Herbs for the otherworld

Contents: 
1. On perception of reality and the nervous system
2. On Kava kava
3. Other herbs to shift your reality
4. Some great reality-shifting recipes

1. On reality and the nervous system

Something I spend a lot of time thinking about is how our nervous systems interpret the world around us. Our reaction to stressors is the result of our nervous system reading something as 'safe' or 'unsafe' and our perception of the world around us is largely connected to the nervous system too. Perception is something that I think is overlooked when it comes to teaching about sympathetic and parasympathetic states, but it's an important aspect of it. When our nervous system tells us that we are stressed, our blood vessels constrict, our vision constricts, our muscles contract (ready to run or fight) and the world around us as a result gets smaller. You can do this yourself now-- think of a really stressful situation. Let yourself get scared about it, start to feel that fear and let it permeate your whole body until you're panting or shaking or both. Now look at the world, and feel that constriction. Feel the constriction in your body itself (diaphragm? shoulders? chest?) but also feel it in your perspective: does the world feel like it's bigger than you? Do you feel how much pressure there is there? While you're at it, feel your belly. Has that constricted too? 

Parasympathetic states are the opposite: everything is relaxed, open, receptive. Our bodies get ready to receive nourishment in the form of food, and so they get all juicy, relaxed, ready to digest things. But that applies to our perspective on the world around us too: we get stressed and our world narrows, and when we're relaxed it expands. 

So to try this out, instead of fear, think about trust. In a way, trust is the 'opposite' of a stress state: when stressed, you feel like the world is going to hurt you somehow. In a state of trust, you don't feel threatened by the world at all. For many of us, this is a really elusive state-- childhood trauma, fear, and stress and such make it really hard to feel safe enough to trust. But, it can be taught, over time, bit by bit. Nothing, especially not human energy, is set in stone. 

So try it with trust: trust the world around you for a second. Think of a memory that makes you happy, an event that makes you feel grateful, and from there, start to trust yourself to handle something that's coming at you. Trust the ground under your feet to stay there, and the walls to stay upright and the sky not to fall down. And feel how that feels. Feel how much bigger the world is there than in a state of fear. 

Interesting, right? I find it fascinating to see how easy it is to shift our perspective, and as a result our entire reality, based on a simple emotional state. Most of the herbs that help to shift us into 'other' states do so because they're affecting our nervous systems* in some way or another, calming us to the point of expanding into the world around us, taking in more of what's actually there, things that in stress-related clear-headed states would be seen as 'not real'. 

*It's not just the nervous system-- there's whole different aspects of our energy that expand and move into new places, like our dreaming selves and our awareness and such, but it *starts* with our nervous systems :).

2. On kava kava

jim mcdonald and I were chatting a while back about kava and how uniquely itself it is. All plants are uniquely themselves, of course, but some actions can be approximated with combinations of other herbs. Kava, however, is in its own place entirely. It’s one of those otherworldly, mind-altering relaxants that does something so magical to your body, brain and energy that there’s nothing else in the world like it. 

In his article, jim says "What is so distinct about kava kava is that it's so promptly and significantly relaxant; mental stress subsides as a result of relaxation, not sedation.  In fact, while the body lets go, mental acuity remains...you can definitely take kava and still be cognitively functional.“.

And I agree, though for me, it’s a form of relaxed that makes me want to MOVE, dance, create, explore. I think, what kava does is unwind whatever tension there is that’s holding us back from our creativity, our sensuality, our exuberant enjoyment of life. So many of us would be much more creative and carefree if not for the giant stress loads we carry around. Kava doesn’t take the things away (it doesn’t put you in a bubble like, say, cannabis does) but it does relieve your tension so that you can shine through regardless of the stress load. 

Anxiety: 

This 'easing' of tension applies to other areas too. Anxiety for example. Anxiety, the way I see it, is fear energy getting stuck somewhere (and often for long periods of time). What I mean by that is, fear is a reaction to a stimulus that's supposed to get us moving. We release adrenaline, we get ready to run, or fight. For many of us, life is so stressful that we're constantly in a place where we experience fear and yet we're stuck in place and have nothing to fight against except ourselves. That energy that gets released to get us moving gets trapped in the body, often in the chest, and that's when we start to feel anxious. If we do this over long periods of time (or say we have a trauma or series of traumas in life that cause us to continuously experience lots of fear and we don't know how to, or don't have the option to express it), then it builds and builds until the tiniest trigger can cause a cascade of fear-reactions which in most peoples' language get translated to anxiety, panic attacks, etc.

