Plants and their medicine.

Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defence and protection against insects, fungi, diseases, and herbivorous mammals.

But…. are not all plants medicinal in some way? We talk about their benefits enough on the body and the system itself, so why are they not medicinal? “All plants are medicine,” Dr Raghubir Singh Rawat, the herbal gardener at Navdanya, exclaims proudly with a hint of mystery in his voice. Dr Rawat bends down to examine a seemingly mundane but prolific weed, “this is used for eye health,” he says before popping the small white diamond-shaped flower in his mouth. He stretches above his head to pluck a bright green fruit from a neighbouring tree, “this is gooseberry, everyone eats this in India – for indigestion and rejuvenation.” It takes us one hour to cover just about 50 yards of different plants and their respective medicinal properties at Navdanya’s Bija Vidyapeeth (Earth University) in Doon Valley, India.

After my brain tumour I realised one of the reasons I was sick was because I became disconnected from nature. I had been in hot kitchens inside large buildings that were completely separated from mother nature.

I needed to learn more about the living environment around me. Farmers became my teachers, my friends, and my inspiration.

I forage a lot and I am just curious always… nature shows me where these medicines live and how to prepare the plants as teas, tinctures, and salves for simple ailments. Herbs replaced pills, and empowerment replaced overwhelming insecurity. Each person, each plant, each day enforced an awareness of a wisdom obscured by steel buildings and cemented expanses.

The Earth provides all that we need; we simply need to learn how Earth works.

In ancient civilisations plants are used for deeper healing purposes such as Ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca is a drink made by brewing the leaves of plants from the Amazon rainforest into a tea. Some of the leaves that are brewed contain the active substance DMT. Other leaves help to slow down how your body absorbs DMT. This extends the effects you feel and creates a longer experience.

In South America, drinking ayahuasca has been done for hundreds of years in rituals and religious practices among the people who are native to the region. In recent years, American and European tourists have been travelling to the area to experience the effects of ayahuasca first-hand. Others are importing the leaves to the U.S. through legal loopholes and religious exemptions and offering the drink as part of ceremonies linked to Native American beliefs. I guess one day we will be living in a world that promotes the benefits of these gifts that have been given to us by God. I believe that the only reason we don’t learn about the benefits of these incredible plants at school is because it does not benefit the system outside of nature.

If it came from a plant eat it…. If it was made in a plant don’t!

John Lawson