Sacred Boundaries: Stinging Nettle Medicine
/“Because the plants retain their umbilical cord to the earth, they carry not only the earth’s mineral richness and vitality but the memories of ancient mysteries lodged within the body of the earth. When we approach the green nations with the awe and wonder of a child, the respect of an elder, the plants slowly revealed those secrets to us.” - Judith Berger
As we show up with consistency and devotion to our self-care practice, we tap deeper and deeper into our inner wellspring of power. Just like our plant cousins, the electricity of summer courses through our veins that we might sustainability harvest the power of the sun for our flourishing.
But if we aren’t sustainably managing these inner resources, they leak out, draining us of our priceless well of health and joy, leaving us depleted, frazzled, overwhelmed.
How shall we protect and amplify this inner well of power we’re building?
Enter boundaries.
Many of us empty our wellness bank account by giving and giving and giving to those around us- our families, our jobs, our social media accounts - without regularly refueling. While generosity and service are some of the highest aims of spiritual practice, giving from emptiness is like monoculture farming- taking and taking from the soil until it’s dead and barren and the food supply is extinct. Burnout.
Burnout doesn’t always look like a breakdown. Sometimes it's a vague uneasiness that something is missing, a sadness, illogical anger, disconnection from life, irritability, less luster in the skin and hair.
Like thorns protecting the beauty of a rose, a mama lion protecting her cubs, craggy mountains hiding untouched, lush valleys, the warrior of the heart must also fiercely protects our sacred inner space. Otherwise, our hearts dry up like a desert in July, our body gets soggy like a marsh and our mind becomes agitated like a bird in a cage- our inner elements grow out of balance.
Healthy boundaries are an affirmation that we are a sacred space.
You wouldn’t walk into a temple and throw trash. The body temple also demands respect and care to maintain its potency as a source of healing, service, and transformation.
Beautiful waves can be surfed yet they demand mindfulness lest we be trampled by the full power of the ocean. Skunk, stinkbug, thistle - despite her gentle beauty, nature is a master of boundaries, demanding presence and reverence.
We all know it can take ferocity to maintain boundaries around our self-care time. Our job, our children, partners, housework, parents, the internet, and the daily grind will keep us as busy as we let it. While honoring the way our wellbeing contributes to the web of life by nourishing others, we must flex our power by staking out a few moments each day to refill our wellness bank account or we’ll always be pouring from a glass half empty.
When we respect our body by committing to daily sacred self-care time, others mirror that by respecting us. No one will do it for us. Only we can do it for ourselves.
Enter the plant teacher - stinging nettles.
Like poison oak (called ‘guardian oak by the natives) this isn’t a weed you want to meet by accident. It can leave you screaming in pain that may take days to pass. It knows its own value and it demands respect in exchange for its potent healing power.
A Native American tale tells that nettles were created with stingers to prevent over-harvesting because it is so potent in minerals, vitamins, and healing compounds medicine that the human world would have quickly harvested all the nettles on earth if stingers weren’t keeping us in check.
Nettle roots dive deep into the fecund richness deep below the surface of things, winning it the title of a pesky garden weed to an ignorant gardener. In this case, persistence = power.
While contemporary biomedicine has forgotten certain knowledge with high tech pill bottles, the Native Americans and our great grandparents knew that a simple (and delicious) brewed cup of nettle leaves can boost and heal bladder, kidneys, adrenals, immune system, can treat and prevent allergies, dry up wet coughs, provide a gentle laxative, build blood for diabetes and anemia, relieve muscular pain and arthritis and energetically teach about the power of healthy boundaries.
With that much power, wouldn’t you also want to protect yourself against depletion, saving your energy for the moments when you are truly needed and offering yourself where you’ll be appreciated?
You are just as much medicine. Preserve and amplify your potency. You are needed.
Joy work:
If it resonates with you, write the following affirmation on your mirror, in your car, at your altar, or wherever you’ll see it regularly: I keep sacred the daily habits that help me vibrate at my highest potential.
Nettles are abundant at this time of year - go hunting, meet this teacher, introduce yourself and ask the plant spirit if it has any insight about how you might best support yourself to sustainably manage your power.
Journal: Where in your life do you need to place stronger boundaries around the daily practices that help you to vibrate at your highest potential?
If you can’t harvest nettle leaf- buy it! They are generally available, often even in the boxed tea section, at any natural food store. Take a sacred rest each day to drink a cup or two. See what changes in your life. Perhaps you’ll become like me- an addict, joyfully drinking daily for the last three years and feeling more vital than ever.
In the comments below, I welcome you to share which of these challenges you took on and how it went.
Looking for fitness, relaxation and embodied meditation?
Check our yoga rituals for more ways to amplify our inner well.