Stranger Plants of the Forest Floor
Beltane… The Initiation of Summer
Like many old world traditions, the days of celebrating Beltane have come and gone. There was a time in Northern Europe though, when Beltane (May 1st) and Samhain (Nov. 1st ) were considered the most important dates in the calendar year. These dates are mid-haven between Equinox and Solstice, and carry an important traditional significance as the beginning of Summer and Winter. As such, they were celebrated with many rituals and ceremonies to ensure a prosperous and healthy season to come. Beltane also served to connect everyone in the community with the importance of giving thanks for the abundance they already had.Continue reading
Our Presence – The ultimate Present we have to offer
Its amazing how time flies by these days..
With the current speed of technology/communication, carving out the time, or should I say building the habit of sitting down and writing a journal, blog or reflective post can be challenging for those like myself, who find themselves quick to action and with the tendency to take on all sorts of big projects. Often it is easier these days to make a quick video then it is to to put pen to paper so to speak.
So I sit here this morning with the challenge of harnessing my thoughts and aspirations into a practice of distillation. One of channeling my voice to the will of the muse, and unraveling all the sweet gifts that are offered when we let active “presence” guide us. Even as I write this first few lines though, I have left my seat twice to make some tea and finish preping the JUN (kombucha style beverage) I started last night.
“Why so distractible are you” I hear the ancient one calling in my head.. “be still and let the force flow through you”
Its always a practice of being present.. Yet winter is hear and practice I will.
Today as the winter season unravels in front of me and Solstice/Christmas are around the corner, I am writing to share with you some thoughts on the ultimate present (gift) we have to offer. Our “Presence”.
My believe is that our time is truly our most valuable resource, the ultimate currency in our lives. What we choose to do with it shapes who we are and who we become.. and who we become is not merely what we accomplish, it is much more than that. It is the sum total of the energy we put out, the energy we receive in and the relationships we build along the way.
Our desire to accomplish goals in life, can work like mini north stars.. navigational forces moving us forward, yet in the end our achievements are never really where the true wealth and value of our lives is found. It is found into the lessons and experiences we have along the way. It’s built into the relationships we develop as we busy ourselves seeking our goals..
So this practice of presence, really is one of distilling our time commitments into moments of active listening, connection and relation building with those who we share our life with. This is the wealth of the village or the collective vs. the that of the individuals actions. We all become much more abundant, rich and value generating when we chose to actively participate in service to each other and community. Offering our gifts first, and self interest second.
Of course beyond this practice of active presence, we are best to work towards mastering the more passive practice of finding omnipresence.
Omnipresence is the power to see the bigger picture, and shift our perspective to that of the higher self. It is found in moments of contemplative expansion and larger vision work.
Yes.. We must journey to the top of our personal mountain and take in the whole picture so to speak.
True wealth (richness) relays on both presence with ourselves our relationships as well as with spirit, god, the eye in the sky, higher self, or whatever you choose to call it.
This harmony between presence and omnipresence creates a deep and grounded sense of “found-ness” in a our world. Moving us further from states of being like “in the daily grind”, “thank goodness its Friday” or “the hungry ghost of scarcity”. This sense of found-ness is always available to us in any moment. The more we live in its presence the more we are able to call its power forward when times are unstable or challenging. Our grounded presence also translates into deep value in all our relations, which in turn bring more value to us, in the form of financial wealth, enjoyment, connection, and meaning.
One of the great keys to sustained success in the new era is found in this macro/microscopic style perspective. Humanity is growing up, and transparency, authenticity, clarity and sincerity are fast becoming more important values to us than anything else.
These values are found in clean communication and unconditional connection. They are also great generators of wealth and success in our lives when we are able to embody them fully.
We live in a world where we all too often find ourselves in a personal bubble of our own algorithms and custom spun webs. It is more important than ever that we grow ways to cut through these lines of distraction and illusion and build practices like presence that strengthen the potency of how we show up in the world.
So how can we start to build better practices of presence and omnipresence in our lives?
Bellow is a list of some of the ideas and practices I can compiled on doing this. These are by no means complete, more some general ideas to help kick start these practices in your own life.
Building Presence in our Relationships:
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Slow down, breath and release anxiety, tension and “monkey mind” chatter when you enter a conversation.
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Practice active listening – Listen to understand – repeat back key points for clarity and look for the deeper message one is trying to communicate
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Ask questions and being curious when you are not clear or find yourself assuming
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Respond vs React – sometimes this means, breathing, releasing and relaxing before saying anything
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Meet people as who they are today, not how you knew them as in the past. People grow, change and evolve. Give old relationships an opportunity to re-new themselves.
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Give gratitude and appreciation to others regularly and unconditionally (without the need for anything in return)
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Be available to hear other peoples problems, without trying to fix them
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Show up for commitments and follow through with your word and agreements
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Let go of fragmenting practices such as checking your phone or getting distracted when in a conversations, meetings, meals or other social situations
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Release your personal desire or the direction you what to lead a situation or conversation in
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Invite in perspectives from the quieter people in a conversation or those that have differing points of view
Building Omnipresence in Ourselves:
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Regularity is key- making time consistently to create spaces for introspection
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Set aside alone time in your calendar
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Create a regular routine around walking in nature.
