Learning the language of the green realm
Plants are the wisdom keepers of the planet. There is memory in their branches, knowledge in their roots, and lore in each of the fragrant blooms that draw us near. The plants have always come before us… evolutionarily they are our distant relatives, and still to this day they make our lives in every sense possible, through breath and through nourishment. The plant kingdom is innately linked to our humanness, and there is no severing that bond. Plant communication is a lost art and a skill we can all develop. Ample are the opportunities to connect deeper with the green realm, if we so chose.
For many it begins with a cerebral approach, at least, I know it did for me. Learn their names, memorize the latin, how to identify them, what family they are in, their habitat and growing conditions. We can become familiar with the niche vocabulary of a botanist– which attempts to describe nearly every nuance in leaf, flower, fruit, and root structure for the over 400,000 unique species that exist on the planet (with thousands more being discovered yearly). We may then move into studying the body of human knowledge that surrounds the plant, we can read about its historical uses, the energetics, medicinal actions and active constituents, the tissues it affects, what forms are used, and so on. In the age of information, we could collect this data for years, without formally meeting this plant as it grows in the wild.
Though this type of introduction builds a solid and necessary foundation, when it comes to learning who the plant is, our left thinking brains can only take us so far. There is a kind of wisdom that cannot be gleaned from books. I have a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and restoration ecology from UC Davis. There were many late nights spent cramming scientific names and complex phytochemical reactions.
Despite the fact I was using microscopes to differentiate between two species of grasses based on the structure of their florets, I realized my craving for intimacy with plants was not being satiated. I thought I had taken all the necessary prerequisites to know them on a deep level, so why did I feel like my understanding was still lacking? I had walked to the edge of how far my left brain could take me in learning the language of the green realm.
I did not recognize it at the time, but I was actually earning qualifications needed to be in deeper kinship with plants…but it wasn’t while I was studying for class. It was during the mornings in my apartment, as I was meditating daily on my yoga mat. It was in the slow walks I would take through the arboretum between classes, allowing myself to notice the subtle beauty around me. As these activities became habitual, my right brain, the creative and intuitive feminine side, became more alive and activated. My spiritual practice became just as important to me as my performance in my classes. The years of studying botany alongside a consistent spiritual practice, were the pillars that would eventually build a doorway for me to walk directly into plant spirit connection.
Fast forward to the summer after completing the second year of herb school, I had gone on a rainforest retreat with the faculty and my classmates. We were among the temperate old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest in the Cascades. On the last day of the retreat, we ventured off trail in search of interesting plants. We happened upon a sprawling meadow, entirely full of Anemone oregana, or windflower, in bloom. Thousands of delicate, periwinkle blooms formed a dense carpet underneath the towering pines. A soft mist filled the air, coating each delicate leaf and petal with dew. Even still the sun was peeking through the clouds, periodically shining a glistening warmth onto our cool and moist cheeks. This plant had called us in, and we sat with Anemone, each of us finding a specimen that called out to us.
The heart center is like a portal into the green realm. The heart itself is not just a pump, it is an endocrine organ, complete with neurological cells that send and receive messages to the brain and body. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the seat of the soul is seen as being in the heart center, and the spiritual heart an organ inseparable from the physiological one. The heart also happens to be the organ most in tune with the plant realm. The more we can drop into the thinking space of the heart, the easier it becomes to level with plant consciousness. In this way, we would practice using our hearts as a compass for which plant would like to connect with us. We always ask permission before harvesting or connecting with a plant, and the way the plant answers is different for each person. You might hear a yes or a no, or just feel intuitively expansive in your heart or constricted. Once we had found the right plant, we were taught to first introduce ourselves, tell them our names, and our intentions.
As I was sitting with Anemone, I felt a rush of emotions come over me. Sometimes the plants speak more in feelings than in words. The love I felt from this plant was fierce. It was a love that I could only compare to my mother’s love, who passed away from breast cancer in 2019. I was overcome with tears. Anemone reminded me of my own strength through my softness. As a member of the buttercup family, her medicine is toxic in large doses. Anemone is a low dose botanical, meaning its medicinal qualities are effective in only small amounts. A few drops of the fresh tincture is all that is needed, to calm panic attacks, assist with PTSD and night terrors. How could such a soft, delicate flower, be so powerful at the same time? Anemone embodies what it means to hold much potency with grace… gentle, but not weak.
The medicine plants can share with us goes beyond just the physiological response. Sometimes simply sitting with a plant can address the healing needed within your spirit or emotions. Plant spirit communication is a way to deepen our relationship to the vital force that innately runs through the green realm. Connecting with a plant as a teacher is more than just ingesting the medicine, though that absolutely can be an important aspect. It has been my experience that as we widen our perception beyond the thinking mind, there is an abundance of plants wanting to connect with you. It’s all about learning how to listen. Here are a few practical ways to begin to strengthen that muscle.
Simple Practices for Plant Spirit Communication
Find a spot to sit in nature for 20 minutes daily. It can be your backyard or a park, whatever feels accessible to you. Orient yourself to the beauty around you, and observe how the living things change over time, and with the seasons. This could be noticing leaf movement, changing light, texture of bark, bird sound, or color gradients in a flower. The goal is to shift the nervous system out of vigilance and into receptive awareness.
Activate your parasympathetic nervous system: relax your vision so that rather than focusing on one spot in front of you, your field of vision is expanded out to your peripherals, almost as if you are observing a sunset over the horizon. This signals to your brain that it is safe to rest now, that it is no longer the time to be alert, and opens the receptive channels.
Breathe. Remember, breath is the most immediate thread that connects us to the gifts of the plant world, the present moment, and also to our own hearts. Focus on long, slow, deep breaths rather than intense breaths of fire style. See if you can make your exhale slightly longer than your inhale. As you breathe, become aware of the living beings in the space you are in.
Humming or toning. On the exhale of your breathing exercise or throughout the day, hum out a mmmm or faaaaa (for the musically inclined, F note is associated with heart chakra). The vibration stimulates vagal pathways and often opens the chest surprisingly quickly.
Work with heart medicines. There are a number of plant allies that are specific for activating and opening the heart. I prefer the gentle medicine of rose, hawthorn, lemonbalm, tulsi, cacao, cardamom, and cinnamon for uplifting and protecting the heart, so we can open into a deeper intimacy within.
Just like any other skill, plant communication is a practice that takes time and devotion to develop. It may come more naturally to some, but we are all capable of forging this kind of relationship with plants.
Emma is a certified vitalist clinical herbalist who is guided by the belief that true healing emerges when we return to our natural form and rekindle our relationship to the living world. She helps clients cut through the noise of wellness culture and build simple health practices (and the discipline to embody them) so they can return to who they’ve always been meant to be.
