The relief of Gynostemma, the herb known as "miracle grass"
Each time I make a pot of tea, I ask who wants to support me. When I come to the empty tea pot, I’m often thirsty. The herbs know how to read me, to show me the nuance of the thirst. For this, I am grateful. I open to them and one or two raise their proverbial hands. It’s a simple moment to practice listening. Someone always steps forward.
The main herb that has been supporting me for the last couple weeks is Gynostemma. My friend calls this herb "the mother of all adaptogens.” I’m beginning to agree.
In the last couple weeks, I’ve gone through a series of subtle shifts, each inviting a new version of my being to emerge. I was talking to a friend last night about fear woven into the ego death - the moment when we shed a version of ourselves to become more of who we are. The fear reveals itself now as a question of how to be as one’s sense of being falls away.
“I’ve gone through so many,” I told him, “that at this point it’s a bit of a game.”
In the moment of tension where I start to sense my “me”-ness shift, tilt or twirl, getting ready to shed, that fear has begun to morph into curiosity. I get to meet myself again and again each time I go through the tension to see what’s on the other side.
It’s a miraculous journey.
In the last couple of weeks, Gynostemma has caught me as I step through each new tension tunnel, unsure what the ground will be like as I emerge. For this, I am deeply grateful to this mystical plant.
Gynostemma fills in the cracks and straightens my back.
She is malleable and twists with me as we go, as if just gathering up all that’s here and gently tightening the loose ends. I’m learning there’s an honesty to Gynostemma.
The plant says “Come as you are and we’ll be with all the parts of you so you feel as whole as we see you to be.”
It’s hard to describe the feeling of being sculpted. I’ve found my collaborations with herbs is a practice in deference. They’ve known us humans through the ages. I come to the empty tea pot to ask for a cup of wisdom. There’s an honoring and recognition that comes through working with herbs. They are deeply refined in their abilities, their capacities and their tendencies. In each moment, regardless of what is showing up in my life, there is a support system I can go to that is designed to fit perfectly with my body and my being if I open to receiving. How magical given that even I don’t know what I need sometimes.
There’s a glorious of relief in relaxing into this type of surrender. I can ask who wants to support me and someone always steps forward.