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Find a creative hobby that uses your body as a tool more then your mind
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Yoga, Exercise Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Martial Arts or other similar practices
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Meditation and mindfullness practices
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Travel to new places, take road trips or visit foreign lands 1-3 times a year
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Journal or start a creative writing practice
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Shift the speed at which you do an activity, ie. moving slowly on purpose as you walk vs fast
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Change the way you seek things and taking notice of areas where we have stagnation points or strong beliefs
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Lastly, Mind Altering substances like mushrooms that are none addictive or habit forming can sometimes have a profound effect on kickstarting ones omnipresent awareness, if done in an intentional way.
*Please note that I write this from the eyes of the perpetual student, exploring these concepts at this moment and time for my own growth. By no means have I mastered the practice of finding wealth through presence or clarity through omnipresence. I have found many great successes on this journey, and affirmation that this is the way to abundance and wealth in the real world. But still I fumble, I fall and I continually trip over myself.
My personal north star is in knowing I am making an effort to learn the art of building value through relationship and raising my own vibrational wealth along with that of those I touch and who touch me. Continually I have to “check myself before I wreck myself” or falling into old patterns and ingrained habits.
My hope is that your journey is one of stretching, growing and some times challenging in ways that make you stronger and generate greater wealth in the form of community and prosperity.
I’ll leave you with that for now,
If some of what I speak about in this post resinates, please check out my blog page from time to time. I am setting intention to be more active in posting on this website over the winter months, sharing all sorts of thoughts, percolations and plant medicine vibes in days to come.
Botanical Blessings,
Y~}
The Importance of PLANT Energetics in the SCIENTIFIC AGE
Everything in nature is intimately related to everything else.
All things are intertwined in the dance we call “life”. As we start to observe plants we see that they relate to other plants in a diverse array of ways. Though some seem to be competing for space, all plants require each other to survive. The more we dig into the science of plant communication and the roles that each species plays in an ecosystem, the more we learn the crucial importance of the diversity of species. In a sense there is a constant communication happening between species in all sorts of sophisticated feed back loops that help to maintain a level of balance that ensures all who are giving to the system in some way are taken care of. The more complex the system becomes, the more stable it also is. So communication and diversity are often more desirable then competition for each species in an eco-system.
The way each herb relates and interacts is reflective of their personality and energetics.
Artist – Pablo Amaringo
As was so eloquently put by Pablo Amaringo: “Every tree, every plant, has a spirit. People may say that a plant has no mind. I tell them that a plant is alive and conscious. A plant may not talk, but there is a spirit in it that is conscious, that sees everything, which is the soul of the plant, its essence, what makes it alive.”
If we subscribe to the idea that we are part of the cycle of life, not on the outside looking in, then we see that we too have the ability to communicate in the same way that nature does, as we are part of it. By quieting our self-aware mind and listening with our preceptive senses (including our smell, taste, feel and heart), we can shift to this type of communication. This in turn gives us more affirmation that we are intimately related to everything else, and a part of the whole.
Many indigenous cultures around the world feel the plants themselves tell them how they could best be used. Through careful observation and sensory perception these interpretations can be defined as the personality, energetics, or the spirit of the plant. Over time cultures developed a language to communicate what they had learned from plants and the natural world. This language formed a map of the energetics, allowing for a more universal understanding and interpretation among their respective society. This brought those that did not have the same insight and direct communication with the plants to still use them, based on the pre-defined language of energetics.
When the Scientific model came along, people put their faith into science, removing them one step backwards from plant spirit energetics. We were now able to see the chemical constituents in a plant, this became our focal point for how they must work- similar to that of a piece of machinery. As this model progressed into standardized extracts and pharmaceuticals we took another step backwards. From this vantage point the energetics and plant spirit seem more like a myth or fiction created by those who did not understand the science behind it.
Artist ~ Alan Aldridge, cover of ‘The Secret Life of Plants’
The key that is missing in this logic is that there is no separation between us and nature. We are part of the whole cycle of life. Our elements were here long before our lives and will be here for long after we move on. Those elements don’t define our actions, our personality that flows through them does. The more we learn to understand the language of energetics, cycles, and rhythms that nature speaks in, the better we will ultimately understand ourselves, the plants and the universe as a whole
So to answer the question- Why are the energetics of plants important?
Energetics are our road map to a deeper understanding of the way the natural world functions (including ourselves). When we incorporate energetics and the communication systems nature uses, we are able to be present to the divine balance of life, uncovering our destiny as protectors and co-creators of a vibrant and healthy planet earth.
Amor a la Pachamama,
Yarrow
Harvesting Sunshine
It’s midsummer, the days are long, and the sunshine hours are plentiful. All around us, our little plant friends are baring fruit and sharing in their abundance. This makes it the perfect time to be out “harvesting sunshine”.
The concept of “harvesting sunshine” has been brewing up in my partner and I over the years as a way to describe much of the “medicine” we bring into our bodies in the summer months.
So I thought I’d take a few moments to put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, and explore it a little deeper with you.
At the 10,000 foot level it’s about bringing in the 5th element of qi, vital force, prana, or living essence from the world around us. It is about our connection to life and the living systems that keep this planet working. The vitality found in the life we choose to bring into our body goes beyond just what can be assessed nutritionally, into the realm of deeper connection to ourselves and the living world.
At the ground level, “harvesting sunshine” is about doing the work, and being an active participant in our food experience. It requires focus, dedication, and effort to really make the most of our time and the living abundance that is found in the sunshine months.
There are two basic ways in which we can work with this concept of “harvesting sunshine”: Either directly or indirectly.
