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Ep.132 How Grass Teaches Us to Bend, Not Break
13 Plays10 hours ago
Have you ever felt like life keeps stepping on you—yet somehow you still grow back stronger?
In this episode, we explore what grass can teach us about resilience without hardening. From sidewalks to prairies, grass shows us how to bend without breaking, adapt without losing ourselves, and find belonging in a disconnected world.
This isn’t just about plants — it’s about how to RECOVER when life flattens you, how to ROOT deeper when pressure builds, and how to THRIVE again in your true rhythm.
If you’re craving calm, connection, and a reminder that healing doesn’t require a retreat — just awareness — this conversation is for YOU.
What You’ll Learn About Resilience & Our Nervous System
🌿 How grass models resilience without resistance
🌿 What “being stepped on” can teach us about recovery and adaptability
🌿 The science + spirit of grounding and nervous system regulation
🌿 Why belonging isn’t something to earn — it’s something to remember
✨ Next Step ✨
Join the Naturally Conscious Community to turn this insight into LIVED PRACTICE
✨ Resources
🌱 Expanded Show Notes
🌱 Music of the Plants
🌱 Blooming Sprouts → Explore plant communication & embodiment
🔗 Connect & Explore More
🌿 Website
🌿 Contact
🌿 Shop Eco-Conscious Partners
Socials
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▶️ YouTube
🎵 Credits
Opening + Closing music by @Cyberinga and Poinsettia
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Transcript
Introduction and Inspiration from Nature
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. It's me, Tigreya Cardenia. I am so excited to be here today. i woke up super early.
00:00:12
Speaker
it's um It's actually a Tuesday morning. I'm recording this and my Monday just flew by because it was filled with all kinds of stuff. And on Sunday, i went hiking to a new area. i have a, my good friend, the woods guide that I often tell you about, um yeah just discovered this new area. And so a new valley called the Valle Malone, Val Malone, we would call it Malone, but it's called Malone.
00:00:37
Speaker
And we went high into the mountains there and it was just such a delightful full day hike and then had lunch at this um another man who lives in the area who often takes people around and to give them the history invited us to lunch. We were a big group. It's the kind of thing that really open happens in Italy where it's like, you know, you have this super huge, very traditional spread of polenta and spezzatino and like cheeses and bread. it it was, it was fantastic.
00:01:10
Speaker
And, um, and so as I was finishing up this hike, I was thinking a lot about like my coming week and how I wanted to record this episode for you. And i it's It's interesting. Okay, so this episode actually began with a conversation in episode 128 with Clara Schroeder.
00:01:31
Speaker
And... It continued on in my mind. It was pointed out to me by my editor that she was like, ah I'd really love to hear more about this. And I was like, oh, yeah, it's been a while since I've done an episode that's kind of in this
Symbolism and Lessons from Grass
00:01:45
Speaker
vein.
00:01:45
Speaker
And so, you know, the plant that I want to talk to you about today is a plant that, you know, you've walked over ah thousand times, probably even just a thousand times this week, sometimes barefoot,
00:01:57
Speaker
Sometimes in a hurry, sometimes not noticing at all, and still Key noticed you. And that's grass. Look, grass doesn't ask for attention. Key just keeps growing between paving stones and playgrounds and sidewalk crocs.
00:02:14
Speaker
Crack, crocs, crocs, not crocs. I hope there's no grass growing in your crocs. Um, but why are you wearing Crocs to begin with? But that's another story. And no, I was going to say cracks and key is really everywhere.
00:02:27
Speaker
Undefinable because really, how do you define grass? Unkillable, familiar to the point of invisibility, unless you're actually trying to get rid of the grass. Like I see the people who grass and moss is completely and invisible until it's until key can are growing in places that you really don't want. Then you can't stop seeing kin.
00:02:50
Speaker
And yet, in all of that, grass carries one of the oldest lessons that we have for being human. how to endure without hardening or how to yield without losing yourself, how to give way and still be whole.
00:03:08
Speaker
When pressure comes, whether we're talking about in the case of grass, like a hoof landing or fire passing, or i don't know, when the mower comes and cuts across, grass doesn't resist.
00:03:20
Speaker
He bends, he listens, he roots deeper into the ground. And then somehow he just comes back steady and alive and unchanged to the core.
00:03:32
Speaker
So grass has always been one of my favorite companions since I started working with plants. I mean, especially outdoors. I know most people would say, oh, the beautiful tree. I have to admit, like, I love trees. um As I'm looking at Gary the Silverfur right outside, I love trees.
00:03:51
Speaker
But trees are not my go-to when I need help. When I need help, I love to lie down Even yesterday, we were like a Sunday, excuse me, we were going on this long hike. And at some point we reached this piece that had a beautiful open meadow.
00:04:06
Speaker
And everybody was looking at these houses that were constructed and abandoned. There's lots of what are called by does out here and they're just sitting there abandoned. And I instead quickly took the opportunity to lie down in the grass under the sun That has always been my way of connection. I have so many pictures of me lying on some grass somewhere. And normally when I go hiking by myself, it's a very slow thing because I tend to sit down and kind of commune with the grass.
00:04:40
Speaker
Grass is really my greatest outdoor teacher. Grass reminds me that belonging doesn't always have to look dramatic. Sometimes it's just saying soft in a world that keeps stepping on you and finding ways to keep growing anyway.
00:04:54
Speaker
So in episode 132, we're going to explore the this wisdom together in how grass teaches us to bend, not to break. So if this sounds like the conversation you've been wanting to have, stick around.
00:05:09
Speaker
Welcome to Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. I'm your host, Tigria Gardenia, nature-inspired mentor, certified life coach, and the founder of the Naturally Conscious Community. For over a decade, I've been known as a world ambassador for plant advocacy, working closely with plants to share their practical wisdom to help you consciously embody the elements of life that nourish your evolution.
00:05:31
Speaker
In this podcast, I delve into ancient and modern knowledge from biology to spirituality about the wondrous ways of plants. Together, we'll explore how ecosystem thinking helps you overcome limiting beliefs, understand the true nature of relationships, and live an authentic, impactful life.
00:05:50
Speaker
So there's a few key points I want to touch on in this
Grass as a Universal Teacher
00:05:53
Speaker
episode. I want to touch on grass as a universal companion because really, come on, let's be honest, folks. Grass is everywhere. Grass is your friend.
00:06:01
Speaker
Grass is one of the most accessible plant teachers you could ever have, present in cities, countrysides, and nearly every environment. So it's wonderful. Key is wonderful for place-pace connection.
00:06:15
Speaker
The second thing I want to talk about is resilience through being stepped on. now We all define being stepped on in different ways, but I think there are always moments where we feel like we're being stepped on, whether it's being ah stepped over for a promotion, whether it's being stepped on because somebody actively suppresses you, whether it's being stepped on in the sense that, you know, your voice is not being heard.
