Sensory Awareness and Evolution
Evolution happens through our senses interfacing with the environment, the galaxy, and all of life. Neuroplasticity is the active process of evolution within the nervous system and the brain.
Herbalism is the people’s medicine. There’s no profit or power to be gained, no maximum market share. Just confidence in our own abilities and connection with the natural world…which brings harmony to our bodies and minds.
In exchange for sustenance, all that Nature asks of us are reciprocity and respect.
Herbal medicine is a lifestyle of inter-being*. When we open to the plants and their guidance, our questions answer themselves. It’s a very sacred thing. Herbalism is a lifestyle. Lifestyles are foundational to how we see and sense our way. Herbalism does not begin with a capsule or a pill; but with the first breath of oxygen that gives us life. All earthly creatures are sustained by the elements. Such is the cycle of life. Without relationship, herb choices are brain based assumptions and shots in the dark.
THE FIVE SENSES
Herbalism is a multi-sensory experience.
Smell is the most primal of the five senses, vital to feelings of safety and orientation in the world. The olfactory bulbs (nerve bundles responsible for smell) are at the front of the brain (forebrain), and loop through the limbic system (emotional brain) to the amygdala (instant danger alarm). Odors warns us of danger, and signals pleasure. Only the sense of smell goes straight to the brain without delay. Smells are stored as emotional memory files. A dog’s olfactory bulb is about 40 times the size of ours.
Taste is closely connected to smell; and loss of smell dulls our tastebuds too. Many pharmaceuticals damage both smell and taste, which creates layers of unconscious anxiety as deeper parts of us are cut off from primal knowing. Taste also triggers certain biochemicals and hormones; for instance to stimulate digestive enzymes and detoxification through the liver, improving overall metabolism and health.
Touch is vital too. Earth’s natural rhythms regulate us. The hands and feet are rich in nerve endings, which read and relay information back to the brain - and transmit light and life force. When humankind went barefoot, we directly sensed the vibrational frequency of the planet and established immediate brain coherence in this way. The vibrational frequency of the earth, .1Hz, is the frequency of heart-brain coherence. The recording link below introduces the .1Hz wave pattern, which we stabilize in our nervous systems through regular practices - essentially, meditation and consistently spending time outside. It’s been found that people who do healing work emit biophotons (light) from their hands. We may all be capable of this, but environmental and emotional toxicity block this connectivity and flow.
Sight is integral as well. Herbalists and medicine people recognize the shape and appearance of a leaf or root as Nature’s pronouncement of that plant’s therapeutic effect. This sight-based identification system is called the “doctrine of signatures”. Then there is inner vision, the higher chakra activity enabling us to see/sense beyond the physical, to the energetic or potentiality of things. Vision on the physical and neurological levels involves light refraction between the pineal and pituitary glands. Intuition and clear knowing also entail light in the brain. Along with intuitive knowing comes a greater sense of safety and resilience that buffers the shocks of life.
Sound connects us to the original vortex of creation from which all existence emerged, and to where all returns. Hearing is perception and interpretation of sound, and relationship with the subtler aspect of creation. As mentioned, the earth’s frequency of .1Hz is the baseline vibration of our living planet and cosmos, and regulates the nervous systems of all living things. Returning to the void of creation is a journey back from density into light. The sounds and rhythms of the universe are subtle, earth’s .01 Hz frequency projecting heart-brain coherence and perfect peace. Inner guidance is the fruit of receptivity to this subtle pulse in which the harmony of creation sings. On this frequency rides the language of nature - of the plants - and i daresay the whisper of the divine as well. Subtle awareness is an active inner silence and presence, where we open our senses to this universal regulating frequency and begin to hear a deeper Truth. And so hearing becomes a sacred thing.
Sensory Awareness & Evolution - The senses are involved in homeostasis - harmonious balance of all body systems - and also in evolution. Evolution happens through our senses with the environment. Neuroplasticity is active evolution within the nervous system and the brain. We co-evolved along with the plants. They optimize our constitutions, strengthen our immunity, nourish our brilliance and creativity, and support our body’s self-repair. When we grow a garden, go harvesting for medicine, make a salve, or feed a neighbor, we are engaging all the five senses - smell, taste, touch, sight, and hearing. This is what keeps sensory awareness - and us - alive inside and growing towards the infinite greatness of our souls.
Interbeing: Thich Naht Hahn’s term for living in true relationship
Heart-Brain Coherence soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwSw0ppwQZ8