Directly
We do this by spending time outdoors doing physical activities or sun bathing. This replenishes our solar battery, which if we gauge it by vitamin D content, has the ability to last us up to 90 days before we need to collect more sunshine on our skin. So there is only so much sun we can capture from direct sunshine harvesting. Of course the mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness of these activities can last much longer.
A traditional way of harvesting sunshine in Ayurvedic yogi practices was to close the eyes at sunrise or sunset, and face the sun for 5-10 min. This time of day the sun is much less strong and will not burn the closed eyes. The idea was that the sun would warm the third eye, activating and decalcifying the pineal gland.
It’s also important to note that when we are harvesting sunshine directly, it can be harder on our body to do this in the heat of the day (11-4), so mornings and late afternoon evening are ideal times to maximize our sunshine experience. These are also ideal times to be out connecting with plants and harvesting food.
Indirectly
This is about using the suns energy that is collected by plants to fuel us throughout the summer months, as well as storing it for later use in the rest of the year. It’s about growing our own food, harvesting from the wild lands, and buying from local farms. It’s those late nights or long days spent processing and preserving the seasonal abundance we have collected.
The idea is, the better we become at collecting and storing the suns energy, the longer it will last us into the winter months and the healthier we will be throughout the long years of our life. It’s really a mental shift towards one of learning the best ways to make use of all the life giving energy that is being offered to us during these summer abundance times.
The Problem
Many of us feel great in the summer, we are more active, healthy and often in a better mood. Yet we have a hard time keeping those feelings going as soon as the weather shifts and the days start to get shorter.
Why is this? Is there a way to keep that summer fuel feeding us even after the season is gone?
Of course there is… we just need to know how to access it, and accessing it starts during the summer when the energy is most ripe. This is something that our ancestral memory is well acquainted with. We have been doing so since the beginning of time. In fact, for the majority of human history, we needed to harvest the sunshine in order to survive. We are hardwired to harvest, collect and store summer vitality.
The trouble is, we have lost touch with the importance and significance of this type of work. This is due in a large part to our move to an urbanized society that is once, twice, or thrice removed from its food sources. For the most part, we have no idea where what we eat comes from.
So the best way to start harvesting more sunshine is to look at your calendar and set aside time right now, to get out and start connecting with the abundance found in the world around you this season. It’s not too late!
Make the choice to go to a u-pick, buy farmers abundance, take walks in the wild lands with a basket for collecting, or plant some seeds and produce your own sunshine abundance.
My Personal Experience
Being a herbalist and avid wild forager, for me “harvesting sunshine” starts with scouting out spots where plants grow and choosing the most opportune time to collect them. Even in the winter I am actively looking for old apple trees and the skeletons of plants past, making mental notes of where to find them when the timing is right.
Harvesting Sunshine is also the busy work of properly processing the harvest, or as herbalists like to call it “Garbling” – which is all things involved in cleaning, sorting, and prepping the harvest for preserving.
Remember that with most harvests, the work done processing it when you get home is often twice as much as the initial harvest, so make sure you set aside time for this as well. A neglected harvest that goes bad due to lack of follow through is a crime against wisdom. I have had to learn that the hard way, more than once..
A Personal Example of Harvesting Sunshine
I went out a few days ago and picked some wild cherries from trees that I scouted out a few years back and now harvest every season. I spent around 90 minutes up in the trees, swaying in the breeze and harvesting those delicious little fruits. 
Then when I got home, my partner and I spent another 20-30 minutes cleaning and processing the cherries into sauce while our kids gorged on as many as they could. The next day we spent another hour de-seeding the sauce and canning it for the winter months. In total this was around 3 hours of work, which was nourishing in and of its self. Then when we crack open one of those delicious jars of cherry sauce, our family will be nourished once again with the elements of stored sunshine that we have lovingly prepared.
The same thing can be said about harvesting any type of food or herbal abundance. All of this type of work is a dedication to increasing our vitality and wellness in the months to come, and increases our health in two ways: One in the enjoyment and use of the abundance we store and gather, and Two in the time we get out and spend with the plants.
The Value of Sunshine Work
Why does our society no longer place much value on this type of work?
Often we busy ourselves with all sorts of non-essential tasks and farm out our food needs to machines, factories and the cheapest labour possible.
We place more value on the convenience of our food than the quality of connection we have to it.
There seems to be no time for most of us to growing or harvesting any of our own food in the modern world.
Is it less important now than it was in the past?
I would argue that this type of work is more important than ever. It is one of the biggest missing links in our health and happiness. We have become a society of people that are distracted and pre-occupied with things that don’t really matter.
There is a big gap between the reality we live in nowadays and the reality of what makes us truly happy and healthy. For the most part, our society is over fed, under nourished, and disconnected from community and planet.
So the real question to be asking ourselves is, What is it that really feeds our soul? and, Do our current choices deepen our connection, vitality and energy in life?
Without these values being taken care of, the food and activities we choose to do with our time will ultimately fall short of giving us what we really need. This is not to say we need to step backward in time and collect or grow all of our own food, but as we move forward, it is important to keep some of the wisdom of this alive so as to enhance our quality of life.
There is much to be said about the nutritional benefits of local/wild foods and the health benefits of getting outside- but in reality, it goes much deeper than that. How we spend our time and what we put in our body is how we reflect our connection to source, our commitment to self, and our intake of vital force.
So my bold request of you is this:
Commit to “Harvesting Sunshine” while the Sun is Shining and the Season is Ripe!
Botanical Blessings,
Y~
P.S.
Please comment on this post and let me know your favourite way to get out and “Harvest Sunshine”.
