Image by Stefan Keller
Narrated by Marie T. Russell.
Since we are part of nature, like the plants and the animal kingdom, we have the capacity for learning the subtle whispers of nature and communicating with the natural world that surrounds us. We each have the innate ability to perceive the language of nature but for most of us it is a very quiet voice, vibration, feeling or colour that’s trying to speak to us in a very noisy world!
We’ve not generally been taught or encouraged to pay these whispers attention, and as a result we often find it hard to identify these signals and fail to take action. It’s a skill we need to relearn and refine. I now invite you to slow down, take the time to remember and realign with the frequency of nature.
The principal skills that will help you understand the language of nature are: self-awareness, presence (meaning the ability to be present), mindset, compassion, gratitude, sensory awareness, intuition, trust, intention, curiosity and openness.
Eyes of the Heart—A Pathway of Compassion
For me, when I started looking at the green kingdom through the eyes of my heart I noticed a shift in my perception, as if I had stepped through a magical portal into a landscape that was alive and communicating. Feeling your way rather than thinking your way as you navigate the language of nature is a key part of the path. In this way you open yourself up to exploring a landscape that is alive and full of conscious beings with intelligence and wisdom, and can attune to a vibration that connects in with your heart and the knowing of your ancestors.
I find that when I am in this heart space my perception becomes more intuitive, less logical and calculated, softer and more open. You might experience this also. We are often gifted information when we are in this space.
Imagine your heart as a key organ of perception, a muscle, a unique kind of brain that helps you connect with the world intuitively. Your heart is both a cognitive and a perceptual organ, and has an electromagnetic field that radiates two and a half to three metres beyond your body, which makes it a powerful electromagnetic generator and receiver.
The plant world is very sensitive and it will be picking up on whatever vibration you are carrying in your heart. In order to connect and be a magnetizing force, it helps to carry the vibration of joy and gratitude. When it comes to intention, the plant and spirit worlds will be reading your heart, not your words, so the heart is key.
Personally I find that, as I expand my awareness and connect through my heart space with the consciousness of plants around me, I become more aware of something very much greater than myself. It triggers a deep remembering, a sense that we are not alone, that we are part of a much larger and greater complex system of a living, breathing organism that supports and nourishes us. I find this rather comforting!
In my experience, the more time we spend looking at the natural world from this heart space of expanded perspective, the more compassion we feel towards it and the more we hold it dear to us, respect and strive to protect it. The natural world shifts from being a mere resource at our disposal to being a spiritual ally for support, guidance and wisdom. Imagine how different the world would be if we all spent more time in our heart space!
Feel Your Way
To understand the many forms of plant communication, it’s essential to drop your awareness down from your head into your heart. Consciously bring your awareness down from your head into your heart. In this way you start to open up your doorways of perception, as if you were aligning your heartbeat with the heartbeat of nature.
I recommend feeling your way from this heart space when working intuitively for plant healing and leaving the thinking until later. Follow what speaks to your heart and allow yourself to be guided by feeling, not just following the logical mind or what you think you know.
Shift Your Mindset
Many would agree that the right mindset is key for our success in life. Indeed, many of us are working on a positive mindset with affirmations to help us achieve goals and heal from past wounds or release old habits that, for example, sabotage our success. As you look to working with plants intuitively, it’s essential that you also expand your mindset to include your sacred relationship with nature, nature beings and plants.
When we shift from having dominion over nature to working in partnership with it, we open up new possibilities that explore the natural world as a vibrant and conscious landscape from which we can learn. (Remember—plants have been around on this planet for billions of years before us; they might know a thing or two about life!)
As you shift your mindset to a place of gratitude, honour and respect for the green world, this is when you will start to feel a sense of connection that will provide you with new insight and a fresh way to look at the world. As your heart is touched by the natural world, it starts to have more meaning and purpose for you. This in turn provides it with more value and it then becomes more special and unique for you. You may even become more sensitive to the energies of the Earth, the landscape and certain plants, for example, as they come forward to work with you, perhaps as special plant allies or guides.
In order to do this effectively, it helps to put your judgements, preconceived ideas and previous knowledge of plants to one side. Forget what you think you know about plants and their properties to see them and feel them with a fresh perspective.
You will also need to start trusting your first response to plants and work through any resistance that comes up for you during this process. For many, this often appears as a critical voice that starts telling you how silly all this is or how you are making all of this up. It’s not common for us to go around conversing with plants or engaging with them in any way. Be prepared to step out of your comfort zone and face this resistance that might appear.
