My Journey With Lyme’s Disease

I remember the day perfectly…

I’m walking in the sun across the field behind my parent’s farm. The grass is wet with dew and it sparkles in the sun. I'm barefoot, in shorts, approaching the edge of the forest to feel the boundary there, where the woods start and the fairies live at the old stone wall, to feel closer to the land.

A few months later, I would be diagnosed with a stage three symptom of Lymes’s disease, a swollen knee that became so big I couldn’t walk. I was living in Geneva, Switzerland where I was getting a PhD in Medieval French Literature. At the local hospital, they recognized it as the American version of Lyme’s and I knew I had most certainly gotten it in Vermont. Although I followed the recommended protocol of antibiotics, I realized then that my body was most receptive and appreciative of the plants I was also using, large amounts of garlic and echinacea. I was also exploring bodywork, massage, fasting, conventional medicine and plant remedies, and in three months I was symptom free. I’ll probably never know exactly what cured me, but I think my healing journey with plants began there.

Now I think the plant world was calling to me, and I’ve become thankful for the deer tick that woke me up to their communication and healing potential. I’d been using essential oils for a few years and loved the Swiss pharmacies where herbs still played a staring role, as supplements and in teas, alongside the regular allopathic remedies. A few years later, after reading a book on how to talk to trees, I realized I’d always been communing with them and that the plant world had a lot of wisdom to offer. I began to regularly connect to the plant spirit realm, though I kept it a secret, mostly going to the trees for advice during emotionally difficult times. In 2017, a year after I had finished my dissertation, I was at a bit of a loss and, inspired by one of my favorite medieval mystics, Hildegard of Bingen, I decided to take Asia Suler’s course on Intuitive Plant Medicine. The module on Flower Essences was a profound experience for me. If the trees spoke to me as a friend, the flowers sang to me, their messages coming to me in poems, and I started to think of how to share their wisdom with the world.

I’m still discovering through them where my journey will take me. Flower Essences have helped me with everything from childhood trauma and difficult relationships to self-love and cold sores. I’ve started working with them to encourage people to open up to their own essence in order to be able to shine their light in the world. I’m currently helping people develop their creative voices through land connection, body work, meditation, EFT tapping, and creative tutoring. I’m overjoyed to be able to share these techniques with you so that you can experience the wonders of a strong relationship with the plant realm: a deeper connection to the Earth, a sharper intuition, and a more confident and healing presence in the world. My hope is that you can take them with you on your journey, be it towards better health or improved personal and creative expression. I believe that listening to the flowers heals our sense of separation with the Earth and each other, bringing us back into right alignment with the planet and all of her beings, so that we may be able to express our true selves and change the world.