Canada Day 150 – Why I feel guilty and a great sense of loss…
Today is Canada Day. In fact, It’s our countries 150th birthday.
We have been told to celebrate with a sense of pride for our countries achievements. Our government, as well as many larger businesses in Canada have infused massive amounts of money and energy into marketing this day as special. We have parades, fireworks, all sorts of celebratory events, lots of Canada day paraphernalia and big sales at many businesses. 150 years is a big marker, a special thing and we should be proud of it, right?
So why did I wake up today with a deep sense of morning, loss, guilt and a tinge of resentment?
Well, I’ll tell you…
A little over a week ago I watched a video on FB about why some Indigenous people were calling out Canada for its 150th celebration. It brought together many feeling I was already experiencing, and really got me searching myself for some level of healing to this situation…
If you would like to watch this video, here’s the link but please stay with me for a few more moments to explore this feeling a little deeper.
Basically it boils down to the fact that at a base level, what we are celebrating today is the methodic eradication of the many cultures of people that lived on this land before us.
And, Canada was one of the most aggressively dominated colonizations of the western world. Taking away every aspect of culture we could and enslaving generations of youth in boarding schools, in order to straight up steal one of the largest pieces of land on the planet.
When put in that light, you can see how this can make one feel a real sense of loss on this day.
Within a few generations, 1000’s of years of indigenous wisdoms of working with this land were mostly eradicated.
Yes, there were a few people that were able to keep some of these traditions alive, but in reality it is only in the last generation where many have been scrambling to re-claim this knowledge, and doing so with little success.
Heres a personal example of the loss of culture I have seen..
In 2015 we had a Herb Gathering here on the Island with the theme, of “Honouring our Herbal Elders”. We brought herbal Elders from all across the country together to celebrate their service to keeping herbalism alive and strong. Despite our efforts, my father and I were unable to get a herbal elder from the Komox First Nations (where we live) to come to the event. We tried on several occasions to ask at the reserve and in our community, if anyone knew of a First Nations herbal elders we could contact, and sadly, no one could help us, no mater who we asked. This is the reality everywhere in this country…
There are very few who can teach and share these oral traditional wisdoms that took 1000 of years to evolve…
So, today I morn this loss…
but I also have to look at a deeper level of grief, guilt and responsibility that is eating away at me on many levels.
What’s that you may ask?
Well, it’s myself, my family, my culture, and my genetic heritage that are responsible for these crimes against humanity. These crimes of Genocide, and the brutal acts of mental and spiritual enslavement against all those who were in our way.
I have to live with the fact that my ancestors straight up stole this land.
So how do we sit with these types of feelings?
The only way I know how to step out of this sense of suffering, is to do something to bring awareness to it. To really own and acknowledge it and yet become bigger than it.
So I can use the energy of pain, loss or guilt as fuel for creating the changes I want to see in the world.
Today I write this with that intention…
I am sorry… I am guilty… and I am ask for forgiveness…
I live a life of luxury off the backs of an unpaid debt to the land I inhabit and the people who lived here before me.
These are my crimes to own, and they are likely yours as well…
From this place National Pride is no longer an option. It is a false sense of security and happiness.
Yet, because this is what the mass consciousness is focusing on today, I can use this heightened sense of psychic energy to really touch into a deeper level of awareness in myself, with others, and with the land I inhabit.
Today I will go for a walk in the wild lands and ask for forgiveness…
I make a vow to share awareness of this injustice, as it is not only here, it has happened in every corner of this planet.
I share this message, and dedicate much of my efforts to teaching and learning deeper ways of showing up that are more in tune with the world we live in.
I dedicate myself to learning ways that are in flow with nature and the planet as one consciousness, ways that have been shared with us by indigenous cultures from around the world for thousands of years..
In respect for all those who have suffered from these crimes, I once again, ask for your forgiveness on this day and every day moving forward.
Y~
THE FLEXITARIAN AND THE OPPORTUNIVORE
Flexitarian
- A state of 80% awesome, 20% less than awesome
- Flexible dietary habits and lifestyle design
- No hard set rules or limitations
- Seeking intuitive choices that best fit each situation
Opportunivore
- Engaging in life, whatever it brings
- Using what you have to its fullest potential
- Finding opportunity in every moment
- Seeking upgraded choices that best fit the moment.
The choice is yours in every moment…
It always has been, and always will be…
In the modern world we are challenged not to take ourselves or our situations too personally or seriously so we can be available to the opportunities that each moment presents.
We are called to the challenge to be flexible and adaptable in a world filled with uncertainty. To do this we must let go of the safety blanket of routine, structure and habit that are reinforced by our fears, concerns and uncertainties. Most of the time they don’t really serve us or end up stifling our ability to thrive and adapt.
In meeting lifes challenges we will stumble, we will fall, but in short order we will also pick ourselves up and find a deepened connection to our own truth and value systems that are our internal governing barometers. The more we fall the more we get really clear on what does and does not serve us. This process builds strength and confidence in ourselves and our ability to adapt. Pretty soon, through our choices, we learn to access the best of what life has to offer, and leave what no longer serves us alone…
Creating value systems for navigating life’s diverse terrain has always been important. At the same time we need to learn how to step outside of our perceived value systems once in a while to help create new experiences. When we “challenge our beliefs” and get “fun-comfortable” sometimes, we can open up to the possibility of finding our most treasured experiences which stretch us, grow us, and sometimes heal us at the deepest levels.