Kava can really help with this. By relaxing the tension that's holding all that old fear in place, you can start to move the fear out. It'll stop anxiety in the moment, of course (I'll never forget my first class EVER, where I was so scared, I took way too much kava, and the first, incredibly high words out my mouth in public were 'ah f**k I took too much kava'), but over the long-term, using it to help relax and release old fear can be really magic. 

Aphrodisiac: 

Another area that kava works really nicely is as an aphrodisiac. It's not the kind of thing that you can hand to anyone and they're all of a sudden magically turned on. It's not going to make up for not being attracted to someone, or having no chemistry. But, where kava absolutely excels with regards to sex is with people who are too stressed for sex. If going on vacation puts you in the mood to get it on with your partner. If half a drink at the end of the work day all of a sudden turns your mind off spreadsheets and onto bedsheets (I just came up with that one and am pretty proud, btw). If your partner giving you a glass of wine and a massage, or a foot massage (!!!!!) is the biggest turn on ever, try kava kava. A neck and back massage with kava infused oil will pretty much lead to the best sex ever. Or a hot kava bath, followed by a kava massage. Or kava infused coconut oil as lube. Or, well, there are lots of possibilities here, and I recommend trying them all. Also, you're welcome :). 

Sore muscles: 

This relaxing effect also applies to muscles. Topically, kava used as a rub for overly tense, pained muscles is utterly brilliant. Whether it's due to tension from sitting all day, or from overwork, or spasms due to injury, or menstrual cramps, kava infused in oil, or in a bath works really nicely to help unwind the tension patterns. If the situation is really dire, combine with kava tincture or tea, too. 

Other things: 

Kavalactones in kava kava have shown some pretty strong antifungal activity (which makes sense thinking about the exceedingly damp environment it grows in). Use a kava decoction as a soak for areas affected by topical fungus, and as an added side effect you get all that dreamy relaxation. So, a kava foot soak could be a lot of fun. Another area this could work really nicely is for vaginal yeast issues (use it infused in coconut oil). 


Read more: jim's article
Found in: Kava & Cardamom body oil, Kava hot cocoa, Deep roots bath soak

3. Other herbs to shift your reality

Damiana // Turnera diffusa
Damiana, to me, is a state of warm, relaxed, and open. It's so incredibly aromatic, and those aromatics blast through tension that's in the way of holding us back from, well, for lack of better description, loving each other. Drinking a strong cup of damiana tea or taking a damiana bath always makes me feel relaxed, slightly loopy, and just, really warm towards people. So it makes sense that damiana is commonly considered an aphrodisiac-- if it relaxes you, makes you feel open, warm, and loving, well, yeah that'd do it. But it's often just shoved into the 'herbal aphrodisiac' category without exploring where else it's really useful. You see, for people who tend to not open up, trust, let go very easily, or who have social anxiety, damiana can be utterly wonderful. In the right situation. Obviously.

It increases peripheral circulation, helps to bring your attention and your energy back into your body, and helps you feel more present in the world, in your body, as yourself. While at the same time, giving you the warm fuzzies, and making you feel good. It's a pretty magic little herb... 

It's found quite easily in commerce and is also available in a liqueur, made in Mexico, which is really interestingly delicious and makes a brilliant margarita. 

Found in: La Abeja Herbs Damiana elixir, mountain meadow smoke blend


Pedicularis spp. 
 
I first read about pedicularis as yin tonic in Thomas Avery Garran's book 'Western Herbs in Chinese Medicine'. In it he talked about one of my local pedicularis species (p. semibarbata) as a yin tonic, which got me thinking about WHY it'd be a yin tonic. You see pedicularis is a muscle relaxant. It works phenomenally well, and affects the mind too, putting you in a really lovely relaxed, chilled-out, happy, jello-like frame of mind but not stupid or hungry or paranoid (I may have a canna-bias). It's not really available commercially anywhere but ask a wildcrafting western herbalist what their favourite chill-out herb is and they'll likely tell you it's pedicularis (or kava). Because it's not available commercially and is, from what I read, impossible to grow, it's not the kind of thing that any of us herbies really want to become super popular out there, but I do feel it's worth writing about here just in case you do find your own local stand and want to try a little. 

So anyway, pedularis as yin tonic is something I hadn't thought about before Thomas' book, but it got me thinking because, in a way, it makes sense. In terms of the systemic yin (as opposed to say, straight up body fluids, or the yin aspects of different organs or systems), pedicularis puts you in a really relaxed, easy frame of mind. If you're the type of person who has a nervous system freak-out every time you have to do something, or need to get into HYPERSTRESS MODE (TM) in order to function, then pedicularis can be a guide to a better (read: more sustainable) way of doing things. A half-dropper of the tincture and you're definitely, definitely feeling more chilled out, but at the same time, still have energy. I think it's the perfect herb to teach us how to function in the world in a 'yin' state. That is, to not have to drive ourselves forward at a hundred miles an hour, but still to move forwards, just at a pace where our bodies are able to regenerate their own reserves at the same time. 