00:06:38
Speaker
And grass is probably one of the wisest guide because, ah well, they've been stepped on, trampled, and well, they've had to learn and thrive from this. Not only that, Grass has really uses that being stepped on as a way to grow. It's it's becomes key becomes a metaphor for enduring pressure and change and human impact even. And here's where we're going to start to see where is it that that kind of trampoline can be good for you and it can help you grow and be more diverse and where instead that kind of stepping on you is actually hurtful and you need to make changes.
00:07:15
Speaker
I also want to talk about grass as a symbol of coexistence and adaptability. i mean, grass grows everywhere with humans, without humans, with animals, and have been everything and across the entire planet and has had also very different social connotations for us as humans. And therefore, there's a lot for us to learn about how it is that we see grass and how that reflects back on how we see each other.
00:07:41
Speaker
And the last thing I want to talk about is about how community and diversity. Really, grass lives in community. No matter where you look, it's very rare to see one species. When you see one species, something is wrong.
00:07:54
Speaker
This is a being that loves to live with all kinds of other beings, whether that be animals of all sorts, insects, birds, animals. um All kinds of different plants that grow. So grass really symbolizes interdependence. How am I independent as well as dependent on others?
00:08:13
Speaker
And this is something super useful for us right now to understand. So when you're trying to understand how to get along best with others, grass can be a wonderful teacher teaching us how collaboration is really woven into so society into success of all sorts.
00:08:31
Speaker
So by the end of this episode, I want you to go outside and spend some time with grass. Not because key is pretty or simply for the grounding, although, know, those are really great too, but because grass is the perfect teacher for this moment in human evolution.
00:08:47
Speaker
Grass knows how to thrive under pressure. Ki doesn't fight the footsteps. Ki bends. Ki roots. Ki grows back stronger. he knows how to live in community, to share soil and sunlight without needing to dominate. And Ki does all this quietly, right under our feet.
00:09:08
Speaker
So when you sit with grass and you touch Ki and take a nice deep breath and really listen with your whole body, grass begins to teach you how to recover from what's flattened you.
00:09:19
Speaker
And how to adapt without losing yourself. How to find resilience through connection instead of isolation, which seriously, come on, right now, we we all need a lot of that.
00:09:30
Speaker
So by the end of this episode, I really want you to understand why GRAS is the most accessible mentor and learning. i mean, well, I'm probably the most accessible mentor. You can come and find me anytime.
00:09:43
Speaker
But grass is probably the most accessible plant mentor for learning, adaptability and self-healing. And I'll just give you some simple tools to begin that conversation for yourself. So ready? Let's get to know grass. Oh, wait, wait,
Exploring Plant Music and Connection
00:09:56
Speaker
wait. First, I want to invite you to connect with one of my eco-conscious business partners, because when you support them, you support to the germination of more intentional businesses all over the world.
00:10:07
Speaker
For over a decade, I've had the profound joy of working with the music of the plants, a musical instrument made just for plants. This very music is what sparked my own plant reawakening, guiding me to reconnect with nature in an entirely new way.
00:10:22
Speaker
Imagine in listening to the harmonious melodies of your plant companions and feeling their wisdom and presence through the language of music. It's an experience that has transformed my life and the lives of so many other people.
00:10:35
Speaker
If you're curious about the hidden songs of plants and want to connect to your plant friends in a completely new way, I invite you to discover more at tigriadagenia.com. slash music of the plants.
00:10:47
Speaker
It's in the show notes. Plant music is great for healing, sharing, and personal connection. Let's continue our journey of personal evolution and plant consciousness together with the songs of plants.
00:11:01
Speaker
Okay, let's get into grass as your, i don't know, universal companion. That's kind of how I think of grass. I think of grass in that way because no matter where I am, If I am stressed out, it doesn't matter if I'm in a foreign city, if I'm at somebody's house or whatever, I can most likely find grass somewhere within a five minute walking distance. you know Growing up through the you know through the sidewalk crack or something like that, grass is everywhere, under our feet, inner cities, edging sidewalks, softening playgrounds.
00:11:31
Speaker
ah Reclaiming cracks in the pavement, key grows quietly along the riverbanks and railway lines, like in abandoned lots, in manicured lawn. Look, grass is the background of our lives. The green hum we really forget to hear.
00:11:48
Speaker
And even in Antarctica, I discovered in doing research for this on that finger of land that stretches towards South America, a few species of grass cling to the edges of the ice there.
00:12:01
Speaker
I'm even convinced that there is grass below the ice in the other areas. And eventually, when the whole planet shifts again, and Antarctica melts in some ways, I'm not talking about global warming, I'm talking about natural progression of movement of the planet.
00:12:18
Speaker
I think there's going to be grass that springs up there relatively quickly, but only time will tell if I am correct. The planet simply doesn't know how to exist without grass.
00:12:28
Speaker
Grass is so ordinary. We just stop seeing key, but grass is... has never stopped seeing us. Trust me on this one. This is where the story of reconnection really begins.
00:12:41
Speaker
Not in a forest or a sacred mountain. You don't have to go far away to connect with nature and to feel your own nature. Right here, what is already underfoot will take you home.
00:12:59
Speaker
And Graz reminds us that access to the living world is not a privilege. It's a constant invitation. Whatever you are, you can connect with kin. You don't need a perfect wild space. You don't need a retreat or a ritual.
00:13:14
Speaker
Okay. Retreats and rituals are cool. Also kind of like, you know, me as a mentor, retreats and rituals, good things. But my point is that you just really need to notice grass says, start here, start close.
00:13:29
Speaker
You're already home.
Mental Health Benefits of Green Spaces
00:13:30
Speaker
Every patch along a city curb or a neglected corner of a park or even, you know, that potted ornamental that ah grasses that are growing on balconies or some grass that is growing. it's Like I have cacti behind my monitor, which is right in front of me.
00:13:49
Speaker
I have cacti growing and every once in a while grass shows up in there. Where the heck the grass comes from? Mind you, I'm on a second floor. Like where does the grass really come from? But if you've ever felt disconnected from nature, start with the nearest blade of grass.
00:14:04
Speaker
And no doubt there's someone somewhere growing nearby. Our bodies already understand this connection long before we try to name it. And science actually shows us too. A study in Philadelphia looked at what happens when neglected trash-strewn lots were simply cleaned, leveled, and planted with grass.
00:14:26
Speaker
and cared for. Nothing elaborate, just grass, a few trees, and a little wooden fence. In some cases, the lots were just cleaned, but nothing was planted and grass, you know, and mosses just naturally started to take over.
00:14:41
Speaker
Across 110 neighborhoods, they found something extraordinary. Depression among nearby residents dropped by 41%. The feelings of worthy worthlessness, like the idea that I am not worthy, fell by half.
00:14:58
Speaker
And in neighborhoods under the most stress, those high poverty areas, those food deserts, those areas that feel like all it is is concrete city, just being able to have lots that had some grasses in them and pretty much nothing more than that.
00:15:19
Speaker
Self-reported depression fell by nearly 69%. nine her sense When grass isn't just present, but actually cared for, he becomes a healer.
