The Earth is Medicine. She is the source of our life, our sustainability, and our healing. We can invite ourselves to learn, receive, and integrate the various ways the Earth is here offering her healing to us. This page is an offering to explore the ways the Earth, the natural world, is here to teach you to awaken into a deeper sense of your nature being to help you heal.
Questions you can ask yourself and reflect to connect to Earth Medicine:
Where in nature do I feel safe, supported, and grounded?
What in nature reminds me I am alive?
How does nature reflect to me teachings of being more kind, supportive, compassionate with myself and others?
What places in nature remind me to take care of myself (e.g., to slow down, to appreciate beauty, ro remember we all have different ways of growing/healing)?
What plants, trees, animals, elements, landscapes, and expressions of the Earth speak to me, feel connected to me, reflect teachings to me?
What teachings from the rhythms/cycles/seasons of the Earth can help me to heal (e.g., winter-slowing/conservation, spring-germination, summer- vitality/movement, fall- harvest/reflection)?
What are the plants, and connections to nature that are shared in my ancestral lineage that I can bring into my life (e.g. special foods/plants eaten on special occasions, particular farming or gardening practices, particular medicinal plants used for healing)?
What herbs/plants/trees/fruits do I have a special connection with? What are their healing properties that support my well-being?
Books that may be helpful to deepen your relationship with Earth Medicine.
In Earth Medicines, Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz, a curandera (or traditional healer) who is a Xicana with Tewa ancestry, combines Indigenous wisdom from many traditions with the power of the four elements. This modern guide is designed to support readers on their path to wellness with lifestyle practices and recipes perfected by Ruiz in her twenty-five years of training and working as a curandera. Ruiz teaches readers to be their own healers by discovering their own ancestral practices and cultivating a personal connection to the elements.
These healing recipes and rituals draw on the power of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire—a reminder that the natural elements are the origins of everything and can heal not only our bodies, but the mind and spirit as well.
Nowadays, people are addicted to common medications for many health causes, which has led to dependence on those drugs and all the side effects it brings… side effects that are often worse than the health problem itself. It’s a vicious cycle that’s hard to escape since society encourages using chemical medicines for almost any health problem, even minor ones. But if you are here, it’s because you want to change this situation, and you know there is a more effective and natural alternative. Thanks to the Native Americans’ wisdom, we have the chance to prepare natural remedies at home for any common health problem without the use of any tool that is not found in everyone’s kitchens. For this reason, passionate author and Botanical Medicine expert Ashley Ahoka, compiled in this collection all the wisdom passed down by word of mouth from her ancestors, who were part of the Odawa, a Native American ethnic group, from the Eastern Woodlands region.
Used for thousands of years by indigenous tribes of the Amazon rain forest, the mystical brew ayahuasca is now becoming increasingly popular in the West. Psychologist Rachel Harris here shares her own healing experiences and draws on her original research (the largest study of ayahuasca use in North America) into the powerful medicine’s effects on depression, addiction, PTSD, and anxiety. In this wide-ranging and personal exploration, Harris details ayahuasca’s risks and benefits, helping readers clarify their intentions and giving psychotherapists a template for transformative care and healing.
Check Out “Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety”