Sacred Plants and Herbs: Healing Body, Mind and Soul, Part 2 of 2

In today’s program, we begin by learning about some of the vegetables that are often considered to be gifts from God. […] “Doctrine of Signatures,” in which foods that resemble different organs in the body are believed to be beneficial for that organ.

Are there other ways of discovering how plants can heal us mentally, physically, or spiritually? According to Eliot Cowan, a leading authority on plant medicine, there is another way. Mr. Cowan explains how Plant Spirit Medicine differs from traditional herbalism. “But in Plant Spirit Medicine, plants are approached not as a chemical factory but as a wise living, fully aware being that has a great deal of depth, and I’m going to call it a sacred quality to it that can be called upon to provide a deeper kind of healing than perhaps other approaches do.” Because the healing energy from plants is sacred, we must treat them with the utmost respect if we wish to benefit from their healing abilities.

Let’s now take a look at the remarkable gifts offered by trees. Throughout history, many indigenous peoples have regarded trees as being sacred. In our modern world, research is showing that trees do, indeed, have remarkable healing properties for the body, mind, and soul. Dr. Qing Li, an associate professor at the Nippon Medical School Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, is a world-renowned expert in forest bathing, also known as “shinrin-yoku.” For more than 30 years, Dr. Li has studied the many benefits of shinrin-yoku. Why do forests have such a profound effect on our mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing? Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) shares some of Her insights about trees.