00:15:32
Speaker
Ki's presence is a statement. This place, this soil, this life matters. It changes how we carry ourselves. how we feel about where we live, how we inhabit our space.
00:15:45
Speaker
And this isn't just a Philadelphia story. It's not just the United States. Across the ocean in Sweden, researchers also followed thousands of people and found that those living closest to green spaces, especially within like 50 meters of the home, redeemed far fewer antidepressant prescriptions.
00:16:04
Speaker
So their levels of self-reported depression dropped. It wasn't about income or education or even neighborhood safety. All of those were accounted for. It was about the proximity to the green. This is why green cities are so important and why cities like Vienna, for example, have these models that You want to be able to turn 360 degrees in wherever you are in the city and always see at least some kind of patch of grass.
00:16:33
Speaker
Just seeing grass outside a window or between buildings shifted mental health outcomes across entire communities. And researchers call it residential green space.
00:16:44
Speaker
Personally, i call it kinship. It's just a remembrance. It's really remembering that you are natured. Because the body knows when life is near.
00:16:56
Speaker
And even if you never step barefoot onto the soil, which I do recommend that you do, and your nervous system actually responds to that green, your breath slows, your heartbeat steadies, grass doesn't have to be touched to do Key's work.
Grounding Practices and Benefits
00:17:11
Speaker
Key just needs to be seen. Just stopping and recognizing that the grass is there. acknowledged, allowed to photosynthesize in your shared air. That's the quiet medicine of grass, a presence that's so humble that he heals without ever asking to be noticed.
00:17:29
Speaker
And there's science for all of this. Reacher shows that looking at scenes rich in green wavelengths increases heart rate variability, an indicator that the parasympathetic nervous system, that part of us that says, you're safe,
00:17:45
Speaker
has switched on. So just seeing green, just seeing green, and that could be a poster, by the way, there are studies that show that just looking at, if you can't get outside, this is why when you go to the dentist, have you ever noticed that like they have up on the ceiling, beautiful like landscape with green in it?
00:18:05
Speaker
This is the reason why. Your blood pressure lowers, your cortisol drops, the body moves from fight or flight to rest and digest. And it's no accident that has hospitals plant lawns.
00:18:19
Speaker
Grass helps us breathe differently. Key signals that we're safe and life-sustaining environment. Like that is where I am, where recovery is actually possible.
00:18:31
Speaker
But at some point, you have to move from seeing grass to touching grass. There's a difference between admiring from a distance and allowing your skin to remember what earth feels like.
00:18:44
Speaker
I'm super excited because the next episode, we're going to be talking deeper about this, about what it means to kiss the ground and to earth in. And this is where science and spirit meet.
00:18:55
Speaker
Modern researchers call it grounding or earthing. your placing of your bare feet or any kind of bare skin directly on soil or grass, allowing this exchange of electrons between your body and the planet, which, you know, we're all one.
00:19:11
Speaker
We're all one. These electrons, they help neutralize free radicals. So on a physiological level, they stop them from damaging cells and breaking the chain of reaction of oxidation oxidative stress.
00:19:24
Speaker
And there's like all of these different elements that protects the body's DNA and cell brain brains and other components from harm. But though it's really also important for us to think about, I guess it's really not a but, it's more of an and, it also balances the nervous system and it reduces inflammation, something I am currently testing myself.
00:19:45
Speaker
And the data shows that lower cortisol, better sleep, and even pain relief all can come from touching brass. And our ancestors didn't really need all this data. I mean, I'm giving you this data because there are still those people that say, well, is it really worth it?
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it's worth it. It's worth it. But our ancestors just called this living, right? Our ancestors were always out experiencing the land, sitting on the land, touching the land.
00:20:11
Speaker
And having that relationship. And maybe that's the invitation the grass keeps offering us. Every time you walk barefoot across a patch of green, you're not performing some wellness ritual.
00:20:23
Speaker
You're coming home. You're reentering the field of life that holds you. It charges you. And it reminds you that you belong.
00:20:34
Speaker
That's really the medicine. You don't need all this proof. I'm giving it to you because I feel like it's fascinating and interesting. But the quiet relief that really comes into your body when you finally stop insulating yourself from the world is all of these different experiences because it is the world that made you.
00:20:54
Speaker
so I want to go deeper, deeper into also what it means to be stepped on. But I just want you to remember that first and foremost, you belong. You are whole.
00:21:04
Speaker
You are part of a connection. And one of the ways to experience this, one of the fastest and easiest ways to experience this is by touching the ground and being with the grass.
00:21:16
Speaker
And that being said, we can go farther into this to understand how we're Grass can teach us how things like being stepped on can be a good thing when in the right context, because look, grass knows that story better than anyone.
00:21:32
Speaker
And before we close, i I want to keep reminding myself that I want to share some tools for you to start conversing with grass yourself. These are super simple practices and open the dialogue that you you you won't even imagine how powerful it can be.
00:21:48
Speaker
So let's get into the second point, which is resilience through being stepped
Resilience Lessons from Nature
00:21:53
Speaker
on. OK, I want to talk about what I mean. Hold on I'm going to grab some water. Give me one sec.
00:21:59
Speaker
I don't know if I would have ever made it as a radio host. I mean, maybe I would have because I love the music and and, you know, I love telling stories. But like getting into the stories by yourself takes a little like if I didn't have notes, I don't think I would ever make it through ah full episode.
00:22:15
Speaker
I would just ramble on and I'm not sure if that's really what you want hear. Well, maybe if you, if you made it through the earlier episodes of this podcast, then then maybe you do like it when I ramble on. Okay, sorry, I'm going to go back to what it means to be stepped on and why grass might be really one of the wisest guides you'll ever meet for that fluffs in.
00:22:33
Speaker
If you've ever walked across a lawn after rain, you've seen it, right? You have blades of grass pressed flat under your shoe and then an hour later, they're lifting themselves back up and they're this beautiful shade of green.
00:22:49
Speaker
Grass doesn't really make any kind of speeches about injustice of being stepped on. grass doesn't hold up a sign themselves that says, please don't step on me. That's a human thing. And we're going to talk about why.
00:23:02
Speaker
He really bends, listens, redistributes water, and then returns back to normal. Not exactly the same as before, never really the same, but still normal.
00:23:16
Speaker
Unmistakably, grass. This is grass's behavior. And that's the heart of this teaching. Resilience without hardening. Grass integrates disturbance into growth. Ki doesn't spend energy pretending the hoof never landed or that I'm never going to be stepped on.
00:23:33
Speaker
Ki responds. And that response becomes structure. Deeper roots. New kind of tillers, a wider mat of life that's harder to rip out next time so that you can't just pull up a section as you walk through it.
00:23:48
Speaker
And on short grass prairies, so going to some of the science, there's like this super cool ancient dance. This is one of my favorite. I think I've read this study probably about... 20 times because it's still amazing to me.