I like to think that all life is conspiring to see us achieve great things. It is up to us to learn when to get out of our own way and allow ourselves to get a little lost. Most of the time when we do, things work out better than if we try to control it all with too many rules and restrictions. This is why learning to utilize the powers of the flexitarian and opportunivore are in our best interest if we are to create lasting health, happiness and balance on all levels.
Of course, all life is about balance, and it is up to our internal barometer to help guide us not to stretch to much or too fast if we are to be successful in challenging our personal status quo’s.
Remember.. If plan “A” doesn’t work out, don’t worry the alphabet has 25 more letters.. stay flexible there’s always another opportunity.
Flexitarian
First off, the Flexitarian is often talked about as a dietary approach. In this sense of the word it is considered a diet of not dieting or limiting too many food choices. It can be done well or done poorly. If you go with the general rule of 80% awesome upgrade and 20% not so awesome, you are bound to succeed at creating great lasting health and have lots of fun doing it. This ideology is a call to stop limiting yourself and start living your life to its fullest.
At 80% awesome upgrade we are adhering to a generally healthy lifestyle and looking to find the best choices in the moment, yet not beating ourself up if 20% of our food, our choices, and the circumstances we find ourself in fall outside of our healthy ideals.
The Flexitarian stays subtle to the flow and avoids creating too much rigidity or seriousness to their choices. They live in alignment with the basic rhythms of life, yet mix it up by going against the grain at times. They know that optimal health is created by letting go of fundamentalism, fanaticism or idealism.
Far too often people try to overachieve good health, and end up creating more negative affirmations than positive ones. I can’t choose that, I shouldn’t eat this, I’m not as healthy as I want to be, but I will be when “x” happens…. This becomes a disempowering practice rather then an empowering one.
What if we changed the story… I can choose that, I could eat this, I’m good to go and will always make the best choice in the moment. This is an easy attitude switch to make if we change our ideals around what health is.
Real and lasting health starts with feeling good about what we do emotionally and mentally first, then our physical will start to follow this alignment. When we start our health path by limiting our diet and forcing ourselves to exercise, we are likely to stumble and fail more often than succeed.
What if we chose instead to seek the upgrade, but be flexible and not feel guilty if we don’t always take it. Slowly we would start to see and feel the benefits that the upgrade gives us without the pressure, limitations and guilty of failing. In this mood of thinking, it isn’t long before we start to exercise and choose better foods because they make us feel good on all levels.
Every person alive desires one thing in common, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, or why you want it. At some level we all are looking for the same thing, and that is to “feel better”…
Feeling better is not about making right choices or choosing right action, it is always about being in the flow, creating positive movement and enjoying each moment to its fullest. If we can learn to laugh at ourselves, make mistakes, and let go of the pressure of achieve something we are not quite yet, then we are winning the inner battle. This inner shift will directly start to reflect in our outer health.
The challenge the flexitarian faces is to be ok with the dark side, taboo or downgraded choices in their lives. Yet, not allowing these to raise above the 20% threshold where they can start to erode at our core values. The Flexitarian starts to get in trouble when they slide to a 60/40 mix. At this place they are letting go of their resolve to seek the upgrade and achieve vibrant health. Pretty soon they start slipping into more and more “shades of grey” and states of health imbalance.
In the modern world, there are many low vibrational food and lifestyle choices available. It is tempting to let false pleasure and easy habits take over. After all they give immediate gratification. These quick pleasure hits are never lasting and often leave us more depleted in the end. If we kept to the 80% awesome upgrade and 20% less than ideal, then it’s all good, we can enjoy each experience to its fullest without inhibition. The upgraded choices we’ve committed to will more than make up for our less than ideal ones. In essence, we can still have our cake and eat it too.
Opportunivore
When we allow ourselves to be available for whatever life brings, we create space for opportunity and new experience to come our way. At times we most definitely will have to say “no” to opportunity, and will always be faced with challenges to overcome. Every time we go with an opportunity and it doesn’t work out, we get clearer on what we actually want and closer to understanding how to make the best choices that align with our highest potential.
“The only way to be successful and get good at anything is to learn how to fail really well”.
In essence the intentional opportunivore path is a fast track to upgrading our health, happiness and lifestyle design. We learn to awaken our internal warrior instincts, activating and engaging our moments with their fullest potential.
A good opportunivore doesn’t put restrictions on their choices, they use discernment to find the best choice in the moment. Often the diet and lifestyle will change dramatically through the seasons, tuning into the ideal choices available for their current situation. For example, in winter, we often crave more fats to help feed and protect our bodies during the dark and cold season; sensing this, a good opportunivore will seek out the best quality fats they can find to insure optimal nourishment, rather than attempt to convince themselves that fats are not optimal and restrict themselves. This same opportunivore will likely notice the desire for more fresh greens when they become available in the spring and use these to tone and cleanse their winter build up.
Opportunivores often have a unique collection of foods, herbs and spice in their lives and enjoy a variety of ethnic or fusion meals and beverages. They usually seek to create an experience around meals, rather then just eating food as a form of sustenance. This may mean visiting farmers markets, delis and specialty food shops to find those ideal ingredients to work with. Or it could show up as stretching one’s cooking abilities with new recipes, tools or other resources they seek out. Often opportunivores enjoy exploring unique dining experiences, and experimenting with foods they have never tried.
