Fall, Transition, and the life of your dreams.

Fall is upon us.  A time of great change and transition.  The energy is sinking, down, down, into the earth.  Our focus turns inward, and it's a time of internal housekeeping.  What's working in your life, and what isn't?  Let what isn't working fall away like the leaves fall from the trees when they're no longer needed.  Live the life of your dreams :)


When you find yourself in this time of transition, do you know where to look for support?  There are many allies in the plant and mineral kingdoms who are happy to help us.  Here are two:


Walnut flower essence is my best and favorite ally for transition.  Walnut helps us to move forward gracefully, free of the influence of what holds us back.  


Dandelion root is a great herbal ally for deep nourishment, and unsticking the emotional crap that can hang out in our Livers.  Did you know that when we hold onto things, our Livers are where they go?  When you start working with Dandelion, it's important to know that emotional stuff will be dredged up.  The trick is to feel the feeling, but let go of the story.  Just let it flow through.  Acknowledge it, and let it go.  It's harder than it sounds, but you can do it! You may want to give your loved ones a heads-up before you start working with Dandelion.  A bit of fair-warning :)


There are many helpers in the mineral kingdom, and for the most part, our allies will be different, depending on what we have going on personally.  Do you work with gems?  I would love to hear from you!


Green Blessings, 
Heather

Traditions in Western Herbalism 2011

Thank you ~ It's not enough, there aren't really words, to accurately express how I feel about all that Kiva Rose and Jesse Wolf Hardin are doing for our community.  It's so nice to feel that we have a community, when we are usually scattered to the winds.  To feel understood, accepted and heard when I usually wonder if any of my friends think of me as the healer that I am.  

I came to this year's conference thinking it would be my last year, as I am moving to Ohio soon.  I left realizing that I must always find a way to come back.  I intentionally did not pour over the schedule in advance of registration.  I didn't plan my experience, and yet everything I needed to coalesce the filaments of my longings, dreams, and desires into a cohesive goal was offered, and received.  Grassroots, edgy, and exactly what I needed to satiate my thirsty soul.  This Conference, this movement, they are like gravity.  The law of attraction is vividly at work here, answering the spoken and unspoken pleas of grassroots healers.  

It was a blessing to reconnect with those familiar to me, and meet new kindred spirits.  I am so grateful for life changing experiences such as this one.

Howie and Kristie taught me about teaching in tandem and keeping what could be a dry topic alive and interesting in their Adrenalin Stress class.  

Sean Donahue gave my exercise-induced asthma a new perspective when he said that "Breath is the thread that connects us to the world."

I learned a few tips and tricks from Juliet Blankespoor's class on Growing At-Risk Medicinal Plants.

Susan Leopold from United Plant Savers provided a new face to an organization I've been interested in joining for a long time, and is a goat farmer to boot!  I am looking forward to learning from and joining their Botanical Sanctuary Network.

Rising Appalachia gives a welcome flavor to the soundtrack of my life.  There is a nostalgia to their sound that speaks to my soul in ways I didn't know I was missing.

I shared my first office with Lisa Ganora, and am so pleased whenever I have an opportunity to learn new things from her.  She always has something to offer, new layers to add to what I already know.  The world needs more teachers who teach from a place of love instead of ego.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sean Donahue's Plants of the Underworld class.  Part of it was experiencing a teaching style that was comfortable, and knowing that I could do that, too.  Part of it was that you don't get topics like this at other conferences.  He took us on a journey, and shared it in a way that made the experience accessible, real, and inspiring.

Wolf's talk on the Wild Herbalist, Tips & Tools for a more intensely effective & satisfying life and practice is the hardest for me to turn into a pearl.  Wolf delivers his messages in a compelling and thought provoking way.  I dare not blink or cough, lest I miss a vital point of messages spoken directly to my Wild Soul.  We Herbal Outlaws, we are not alone.  