00:24:02
Speaker
There's this fantastic dance that happens on prairies. I love prairies, by the way, prairies, meadows, probably why I love grass so much as a teacher, because I have this inherent love for meadows and prairies.
00:24:14
Speaker
And there's this like ancient dance between grass and bison, you know, bison, right? Like huge animals, right? For 4,000 years, these two species have grown up together, each shaping each other.
00:24:27
Speaker
So picture this like 2,000 pound grazer that's like moving through um that's moving through wind and summer heat, munching on the grass, then rolling their body in the dust to make these little bowls in the earth.
00:24:44
Speaker
And it cracks me up because I live in front of cows all the time. They're not here right now, which is quite lovely because the bells drive me crazy and must drive them crazy. I say this all the time. But anyways, I do like admire the grass before me is this beautiful like prairie land. This big meadow in front of me is gorgeous.
00:25:03
Speaker
with cows that trample all over it all the time. But anyways, what I was saying is that in the this study, they were following how these beautiful bison make um these little bowls of water that that basically when they when they scratch themselves, they they fall onto the ground and they rustle around If you're watching the video, you see me moving. If you're not, it's kind of funny.
00:25:27
Speaker
And they create this. And in these bowls of which fill with water, with the with the rain, they fills with insects and birds and small mammals drink. I mean, there's this entire world.
00:25:40
Speaker
The bison move on and the grasses then respond to everything that's just been created. So as the tops of the grasses are being grazed, the roots are pushing deeper. And so when they're disturbed, this actually signals to like create stronger matting and then new shoots start to spread sideways. So the more that the grass is disturbed with these bison that passes through, the more the grass is able to go farther across stitching out and soil together in order to create like a longer reach.
00:26:17
Speaker
And so all of this might for us look like damage, but it's actually regeneration. This relationship between bison and grass is actually built on disturbance and then recovery.
00:26:31
Speaker
But when the bison were actually taken away, because of course humans think, oh, look, we're damaging the area, that rhythm was broken. Cattle came afterwards and with cattle, there's a different pattern.
00:26:43
Speaker
cattle Cattle, not like here, which is the reason, and and I see this probably because I see this firsthand. When cattle are brought to these types of prairie lands, they're left for a long period of time in one place.
00:26:56
Speaker
And cows tend to linger near the shade and the water source that they're being given. So they trample the same distance. ground over and over again until those banks completely collapse.
00:27:07
Speaker
The plants that hold them just die back there. So this creates an entire collapse of the ecosystem. Streams start to shrink. There's lots of non-native grasses or other kinds of beans that move in.
00:27:21
Speaker
i don't say this to blame anything, but it's really about balance and understanding. For example, the area that I live in front of, which is ah ah meadow slash prairie area, And there's lots of cows that come through, but they're cows that are pasturing through. So they come in, they're here for a few days, and then they go away because they're moving from one side of the mountains to the other based on the time of year So it is the similar to the experience that happens with the bison where the cows are moving through and they constantly are moving.
00:27:52
Speaker
This is a large meadow area, but in the course of maybe a few days or a week that the cows are here, they might be in three different areas. So the cows are constantly moving. So it has that.
00:28:04
Speaker
And I go often down there because this is right by the river. So I can go there for a walk and I see what's happening. I see how this regeneration happens from it.
00:28:15
Speaker
When you move the animals, you give the land time to rest. You let the water breathe again. The prairie remembers how to do things. These meanders wander and um widen, sorry, not wander, widen, and life returns in layers.
00:28:31
Speaker
Birds and other kinds, grasses of every kind, whether it's bisent or really well-managed cattle, like what we have here, the wisdom underneath is the same. You can trample on it, but then you need time for rest and recovery.
00:28:45
Speaker
Does that sound familiar? Does that sound like a familiar lesson that I talk about? Disturbance, integration, flourishing. That's what you need. Disturbance to get the juices flowing.
00:28:57
Speaker
Rest to settle in to whatever it is that you create. Recovery to learn from that and start anew. This is the strategy that's written into Grass's body. He has learned to thrive in places that are defined by pressure, right? Hoof and wind and fire and heat and ice. Grass doesn't bounce back by just kind of snapping upright and pretending nothing happened.
00:29:21
Speaker
Oh, I wasn't stepped on at all. No. Kigo's roots deeper into it. That's different. Rooting back means sending energy below ground where nobody's going to applaud.
00:29:33
Speaker
So they're going to bank some sugars and branching out the rhizomes and sharing through kin networks and creating all these different networks. So the moisture and the minerals move where they're needed.
00:29:44
Speaker
Rooting back means widening the base. so that the next step doesn't flatten you as easily. It's humble work, but it's also quite brilliant if you think about it It is about taking what's coming and using it to your advantage.
00:30:00
Speaker
Seeing how this works helps us understand how that same logic applies even in cities. A blade pushing up through concrete is not a symbol of defiance for the sake of defiance.
00:30:12
Speaker
It's a design. Cracks collect dust and that dust becomes Little tiny amounts of soil. Water then slips in. Light hits it at just the right angle.
00:30:24
Speaker
And boom, a seed takes the hint. And the first leaf starts to emerge. Not super tall and proud because that attracts way too much attention. Cautious, compact, safe.
00:30:37
Speaker
And when the time is right, the growth starts to rise. And even if a boot comes down because, you know, somebody's walking down the busy street and they didn't realize it, the plant tries again from that same node just behind that crushed point.
00:30:52
Speaker
Grass keeps choosing life and he keeps choosing it at scales that humans often overlook. Fire is another teacher. Many grasses don't just survive burns, but they organize around them.
00:31:05
Speaker
Dormant buds below the flame line hold that blueprint for renewal. And as ash feeds the soil, the next flush of grass oftentimes is way greener.
00:31:16
Speaker
So being consumed and returning is not a failure in that system. It's the rhythm. Disturbance becomes timing and timing becomes strength. So what do we do with all this in our human lives?
00:31:31
Speaker
First, name the hoof prints without any kind of shame. That means where has pressure flattened you? Where is there something that's stepping on you?
00:31:44
Speaker
Workload, visibility, caregiving, grief even, the glare of doing things not like anyone else because your mind operates in its own way and so you feel like you're getting stepped on because people don't understand.
00:31:59
Speaker
Instead of forcing yourself to spring upright, try the grass approach. Root back, take what is happening and root that deeper into yourself and find the place of resilience. Find what you need to spring back from that.
00:32:15
Speaker
You know, this is going to happen. In some cases, you can change it But honestly, there are some things that you can't. Caregiving is a great example of that. So therefore, what is it that you need to spring? This might mean that you might have a little bit less output for a bit and more resource gathering below the surface.
00:32:36
Speaker
You might sleep a little more. You might have to set stronger boundaries slash membranes so that not as much is coming in and out. You might have to take in more nourishing food or conversations that you've avoided.
