Stinging Nettle, Dandelion and Passionflower

My teacher Lala hits my knees, calves and ankles with a bundle of Stinging Nettle, a fiery initiation into Nettle’s world and ways. After the initial burning, stinging, all-encompassing sensation, I can feel how my body is waking up and responding to this intervention. I’ve been suffering from many bites from the tiny coffee fleas around the village who live in symbiosis with the coffee plants in the surrounding hills. I’m peppered with big angry bites, each one a red hill thanks to a strong histamine response. We’re in the middle of Permaculture for the Herbalist’s Path, a 200-hour month-long course held at Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. On this day we’re at Casa Curativa, a small herbal apothecary project in the middle of Tzunana, “valley of the hummingbirds”. Lala and Sarah share various herbal remedies with us on this day, and I’m the perfect candidate for a stinging demonstration.

But as the stinging of the nettle recedes, so too does the itchiness and angriness. I can feel flow and liquids moving through my body, responding to the prickly attack. Serotonin receptors are activated, and a light high sets in, as well as sweet relief. Although pulsations continue for another 24 hours at least, the feeling is welcome: a flowing aliveness replaces the individual points of itchiness and irritation. It’s also a slightly different feeling to the involuntary run-ins with Stinging Nettle when I was younger. Back then, Stinging Nettle was an unwelcome distraction from teenage antics in the German countryside. Accidentally coming into contact with the Martian-energy plant body when I wanted to come into contact with a very different type of body instead.

At Plant Yoga, the new class I started teaching at Green Yoga Friedrichshain in May, Stinging Nettle was my muse for the first class. We focused on grounding, bringing awareness back into the feet and core, and movements that stimulate the circulation and create heat – just like a good whacking of Stinging Nettle (this practice is actually referred to as “urtication”, stemming from the Nettle’s Latin name Urtica dioica). Stinging Nettle helps bring us back into the body, gets things moving after winter, and brings much-needed attention to joints that get creaky from inflammation.

When did we first meet, Dandelion? Probably before I can even remember. I’m sure my parents must have shown me the magic of your seeds flying away with a wish. And I can imagine I must have picked you even before my other flower collecting adventures. Before moments like when I was an innocent yet rebellious 5-year-old: Going from yard to yard in the neighbourhood, picking exactly one tulip from each garden so that no one would miss them. I knew enough to know that more than one was a bad idea. But the multi-colored tulip bouquet I got to present to my Mom after my long adventure down the street blocks was well worth it.

But Dandelion, you wilt so quickly once picked, turning brown-green and limp. Your fire can’t be contained like a caged bird – you only shine when free and under the real sun. It took me ages to understand how many different shapes you take on: Jaggedy and huge, skinny and less pronounced, dainty and short. A vivacious adaptability and resilience, no matter the field, forest, yard or cement desert parking lot.

At Plant Yoga we focused on the core, imagining our mid section of the body like a globe, our breath expanding the equator. Throughout the hour we came back to this round breathing again and again - pulling our attention to the area of our own personal yellow sun energy, our solar plexus. Movements targeting the liver and digestive system mirrored dandelion’s ability to work on those areas of our body.

We met in Oregon in Southeast Portland. It was a wet and drippy day, and everyone’s neighbourhood gardens were lush and sparkly with wet. My friend and I had just devoured a slow, disproportionately large American breakfast at a local café and were strolling down the streets.

All of a sudden you stopped me in my tracks: spreading and spiraling all over a fence, and with your jaw-dropping sci-fi triple-tier flower creations. A true wonder. Who designed you, Passionflower? And what else were they in charge of designing? I want to see the whole portfolio, invite me to the exhibition, let me look over all the drawings and thoughts that went into the process!

A year or two later I had you tattooed into my skin for forever. Unaware that your medicine, your calming medicine for overactive, anxious, looping minds, was exactly what I was looking for. Later in the above-mentioned herbalism class, your mind magic was introduced to me, as well.

In Plant Yoga we attended to the spine, guiding our breath up and down it with our movements. Self-massaging parts of the spine, twisting it in many directions, and finding many pauses between movements for check-ins with the body. Spiral movements also featured, like the spiraling tendrils of the plant itself, ending in yin poses with deep twists.

In the next weeks we will be moving into Cancer season, as well as celebrating our longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Some of the plants connected to this astrological sign, and the moon as its celestial guide, will feature in upcoming Plant Yoga classes.

Plant Yoga is every Tuesday at Green Yoga Friedrichshain at 14:30. Each week focuses on a different plant and the season we’re in. Herbalism-informed and incorporating somatic practices for a grounding and exploratory class.

The next Mushroom Meditations evening at Teeraum Sanvian will focus on Shiitake as our mushroom muse. A cosy, gentle evening of exploring our inner landscapes and connecting to fungi and their teachings, as well as our own inner guidance and intution.

I offer quantum healing hypnosis sessions, in Berlin or online: guided journeys that can help you connect to your imagination and intuition, receive answers around the questions you have in life at the moment, as well as access your self-healing capabilities and knowledge about your life path. Empowering yet gentle, and perfect for moving through threshold moments. If you’re curious, check out my website here.

My friend Flo does amazing evenings of sensory workshops “Matter Taste Tarot” around the elements of tarot through food. The next one is around FIRE and the Wands on July 23rd. “Following the rhythm of the seasons, we invite you to explore the taste of each element and its connection to tarot through a sensory feast, embodied practices and guided reflections, translating the hidden landscapes of the unconscious into the conscious experience.” I joined her Earth-themed one last year and I hope to experience all four elements.

Thank you for reading and wishing you a couple beautiful summer weeks and a lovely Summer Solstice!