Healing with Possibility

“The possible’s slow fuse is lit by the imagination.” – Emily Dickinson

Climbing way out on the limb into the realm of speculation and possibly unprovable things, I’m going to assert that that the number one obstacle to healing is a person’s resistance to believing in possibility.

Being an adult (aging?) student in Clinical Herbalism challenges me daily. With a sense of urgency that I observe my younger colleagues may not feel, I live with a feeling of sort of stuffing it all in. With so much to know, and such a deep sense of the scope of the challenge, I can almost literally hear the ticking of the clock. I began my organized studies at 56 years old; I’ll be 59 when I graduate in a year and a half. Thirty-six months  of plant chemistry, botany, human physiology, pathophysiology, energetics and endless information and discussion about herbal therapeutics and nutrition. Every day brings more information than my aging (yes) and borrelia-affected synapses seem to be able to process.

But I do it. I do it because I’m driven to understand the elusive ideas of health and healing. How does health fall apart, causing depletion of the immune system and opening of pathways to chronic disease? Is it possible to heal—truly heal? How do we lose our vitality, and how can we regain it if it’s lost? What is vitality, anyway?

The answers are complex, of course. Just wrapping up a pathophysiology module on inflammation, my text book summary reminded me of upwards of 125 “key terms” I should understand to truly understand inflammation in the human body. Oy. I’ll do my best. Going for key concepts is my personal goal. Terms sometimes float on by without settling in, but I’m trying. To be fair, the program does not require this level of understanding and memorization of me. It’s the unspoken pressure of using an 1,800-page medical school textbook to grapple with a continually emerging and wondrously mysterious body of knowledge. It’s a good resource, but it falsely implies that answers and understanding lie out of the reach of mere mortals.

In a recent practitioner skills class, we were guided through the idea of healing narrative as it relates to hearing a client’s story (history) and, later, describing our assessment in response to their story. We will practice doing that in a way that fully respects and embraces the story we hear the client tell, while also reflecting our ideas as practitioners—in a way, reshaping the story to add possibility. We’ll look beyond the diagnosis they may carry as a heavy burden, and sometimes even as a badge of honor. How and why did the condition start? What has helped it? What makes it worse? In short, what is their belief system around their healing challenge and process? Do they believe they can feel better? Hearing that story fully, in all its rich detail, and putting it together with our knowledge, observations and (yes, even) beliefs is the art we will learn over our remaining time in the program. Circumventing the process of understanding the client’s story cannot begin to honor the truth of that story. Indeed, honoring that truth is step number one in creating a healing partnership.

In my recovery from Lyme disease, I hit the wall of my own beliefs many times. The Lyme “community” told me my healing challenge was nearly impossible, and there are many reasons to buy into this. Bacterial resistance, multiple (and emerging) tickborne coinfections, lack of research to support both long-term antibiotic therapy and so-called alternative therapies, as well as the sheer cost (financial and emotional) of long-term treatment all add up to deep and unrelenting hopelessness. My practitioners, with the exception of a couple of very special people, did not honor my story of my experience. I felt powerless, a victim of one infected tick and a massive and disempowering medical system. Hopelessness pushed me deeper into my illness with each passing day.

For me, cracking a tiny opening in that wall of hopelessness opened a healing path to that I’m still navigating and exploring. Admitting that the “possibility” of healing encompassed many things that I did not (and may never) understand was the initial breakthrough, as was accepting that the “information” would be endless. Not only does science evolve, but it lags behind alternative medicine by at least 15 years. And we’re only beginning to understand spirit; acceptance of its existence may be the best we can do. It follows then that relying on science alone is not enough to affect the life of a person dealing with a chronic and debilitating illness.

Opening my mind to the possibility of healing was pivotal, and I thank a tiny few of the many healthcare practitioners I engaged for helping me to do that. There was a moment when I was able to see myself as well, and that was when I truly began to heal. It was a moment that simultaneously embodied surrender and empowerment: surrender to a process of opening to new ideas, while at the same time knowing that I could sort through it all and direct my very personal healing process. I came to understand that it was my process, not that of the medical system or doctors. It was up to me to find healing. Understanding that moment in time, when possibility becomes hope, fascinates me endlessly.

We’re not taught to believe in possibility. The great and not always wonderful medical system we operate within delivers all-knowing narratives about our healing challenges. We are seldom encouraged to seek our own answers. In fact, my personal experience dealing with massive textbooks bears that out: we think we’re incapable of understanding. Here’s a blog post from Lissa Rankin, MD, a person whose words on healing and empowerment have opened my mind on many occasions. It’s easy to be constrained by a healing construct that in no way even remotely includes the possibility of healing or simply feeling a little better. Perhaps we protect ourselves from disappointment by negative belief systems. That may be okay, but it’s also possible that we close ourselves off from opportunities to embrace new ideas and information that could, just maybe, lead to feeling better.