00:32:50
Speaker
it might be quiet and unglamorous type work that moves and widens your base, but you're not quitting. You're banking the sugars, you might say. You're taking what nourishment does come in that moment of being trampled on and you're pulling it deep into your cider.
00:33:07
Speaker
And then you widen out. Grass rarely responds to strengths by growing one main stem. I mean, when you step on grass, it just, key just starts growing sideways, right? If there are no, how many of you have like, I'm sure that you've experienced this, right? There's like a patch somewhere where people constantly walk over that. So that part,
00:33:28
Speaker
of the grass, it's like a cut through or a shortcut. And so that part of it has grown out, but the grass then just moves off to the sides and keeps growing laterally. And in human terms, lateral growth can look like adding a second income. If you know that there's going to be trampling coming through your primary income in a way that of course doesn't exhaust you or co-facilitating instead of doing things solo,
00:33:52
Speaker
So that you widen what your breath is or distributing the load among trusted kin. Right. You might have work that as you're getting trampled on, you're going to then farm out or do it laterally.
00:34:05
Speaker
Small side shoots up to a mat that you can then lean on. And the other thing is keep moving. Bison teach this. Staying in one patch until the roots give way creates harms.
00:34:19
Speaker
That's the whole problem with having cattle that sits on the land and why that land underneath then dies. But so lingering in one only coping pattern, doom scrolling, perfectionism, over helping, all of this is not useful to you.
00:34:35
Speaker
The bison move, the herd moves. Movement doesn't have to be dramatic. It could be as simple as coming out of a different room. So if you're trampled in the room that you're in, then move to another room.
00:34:49
Speaker
Or, you know, think about the way that you do your task work. If it's all a bombardment constantly, take a break, go take a walk, take a pause, you know, remember that whole rest and recover.
00:35:05
Speaker
And the other piece that is extremely important in all this is to hold on to your core identity when you're adapting. You know, you have a core identity and grass has a co-identity.
00:35:16
Speaker
And this is one of the places where I really love to go and spend time with grass and communicate with grass, especially if I'm having a problem of trying to understand my core identity in all this.
00:35:27
Speaker
So key might, you know change the height of a given blade or how deep they root or moving to the side. But in the essence, that is always a blade of grass.
00:35:38
Speaker
And this is a crucial distinction. Adapting, moving about doesn't erase yourself. it change You might change shape so you can keep being who you are.
00:35:50
Speaker
So it's important for you to think about where it is it in your life that you're clinging to a form that no longer serves the essence? Where am I doing things or being or acting in a way that I've always done it because i don't I'm fighting back from the trampling?
00:36:04
Speaker
When instead, i could be more true to my essence and to who I truly am by changing form and moving in this. This just happened to me the other day. was wearing a hat that I haven't worn in a long time. And somebody asked me like, why was I wearing that hat? And I said, you know. For a long time, I didn't wear that hat here because I felt like it wasn't um it wasn't true to what I needed in this place. It didn't fit the way that I was living a life.
00:36:31
Speaker
But now that hat feels very much core to who I am. I still was expressing myself. I was just expressing myself in different ways. So my core essence was always coming out, but it was coming out in different mechanisms.
00:36:43
Speaker
That's a really simple example, I understand. You have to kind of know me to know that it's probably not as simple as you might think. But the point being is, it's important to see where it is that you could change the actual shape that comes out in order to better adapt to the trampoline that's happening without changing losing the core essence or better said as a better expression of your care essence.
00:37:08
Speaker
So I want to honor that as a human, obviously, as I'm talking about like being trampled on, look, being stepped on hurts. There's grief in a flattening process and grass doesn't bypass that. Key might lay down literally.
00:37:27
Speaker
There are moments of stillness when the blade isn't performing resilience yet, right? the the The blade is just like trying to regroup after being stepped on. And even some blades die, but then water moves and sugar redirects and signals travel.
00:37:44
Speaker
And because the system is really practicing is there is a choreography that is ready when needed. And that's another lesson. You have to rehearse your recovery if you know this is a pattern.
00:37:57
Speaker
So you have to, just the same as you rehearse being ready for being trampled on, you rehearse also the recovery of it. Because small regular practices that remind your body how to come back from situations, um prolonged rest or checking in with yourself or making modifications, all this makes it easier to respond the next time the wait arrives the next time you're stepped on.
00:38:25
Speaker
So a last, last piece from the whole perspective of, you know, this trampled on pieces, community is not optional, just so you
Interconnectedness and Community
00:38:34
Speaker
know. Where native grasses thrive with grazers, with big animals that that trample on them, who diversity tends to bloom.
00:38:44
Speaker
Species hold each other up. So the translation for us stubborn humans that think that we can go it alone, because, you know, we often think that. Find the rhythm and the companions that let you keep moving.
00:38:57
Speaker
If you're stuck in one place because it's comfortable, ask for help to relocate. Find your shade, find the others that are going to be able to have a diversity.
00:39:12
Speaker
That means that where you're affected in one thing, they might not be affected and vice versa. Because if you're alone on a dry patch, It can be difficult. And if you find yourself alone right now and you don't know how to do that, call in kin, call in your plant partners.
00:39:28
Speaker
You know, ask your plant partners to help you through this. You know, we're not meant to do this alone. We're always meant to be in community. Okay, that was a lot of stuff.
00:39:46
Speaker
Oh, gosh, as I'm talking, As I'm talking, I'm, besides the fact of constantly staring out the window, um and, and looking at the grasses that are in front of me, i I always have this memory of, I was doing a biomimicry workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States.
00:40:08
Speaker
And we had this exercise called an eyesight, which I love to do. and we went out and we were supposed to kind of just sit with some being of nature and, you know, draw and capture. it And I ended up sitting down on the grass because that's what I do. And I found this tiny patch. When I say tiny patch, I'm talking about a patch that's like not even a foot by a foot, you know, like 10 centimeters by 10 inches.
00:40:32
Speaker
little block. And I was just staring at that. And in that block, I saw so many because I saw multiple types of grasses, and two or three different kinds of like small flowering plants.
00:40:45
Speaker
And there was a spider that was walking through and then there was some ants. And there was like the the wind was blowing lightly. And there was all these different species. And i remember being so impacted that that relationship, those relationships that were playing out right before me.
00:41:05
Speaker
And how much we take those for granted. and we don't think about that coexistence and and about how grass of all beings might be one of the most honest mirrors to help us really see what's going on.
00:41:20
Speaker
And that's what I want to kind of get into now. You know, grass has lived alongside us for as long as we've been walking upright. You know, we with the oldest known grass fossils dating from around 113 100 million years ago.
00:41:35
Speaker
That's a lot older than we as humans, just so you know, as homo sapiens. Ki learned to grow with humans, without humans, under hooves, under highways, under city streets, like all over the things. You'll find kin thriving in every possible condition, like deserts and wetlands and rice fields and city cracks, like all kinds of, even the battlefield, you know.
00:41:58
Speaker
Grass doesn't discriminate. Ki doesn't say, the soil is too polluted for me, or this neighborhood isn't my vibe. Ki arrives, adapts, and participates. And that's not passivity. It's actually mastery.
