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Reader, Honey Love,

I write the Fall newsletter on the cusp of Winter moving with the speed of care. This is the duration and speed of time that it takes to wrestle with the disturbance of the psyche that arises when confronted with the virulence of violence and its etiologies of annihilation. Business as usual is unusual when we make time to feel. So we’re not going to do business as usual. We are going to move at the speed of care and I am going to share from the depth of my spirit because that is the depth of my care for you, for me the we, us, ours, of this interconnected reality. This labor, on behalf of the earth, is work worth doing.

The Pattern Language of Fall

I am a woman who dances with shadow and earth. In moving to the rhythms of my temperate bioregion, the traditional homes of the Cheyenne, Ute, and Arapahoe peoples, I have found that the earth shares the medicines we need for each of her seasons. She does this through patterns that can be discerned in the working of her plants and peoples. Let's explore the movement of energy and how it shapes the kinds of work we can take on. Energy or qi, a concept in Chinese medicine, it is likened to Life Force or Veritas in the West. The energy of the Fall and Winter is inward and descending or yin as distinct from the more yang, outward and expansive energies of Summer and Spring. This pattern is a larger fractal of the pattern we see in trees, plants and people. In the Fall, many deciduous trees go dormant, they withdraw some of the energy-rich sap from their leaves and branches towards their trunks and down into their roots. These carbohydrates and their exudates feed fungi and other burrowers that stabilize the health of the soil during the Winter.

In this season, some perennial herbs and roots like Dandelion halt their growth and reproduction completely, pulling the energy and carbohydrates dedicated to leaves, flowers, and fruit, downwards into their roots. The storage form of this energy is a complex carbohydrate called inulin that keeps the plant nourished and protected against freezing. Inulin is also a prebiotic fiber that improves our digestive system. Fall-harvested roots, like Dandelion, Burdock and Chicory are at their sweetest and most nourishing at this time.

In our bodies, our blood follows the in the same pattern as plant qi. The outermost blood vessels constrict, decreasing blood flow to the skin and direct blood flow towards the deep tissues and organs at our core. This minimizes heat loss and supports heat generation during the threat of a harsh and cold environment. There is a seasonal circulation of qi or energy on the planet and in our bodies. The earth’s path inward asks us to go inwards during the fall as well. We can move inwards and heal the wounds of dualistic violence through practices of Shadow Work that help us to integrate the wholeness of ourselves and the wholeness of others. This ability to generate wholeness arises from a slow place—a caring place—a place that is possible from my, listening to the moment-to-moment whispers of what’s authentically here for me now.

Kingian Nonviolence is Here for me now.

As we fumble towards repair #MariameKaba, I "go back to get" the wisdom of my elders and ancestors to choose my medicine of change. I turn to the greatest dreamers of my chosen lineage for the imagination I need to enact a liberatory future. The remedies we need are always close to us. As a Kingian Non-violent facilitator, armed with the embodied liberation that I carry in the wake of the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, I know that we have in our collective memory a known remedy that heals the reoccurring affliction of violence. A remedy that can according to Cara Page, "holistically respond to and intervene on intergenerational trauma," That practice is Kingian Non-violence. Kingian Non-Violence is agapic love with discernment. My teacher, Kazu Haga articulates the power of this practice in his latest book Healing Resistance. Kingian Non-Violence is a way of life, for courageous people. It asks us to dissolve dualistic thinking and be love. Confronting our shadows is one of the practices that help us to do this.

During these times of unrest, I have taken on my Kingian practice of nondualism and refused to make new enemies, including with the parts of myself that are colonization and brutality. I have unearthed these aspects of my shadow and integrated them with my own story of unrelenting wholeness while simultaneously listening for the dreams and wholeness of others. As I walk this world, I do not stand on the back backs of giants, I massage the weary backs of my ancestors wielding the love that has been my birthright, my practice, and my meditation. The space that I am for you, is this. I take my place and I ask you to join me tomorrow night....

Hawthorn: Heart-Centered Communication and the Nervous System Join bioregional herbalists Asia Dorsey and Derek von Drehle in a ritual of communication. Practice communicating what's... Read more pay what you can

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What's here now is redistributing health privilege.

Not everyone is born with the tools they need to adapt to the various stressors in life. As herbalists and rootworks, we do our part to make sure that our wisdom becomes collective wisdom. In times of duress, everyone and everything is telling us how to think, feel and act. We seek out the wisdom of others. We fill ourselves with their stories, histories, and current contexts to bring clarity and understanding.

We can also be swept up by dualistic passions and take on positions that are discordant with our own nature. In the wake of violence and tragedy, I know how to quiet the external world and my mind so that I can listen to my own wisdom for guidance. I also want you to have these tools. Yoga Nidra is a practice that helps us get back to self. Add this practice to your medicine bag and enjoy this recorded gift as a token of my love.

YOGA NIDRA FOR GROUNDING + HOMECOMING Yoga Nidra is an Indian sleep meditation technology designed to bring listeners into deep and restorative states of being. I shared this Nidra with the Bad Bitches at our last Bookclub. Yoga Nidra will be a core component of the Winter Herbal Immersion. Listen Here​

Generating wholeness requires deep attention to our psyches, our minds and our physical bodies. Knowing that fall is the season of grief, we also know that the stressors of trauma and grief during the fall are liekly to exacerbate issues in the lungs, throat, and sinuses. Collective pain is likely to lead to collective inflammation and immune systems that are more vulnerable to assault. Use the following resources to light your way. Add these medicines to your bag and enjoy this gift as a token my love.

In the wake of dislocation and confusion, our earth element is likely to be disturbed. Seeing others in pain is enough to upset the stoamch. This fall, I guided my spirits, my food, and my roots toward steadying the ground beneath my feet. I want you to stand steady beside me. Incorporate this wisdom of Dandelion into your medicine bag and this gift as a token of my love.

Because of my privileges and practices, I am as well as I can be in a world that is not. I can show up with my cup running over, without guilt and holding space for the diversity of being. I know my place. And I walk my path. So, take on these here offerings, Precious Reader. Make what is mine, yours. Take the time you need to move at the speed of care. And come swim with the mermaid, in the depth of healing justice and regeneration if that is your will.

-a
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​Introducing

Why This Immersion?

Because you are exhausted, inflamed, dehydrated and in need of space that gives you permission to lay down your arms and wrap them around yourself. Because you need a body of healing and a community of practice that centers restoration. Because you desire relationships, not just to other people but to the wholeness of what the earth has to offer. Because the world hurts, and you want to become a practitioner who knows how to tend to pain. Come, learn, and reconnect to ancestors and the dark blessings that Winter has to offer. Steady yourself and prepare to take a deep dive into herbal healing. This immersion is a baptism. Our team of seasoned healers, astute scholars, and patient guides have lovingly crafted a radical container that will leave you with embodied and empowered wisdom in food and herbal medicine for the Winter.

Meet Our Teachers

Bones Bugs and Botany is a choose-your-own-adventure provider. Click the buttons below to choose what communications and experiences you'd like to be a part of. You will be able to edit them later.

2544 Joliet St, Aurora, CO 80010
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