None, there are no herbs that will change the behaviors that lead to these problems. Yes there are herbs that can help your body increase energy, there are herbs that your body to detox and others that soothe your gut and aid in digestion. It’s common now that people think that it’s fine to continue with unhealthy habits and herbs will just swoop in and clean all that mess up. In Ayurvedic medicine the root of all disease is referred to as “a crime against wisdom,” or Prajnaparadha in sanskrit. It means that you willfully ignore and go against common sense, common knowledge, and intuition, and there are no herbs for that. You know you should eat more vegetables, I know I exercise more regularly, we all know getting enough consistent sleep, not drink too much, and in general be proactive about our health is what we should do all the time. However for varying reasons we habitually spend our energy not doing these things. Often we are simply prioritizing habits and duties that hurt our health but bring us money, status, convenience, escape through distraction and entertainment, and whatever else. Fear when unchecked will completely take charge of our behavior and actions in every day life. One thing that I think a lot of people fear is changing behaviors, lifestyle, and taking responsibility.
“I know I should do _________, but then I’d have to face truths that are challenging to face and I’d rather not do that right now. When I make enough money I’ll just pay for it, when I have the time I’ll do it….”
I’ve gotten beat up by this kind of thinking many times, and still have to watch out for it and ask why am I doing this and not doing that? We often don’t believe we have the time or energy to accomplish goals that we spend time wishing about. Since we are so tired if we spent as much energy as we spend hurting ourselves helping our selves we can set ourselves on a more authentic and healing path.
Herbs are not to be treated like pills, they don’t work like pills. I take herbs as a spiritual medicine. They have their own personalities so to speak. Herbs are not the heroes that come in and just save you from yourself. Herbs don’t like to do all the dirty work, but it’s not really their job.
For instance, imagine someone hiring a house keeper, pays the lowest wage, and demands they keep the house picture ready at all times. Duties include: cleaning up after I pour the trash all over the house daily, walking behind putting every item I pick up back in it’s place after I use it, and flush the toilet behind me each time, I need the bowl to always be fresh. Super extreme, and not a very pretty example, but thats what we ask herbs to do when we essentially do the equivalent to our bodies. We habitually commit crimes against wisdom, our modern Western lifestyle compels us to. You have to do all the heavy (but completely doable) lifting then the herbs come in and assist your body to do what it knows how to do which is heal. Most of the heavy lifting are behavioral changes and serious considerations to change one’s environment.
So how can you make herbs part of your healing and wellness?
- Show Gratitude for Healing. If there is such thing as magic, this would be it. When you take herbs for anything be grateful and thank whoever you pray to, the plant, anything and anyone that has done good by you. Think of a time you felt grateful to the point of tears and relive that feeling. It’s a good time to forgive yourself of anything you are holding and forgive other people if you are holding on past transgressions. Then drink your tea, capsule, extract, meal, etc.
– - Collaborate, instead of “using” plant medicine, working with plant medicines can increase your intuition and the collaborative healing process.
– - Take the time to learn about what’s going on with your body and what your options are. Meditate on listening to your body. Don’t have the time? May I suggest pulling it out your a**? Really. In seriousness make a decision to stop, evaluate your priorities, and get organized. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised when you come out the other side.
– - Work on checking your fears. Fear can look like anxiety, guilt, people pleasing, among other things. Identify them, name them, seek professional assistance if needed. Fear itself can really mess with your body’s ability to heal and bolsters diseases and dysfunction.
– - Clarify roles. People, medicines, herbs can treat you and assist your healing with specialized skills, knowledge, interest, chemistry, and universal life force, but only you can heal yourself.
– - Find support! Making behavioral changes can be challenging and we often try to find every work around not to. Identify allies that help you grow as a person and people that can hold you accountable for getting healthy and being a better human being. Some friends and family are great at having fun with and telling you what you want to hear. Then there those who are straight up toxic, hurt themselves and help you hurt you. Then there are those that make you feel empowered, encourage you to do the right thing, and are there to support you in being a better human being. You want to keep these ones closer.
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