00:42:11
Speaker
Like it's being able to master any area that you're in. Can you imagine if no matter what environment you went into, regardless of whether you wanted to stay there or not, you're always welcome to leave,
00:42:24
Speaker
you could actually feel comfortable and master that environment.
Cultural Perspectives on Lawns
00:42:28
Speaker
Like, wouldn't that be amazing? And yet what's fascinating to me is how humans have used grass as a canvas for their own self-image.
00:42:37
Speaker
You know, grass over the years has absorbed our projection of class and of order and of belonging and of beauty and even of morality. Back in the 17th century,
00:42:48
Speaker
In England, grass lawns became a symbol of wealth. What we think of today as the modern lawn, the one that technically is like a monoculture, which sucks, But that's another story.
00:42:59
Speaker
Imagine vast estates with like rolling green carpets, no crops, no grazing animals on them, just carefully trimmed grass stretching over the horizon. To maintain that kind of space required labor and water and land that didn't have to feed anyone.
00:43:16
Speaker
Lawns basically became a symbol of, I have so much. I can afford to let this a land and do nothing and look nice. It was performance of control.
00:43:29
Speaker
na Nature manicured into this obedience to like show what humans thought would be their symbology, green theater of dominance and stability.
00:43:43
Speaker
And the message was clear. Wildness is beneath us. And you know how I feel about that. If you've heard any of my episodes, you know how I feel about this idea that wildness is beneath us. Like European settlers even carried the image of wealth of that into the Americas. The idea of the perfect lawn became something new, a suburban ideal, which is where we struggle with today. Can you imagine a symbol of being a good citizen, of safety, life?
00:44:15
Speaker
normalcy. Who the hell wants to be normal? I don't know. But basically a trimmed lawn said, I belong. I'm responsible. I'm respectable. And to this day, homeowners associations will fine you if your grass dares to be too alive, too wild.
00:44:33
Speaker
But he It just cracks me up. And the irony is that the further we forced grass into these monocultures, the more work it took to keep Ki alive.
00:44:44
Speaker
Basically, Ki said, if you're going to try to dominate me, I'm going to make it as... Fucking hard as possible. I'm going to make it as hard as possible. You are going to have to take such care of me. You're going to have to feed me and fertilize me and trim me and water me at all the right types of ways.
00:45:02
Speaker
Unless you let my friends be with me, I'm going to make your life hard. Lawns are exhausting to maintain. The more we pull key out of relationship, we remove clover and dandelions and insects, the more fragile and needy the entire system belongs. Do you see the point I am trying to make?
00:45:24
Speaker
It is a full time job, full time job to maintain an illusion of perfection. Sound familiar? Sound familiar? This is a lesson for all of us who've tried to maintain our own manicured versions of life.
00:45:40
Speaker
The more we stray from who we are and try to conform to what looks stable, acceptable, and safe from an outdoor outside perspective, the more effort it takes just to keep the edges trimmed.
00:45:55
Speaker
We call it discipline, which you know how I feel again about that. Professionalism being put together. But underneath, really, it's just endless maintenance. It's about fertilizing the facade.
00:46:07
Speaker
And that's what happens when wild intelligence gets replaced with performance.
Advocacy for Rewilding and Natural Beauty
00:46:13
Speaker
Grass, however, has never forgotten who Ki is because grass might allow key self to be maintained in that way.
00:46:23
Speaker
But you give grass an inch. And they're going to invite Dandelion and Clover in for a party. So even under the tyranny of the mower, grass keeps networking underground.
00:46:35
Speaker
Root to root, rhizome to rhizome, he shares all their waters and sugars and microbes and information. Even in a monoculture, grass secretly restores diversity.
00:46:47
Speaker
They welcome mosses and weeds and fungi. Whomever is going to show up to the party, they're going to be like, come on in, grab a beer. I've got some like sugary stuff for you.
00:46:58
Speaker
Come on in. And if the humans, Try to like take you out. Don't worry. I'll just hide you in my roots. And when they're not looking, I'm going to bring you back up. Grass is community minded, kind of like us, right?
00:47:13
Speaker
Keith thrives in plurality. So that's the quiet rebellion of grass and what you can learn by spending some time lying in the grass. No matter how many times we might try to make kin conform,
00:47:26
Speaker
He keeps reaching sideways and inviting others in. And that's what I find so beautiful about the current no lawn movement across cities and suburbs. People are pulling up the sod and planting pollinator gardens, native grasses and wildflowers because that aesthetic of control is like It's exhausting and useless and not nourishing for anybody involved.
00:47:54
Speaker
So it's giving way to the new aesthetic of coexistence. The human desire for beauty isn't disappearing. It's maturing. Back to the idea that wildness is beautiful, that diversity is beautiful, that the commingling and the strength that comes from that commingling.
00:48:14
Speaker
Beauty is not weakness. Beauty is strength. It's remembering that beauty can be functional, relational, alive even. We're finally catching up to what grass is known all along, that you can be soft, because I mean, everybody loves a nice grass when you want to lie down or when you want to play outside, but also strong and composed and untamed, ordered and alive all at once.
00:48:43
Speaker
And so that's why this whole kind of episode comes from that conversation in episode 126, where I talked about rewilding as core intelligence, about how wildness isn't chaos.
00:48:55
Speaker
It's adaptability rooted in your essence. Plants don't try to be free. Kin are free because they know who they are. Rewilding isn't a rebellion.
00:49:08
Speaker
It's a memory and grass has always embodied that. Key flows between systems, humans and non-human, order and wildness without ever losing losing the essence.
00:49:18
Speaker
Key knows, give me a chance and I'm going to call in all my friends. That's why I'm saying that even in a monoculture, grass keep dreaming of diversity. Even under control, Key whispers, don't be fooled.
00:49:33
Speaker
This isn't my true form. Just give me a little space and I'll show you what I got. And now as we rewild our landscapes, we're being asked to rewild our own inner lives in the same way.
00:49:45
Speaker
To move from performance to participation, to release all those obsessions without looking stable. actually, hold on.
00:49:55
Speaker
Let me say that again. To release the obsession with looking stable. I almost said that wrong. And to start building systems that actually sustain life.
00:50:07
Speaker
I get really worked up about this because... As a person who grew up with very, very little lawn and never parents that ever tried to like control the lawn. We mowed the lawn, but nobody ever went there and was like, oh, no, we got to put some kind of fertilizer down or whatever. Actually, we have a kind of grass that was like itchy and there was lots of fire ants.
00:50:26
Speaker
You knew that if you rolled around in the grass too much, you were going to get fire ants all over you. and Fire ants are not pleasure. But there was this. Desire still. And that's what GRAS models so perfectly. Coexistence without compromise.
00:50:41
Speaker
Adaptability without erasure. How can I adapt to my situation without erasing my cloak ah but core essence? So here's what I want to leave you with where from from this section is where in your life have you created a lawn where what you needed was really a meadow?