Lunar Fire kept me awake and moving long past when I would normally have hit the hay.  I stepped outside and marveled at the wondrous beauty of the heavens whilst feeling the deep, earthly connection of their percussive sound.  

Jim McDonald's Teaching Herbcraft was the lynchpin for melding together my desirous filaments.  Yes, I can do it, and here's how!  

The conference end was a bittersweet event.  I am one of many who found themselves moved to tears multiple times during this conference.  I am so very grateful to have time to spend in community, with others who hear a similar call, and speak similar languages.  Plant people, with dirt under their nails, stars in their hair, and roots growing out of their sacrums.  

What's in the works

This last year has been a time of great transition for me.  I've had a lot of challenges, and have had to pull up my roots more times than I care to.  

So, like many people in these times of change and challenge, I am reevaluating my life.  All of this transition has given me the opportunity to look at my life and decide what it is I really want.  Where do I want to be?  What does that look like?  How will I support myself in this new life, and what will I have to offer in service to the World?

I am answering the call to go home.  Not exactly home, but regionally home.  Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan is home for me.  There I will start my herb farm, build my clinical practice, and make an effort to be as sustainable as is practical.  I am especially interested in heirloom vegetables and heritage breeds.

Look for my Etsy store to be back up and running in the winter/early spring.  I will be available for herbal/nutritional consultations again soon, both in person and over the phone or video chat.  If there are herbs you would like me to grow, please send me an email.  I will start with what I use in my practice, and at risk herbs that grow well in my micro-climate.

Thanks for checking in, I'm excited for what's in store!

Green Blessings,

Heather Luttrell

April's Special is 1/2 off Flower Essence Consultations

"Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here." ~Marianne Williamson

Did you know that there are flower essences to help with fears?

If you are troubled by fears you can name, Mimulus will bring you back into balance with the courage and confidence to face the challenges in your life.

If your fears are vague, hidden, without name, or come to you as nightmares, Aspen will help you to have trust and confidence, and will help you find your inner strength.

April's Special is 1/2 off Flower Essence Consultations. Consultations are offered in person or over the phone, in which case your formula will be mailed to you.

Flower Essence Consultation ~ 30 minutes/ $20.00, 60 minutes/ $40.00

Flower essence consultations are designed to offer emotional support at any time it is needed or desired. Essences offer support and structure to help bring us back into balance. I primarily work with Bach Flower Essences, Perelandra Garden Essences, and Alaskan Gem Essences.

Please email Heather@WildVitality.com to make an appointment.

Love in the month of February, will you join me?

February is famous for it's Hallmark Holiday - Valentine's Day. All month we are surrounded by definitions, descriptions, expectations and longing. How much of this is real for you, and how much of it is manufactured? What does spreading the love mean to you?

Part of my personal work this month involves reclaiming February - my birth month - and exploring love.

What is love? What actions, words and signals do I interpret to mean "I love you"? How do I love myself? Where in my life do I need more love, and where does love already live? How will I encourage love in myself, and how will I work to show more love to others?

Health is about so much more than our bodies. How we relate to, interact with, give and receive love affects us all day, every day. Love comes in many forms, scents and flavors. Love can be intellectual, physical and ethereal.

This week, part of my exploration involves reading a book I've had for awhile, but haven't made time to read, Gaia Eros by Jesse Wolf Hardin. Have you ever had a book jump off the shelf at you? This is one of those books.

Then there are acts of self-love that need doing. Nurturing myself is love, being the good parent to myself is love.

So, this month, I will explore red and pink, work with yummy herbs like rose, sandalwood, damiana, ylang-ylang, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom, and relate with rose quartz, Montana rhodochrosite, rhodochrosite and ruby. I will eat a good breakfast, take my vitamins, smudge, affirm, meditate, and move. I will call my loved ones and take pleasure in the details. I will color and paint. I will love.

I would like to invite you to join me on the journey! Make your commitment to love yourself more, and let's talk about what that means for you! Share your story here if you'd like, and inspire us all to love more and more often.

Green Blessings,

Heather