My school experience is, in fact, opening my mind to possibility. Not “just” the possibility of healing through plant medicine, but the reality that healing is multi-faceted and even magical. It’s opening me to the the idea that I’ll know more tomorrow than I know today, and I’ll discard some ideas that I knew as truths along the way. I am even opening to the possibility that my brain can handle it all, and that I’ll emerge in December 2016 with a pile of new truths and a rich new perspective on all the truths I already know and those that others will offer to me.

And that limb that I’m so far out on? I don’t hear even a whisper of cracking.

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Making Stock, Taking Stock

There are so many factors to consider along the road to restoring health. I’ve long been a proponent of the “let food be thy medicine” philosophy, but sorting out the myriad of theories and philosophies is a big job. Reading and hearing so much—sometimes conflicting—can lead to doing nothing, simply because the right path isn’t clear.

That’s just the time to go back to basics, take stock, and listen to what our bodies tell us. For me, sticking to some basic principles, like eating organic foods, in season, is important. Eating less meat, and leaning heavily toward a plant-based diet just feels right. I try to listen to what my body tells me about my food choices, and it tells me a lot.

Simple Strategies for Detox

Toxins are an unfortunate part of our daily reality. We absorb them, ingest them, breathe them and sometimes create them ourselves. Pollutants in our air and water, along with contaminants and chemicals in our foods, are continually being absorbed by our bodies.

Makin’ Stuff, Again

Puttering around, being creative and making stuff, is just about the most relaxing way I can think to spend a cold, rainy Sunday in May, and that’s exactly what I did today. Periodically conscious that my to-do list grows longer every day, I chose to spend this day packaging herbal skincare products.

Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup

In my small city, good restaurants are few and far between. When one comes along that serves creatively prepared food with seasonal ingredients (local is even better), many of us respond by supporting it wholeheartedly. Even so, I’ve watched more than a few good ones come and go. Sadly, the chain restaurants remain and even proliferate.

A few years ago, one such restaurant graced downtown Concord, New Hampshire. The atmosphere was hip; the food was delicious. Served on small plates, it was fun to try several unusual dishes, to share food and wine and to stretch outside of our daily food routines. This restaurant lasted a couple of years before disappearing, leaving area foodies with one less option.

It was there that I tasted a sublimely simple soup, thick and creamy, made from roasted root vegetables.

Putting the Garden to Bed and Expectations to Rest

The work of putting my garden to bed this year has been less than efficient. I’ve plugged away at it, in fits and starts, focusing first on the tasks that simply had to get done before snow flies. Which, by the way, has (technically) already happened.

Gardening, for me, is all about adjusting my expectations as I go along. Prioritizing.

In the springtime, my dreams are spectacular—health and vitality, variety, neat and tidy—my garden has it all. A couple of months later, by late June, I’m running to keep up with dividing perennials, transplanting, thinning, composting, mulching and, yes, the weeding. Always the weeding.

Drinking the Green Smoothie Cool-Aid

Was I motivated by the prospect of  having an easy way to have green vegetables for breakfast? Or, was it the promise improving my health through better nutrition? Was it all the compelling information I’d been reading about the benefits of eating raw food? The prospect of using my bountiful supply of green vegetables and frozen berries in a new and endlessly creative way? The fun of drinking the green smoothie cool-aid I’d been hearing such a buzz about?

All of those things, and more, nudged me to purchase a high-speed blender.

Grilled Tomato and Corn Soup

I enjoyed an unusual and delicious soup Saturday night at Claire’s Restaurant and Bar in Hardwick, Vermont, while visiting the Northeast Kingdom for Kingdom Farm and Food Days. Claire’s is famous for its creative cuisine, prepared from mostly local, farm-fresh food. The Grilled Tomato and Corn Soup was so delicious, and so seasonal, that I had to try to recreate it while the memory was fresh and corn and tomatoes abundant.

With only the name and my memory to go on, recreating it was a tall order. Having a deceptively simple name, the soup I enjoyed was puzzling in its complexity. It was brownish red in color, roughly pureed and served topped with crispy sage. Slightly smoky in flavor, it had lots of black flecks throughout and spices I couldn’t identify.

Healing Red Clover and Lavender Skin Salve

A month or so ago, when my lavender was blooming like crazy, I cut and dried several bunches. At the time, I thought only about its beautiful scent and color. Preserving it for some yet to be defined use was all that was important, a way of holding onto its beauty a little longer.

Inspiration didn’t take long to follow. On vacation in Vermont, at times I felt surrounded by red clover, healthier and brighter than I ever remember seeing closer to home. I looked it up in an herbal reference I’d packed along, and learned that red clover, as well as lavender, are healing for skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. A natural skin treatment (that also smells heavenly) was certainly worth a try. Picking red clover here and there on walks around Craftsbury, and drying it on a warm window sill, was yet another fun vacation activity.

The Perfect Farmstand

For two weeks, I’ve been shopping at the perfect farmstand. Yes, that’s a strong statement. Farmstands are as varied as farms, farmers, farmers markets and the countryside where we find them. So many interesting ones; so many that are just right the way they are. Even so, I’m convinced this one is the perfect one.

In the end, it’s about the produce and products a farmstand sells. A farmstand is nothing without quality and, ideally, a little variety. But, there’s so much more.