I highly recommend surrounding yourself with a network of like-minded plant-loving friends with whom you can share your spiritual journey and who will be accepting and understanding of your intuitive plant healing path.
You may need to unlearn the social conditioning and collective consciousness that gives plants a certain (low) status and importance. The key is starting with an open and willing heart and a childlike curious mind that wants to explore and ask questions.
Ditch the ego that might consider plants as inferior or that might judge plants to be growing incorrectly or in the “wrong” place. Get ready to expand your consciousness and interact with plants on all levels; use both your physical and your intuitive senses.
It doesn’t matter that you may not know the scientific names of plants or their medicinal uses. In fact it can be easier to not know anything at all because then you truly are meeting a plant with fresh eyes and no previous experience or judgement to hinder you. What creates the relationship is the willingness and heart-centred intention to connect and interact.
Plants As Conscious Intelligent Beings
We are so tied up with thinking that we have dominion over the natural world—imagine what a shift it would be if we all viewed plants as conscious intelligent beings. Imagine the learning, healing and possibilities that might open up if we were to shift towards co-creating with plants and dive deeper into the web that interconnects us all!
I find it interesting that even in the reiki community, although it has expanded so much in the twenty years I have been practising, we still focus on animal reiki or equine reiki, crystal reiki and so forth, but very few practitioners are looking at reiki for the Earth, reiki for Gaia, which is the source of our health.
I feel that, as reiki practitioners, healers and light workers, as well as healing ourselves we have a responsibility to be helping to heal our home, ourselves, our families and the landscapes around us to help raise the vibration of the world.
We are shown by plant neurobiology that plants are sensitive and dynamic organisms that live in community, competitively forage for resources, accurately compute their circumstances and make decisions. Despite not having a brain like we do, plants recognize self and non-self, have memory and demonstrate territorial behaviour. Nature is alive and responsive, rather than an inanimate colourful background to our lives.
Gratitude
One of the easiest and simplest ways to communicate with nature is to express your thanks and show your gratitude. Actions, thoughts and words that come from our heart with kindness, compassion, respect and appreciation are a universal language. We can do this to the plants in our homes through regular watering and care.
It’s not unusual for people who like to grow a garden to be found talking to their garden plants with encouragement or with delight. Simple words of appreciation whispered to plants or spoken out loud may create a response. Try it and see how the plants respond!
A simple way to show your appreciation to the trees and plants in your neighbourhood is to reach out with your physical touch, or even give them a hug. You can also show plants your gratitude with your actions, like picking up litter, respecting pathways and leaving the area as untouched as you found it. Show the natural world the joy that it inspires in you.
What we bless blesses us in return. If you are radiating back to the plant the joy that it gives you, it will create a response from the plant. So, for example, thank the trees for their shade and strength, thank the flowers for their beauty, thank the grass for its softness and the lavender for its magical fragrance.
©2020 by Fay Johnstone. All Rights Reserved.
Publisher: Findhorn Press, an imprint of
Inner Traditions Intl. www.innertraditions.com
Article Source
Plant Spirit Reiki: Energy Healing with the Elements of Nature
by Fay Johnstone.
In this practical workbook, Fay Johnstone demonstrates how energy healers and Reiki practitioners can partner with plant spirit allies and the forces of nature for powerful healing for themselves, others, and our planet. She explains how to include plants and nature in your Reiki practice, both the spiritual/etheric components of plants and the physical plants themselves. She offers many practical exercises, techniques, and meditations as well as case studies and personal experiences to show how best to harness the power of plants on all levels, along with other energy flows, to support the healing process in much the same way that crystals are used as energetic healing aids. She explains how plants connect with the Reiki principles and explores plant spirit allies, chakra work, and healing with the elements of nature. She details how to enhance self-healing and Reiki treatments for others through “bringing the outside in,” creating a healing space, use of plant preparations, and other sacred forms of plant medicine.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book. Also available as a Kindle edition.
About the Author
Fay Johnstone is passionate about plants and people and draws on her experience as a former owner of a flower and herb farm and her shamanic training to assist personal transformation with the subtle whispers of nature. Fay teaches workshops on plant spirit connection, Earth based healing and offers shamanic treatments across the UK, online, and from her home near Edinburgh, Scotland.
Visit her website at http://fayjohnstone.com