Read more: 7song's article
Found in: Pedicularis tincture, sports soak: mustard bath, mountain meadow smoke blend



(image credit: Leslie Lekos)
Devil's club // Oplopanax Horridus
 
One of the reasons I think oplopanax is so incredibly powerful is that it's connection in our energy is to our deepest sense of who we are-- the part of ourself that has no words to describe it, but just *is*. It's the us when we were born, the us that is free of constraint and 'shoulds' and trauma and fear. It's our past and our potential, all wrapped into one. That part of ourselves is always there, but for most people it's buried quite deeply. It's an energy that exists deep at our core, and emerges from our ancestry and our blood, and it blossoms in our chests, driving us forward even if we can no longer feel or hear it speaking to us. Devil's club connects us to that part of ourselves. When it connects us to that part of ourselves, we seem to let go of the hyper-stressed, narrow-focused place really easily, and I think maybe because devil's club is so damn potent, you also get a hint of the plant's own signature too-- this ent-like, expansive, old old place that's like a forest that is timeless, ageless, limitless and deep. 

One of the nice side effects of this connection is that things can no longer hurt us as much. 

On a more physical level, oplopanax is used to balance blood sugar levels, to treat infections, to help raise energy levels over time in exhaustion. Among many other things. It's an amazing, powerful plant, and one I feel very grateful to receive boxes of in the mail.

Read more: Ryan Drum's article
Found in: Root + Heart, Thorn + Bramble body oil, Forest soak

Reishi // Ganoderma spp. 
 
Reishi is like seeping outside of yourself like a mycelial body connected to all the other mycelial bodies not sure where you end and the forest begins. It’s plant magic at its best. Reishi is, at its most basic, a mushroom that helps us to adapt to and handle stress better, but it does it in such an interesting way, diving into the intelligence of our cells and the entirety of our being.
 

Intelligence is an interesting concept, one that, when broken down to its smallest pieces could be described as the ability to take in, process, and apply information. This can be applied across a number of systems: the brain, nervous system, lungs, circulatory system, liver. It is the action of the breath, in some ways— the constant bellows that take in, process, put out. This bellows action applies to us on all levels: from the smallest of our cells, to the larger picture of how our energy as a whole interacts with the world around us. At each step our cells, organs, systems, awareness and energy as a whole is doing this, interacting with the world around us. It is this *intelligence* as a whole, that the reishi mushroom, in my mind, embodies. Through its own mysterious plant magic action, it enhances and makes more efficient this bare-bones idea of intelligence: we are able to take in more, process more, and apply more information, be it in the form of nervous stimulus, stress, food, toxins, air. It works on the body from the cellular level (making our metabolic processes more efficient), to the organ levels (making our livers, lungs, and hearts function more efficiently), to the system level (our circulatory systems function better, our nervous systems are able to take in and handle more, our metabolism processes more efficiently, our immune systems react to and process more), to our energy and awareness as a whole. Reishi makes our interaction with the world around us more direct, more effective, that interface between us and universe, that mysterious boundary that makes me an ‘I’ and you an ‘I’ becomes simultaneously more distinct and more irrelevant: we are who we are but we are also a part of the world around us, a part of the ecosystem around us. 

When you meet people who have been taking reishi every day for a long time, they have a sage-like energy about them. The sort of intelligence that resides deep in the soul, that calms and soothes to be around. It is the intelligence of the old, deep, earth energy that pulses through all of us: that slow  pulsating mass that connects us all to the earth and to each other. That intelligence is open, facing the world head-on. Taking reishi just once is a calming, expansive experience in itself, but taking it over time really does something to shift your perspective in the long-term, making life not quite so stressful, every day dramas not such a big deal anymore. It’s  a reality-shifter, for sure, but one that doesn’t make you foggy or unable to handle every day tasks (or biochem texts), it just, all around, helps. 

