plant spirit medicine

About the medicine 

Plant spirit medicine is a holistic and noninvasive form of healing which utilizes the medicine of local plants to restore balance in a person’s body, mind and spirit. Throughout time and all the world over, humans have utilized plants for health and healing. Plant spirit medicine is a contemporary expression of this tradition and is particularly beneficial as our modern lifestyle often leaves us disconnected from the natural world and subsequently ourselves. It is a gentle yet powerful form of healing which uses plant spirits to clear energetic blocks and restore wellbeing. There is a wide range of health concerns which may bring one to plant spirit medicine such as chronic pain, insomnia, depression, migraines, and trauma to name a few as well as an overall curiosity and inclination to experience a medicine which works at the spirit level.

Have you ever noticed that when you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed or sad getting outside in nature often makes you feel better? This is a small but significant illustration of the healing power of the natural world. Plant spirit medicine is another example of how the natural world can, and in fact wants to, heal us and bring us to a more balanced state.

What a session is like

Your first appointment with me will last between an hour and a half to two hours, and all subsequent appointments are about an hour long. During your initial appointment we will discuss at length what brings you to plant spirit medicine. We will begin each appointment by sitting together to discuss how you are doing and what you have observed and experienced since your last treatment. Because the medicine is non-physical, there are no tinctures, supplements or oils. While you are lying fully clothed on the massage table, I place my hands on your chest and ask a particular plant to bring its medicine to you. The plants which I use are ones which I have studied and learned from extensively over the years and which are part of my materia medica. I also use the traditional Chinese medicine system of pulse taking throughout your session. (This allows me to feel if there are any energetic blocks in your system, get an overall sense of your energy and vitality as well as feel changes that the plants have brought to your system during the session.)

The vast majority of people who receive plant spirit medicine report feelings of deep relaxation and well being immediately following a treatment as well as in the hours, days and weeks following a session. Often this overall sense of calm and wellbeing is accompanied by a lessening or alleviation of symptoms. Though this is a medicine which works at the spiritual level, there are often changes at the physical and emotional level as well, and it is not unusual to find that your physical symptoms will lessen or be alleviated or that they will not feel as bothersome to you. The treatments build upon themselves so it is recommended to receive weekly treatments for an agreed upon amount of time, generally 6 to 8 weeks. This gives you a solid and embodied sense of what the medicine has to offer you. It is my intention as your plant spirit medicine healer to bring you the best plant spirit allies for your health so that you experience life as fully and vibrantly as possible.

My training

I began studying plant spirit medicine with Eliot Cowan in 2012 at the Blue Deer Center in Margaretville, New York. My training included an eight-week class as well as a six month supervised clinical apprenticeship, and I became inducted as a plant spirit medicine healer in 2015. I continue to train with my teachers, expand my material medica and deepen my relationship with the wise and generous plants of New England.

My path

I first learned about plant spirit medicine when I was in school to become an acupuncturist. I read Eliot Cowan’s book Plant Spirit Medicine, and it resonated strongly with me. The book is about his journey as a healer as well as about the specifics of this contemporary incarnation of plant medicine. Like so many others who read the book, I was curious and eager to receive the medicine which I did through a fellow acupuncture student who had studied with Eliot. My experience on the table while I was receiving my first treatment was profound, immediate and difficult to articulate. As soon as I received the medicine and was resting on the massage table I found myself in a heightened state of awareness that left me extremely grounded in my body and with an acute sense of oneness with my surroundings. Everything around me popped with a clarity and vibrancy in a way that I never before experienced. This feeling lasted for many hours, and over time as I continued to receive regular treatments, there grew inside of me a sense of peace that I have since learned comes from being deeply seen and supported by the plants. From that time on, I knew that I wanted to study the medicine and share its gifts with others.