Viola orodata

My day was just made by the sweet patch of violets who just popped up in my yard for the first time ever! Like a new friend coming to meet me. 
How fabulous that it happens to be two days after being introduced to this plant’s intricate offerings and characteristics in class on Thursday. 
Violet is prone to concentrating its healing on the heart space. I mean just look at the flower, it melts my heart just looking at it. 
It’s moist cooling soothing effects are gentle and effective for healing internal inflammation, specifically lumps in the breasts and upper abdomen. It’s methyl salicylate compounds relieve mild pain and tight headaches. 
The leaves are packed with nutrients vital for the function of detox and body replenishing systems. 
Our bodies face so much oncoming stimuli and responsibilities, often we are left with no time to care for the vessels that so willingly take us through this earth journey. Violet as well as every other plant in our environment is here to show us how to be. How to be in relationship, how to be in community, how to be healthy, and nourished! They are the teachers. 
I am so filled with life by this growing connection between myself and the plant kingdom that rules us like a wise grandmother. 
Hail to @acornherbschool and Heather Luna for a window into her brain and her vast knowledge of medicine and life. It has been the beginning of what I know is a lifelong relationship to the plants. I am so grateful to have taken the opportunity to expand the range of strategies in which to integrate my life with nature and tradition, and integrate nature and nutrition into my life.

Galium Aparine

Galium aparine

The name cleavers hints at one of its primary qualities of being sticky and able to 'cleave’ or cling to fabrics. This quality made it useful for stuffing bed mattresses as was one of its uses. We learn from Dioscorides that the Greek shepherds of his day used the stems of this herb to make a rough sieve, and meanwhile, Linnaeus reported the same use being made of it in Sweden, as a filter to strain milk; the stalks are still used this way in Sweden today. A strong decoction of the root makes a deep red dye, used for fabrics, and would turn the bones red of the birds who ate them.

Cleavers have been used as a spring vegetable for hundreds of generations dating back to the 1st century. In the spring it comes up as one of the first edible greens. Used in soups, teas, and vegetable dishes. It was useful in Medieval kitchens because it could be picked in frost or snow, offering the first green nutrients after long winters. The ointment was used for scalds and burns in the 14th century. Prominent Romans such as physician Galen and philosopher Pliny the Elder delighted in cleaver’s ability to remove temporary weight gain due to water retention hinting at its detoxing and lymph cleansing abilities. Cleavers belong to the coffee family (Rubiaceae) and the seeds would be gathered and roasted for making a coffee-like beverage. Native Americans would use cleavers to promote kidney health. 

Cleavers are used medicinally as a general detoxifying agent. The aerial parts are alterative meaning they help cleanse the blood). Cleavers are high in nutrients and trace minerals, anti-inflammatory, aperient (laxative), astringent (toning to tissues and drying to excess moisture), purifying, diuretic (moves liquids/promotes urination), tonic and vulnerary (wound healing). It offers cleansing nutrients and constituents prone to aiding in detoxification of lymph and clearing the bowels. 

Drunk as a tea it eliminates excess fluid, counteracts inflammation, calms urinary infections, and purifies the blood. Flushing liquids from the body, especially from lymph tissue, has an immune restoring effect on the body and skin. Cleansing the body's liquids removes dead cells and other waste in the body’s ecosystem. It is taken internally and externally for its actions. Topically as a poultice or wash it can relieve sunburn, and tumorous growths. Internally as a tea it makes a wonderful treatment for skin conditions such as psoriasis, and eczema. Cleavers are high in vitamin C, which is essential for the function of the immune system.

Used in early spring, cleavers have been used to awaken the lymphatic system, a vital part of the body that helps remove waste products from the bloodstream and maintain the immune system’s function of recognizing and removing toxins from the body. It's just what a body needs after being ‘dormant’ over the winter months in order to be properly nourished for the coming season. It’s high amount of vitamin C is essential for the function of the immune system. Ointment made from the aerial parts is used to dress ulcerations of the skin while drinking it internally as well. 

I like to juice fresh cleavers from my garden for as long as they're fresh and not flowering. I mix in lemon juice and it's a lovely spring refreshment. I keep a jar of the juice in the fridge and use it as a base for fruit smoothies. I don't have a juicer, so I juice mine by filling my blender 1/3 with fresh cleavers and cover them with water, blend on high until the plant matter is well broken up, strain and enjoy!

I AM

I AM 

I am powerful

I am creative 

I am my only one true owner

I am the eyes that see beauty in life

Breathing, sustaining from a source of mystery openness

Worshiper of love

I am the heart that shudders in the darkness of the mind

In the fears of insecurity

In the weakness of doubt

I am the heart that flaps its wings amongst an open perception 

The heart that absorbs love like an infinite vacuum 

Sucking on acceptance

Finding the freedom in the meadows of life

I am the nose that bows to the flowers

I am the body that bends with the trees

I am the moon that creates waves within wombs of death decay, rebirth and life

I am the senses that feel webs of energy interacting to entwine hearts worldwide

I am the human who gets scared, insecure, overwhelmed

I am the human who sheds dark mindsets, renews perspective

Listens to the voice of reason, of light

I am the follower of love, feeler of gratitude

I am a soul pledged to creating authentic goodness 

I am a spirit dancing in a mystery that is life

I am a chooser of ease, abundance, and happiness

No Limits

As I have not posted anything in a while, I have written this excerpt from my mind to best illustrate my bike ride today, the things that passed through me as I rode, and my day explained through experience. It was a good one, as they all are.
Below are pictures that I stopped and took along the way.
Happy Trails...

