🌿 Appreciation for the Land: A Pathway to Improved Mental Health and Clarity 🌿
During my time in Belize…
I participated in a Mayan healing ceremony led by a traditional Mayan healer named Thelma. Before the ceremony, Thelma guided us through a medicinal plant walk to connect with nature and select plants that spoke to us for use in the healing ceremony. While I won't go into details about the ceremony or the specifics shared out of respect for the sacred nature of the ritual, one thing Thelma showed us that spoke to me was extending gratitude to the plants and the land for providing us with these abundant resources. Many of these plants provide different gifts to improve physical health and mental clarity.
However, just because things are abundant does not mean we don't need to be mindful of overconsumption and appreciation.
However, just because things are abundant does not mean we don't need to be mindful of overconsumption and appreciation. We’ve seen a whole wellness industry thrive off the overconsumption of the land from crystals to certain plants and herbs, removing these resources from the Indigenous communities who use them for healing practices and ceremonies. You can buy all the sage you want on Amazon or in Whole Foods for a significant price markup. However, the use of these sacred tools from the land and engagement in rituals that do not belong to us are further disrespected when we take more than what is needed from the land. It’s even more devastating when you consider this wellness industry boomed during COVID, when people turned to these rituals and herbs to avoid mask policies, stay home orders, and vaccinations because of an individualistic need for “freedom,” while the Black and Indigenous communities these rituals were stolen from were dying at alarmingly high rates.
Reflecting on Health and Wellness
I've been reflecting on how we treat the land and how that relates to our overall health and wellness. Last year, I visited a BIPOC farming co-op in North Carolina that was once indigenous land, later worked by enslaved Africans who shared a deep appreciation for the land and knew how to treat it in ways their captors did not. Their bodies were exploited for the business of mass production and overconsumption. Putting my hands in the soil to uproot a potato, I could feel the stories and threads of appreciation, love, pain, and renewal.
Environmental appreciation and mental health are deeply intertwined. Pollution and lack of access to basic resources like clean air, clean water, and food are social determinants of health that significantly impact both mental and physical well-being.
Environmental appreciation and mental health are deeply intertwined. Pollution and lack of access to basic resources like clean air, clean water, and food are social determinants of health that significantly impact both mental and physical well-being. Greed has led to the overconsumption of lands, contributing to racist environmental policies that removed people whose ancestors cared for the land from these essential resources while claiming that they didn’t work hard enough to gain access to things that really should not be owned—there is more than enough for all but still, these resources are hoarded. This has led to health issues such as increased asthma rates among BIPOC children, heat-related illnesses and deaths in our cities due to a lack of trees and overheated concrete, and eating disorders, to name a few.
What if we returned…
What if we returned to a time when the land belonged to nobody but herself? If we all took care of her and allowed her to heal, I believe she would, in turn, take care of us. While this would involve a radical systemic shift that may seem bigger than our individual efforts, it’s a nice thing to imagine. Next time you find yourself under the shade of a tree or enjoying the sweet fragrance of flowers, or even enjoying the crispness of an apple, take a moment to whisper a sweet appreciation for the gifts these plants and our land provide. If we extend gratitude to the land, we may heal ourselves. 🌸🌳
#LandAppreciation #MentalHealth #NatureHealing #BIPOCFarming #EnvironmentalJustice #Gratitude #HealingJourney #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth
