Lyreleaf Sage: Calling Us Into Presence

Transcript

1:36

With many of the plants that I interact with who have a deep message to share, you'll notice that I will re-release a podcast episode. The timing will feel right to revisit that message, and it's amazing how every time I listen, I take something different away from that. lyreleaf sage is interesting because the message of the original episode was so very personal to me and wrapped in the context of my life in that moment, and I, I know that there's a ton of wisdom that can be extracted from that. What has also happened though is through the seasons following that, the essence of lyreleaf Sage's message has expanded for me. It makes more sense in a wider context. It also makes more sense in just kind of a life context rather than a super niche situation. So rather than reshare the episode, it feels right to just expand on what has come up. lyreleaf sage for me is all about being called into presence, and every spring it's wonderful to see all the purple pop up throughout the town that I live in and along the sides of the road and just in different places. It's my favorite thing about springtime weeds is they're everywhere and you know, we're not necessarily being called into physical presence on the side of the road. But what I think is going on there is we're being called into presence in this now moment. Where are you in space and time in your head when you're driving? Are you noticing the beauty all around you on that everyday commute? Is your mind wandering somewhere in a way that serves you, or is it more a dissociative expedition that isn't really serving you? And you know, these are all medicine questions. This isn't, this is just something to think about, but on a deeper level too, it feels like spring. Is that interesting time where there's so much potential energy moving through nature. And remember, we are part of nature, so I'm talking about us too, where there just possibility is everywhere and a lot of us who can get stuck in possibility can really lean on liar leaf sage, and this is something that I come back to because obviously. It's something I deal with and I find that more than likely, you know what I'm talking about, and you may deal with it too, where you feel the possibility, you know there's opportunity, it feels like it's for you. Okay, so I'll just prepare a little bit more so I don't mess it up or you know, let me just gather a bit more information or resource of whatever kind so that I can move forward. And while it's always good to be prepared, and I'm always going to be that girly, what liar leaf sage is oftentimes gently, but sometimes really kind of sternly saying is if not you, someone else. And that's big, right? That idea I think is interesting because it can feel very harsh. Like, oh, what? No, this is, you know, if it's destined for me, it'll be mine and mine only. And, and I think that there's some validity to that, but I also think that, again, we are part of a whole and oh gosh, I may have been Big Magic that I first came across. That idea of inspiration floats up to us, and if we don't take it, it will float away and find someone who will bring it to fruition. And I think that we have to remember that action, imperfect action is necessary. It's always good to be prepared. It's always good to hone and curate and edit, but while working, while moving, right, so that we don't get stuck in the analysis paralysis. Another way that lyreleaf sage is coming through and it's in the same vein, but it's more personal to you yourself, is calling you back into you. Right, into your being, and specifically into that special vibration that only you carry. Oftentimes I will find myself so interested in what is going on around me. Maybe it's a new craft, maybe it's a new technique. Maybe it's something that someone that I admire is doing, and I will wrap myself up in it and just learn it and get to know it, and get to know how they do a thing and honor it and appreciate it. And then all of a sudden I find that I've pushed aside my thing in kind of deference to whatever it is I'm focused on. And let me tell you right now, I think that my superpower is appreciation. I'm here for it and I love it. The only thing that is wrong with appreciating is when we get out of balance, when we start to center one thing over another. In a time when those are two truths to be held equally. So for instance, I work in a wellness center and I am surrounded by very talented practitioners who have their own unique way of doing many different things, and I'm just in awe of every single one of them. They have such gifts. And I love to learn what it is they're doing and how they're doing it. And for me, that helps me better respect what they're doing, better understand, and to be able to share with other people what they do and how they could help. And all of that's good. Where I find myself get out of balance is when I start to center that way of doing things over my own or I don't hold my own way of doing things in the esteem that that way deserves. So I've recently had some interesting experiences that help me remember that I do things differently for a reason and when I just let that flow, when I just let myself do my. Thing the way that it comes out of me. And I don't try to adopt any other method or adhere to any other technique, really cool stuff happens. And what's so fascinating with, to me, with all of this is everyone around me would so much prefer that I do my thing because they don't do that. They don't, that's not what they do. And when I do my thing, I'm adding to the whole. And that's where lyreleaf sage has really come in this season. And I think the message and the medicine that we can take away and really work with this season is where could you be more present to your gifts? Instead of focusing outward and observing outward observe inward. So that you can bring that forward. How can you let kind of everything exterior fall away? All the shoulds, all of the ideals about wow, that way of doing things is interesting or, or I should really try this, or maybe I should integrate this new thing into whatever I do. How could you let all of that just fall away and be present enough with what is inside of you to just let that come out? When I say it, it doesn't, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I know personally that this practice is wonderfully intense and eye-opening and it's taken sitting with lyreleaf sage and observing and really kind of steeping myself in the present. Presence of the plant for quite a while to distill down what presence, what, what are you calling me to do here, but to be present, how? I would say that, you know, asking directly the answer would probably be every way that there is. Being present fully mind, body, spirit is never a bad choice. So during the springtime in the South, like I said, you can see lyreleaf sage popping up pretty much everywhere along the side of the road and in meadows and in untended lawns. And it is tall, stalky light purple flowers. I find that this is the sage that I gravitate to when I work with sage in an energetic way. I've really gone away from white sage recognizing that my personal lineage does not have a connection to White Sage. When I stop and think about what I know about white sage and how to work with it, a lot of what I know is appropriated from Native American culture. I think it's beautiful. I recognize that I don't know the full truth. I know that a lot of the beauty of working with plants is the relationship that you have, the understanding and the wisdom that you share. So for me, it feels more aligned and authentic to work with lyreleaf sage. Rather than burning a dried sage plant in a space and expecting that to clear the energy in the room by removing things, let's shift the narrative to burning that dried plant in the room and having it pull your presence and the presence of, everything that you want in this space, so fully into this space that everything unwanted is pushed out, right? So the active practice here is calling in, not pushing out. And when we do that, we really have a more complete practice because we're not creating a vacuum. If I just go in asking for everything to be cleared, I'm leaving space unintended and undirected, and usually. Energy loves a vacuum. So what fills it very quickly hasn't been decided by anything that I've done in my practice, and that's a little precarious. So instead, if I direct energy and I ask for everything I do want to come into this space. Now it's full. Now it's full of blessing and beauty, and presence that I asked and I called in and I curated. And how much better does that feel than leaving an unknown? All because I chose what I was asking for. I chose what I was calling in and I worked with a plant whose essence I connect to and I align with. I've grown up with, it's all around me all of the time, offering to work with me. So I invite you if it is around you, if you're in an area where you have a lot of this, and I'll have a picture posted so that you can see for Id purposes. See if that doesn't feel more aligned. If you can't get a stronger connection when you work with it and maybe borrow the practice that I just described, or sit with lyreleaf sage and see what comes up for you and see how you might create your own practice that is unique to you and your needs. And just see what can happen.