Plant Meditation Club: This week we meditated on Bái Sháo, white peony root, scientific name Paeoniae Radix, an herb of Chinese Classical Medicine.
Pre-Meditation
I found this tea to have a very light flavor. I later read that some recommend steeping it for 20 minutes. I felt uplifted, that it was good I was drinking it, and it brought my energy up.
My daughter describes the flavor as like leaves on a vegetable, a vegetable where you are not supposed to eat them. It tastes a little “forbidden”.
Meditation 1
Me: Peony looks at my body, up and down from the inside. She says I had an accident and I made a life, a way of living, where my locus of grounding is my sexual body, this is to offset all the stuff I have going on upstairs. It is a center of gravity for for now (meaning where I can find balance). She seems to appreciate this.* Her presence moves up to my head. I see curling energies in my frontal lobe, coming out the front about an inch or two. The energy looks like clear flower petals curving out and up, but it also reminds me of the energy coming out of bodies in Princess Mononoke (we just saw the movie). She says there is a lot going on (in my brain) that needs support. The emotions come in from further back in my brain, and they are big. They come in and they are strong. It looks like a red line coming in from the back, right, middle area of my brain to the left frontal lobe. I feel supported by her and seen, it is hard to tell what is going on, but she can see and because of that she seems up for the job.
My daughter: I saw flowers blooming out of my va-jay-jay. They were blooming out around my inner thighs and lower belly area. They were not specific flowers, just flowers. It made me feel kind of warm in that area. The flavor stayed on my tongue for a while.
Meditation 2
Me: I feel other activity and movement on my frontal lobe: I see ladders leaning on my forehead--like scaffolding, it's something for workers to climb. There is energy moving back and forth, mostly very front/forehead. The patterns of movment are new. It feels smooth and supportive.
My daughter: I see the deer god from Princess Mononoke. In the movie when his hoof hits the land, it grows a bunch of flowers then they die. He is the god of life and death in the forest. In my vision, he was going across the pond. Every time he took a step, instead of them growing and dying, they grew, and grew more and spread around him. The feeling was peaceful and uplifting.
Summary and Traditional Use:
After meditating with this tea we (all with female bodies) felt uplifted and supported. I noticed both my daughter and I had far less tension. This was an interesting experience because I had a little knowledge of this herb ahead of time but not much. Through my study of Western herbalism I had known of the use of peony root for neurological issues (such as seizures). I did not know its primary application in Chinese medicine is female reproductive health. I was surprised when both my daughter and I had experiences related to our reproductive organs. This is one more reason why I am so in love with plant meditation as a way to learn directly from herbs.
*Since she refers to a lifestyle where the focus is the sexual center (chakra 2), I think this may be referring to my study of Chinese medicine and Daoism where the meditation focus is usually the second chakra (compare to my usual meditation of the last 28 years, which focuses on the 3rd eye). SImilarly, when I have my period and am getting stressed, if I keep my energy in my pelvis I feel grounded and comfortable. If I try to keep my energy mental, I am more likely to get irritable or frustrated. The energy dynamic that came out of this accident feels similar and grounding. Overall my recovery is great and I think most people would not notice I was different. Staying grounded is an ongoing strategy to smooth things out and feel more peaceful. The sexual center (as Peony refers to it) is not just about sex. It also has a lot to do with creative expression (making a baby is only one way to be creative, lol). I have been diving into my art. See it here.
This herb has long been used to promote smooth liver qi. Liver qi stagnation is very common in our culture. Associated feelings are frustration, anger, depression, and resentment. What I witnessed in my daughter and myself felt like liver qi harmonizing. We both have a tendency to get frustrated, and we both felt noticeably peaceful. (Ah, the beauty of peony!) The liver is important for regulating and balancing hormones. When the liver if having trouble, it causes hormonal imbalance. In Chinese medicine the liver is often considered the organ to treat when there is a neurological problem, such as a head injury. By this connection these two parts of the body are not so disparate. They can be healed in similar ways. This herb tonifies the blood, treating irregular, excessive, and delayed menses. It helps retain yin (which means it is valued during menopause when yin deficiency can cause hot flashes). Here is a brain health smoothie recipe and article that talks a little about the of peony to improve intelligence and clarity of thought. I will post a little more about Western use of this herb when I am back with my books! Check the comments.
Invitation
This was such a sweet experience. Have you worked with peony root? If so please share your experiences and/or observations in the comments below. If you haven't tried plant meditation yet, I hope you try it out. Here is a video I made on what different plant meditation experiences can be like.