Communicating with Plant Spirits - Part 2

This is part 2 of a 5-part series on plant spirit communication.
Click here to read part one.

At every instant we’re receiving billions upon billions of date bits from the world around us. Our sensory systems are in constant engagement with colors, sounds, brightness, scent, temperature, touch, taste, and a myriad other points while also monitoring the goings on within us. As all of this data floods in from the world around us, gateways in the brain, heart, and gut exist to filter out what’s relevant and ignore the rest. This powerful system is intrinsically linked to thought, and it happens in places other than just the brain. We think in the heart and the gut too- that is, receive, interpret, store, and respond to incoming information.

To engage the sensory system intentionally is to focus in on what data makes its way into our thinking places. This is an active meditation that gently quiets what isn’t important in the moment while giving more space and volume to what is.

For all of these reasons, to engage your senses with a plant is one of the most powerful ways to create rapport with them, open your thinking places to theirs, and open a way between you. For some people, this practice alone will begin a gentle flow of inspiration from the plant spirit which brings ideas, images, memories, feelings, and sensations to the person- all part of how the plant communicates. For the rest of us, this foundational practice eases the path of communication by allowing us to slow down to tree speed and be our most receptive selves.

To engage and explore…

• Begin by sitting or standing a comfortable distance from the plant you wish to work with. Spend a minute just relaxing, allowing yourself to be held by the ground, and letting your breathing steady out.
• Now, visually, begin to slowly scan the plant. Look for broad things at first like colors, textures, and contrast. Then, hone in an begin to explore nuances in the various shades of colors, the many different textures the plant holds, the way the plants grows, how they emerge from the ground and reach into the sky, who grows near them, how they hold space in their environment, and even which animals and insects are hanging around.
• Allowing the vision to soften, try to let the whole plant you’ve explored to come in all at once.
• Now, if the plant is safe for you to touch, go ahead and begin exploring the various textures of leaf, bark, root, flower, fruit, and so on. Touch gently so that you’re forced to pay a great deal of attention and really focus all your energy on the plant and how they present themselves.

While this exercise may seem simple, you may notice that with practice it lulls you into a gentle trance state where you’re more open to the presence, person, and energy of the plant. The mind becomes more open to the subtle ways in which the plant shares their blessings and the body will often relax into a meditative state. This is a prime situation to receive inspiration from the plant- and a powerful foundation for the other aspects of this work we’ll cover in later lessons.