My personal favourite opportunivore experiences have been traveling to different cultural centres, either internationally or just within any large city I find myself in. I seek out the most unique traditional or fusion foods available, preferably fermented or prepared in an intentional way that requires time, and energy. These types of foods are more likely to be prepared for their health benefits and are often rich in story, cultural significance and or flavour. It can be a hit or miss, most of the time a new food pilgrimage will be something I cherish and want to try again, though in other times, a few bites in something is way wrong and I’m unable to finish my meal.
If we are to choose to follow this lifestyle and dietary path it is important to be strategic, discerning and have well laid out intention, otherwise the opportunivore is likely to get the best of us. Opportunities are everywhere and so are bad opportunivores. It’s all too easy to take too many shortcuts and become a convineince-avore, or fastfood-atarian.
To be an good opportunivore is to seek out new and exciting opportunities, to stretch ourselves, learn new skills, and create the best diet and lifestyle that is seasonally tuned and situationally maximized.
In Conclusion..
Both the Flexitarian and the opportunivore have a place in a bigger wholistic lifestyle design. In essence we can never control the out come of our experience, we are always given free will to choose our part in co-creating each moment. These choices will dramatically effect the way our life unfolds, as well as our happiness, health and success. Being flexible and brave enough to seize opportunities as they come, will always out maneuver the complainers, the fearful, and the dis-empowered attitudes others may have. Pretty soon we start to see that those around us will be also be taking on the yes I can attitude or they will start to move out of our lives as more flexible opportunities come our way.
“Play it safe, or challenge yourself to find the best in who you are, regardless of if it works out or not….”
Seasonal Alignment – Summer
Summertime, and the Livin’ is Easy…
Breathe deep, smell the flowers, listen to the birds.
Let the timelessness of these long days sweep you away in blissful moments of joy and relaxation…
When it comes to our wellness it’s not uncommon for people to feel that summer is the glory days of good health. The weather is warm, the plants are out, there are less colds and flus and overall people seem happier. It’s the season for picnics, camping, vacations, festivals and all sorts of outdoor activities. Getting out in nature is one of the easiest and most effective ways of helping one feel better. In fact, the concept of “forest bathing” (going for a gentle walk in the woods) has been proven to show significant health benefits, 
including lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and correcting other cardiovascular imbalances. Regular walking in Nature has also shown to calm anxiety, stress, nervous tension, and improve immune function. One way the health industry sees the effects of this, is that all around the northern hemisphere, the sales in supplements drop dramatically during summer months. Only to pick right back up again in the fall when the weather shifts and flu and cold season starts up again.
What if we were able to use the energy we can feel and tap into during the summer months as a way of supporting our bodies health needs throughout the rest of the year?
This is not such a hard thing to achive, in fact we are intuitively guided to do this, as it is how our ancestors have utilized the power of summer manifestation for thousands of generations. They would make the most of the summer season and store its energy in the from of ferments, preserves, canning, drying and other means of making it last and be accessed throughout winter months.
If we are to maximize the benefits that can be found in summer months, we are best to come into seasonal alignment and live in accordance with the energetics that govern the world around us. Our connection to the abundance available in summers manifestations will then help support our health during this season and beyond.
So as we travel down this road of Summer Health Alignment, I would first like to introduce you to the 4 basic Energies of Seasonal Alignments:
-Spring Activation,
-Summer Manifestation,
-Autumn Accumulation
-Winter Decline
When looking at working with the seasons, it is also important for us to have a basic sense of the Fourfold landscape of Holistic Health, which it Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual.
Each of these are aspect of who we are and as so, require a different type of nourishment in order to properly maintain our health and vitality.
By looking at wellness through the lens of Holistic health, we realize that it is a dynamic layering of many interactive parts.
On one hand we have seasonal alignment as mentioned above. Where finding the right mix of 
ingredients to take in from our outside environment is the filter for choosing our path.
On another hand we have this fourfold landscape of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves.
Our choices therefore should ideally be rooted in an understanding of how they affect each aspect of oneself. By using these filters to help guide us, we naturally gravitate to the right tools and practices for generating a long and fulfilling life.
So lets take a deeper look at these four aspects of ourselves and how they can be nourished by aligning with the power of Summer Manifestation.
Physical
Summer is the season in which we can maximize our efforts physically. The days are longer and warmer, which brings our energy levels up and can allow us to be more physically active. What we see in many cultures in hot countries is that they ideally work in 2 cycles; a morning and an early evening shift. This is because the days are too hot and the body too fatigued for strong work in the afternoon. I believe this is an ideal way to really benefit from the manifestation power on summer. With long days we can often get two shorter working days out of one. So it’s time to take on those projects you want to do and make the changes to your physical world you want to see. One of the best ways to use this extra time is to get out and grow a garden, harvest more foods and medicines from your environment, and process, preserve, ferment, or store some of this abundance for use later on. With this direct connection to the food and medicine you are able to save money in the summer, and it gives you much more healing benefits than store bought food when it is consumed at a later date.
As the weather becomes warmer, it is important to remember that the bodies ecology and energetics need time and some effort to adapt to this changes. So be careful of internal imbalances related to heat that may come up in the summer. Specifically inflammation, irritation, heat rashes, brain fog and summer fevers. Also if you are from a northern ancestry, it is likely that your body was not as adapted to heat, and so these people can have a harder time with it. Drink lots of water, practice more exercise, and sweat out those toxins and that heat as it builds up in the body. This can also be worked with by introducing cooling and bitter foods, as well as diaphoretic/diuretic plants. Favourite plant medicines for summer at our house are Elderflower cordial (video link), Digestive Bitters, Hibiscus, Gynostemma, Peppermint or Atmospheri-tea, and Green Smoothies. Some cooling foods we can add to our diets are local fruits and their juice, fresh leafy greens, avocados, cucumber, coconut, sea vegetables, and fish.