00:50:58
Speaker
you know, how a meadow would fill. I remember at my first home, the first home I ever bought back when I was living in Seattle had this gorgeous meadow in front of it.
00:51:09
Speaker
And it was just this long piece of lawn to a certain extent. I was young. I didn't know what I was doing, but I remember sitting at a fair, like one of those home festivals, fairs, whatever they're called, and our expo.
00:51:21
Speaker
And I was listening to somebody talk about the creation of meadows and oh my goodness, I loved it so much, so much. I had these dreams of like these tall grasses and short grasses and like little wild flowers and a tiny little table that I could sit outside and drink tea.
00:51:40
Speaker
Why would you ever exhaust yourself maintaining appearances or maintaining a lawn that were never really meant to sustain you and that couldn't sustain you? And what would happen if you just stopped mowing?
00:51:52
Speaker
If you let diversity return, let the dandelions and the clover of your own nature show up again, metaphorically speaking. Because maybe that's the quiet wisdom of plants like and the quiet wisdom specifically of grass. No matter how much we trim, confine, or try to control, the moment you stop forcing that shape, he remembers and he grows again.
00:52:17
Speaker
Everywhere, with humans, without humans, with animals, under asphalt, through through cracks, reaching for the light. That's not the resistance. That's remembrance. And that all exists inside of you.
00:52:31
Speaker
The last piece I want to very quickly touch on is like this point of community and diversity. If you go outside and kneel down, I mean, really just kneel close to the ground and look at any patch of grass, you'll notice something.
00:52:46
Speaker
never just grass. Even the most uniform looking field, when you part the grades, the those the blades in it, you revealed a quiet little orchestra.
00:52:58
Speaker
Clover sneaks in and moss is really low and there's like sedges and plantain and dandelion and chickweed and all there. Hence, you know, why i love spirit wild plants.
00:53:09
Speaker
They're all there weaving themselves between the grass strands. The grass is just sitting there going, yeah, buddy, love it here. I love it here. Fungi laced through the soil. Microbes are all around unseen.
00:53:22
Speaker
It's like this massive conversation, this party happening right behind. right beneath your knees. So you can just sit there and be with that. I'm telling you, if you lie in the grass for a little while, even if you're just facing up, that joy, that party environment is going to come to you.
00:53:38
Speaker
The truth of grass is that in the wild, he never does solo.
Interdependence and Coexistence
00:53:43
Speaker
He only lives in community. And that's not by accident. Grass actually evolved because of diversity.
00:53:50
Speaker
So All of these different pieces, nitron nitrogen fixers and like moisture holders and pollinators, like they're all important and they create this area. No single species could ever support that.
00:54:05
Speaker
So when we contrast that with our human systems, our economies, our education models, our neighborhoods, even where sameness is often equated with safety, we try to make things predictable, efficient, and even standardized.
00:54:19
Speaker
But These types of monocultures of thought, they just lead to burnout, to division and to depletion. So really nature continuously tells you variety important.
00:54:34
Speaker
resilience. Like you need that variety. Grass teaches us that interdependence isn't weakness, it's insurance. That's where true safety comes from. It's strength distributed through connection.
00:54:47
Speaker
And if you've ever seen a prairie fire, you know what I mean. The flames might be sweeping through, but they never erase everything. Because some roots sleep through the heat waiting to sprout.
00:54:58
Speaker
Others send their shoots that anchor to the soil so they don't wash away after the first rain. Some have learned to even create seeds that require fire to open, ensuring the next generation.
00:55:10
Speaker
So after all of that kind of turmoil, you can feel life holding hands below ground and preparing for the next wave of green. And that's what resilience does for you.
00:55:23
Speaker
having that that diversity around you, that's how recovery happens. There's no one plant hero, it's kinship. And that is the model for you that GRASS can teach you.
00:55:38
Speaker
And maybe that's actually the greatest invitation GRASS offers us, to stop pretending that thriving is a solo act, to stop managing our growth our growth like lawns, isolated and competitive and trim for approval.
00:55:54
Speaker
And instead to remember the web that we already belong to. You already know, I talk about it all the time, that the naturally conscious community is a community space. It is a place where we do things together.
00:56:06
Speaker
Do I have a few like solo activities? Absolutely. Reconnect with the plant kingdom is a course that you can do on your own speed, on your own time, in your own way, all by yourself. But there's also a community of people there.
00:56:19
Speaker
One post and everybody responds. And all of our group calls are meant to stimulate different parts of ourselves, to stimulate the creative side, the analytical side, the information-seeking side, the conversational side, the meditative side.
00:56:34
Speaker
Each one of our events tailors to different parts of ourselves because, well, we're all multi-potentialites in there and with multiple passions and multiple ways and neurodivergence. We just need a little bit of everything.
00:56:46
Speaker
Plus we get bored. I get bored easily. They get bored easily. It's wonderful. You get bored easily. Come on in because connection is already there. It's braided through the relationships, your collaborations, even your creative blocks.
00:57:00
Speaker
All you need to do is notice like you notice the grass. So when you next walk through a patch of grass, try this, pause and notice who else is there.
00:57:12
Speaker
The tiny flowering weeds, the ant trails, the fungal threads binding the soil to life, and ask yourself, who in my own ecosystem am I overlooking?
00:57:24
Speaker
Who's been quietly holding the ground while I was reaching for the light? Or who was there when I had to root deeper because of a disturbance?
00:57:37
Speaker
Because thriving, as Grass showed us, is about how well you share the field. So after all this, what is grass really teaching us?
00:57:50
Speaker
If there's one truth that grass keeps whispering every single time I go to meet Key, it's this. Connection it is never far away. You don't have to travel to a sacred forest or climb a mountain to remember your belonging.
00:58:08
Speaker
All you have to do is look down. Grass has been with us everywhere, from the edges of the city sidewalks, to the cracks in a parking lot, to the tundra of Antarctica, to the quiet shade of your own backyard.
00:58:25
Speaker
He's always there, holding that thread between human and earth. between the ordinary and the miraculous. The planet doesn't know how to exist without grass.
00:58:38
Speaker
And maybe neither do we. We started with grass as the most familiar stranger. But now, I hope, I hope you see Ki as what Ki truly is.
00:58:51
Speaker
your oldest ally, the one who stays when you forget how to listen, the one who keeps photosynthesizing through your noise and your distraction, quietly reminding you how life actually works.
00:59:05
Speaker
Because when you sit with grass, even for a moment, you remember, you breathe, your breath starts to slow to match the rhythm of keys exchange, your body starts to root,
00:59:19
Speaker
not metaphorically, but electrically into that field that made you. When you sit there, you feel it all come about. And you remember that belonging isn't a feeling you earn.
00:59:35
Speaker
It's a biological fact. Grasp doesn't ask you to be perfect. Ki doesn't care if you've lost touch with your practice, you know, if your mind's been busy or if you haven't stepped outside in days.
