An Inner Revolution
Passionflower reminds us that doing nothing is vital to our health and happiness, as well as a fundamental human right. We are human beings, after all, not human doings. Our innate value lies not in our productivity, but in our ability to engage meaningfully with life, moment to moment.
Our perception of ourselves and the world around us is dictated largely by the state of our nervous systems. When we drop into a parasympathetic state of relaxation, it becomes far easier to release cultural expectations about what we must do and allow ourselves instead to simply be. If we experience this often enough, we afford ourselves the opportunity to define our worth from within.
“The revolution will be led by well-rested people.”
With the growing pressure to develop a personal brand and remain engaged with social media and the news cycle around the clock, its no wonder we’re exhausted. Our energy and attention are our most valuable resources, and they are being constantly exploited in ways both subtle and overt. With every tap, click, and swipe, we increase corporate profits as we deplete our reserves.
Within the attention economy, it can feel like constant engagement is the only way to remain relevant and connect with others. But we all know that this is not true—that we can turn our attention inward and opt. It is simple and costs nothing, yet most of us don’t know how to do it.
Passionflower grounds us in time and space. It wakes us from the digital trance of modernity and reminds us how to inhabit our soft, solid animal selves in the here and now. It sends our energy downward, reconnecting us to our roots, and enlivening our sensuality in the process. Passionflower helps us to feel our feet where they meet the earth, and as Wendell Berry famously said, to stand for what we stand on.
Passionflower soothes our nervous systems
and quite literally, brings us back to our senses.
It induces a subtle shift in consciousness, the implications of which are antithetical to capitalism and the attention economy. It helps us to reclaim our time and attention so that we can nourish ourselves and the living world around us once more.
Passionflower invites us to relax, exhale, and take up space we may have been denied or denied ourselves. It supports us in reclaiming our sense of bodily autonomy and psychological sovereignty. These qualities make it a uniquely powerful ally for those whose bodies have been commodified by society—including, but not limited to, BIPOC, womxn, and gender non-conforming individuals.
This commodification of the self can lead us to ignore the wisdom of the body, leaving us feeling physically exhausted but intent on forging ahead. Passionflower helps us to shake off this conditioning by reuniting the body and mind and opening a space of deep permission to simply rest. In a society attempting to free itself from the shackles of late-stage capitalism, Passionflower is an herbal ally whose implications are nothing short of revolutionary.
Read on to learn more!
