Slow

Coming Home

by Mary Oliver

When we are driving in the dark,

on the long road to Provincetown,

when we are weary,

when the buildings and the scrub pines lose their familiar look,

I imagine us rising from the speeding car.

I imagine us seeing everything from another place--

the top of one of the pale dunes, or the deep and nameless

fields of the sea.

And what we see is a world that cannot cherish us,

but which we cherish.

And what we see is our life moving like that

along the dark edges of everything,

headlights sweeping the blackness,

believing in a thousand fragile and unprovable things.

Looking out for sorrow,

slowing down for happiness,

making all the right turns

right down to the thumping barriers to the sea,

the swirling waves,

the narrow streets, the houses,

the past, the future,

the doorway that belongs

to you and me.

Notes on Mint

By Ana

There’s a lot of traumatic imagery going around right now. You might be feeling depressed, anxious, rage, stress and tension and having sleepless nights.

In the next couple of weeks, I want to speak of plant allies that can assist us in moving through all of this. These will mostly be plants that are easily accessible

Today, I want to talk about MINT

Mint cools, calms and clears the mind and can aid in digestion for those suffering from digestive upset, especially if it’s stress related.

2/3 of our immune system is in the gut. We need to support our gut health so it can support us.

Mint is also high in Vitamin C and is antibacterial and microbial- which is why it helps freshen the breath. This is also why it supports digestive health.

Studies show mint relieves stress by stimulating GABA, which is a calming neurotransmitter.

I love making a mint infusion, either by itself, or with herbs that I will likely mention in the near future, such as ginger. I also love adding it to my Yerba mate.

For those of you who don’t know, Yerba Mate helps other herbs assimilate more deeply into the system, and it’s also a great ally for digestive support. Mint and Mate dance beautifully together

You can also include mint in meals, such as salads or boiled onto rice and potatoes.

You can also use the essential oil of mint, which is concentrated and therefor most effective for its antimicrobial properties. Make sure, if you’re using essential oils, you’re getting them from companies that don’t use fillers, especially if you’re going to ingest them. I like Doterra and Young Living Oils

If we’re burned out, exhausted and in an overtly sympathetic dominant state , we can’t get much done.

In the words of Angela Davis- First of all, if you’re going to talk about Revolution, you have to have people who are physically able to rage revolution.

"This planet can be kind of a rough experience, to put it mildly. We tend if anything to underestimate vastly the degree of pain and suffering our fellow humans have, and are, experiencing. We fail to empathize in part because we have disconnected from our own heavy histories of emotional and physical pain. The suffering starts accruing very early in your life, and there the impact remains, buried deeply in your subconscious. It is not beyond access, just under your radar. It is influencing your every pattern. You construct your entire persona around this pain, defending yourself often without cause many years after the immediate events. When disconnected from ourselves, it can be very hard to even notice the suffering of others, or the suffering you yourself may have caused another. How can you when you have so strategically avoided your own? Setting time aside to systematically uncover the things you have buried may seem like a fool's errand. Why the heck would anyone want to look back like that? Well, how about doing it in order to free up a Whole Lot of bandwidth and energy for living a more authentic life, rather than being driven by the unprocessed traumas of the past. How about doing it in order to connect more deeply and genuinely with your loved ones, and enjoying together the satisfaction of that, because you have dared to connect deeply with yourself. I'm sure there are lot of other good reasons, feel free to add your own~"

Gil Hedly

Slow

Slow is a tongue no longer wagging but licking

Slow is a quiet mind

Slow is the lap of water against a dock, or legs, or rocks

Slow are the bubbles of champagne fizzing as the sun sets

Slow is the seed in the earth growing into the plant

Slow is the loud silence of nature

Slow is the wind making the grass dance in the light of the sun

Slow is the taste of hot black coffee but not the sensation after when it hits the bloodstream Slow is the aging nick nacks and brick a brack passed down from family member to family member

Slow is a nap taken at the top of a mountain or in a cabin of girls, the sticky heat of a lighting storm

Slow is the flu and a cat in your arms

Slow is rose petals, scent, tea, color

- Lily B

https://onbeing.org/programs/resmaa-menakem-notice-the-rage-notice-the-silence/