Mental
Our mental health can often become exhausted in the “dog days” of summer. Heat rises and guess what’s at the top of your body… your head! It’s common for people to feel more mentally lethargic during the summer season. Often this is coupled by the fact that because it’s nice outside we are continually distracted by wanting to get out and enjoy it. Especially when we see others around us planning their own extra curricular activities. The fact is that most of us are much less mentally productive in the summer. This is not a bad thing, it can actually be a much deserved break from the constant mental work that the modern world often demands of us. Instead, summer should be a time for action, and a time to create all of your ideas and plans that came from mentally active times of the year, such as the winter months. So if strenuous mental activity is not working for you in the summer months, don’t bang your head against the wall. Get out and do things! Be active and use that energy to build happiness and accomplishments that you can be proud of when you think back on them from slower times of the year spent indoors.
Emotional
In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is believed that the summer is ruled by the heart, which governs the emotions of joy and has the voice of laughter. So enjoy yourself, have fun, connect with others, do things that bring more joy into your life. This is a time for merriment, a time for celebration, a time to take in all the magnificent colours and fragrance of the natural world. Get out and nourish these aspects of your life. Vibrant living starts from creating the time in our lives to enjoy ourselves. Spend time building your connections with plants, animals, people and all the life around you. There is no person or thing that will be wearing a sign on them that says friend of _____, will make you laugh and experience joy if you spend time with me. It is up to you to go out and create those relationships if you want to have them in your life.
Spiritual
Similar to Emotional, the spiritual aspects of summer are those of connection, community and celebration. Find your spiritual fulfillment in the world you build relationships with. Part of why we get less sick and generally feel happier in the summer is because we have more opportunity to build nourishing relationships. This may be with a garden and the plants you grow, it may be with the plants and animals you see in the natural world, or it may be with the people that inspire you and bring more enjoyment and purpose into your life. Take the time to allow these aspects of connection to nourish your spiritual needs.
Taking a vacation is as much about spending time with those we love and doing things that make us happy, as it is about releasing ourself from the burdens of stress and commitments that we so readily take on. Committing to less in the summer months can make us more available for joy and good flow in our lives.
For this reason I am a big fan of the “stay-cation”. Which to me means coming home early from work, or taking time off just to putz around the yard or laying in a hammock and reading a good book. Be good to yourself in the summer and the rest of your year will be rewarded with more productivity and value.
Image from The Vancouver Island Herb Gathering
My hope for you this summer is to get out and really make the most of its powers of Manifestation, enjoy yourself, laugh a lot, and connect with like minded individuals. May you carry the energy of abundance that summer offers with you into the rest of the year to come..
In Health,
Y~
Alittle about me
As a Herbalist and Nature Enthusiast I have spent the better part of my adult life learning ways to deepen my understanding of how to best show up in the world and integrate more harmonious ways of living that reflect the adaptability of the natural systems that surround us. I am forever a student of the world, there is always so much more to learn, share and explore…
My Intentions for this website, my work and the writings you will find in this blog:
During such turbulent times in the world, where so many of us feel lost in a consumer driven, nature deprived society. I am honoured and humbled to be part of the ever growing heart centred health movement towards holistic living and a deeper understanding of how we are showing up in the world.
If there is one thing that I hope for in my work, it is that more people question what limiting beliefs are no longer serving them and become inspired to bring more earth based and natural rhythm approaches to living into their own lives.
I know at every level of myself, that when we have a deep connection to our planet as our root, we make better decisions as an individual and as a society moving forward. In this way we are able to be the change we want to see in the world. Although struggle and challenges will always be a part of life, the disconnection from our planet, our community and ourselves does not have to be.
Some of the ideas I share will hopefully challenge your current belief systems, inspire new ways of thinking and ask of you to go deeper into what you already know to be true and in alignment with your way of showing up.
Of course as I like to say… “take it all with a grain of dulse” You are your own wisest council, and if what I or anyone else shares with you does not ring true or feel right it is up to you and only you to choose whether you take it or leave it.
My Beliefs about the Nature of Health:
Our current state of health is a direct reflection of the interactions we have with our environment and the way we integrated them into who we are. When we look at health through this lens we see that all imbalance or dis-ease can be broken down to a root of blockage and stagnation. It is this stagnation point that is most often the cause of our suffering. If we are to follow the course laid out by the world around us we will see that blockage on any level creates stagnation, which in turn creates a cascade of friction, heat, and inflammation, this then signals pain and awareness that if not acted upon eventually leads to suffering, illness, imbalance and death.
The path to health freedom starts with acting on our pain points and digging into our awareness to find the root stagnation that is limiting us from free flowing energy. Its about getting a little uncomfortable and radically honest with ourselves and our relations. If we look at the natural world around us we see there is no room for stagnation, when things become stuck everything else moves on and passes it by, or finds creative ways to use the stuck energy as fuel for new life to thrive. The point is life doesn’t stop for anyone or any thing, we are either inflow with it our out of flow.
The nature of the Universe is one of fractal self similar patterns that govern a basic way in which this flow can be understood by all life. This relationship to all things allows life to determine via what ever level of perception it is capable of, whether it is in flow or needs to course correct. If it doesn’t course correct, new life springs out of its death.