Read more: Renee's article
Found in: Reishi-Cordyceps hot chocolate; Reishi-hawthorn-schizandra elixir, Forest soak


Tulsi // Ocimum sanctum
 
Tulsi helps to increase our stress tolerance, not by turning us into super humans, but by once again working on that 'self' and 'not self' axis. I'd say, from my own perspective, that tulsi strengthens the innate sense of 'self' which then makes 'not self' that much easier to deal with. When it comes to mental stressors this is incredibly important: think of how much mental stress actually has to do with us thinking we don't have the capacity to handle something. Think of how much more stressful life is when we feel overtired and that our resources are too meager to actually be effective. If 'self' is small, and 'not self' is huge, then the entire world feels overwhelming and like it's too much to handle. This is an incredibly stressful place to live, and most of us who suffer from anxiety issues live here full time! Think on the other hand of how the world looks when you feel calm, centered and *big* enough. Like you have enough resources (energetic, financial, whatever) to handle what life throws at you. That is a place where the world can't swallow you whole, and it comes from knowing that you are enough to handle it. Tulsi, in my opinion, helps to strengthen that sense of self. It's not that it by itself is a stress relieving herb, but the effect of that strengthening is that you can handle more by default. Psychologically it calms the mind because the mind doesn't need to be as agitated if you're not about to be swallowed by the world around you. And your nervous system doesn't need to be on high alert because you feel safe. 

Another side effect of this 'safe' feeling is that, since your nervous system is no longer freaking out over every minor thing, your view of the world is no longer clouded by fear or panic. As a result, people tend to see the world with more clarity when taking tulsi. In a way, it's incredibly expansive in the brain, because our perspective narrows intensely when we're feeling threatened, and when we feel safe, our perspective expands. Our worlds quite literally get bigger to us as a result of taking it. Tulsi's effect on mental activity as a result of this is incredibly interesting: it helps with retention of information, and also with clarity of thought. 

This calming, centering, grounding extends to the digestive system, 
where tulsi's aromatics help calm agitation in the gut. Once again, this same action: where some foods can feel like 'too much' for us, causing indigestion or gas or bloating, tulsi draws our attention into our guts and the centre of our bodies, calming, grounding, and assisting with the digestion of foods. 

One of the results of taking tulsi long-term is that this feeling of comfort and groundedness in the self starts to take over more, becoming more normal, and more day-to-day. Whether it's taking tulsi on a physiological level, or psychological, or on a spirit level, the results are often quite dramatic and it's a really beautiful thing to get to watch as a practitioner, to see peoples bodies, minds or energy as a whole learn that it's capable of a lot more than they originally thought.

Read more: Rosalee's article
Found in: Tulsi + Pinon syrup, Tulsi and ashwagandha chai, tulsi & pinon bitters, Tulsi & Pinon body oil

4.  Some reality shifting recipes

Kava coconut drink. 
Serves 2-4. 

2 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp kava powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey

Simmer all the ingredients except the honey on the stove for 20 minutes or so, stirring frequently. Stir in the honey and serve warm. This is a nice one to share with friends. 


Kava hot chocolate. 
serves 2

1 tbsp powdered kava 
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 cardamom pods
1 inch of vanilla bean
1/2 cinnamon stick
1-3 tsp sugar (to taste)
3 cups milk, or milk substitute

In a pan on the stove, warm the milk, with the cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar. Don't allow it to boil, but keep it warm for 15 minutes, then remove the spices and stir in the kava and the cocoa, whisking vigorously to remove any lumps. Serve immediately. 


Kava + coconut bath. 
I talk about this one all the time because it's pretty much my favourite way to use kava kava. 

2 cups dried kava kava root
1 cup dessicated coconut 
1 giant pot of water 

Put the kava in the pot of water and bring to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes, until the water is a dark, murky brown and there's an oily sheen on the surface. Then, carefully, strain the pot into the bath, through a sieve of some kind. This might be a 2-person job (one to hold the strainer, one to pour the water through the strainer). Soak for as long as you can. Don't drive or operate heavy machinery for a while afterwards... 


Damiana liqueur

Damiana margarita

Kava, coconut and vanilla syrup: 

1 cup kava
1 vanilla bean
2 cups maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut milk

Throw the kava and vanilla into the maple syrup and simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Strain out the kava and vanilla and stir in the coconut milk. 


Kava and damiana massage oil: 

1 cup dried kava kava
1 cup dried damiana
4 cups a massage oil blend (I like avocado, sunflower, almond and jojoba)

In a crock pot, yogurt maker, or over a low, steady heat, heat the kava in the oil for up to 5 days (minimum 12 hours). Keep it steady and stir on occasion. Run the whole lot through a blender for about 20 seconds, then strain through a few layers of cheesecloth. 


Kava kava and damiana bath: 

2 parts kava kava 
1 part dried damiana

Bring the kava to a boil in a large stock pot almost full of water. Boil for 20 minutes until the water is a dark brown. Remove from the heat and throw in the damiana, and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the whole lot into a bath and soak for as long as you like. Add some of the above massage oil for extra loopiness.