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Down, up, down, up, slowly round in circles my wheels push me up the hill. Constricted thighs while experiencing the highs of my mind as it strains to keep on going. On my back and arms, the sunshine washes over my skin.
My breath, rocks crunching, and gears ticking complete my scope of the heard noises and felt influences. As soon as thoughts drift away from my effort, my mind is gently placed back in the moment by my heaving breath.

No limit is ever a barrier, it's only made so by the mind.

As I dip into the endless source of revolution within me, I begin again. In every moment my breath and movement intertwine and provoke my mind to halt and feel what I am and what is me. I breath in my surroundings and revolve forward, inward and outward.

Letting go of my limits and letting my limits let go of me. Finding that no direction is needed in order to go...
Rising up to the being that I look up to. Noticing what makes me blue and diffusing into it something new. I disintegrate into the sunshine that heats my skin. I no longer feel where I end and space begins. My breath continues. Involuntary force, in and out.

A treat: having myself a thought, giving thanks, clearing space, and reviving the drive for a creative thirst. Pencil and paper... Hanging on my wall the pastel paints that I completed years ago and consider saints in my life; as they are creation and thought derived from color and motion spat out on the page with no preconceived notions.

Although many things have changed between this post and the last, some things stay very much the same: giving thanks, opening my eyes, finding and speaking my truth, adventuring through nature's wondrous, fruitful offerings and appreciating more and more the little things in life. Furthermore---- creating--what makes me feel, what heals me, and what steals me away to a land too vast for inquiry yet possessive of nothing which I am not.

A Valley of Peace

I am so grateful that I am surrounded by people who fill my life with whimsical adventures, who always put a smile on my face and who have the ability to make any place feel like home. 

Yesterday I went to Truckee for the day with my house mates. We went to the beach for a picnic and pulled out our ukuleles to play some music. Pages of my journal were filled with insightful thoughts.  I love it when I can look around and see nature all around me; when I can inhale and smell the fragrance of wildlife (and slight sent of smoke). This weekend has been a hectic few days with all that's going on, all that's being taught in my classes, all that's happening in my life, and prominently, all that's being burned. Although thousands of acres have been lost to the flames and turned to ash, places that have sacred meanings and hold beautiful memories will be cherished in many hearts including mine.

As school is getting into a rhythm again, I am trying to handle the work that I have and include social time and time for myself to recharge where I have been worn out by the stress, activity and confusion that life often brings. 

I have my ukulele to calm my mind and ease my head and I have a supportive family to do just the same. I hope everyone has a beautiful cloudy windy day. Fall is whispering in the air today. I am looking forward to rain boots, wood stoves, and layering up to go outside.  

Have a wonderful Autumn day.

First Day of School

First Day of School

August 24, 2015

For some reason I have been thinking today is the 21st for a couple of days, which is strange because yesterday, I even wrote the 23rd on my math sheet; and today (the 24th) is the first day of Sierra College classes. I went to bed last night under the impression that I start school in two days. I woke up this morning with a heavy pit of a feeling that I had to start school today, it didn't feel right that I didn't. So I got dressed and ran out of the door, got to Sierra, and started waiting outside of the wrong classroom for my class to start, only to realize I had already missed my first class. Once I finally got to the right classroom, a different class was in session. I walked in with a curiosity and overwhelming confusion of what was going on. After sitting there and knowing for a fact that I was in the wrong class, I got up and started walking towards the door. On my way through the rows of desks Mr. Smith, the teacher, stopped me. 

"Wrong classroom?" He asked.

"Definitely" I replied with reassured knowledge that I was in the right place at the wrong time. "I thought class started on the 24th"

"Well you're right, today is the 24th" He said with an smile hidden under his bushy mustache. 

"Right, I understand that now. I've been thinking today was the 21st for some reason. I'm in your 8:00 AM Geography class."

"Well, well... what did YOU do over the weekend?"

"Nothing." I didn't do anything over the weekend, that was the sad thing. He continued to shuffle through a stack of paper and eventually gave me the syllabus and explained that I had nothing to worry about. 

"See you on Wednesday.... the 26th!" I heard while walking out of the door. 

I walked to the study room in Sewell hall and read over the pink syllabus he had given to me, making note of all of the important due dates, and all of things he didn't tolerate in his class. I had missed my first Geography class, missed my live online Math seminar, and now, I am decompressing, gathering my well being and looking forward to being on time to my next class.

CHEERS! To teachers with tattoos, bruised unripe peaches, men with man buns, bushy mustaches, and fossils. And to the grand act of Stella missing her first class. Here's to the trees and their unwavering loyalty to the simplicity of life. Cheers to the ants. crawling all over me and my books, my backpack and my food. Cheers to being positive. Cheers to Monday being a sun day, an educational day, insightful, deceitful, and FULL, of whatever you choose to fill it with.

Yuba Day

Sit down and reflect, don't project. Feel the things that come to you from your heart. Don't dart away from the fear or the tears that stream down your face when the pace gets too fast to keep up with. Slow down and reflect. Tell yourself what matters to you. Tell yourself what you love. Fly away into the sky and reach the things you dream of. Die and come back to yourself as something new. Blue feelings only come when you sit in a stew of the past and don't move. Forward is a direction that can be described going anywhere. Go forward to the things you dream of. The things above you are yours to become. 

August 18th 2015

Yuba River