An easy example of this flow is to look at water, it is always moving through a constant cycle of change, from rain to rivers to oceans and back again, feeding all of life as it moves through its life cycle. If we start to alter this cycle, say adding rocks to the river, the water will find ways to move around them. If we add enough rocks we start to see the beginnings of the stagnation cycle. The River becomes blocked causing eddies at first, then as the water fills the holes where the rocks used to be, it can become stagnant pools of water. If the water can’t find a way to drained in time these pools start to smell, becoming filled with bacteria, fungi and algae overgrowth. At this point the water has shifted from being in flow, to being a breading ground for advantageous species that can use the energy trapped in the stagnation. In essence the death of one cycle leads to the birth of another.
My Journey into becoming a Herbalist
My path as a Herbalist started when I was young, as my parents had created a herb school at the same time they created me. (Wild Rose College of Natural Healing)
As a youth I was quickly submerged into the world of plant medicine, going on herb walks, doing sweat lodges, and spending many hours outside learning alongside plants and the students at the herb school. Growing up we were an active family, spending many of our weekends and summers out in the natural world, hiking, camping, climbing, canoeing, backcountry skiing, etc… Over the years this direct contact with nature solidified my awareness and interest in plants and the general magic that could be experienced through connecting with the natural world at a deeper level.
In completion of High school I lived out of a backpack or vehicle for a few years exploring the world and discovering a variety of less conventional ways of showing up. After having a daughter at a young age and realizing that responsibility was sure to become a larger part of my life I decided to settling down and enrolling in the Clinical Herbalist education at the Wild Rose College back my home town of Calgary Alberta. This program brought me a much deeper understanding for the intricacies of the body and our relationship to health and plants as medicine. After 5 years of schooling and 200 hours clinical apprenticeship I had become a well educated herbalists and was set to start seeing patients in a clinical setting. The only thing is I yearned to get back out into the world and deepen my relationship with the plants even more. So my partner (Angela Willard- also a Herbalist who graduated along with me) and I headed westward to the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island where there was ample diversity and many new bio-regions full of mushrooms and seaweeds to explore.
As we started doing some clinical work on the coast, and apprenticing with a local herbalist, it became apparent to us that the thing missing most for practitioners was access to quality herbal medicines they could trust. So rather than working in Clinic one on one, we decided to set out on a bold new business adventure and created the Harmonic Arts Botanical Dispensary, the the mission of “guiding the body to a natural state of harmony” . This was to be a place where people could find a full spectrum of High Quality Organic plant based medicines, including loose leaf, singles and blends, tinctures, powders, syrups, oils and more . This took us on a whirlwind journey into the hearts and homes of thousands of Canadians over the next 8 years as our business grew to become much larger than we could have ever imagined. All of a sudden our business started to double every year and were forced to move locations 5 times in 6 years. Work, work work and no play was the name of the day for those first few years.
Fast forwarding to now. I find myself in a place where the mission of deepening our connection to the natural world is in full bloom. Our company Harmonic Arts has matured in a beautiful way. Offering great products and getting behind amazing causes we believe in. Our family and personal lives are more in balance and I am now able to offer more of myself to the education of herbalism and further my personal mission of deepening our collective connection with plant medicine and the natural world.
In doing so, I teach workshops throughout Canada and into the United States, as well as share a variety of herbal based events, elixir bars, blogs, article, and podcast interviews. We have also been fortunate enough to collaborate with a great videographer and put together over 120 herbal 
education videos on our Youtube Channel that are full of amazing free content and have started to create a life of their own.
My Current work related roles:
-Formulator, Visionary and Chief Strategic officer at Harmonic Arts Botanical Dispensary www.harmonicarts.ca
-Director and Teacher at the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing, which has moved online at wrc.net to keep up with the 21st century way of learning.
– Educator and Speaker on Health related Topics at Live Events, Trainings, Workshops, Festivals, Podcasts, Youtube Videos and more…
-Co-creator and organizer for the Vancouver Island Herb Gathering at www.herbgathering.org
-Co-ordinator for the Harmonic Arts Elixir Temple pop-up Elixir Bar.
-Wild forager, Medicine Maker and Plant Activist.
Being a bit of a big picture, and visionary idea type guy, I always have a number of other projects on the go.
Thanks for Joining me on this blog page, and being on the journey with me to deepening our connection to the natural world.
Y~
Bio:
Yarrow Willard is a second generation master Herbalist. He spends much of his time sharing practices around reclaim wellness, and deepen connection with the natural world. Professionally, Yarrow is the co-creator of Harmonic Arts Botanical Dispensary, and director of Wild Rose College of Natural Healing. As a speaker, entrepreneur and modern day reality hacker, he is highly engaging, dynamic and insightful.
Yarrows message stems from the infusion of modern and old world knowledge, sprinkled with his own magic. www.harmonicarts.ca
www.wrc.net
Are you an Opportun-ivore or a Conform-etarian?
The choice is yours… it always has been, and it always will be… in every moment.
Play it safe and stay inside the box, or challenge yourself with a leap of faith into the unknown path when opportunities are more likely to come your way.
Regardless of if it works out or not, you will never know something unless you try it.
In the modern world we are asked to become more nimble and responsive to the situations we find ourselves in. The world has never been so interconnected as it is today. With this all bets are off, all rule books are out. All we have is our intuition and collected wisdom to guide us through the chaos of an ever expanding
paradigm that seems constantly on the verge of collapse and self destruction.
Remember.. If plan “A” doesn’t work out, don’t worry too much the alphabet has 25 more letters.. stay flexible there’s always another opportunity.