Medicine comes in all forms. Medicine from our soul & the earth is the most potent.

This word 'medicine' is thrown around the healing communities a lot. Plant medicine, animal medicine, earth medicine.

Definition of medicine:

1. a substance or preparation used in treating disease, i.e. cough medicine

2. something that affects well-being, he's bad medicine— Zane Grey

3. the science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease, i.e. She's interested in a career in medicine.

4. the branch of medicine concerned with the nonsurgical treatment of disease a substance (such as a drug or potion) used to treat something other than disease

5. an object held in traditional American Indian belief to give control over natural or magical forces

In western culture we often wait for disease to be present before taking medicine. Medicine is seen as a last resort. This type of medicine heals the symptoms but doesn't affect the cause. Its quite a lot like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze.

My belief is that once dis-ease is present in the body, it has been present in the energetic and emotional body for some time. This dis-ease could be an illness, pain or cancer, things that we often give the title of disease too. Disease can also be emotional dis-ease such as depression, anxiety, anger or fatigue. It is the fifth definition above that prevents this dis-ease from entering our body and when medicine should be used as a primary tool.

When we can connect to the medicine of our soul and of the earth we can become aware of dis-ease in our body much sooner. When we can turn to the things that make us feel like we are coming home, that help us to know we are safe and secure, that we can celebrate life with ease.

Dis-ease is a state of fighting life, not flowing with it. Although I don't believe in giving our power or control over to natural or magical forces, I do believe that when we can listen to the medicine of our soul and the medicine of the earth, we can find our own path to wholeness and healing.

So what does the medicine of our soul look like?

Love. Love is the most potent medicine there is.

Love for ourselves, love for our community, love for the planet and all of her creatures. Love is what keeps us in flow. Love is what keeps us connected. Love is what keeps our soul fed in the way it needs to be to stay healthy.

I'm not just talking about taking a bath on a Saturday night type love. I'm talking about a wild, deep, passionate love for your life and the beauty around you.

I'm talking about engagement, curiosity and Aliveness around everything that you connect to on a daily basis.

Self-love is an acceptance of ALL of you. Loving yourself when you mess up, loving yourself when you say the wrong thing, lash out or hide out unnecessarily. When we can love ourselves in the way that we need to we can trust our Inner Wisdom to tell us what we need to heal. We don't need to look outside of ourselves anymore for healing or wisdom. We have it all inside of ourselves.

When we have this type of self-love we no longer give our power over to other people. We are no longer looking for someone to tell us what to do, we know we have the wisdom to know what we need. We become self-empowered.

This is what I want for you. To give you the tools to so trust, to so love your Inner Wisdom that you no longer look for someone outside of yourself to tell you what you need. Not that we don't reach out for feedback, to share our experiences with trusted friends and family, but we are no longer looking for permission to do what we know is best for ourselves.

Medicine from the earth comes in so many forms. Once we have the medicine of our soul we can begin to decipher the medicine that is meant for us from the earth.

Mother Earth gives us medicine not just in the form of healing herbs, food or entheogenic plants. She gives us medicine in the sunrise and sunset, in all of the animals that inhabit the planet. There is medicine in the four directions and the elements. These are all potent salves for our soul.

I believe that our connection to and participation in nature is a direct reflection of our mental, physical and emotional health. Our ability to connect to our wild self and to all of nature's gifts is such healing medicine and often shows us our path to self-love.

When we are willing to listen, the medicine that Mother Nature has to offer is limitless and everywhere. When you have self-love and can trust in your Inner Knowing, the messages from Mother Earth are yours to receive.