Being in a Body

How I use plants to support body and breath work for an embodied practice

In my last post, I talked about how looking to the events of past transits helps me resist fearmongering, so let’s get into how I get back into my body after feeling activated. This is a long one, so it may be truncated in your email. Reading this through the Substack app or on your desktop is best. Paid subscribers get a little extra sweetness <3

Enjoy!

Hoodoo and Kongo cosmology are interwoven with my work as an Astroherbalist, and as Hess Love says, “Hoodoo is a defensive tradition”. I work with the stars and the earth for many things, including to fortify my connection with myself, my lineage, and my environment. Looking back to look forward is part of my foundation. What was, is, and will be. Looking to the past for its priceless lessons calms my spirit enough for me to settle back into my body to notice where my emotions are showing up. Feeling the feels helps me see the roads more clearly so I can choose paths that align with my highest self, and breath and body work practices can be supportive tools on the journey.

Body and breath work can be supportive at any other time, but are particularly helpful when moving through a Mars year. Mars rules the muscular and circulatory systems, so mindfully moving our bodies or using breathwork to notice sensations gets a beneficial boost throughout the year. Breathwork supports the lungs and opens our airways, clearing the pathways to vocalize our truths. Bodywork helps us get the blood moving to deliver nutrients throughout our bodies, including the capillaries that exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the alveoli in our lungs. Using them in tandem helps us reconnect our minds with our bodies and can calm the nervous system. Giving ourselves space to experience our emotions and notice any sensations they bring up in the body can help us get to an emotionally safer space to integrate lessons and act with a cool (or cooler) head. There are many techniques to sync our breaths with our bodies, but working with plants, whether physically or spiritually, to support my mindfulness practice is one of my favorites.

One of the easiest ways to connect with plants is through teas, and sipping a cup before getting into body work can be a treat. Black tea (Camellia sinensis) is made from the leaves of the same plant we get green and white tea. The ideal tea leaves come from the plant itself, but if you don’t have that, store-bought loose leaf or leaves removed from a tea bag are fine.

When sipped mindfully, Black tea’s energetics help us ride the waves of change, stoke the fires of our courage, and reconnect with ourselves. If you are sensitive to caffeine, Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) tea may be a better ally. Stinging Nettle is not only nutrient-dense and fortifying, but its sharp, pointed energetic qualities can clear our minds to reach a higher understanding of ourselves and our experiences. Its path-clearing properties can give us the mental space to feel our emotions and physical sensations, so we can integrate them into our actions. The transits of May are bringing plenty of opportunities to practice what we preach, so doing the work to connect our minds, bodies, and spirits can be beneficial.

The Sidereal Cosmic Forecast