00:59:48
Speaker
Ki just says, start here. Touch me. Notice me. Breathe with me. Because connection isn't something you build from scratch.
01:00:00
Speaker
It's something you return to. All the other lessons we've explored, resilience, coexistence, adaptability, community, they all live inside this one truth.
01:00:13
Speaker
You are never disconnected from nature because you are nature.
Conclusion: Reconnecting with Nature
01:00:22
Speaker
Even when you feel cut off, you are surrounded by kin who haven't given up on you.
01:00:30
Speaker
Grass teaches us that the sacred isn't somewhere else. It's underfoot. It's on the sides. It's all around this. And I think, I think, this is the heart of the medicine.
01:00:47
Speaker
Reconnection is recognition. It's about seeing that life's already around you and remembering It's also within you. And that's what happens when you let grass lead.
01:01:01
Speaker
You stop trying to return to nature because you realize that you've actually never left. So the next time you pass a patch of grass by the curb or under a bench, or maybe in one of those neglected lots in the city, just pause.
01:01:18
Speaker
Not for long, but just enough To notice that shimmer of light on a blade, kind of like if you're watching the video, the shimmer of light on my face, the faint hum of a photosynthesis, or i don't know, the way the air feels different there.
01:01:36
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I see grasses overgrown and I just take a deep breath. It could be like a lot and there could be tires or something else growing there. And I just take a breath. Because that's kinship.
01:01:49
Speaker
The grass is saying you're home. And when you begin to feel that, even in small moments, you start to sense the quiet dialogue always waiting for you.
01:02:01
Speaker
A conversation that doesn't need words, simply attention. Because connection like grass is everywhere. You just have to let it find you.
01:02:15
Speaker
Okay, so so now that we've journeyed through all these layers of grass, you know, the the universal companion, the survivor, the teacher of community, there's really only one thing left to do.
01:02:27
Speaker
Go chat with grass. Trust me, you can do that anywhere. You don't need special place or permission, just a few minutes, a patch of green, and a willingness to notice.
01:02:38
Speaker
Find some grass near where you are right now. It could be a lawn or a roadside strip or even just, you know, I don't know. There's always grass somewhere. Sit or stand with key and let your eyes soften.
01:02:51
Speaker
Let your body start to breathe and just start by observing. How is key growing here? Upright or bending? Dense or sparse? Who else is in the mix?
01:03:02
Speaker
Is there clover or dandelion or moss? Any other kind of tiny flower or any other kind of animal? Just notice all of these relation relationships. And when you feel ready, simply say hello.
01:03:16
Speaker
There are no perfect words. You can speak them aloud or you can think them quietly. maybe it's just as simple as, hi, i see you. Or maybe it's a question. How do you do it?
01:03:27
Speaker
How do you keep showing up even after being stepped on? Maybe it's just a breath that's shared. Your exhale and keys inhale. The goal isn't really to hear an answer.
01:03:40
Speaker
The goal is to remember that you're in dialogue.
01:03:46
Speaker
to Feel the pulse of life inside of your body. It's that same current moving through the blade of grass that's besides you. That's what separates you from kin.
01:03:57
Speaker
It's really just habit. The habit of noise and of rush and of forgetting that communication is already happening beneath that thought. So in speaking or in experiencing these words and asking these questions, just allow your body to be the receptor, to be the antenna.
01:04:15
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And if you're feeling nervous or unsure, if that voice in your head says, I don't know if I can talk to plants in that way, that's okay too. You don't have to know, you just have to start.
01:04:27
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If you want support deepening that dialogue, that's exactly what we explore together inside of Blooming Sprouts. When you join, you get access to a whole library of live and recorded sessions, including one of my favorite workshops,
01:04:40
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Enhanced plant communication. That session is a full three-hour immersion in what it really means to converse with the more-than-human world. Not as a metaphor, but as lived experience.
01:04:52
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We go beyond just the five senses and into the body's natural way of perceiving and responding. And you'll learn reliable ways to open that channel, to validate what you receive, and to co-create so that you can create a new level of meaning with plants.
01:05:10
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We also work through the doubts, the very famous, am I making it up loop that so many of us get caught up in? Because once you understand how communication actually feels in your body, look, you're going to just naturally stop questioning it.
01:05:22
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It starts building a relationship. And this isn't another training to pack your brain with lots of new information. It's just about remembering a return to what you already know in your cells, that you are designed to be in conversation with life because you are life.
01:05:40
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That the air you breathe, the food you eat, the very pulse of your fingertips are part of an ongoing exchange with the living earth. And you'll also find many voyages with spirit wild plants, those dandelions and chickweeds that we keep talking about and little tiny short guided journeys that help you meet individual plants in a more personal sort of way.
01:06:05
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Most of them have three very, very, very simple techniques. So think of all of this as an invitation to meet new friends, to listen, to learn, to co-create in partnership with kin who have been patiently waiting for you to notice them again.
01:06:22
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So whether you start with a patch of grass outside your home or you decide to step into the circle of blooming sprouts inside the naturally conscious community, as always, everything is in the description.
01:06:33
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The invitation is the same. Reconnect. Let life speak back. Let grass remind you that you belong to something vast, ancient, and deeply intelligent.
01:06:49
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And that this conversation is yours to continue. Because connection isn't rare. It's right here under your feet waiting for you to say hello.
01:07:03
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As always, I just want to thank you for sharing this little patch of time with me and with the humble, unstoppable wisdom of our grassy kin. If something's starting you today, please pass it along.
01:07:15
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Share this episode with a friend who's been feeling trampled or disconnected or maybe just needs a reminder that belonging can begin right under their feet. Like it, subscribe, you know, all those types of things. Leave comments.
01:07:30
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Because we really want to reach more and more people who feel disconnected and who know and who could know that the plants are their way back home.
01:07:41
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If you'd like to discuss how I can help you create a life of connection and calm, book a call with me. The link is always below. And we can talk about your plant allies, your creative roots, and whether you're Wild intelligence is trying to grow next. I'm so curious. I'm always so curious about those types of things. I just i just want to hear it all.
01:08:00
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But until next time, don't underestimate the quiet power of the ordinary. It's really where real conversations begin. And always, always, always remember to resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance.
01:08:16
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I'll see you among the sprouts in NCC. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Reconnect with Plant Wisdom. To continue these conversations, join us in the Naturally Conscious Community, your premier online ecosystem for plant reawakening and accelerated evolution and co-creation with other kin.
01:08:34
Speaker
Here, you'll find expansive discussions, interactive courses, live events, and supportive group programs like the Plant Wisdom Book Club and the Sprouts Writing and Creativity Group. Connect with like-minded individuals collaborating with plants to integrate these insights into life. Intro and outro music by Steve Shuley and Poinsettia from the singing Life of Plants.
01:08:55
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That's it for me, Tigria Gardenia, and my plant collaborators. Until next time, remember, resist the urge to hold back your emerging green brilliance. I'm out. Bye.