July 2023 – tiffany nicole fletcher

Browse Month by July 2023

Chronic Illness, Communities of Care, Disability, Facing Challenge, Healing, Peace, Personal Growth, Resilience, Trauma, Wellness

Three Lies We Tell About Health & Healing

While in community recently, I had the eye-opening opportunity to witness many misconceptions about healing and the healing process. Sadly, many so-called healers even hold these beliefs, and perpetuate them to their clients and the broader community. I decided to share these misconceptions here and also share what I’ve learned to be true.

Misconception #1: “If you live with a disease, you are unhealthy. If you are physically “well,” you are healthy.

Health is more than the absence of disease. You might have heard this statement before, or seen it floating around the internet. It’s worth reflecting on. Health is more than just being free of disease in the physical body, and it’s not a one-time event that happens and lasts forever. Health is the sum of all the factors of our lives that intersect and form our well-being. How are your relationships? Do you feel held in community? Are you fulfilled and satisfied with how you spend your days? Are your material needs being met? How are you treated in the broader society in which you live? Do you reside in a safe and supportive environment? Do you live in a state of chronic stress? What is your relationship to your past; are you living in unforgiveness or bitterness?

Emotional Support, Grief, Herbalism, Medicinal Plants, Personal Growth, Self-care, snowdrop, Trauma, Wellness

The Power of Plants: Snowdrop and Grief Wisdom

Lately I’ve been thinking about emergence and transition, about what it’s like to move out of periods of darkness or change and come into new ways of being, living, and even loving. I’ve been thinking about the grief involved in that, about how necessary grief is as a process, how it eventually leaves a clearing…and about how often we experience a grief process but don’t recognize it as that.

The process is different when we’re able to call it what it is. Grief likes to be welcomed into the room, given a proper seat.

Chamomile, Digestive Support, Emotional Support, Herbalism, Medicinal Plants, Resilience, Sleep Support

The Power of Plants: Chamomile’s Gentle Strength

CHAMOMILE :: Matricaria chamomila – her medicine is often taken for granted.

Because we think we know her so well, we dismiss her power. She sits in the cabinet, in that box of chamomile tea you overlook, hearing you complain about things she could help you with: how you can’t sleep at night, how wired and anxious you are, how you’re feeling a little low again today. She longs to share her sweet apple-scented fragrance with you, give you some of her delight and comfort.

Tasting the gentleness in her, we underestimate her strength. Still, she shines of the sun, bright with healing force. She is a lifter, the friend who always has enough joy bubbling over to give you some too; her light brightens your life when you’re feeling down.

I’ve been aided by chamomile for sleep support, anxiety relief, mood lifting, and digestive support. It’s very helpful for easing digestive issues that coincide with – or are triggered by – stress or anxiety, such as IBS. For supporting sleep or reducing anxiety, it blends well with lemon balm or lavender.

For more on chamomile as a medicinal plant, I invite you to check out this guide by the American Botanical Council.

This article is for educational purposes only. This information is not intended to prevent, treat or cure any disease.