestions.

here are some nourishing nervine offerings from our apothecary:

𖦹 fresh milky oats tincture - a nervine trophorestorative; helpful in restoring a worn out nervous system. some symptoms may include: chronically tired, anxious, trouble sleeping, insomnia, stress digestion.

𖦹 calm tea - a mildly sedative herbal tea blend of rose, linden, oat tops, and lemon balm. this tea helps relax the tone of the nervous system without making you super sleepy or tired. it can easily be drunk during the day, or added to your post-dinner/evening routine.

𖦹 tender surrender - a stronger nervine tincture with nervine hypnotics. this tincture helps soften into the heart, release blockages we may have within our feeling body, and hold us in our grief. also amazing for acute stress situations - i like to carry a bottle around to aid with any social anxiety.

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“Black has depth.. you can go into it.. And you start seeing what you're afraid of. You start seeing what you love, and it becomes like a dream.” - David Lynch

what else is going on:

:: LA wildfire raffle - enter for a chance to win a 2oz bottle of fresh milky oats or a number of other wonderful handmade goods from some very talented artists and makers. to enter, venmo @ shell-bailey . each entry is $5 & 100% of proceeds will be donated directly to those who have been affected by the devastation of the wildfires. enter as many times as you want!

:: i love rachel’s take on this week’s aquarius new moon - be the snake 𓆙

:: time is away: the cedar trees

wishing your body much ease and flow,

b