Wildkraft

09/27/2026

09/26/2026

Some russian sage bundles for the aries full moon

Sometimes we need to FEEL the nothingness
To appreciate moving through it,
with fire in our belly nonetheless

06/26/2026

Family vacation with a duel purpose of figuring out a solution for my burnout other than a week to avoid it.
I start noticing after Kentucky the streets are lined with mimosa trees, (Albizia julibrissin). I have always thought they were beautiful and exotic and have always wanted one, and here they are just growing wild and apparently considered invasive down here. I get excited, I start looking up research and ethnobotanical uses, I get more excited......This stuff works directly at the level of the HPA axis I talked about (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal =HPA) in a previous blog exploring the mechanism of burnout.
Known legendarily as the happiness herb in Asian cultures, it helps with lethargy, confusion, mild depression, anxiety and insomnia.....also all symptoms of burnout. It can't be lumped in with depression or anxiety because it can swing between both, it not a suppression or an overactivity per say, its an imbalance, a malfunction that can leave you in tears or pulling your hair out at any given moment. I just love how whatever is needed along this journey of life for me seems to appear when it is needed. So I am grateful for mimosa's emergence into my reality at present, and I am going to take its energy into my body and see what happens, and if you are interested, stay tuned 😉

I also want to specify that I am not hoping to cure burnout. It is a multifaceted issue that affects many in different ways, including many facets that plants or ideas can solve. But the journey here isn't about coming to definitive answer, but doing some A to B comparisons between individuals, and we can eventually pick out common themes in the conversation. Its a conversation that is needing to be had across the world but especially ours, I dont want to see a bunch of people who are all precious to me break themselves to please a society that is not reciprocating them emptying themselves daily for end stage capitalism because they love the people their companies serve.

I would like to hear anything you all have learned or thought about this issue, if it would be productive, pop into the comments. I will continue to share along my journey as well.

LOVE TO ALL

04/18/2026

Burnout can happen in several ways whether it's related to the way you perceive reality, or in the translating of reality into our bodies through our individual emotional filters. When information comes into our brain, if the amygdala senses that information to be a threat or danger to survival it activates the sympathetic fight or flight response. Pupils dilate, veins construct, sweat glands activate. However the amygdala has additional filters it puts on from traumatizing emotions, (i.e. if you were assaulted in a blue car, even though the blue car was not harmful your body may experience a trauma response at the sight of a blue car). If you get enough filters going, or find yourself in situations your brain senses as dangerous, you can easily reach a state of constant fight or flight. Human bodies aren't set up for continual performance, they strive toward homeostasis, if you aren't able to activate the opposite vagul (rest and digest) system, it will forcefully do so. This could result in things like thriving in a stressful job, yet crashing down so hard you seem depressed or angry to those around you. It can even happen when we keep forcing ourselfs to do things we have no motivation or see no value in. Your brain might start to force relaxation by dissociating, which can become dangerous for obvious reasons. The longer-term effects are that connection is not even possible when in fight or flight, so by the time we are able to calm down and relate, we find the connections we once had have been weakened by our inability to attend to them. This rapidly spirals you down further by isolating you, making you feel like there is no one who will reach for you if you are falling, which creates more fear and less ability to connect.

Fantastic. But what can be done? This next series of posts will be to explore tactics to deal with or prevent burnout as well as understanding the mechanisms behind it all. Those mechanisms are the most important part of this, because the over arching truth is that not everyone will present the same symptoms or even feelings of burnout.....but like a muscle, we rip apart before we grow.

04/14/2026

Matricaria Discoidea

You may have seen her in the cracks of an old driveway, but she is uncultivable. In these aster family, "pineapple w**d" is similar to chamomile in its medicine.

It is an anti-inflammatory and a spasmolytic
So that means it treats inflammation, and has a relaxant effect on both smooth muscle (digestive/genitourinary) and skeletal muscle. This also makes it very effective in treating anxiety, and there is a pub med study that claims it is a better sleep aid than valerian root! It has been used as a tea or tincture since the 19th century in folk medicine.

My personal experience with pineapple w**d is a memory of it being one of the first plants I discovered when I was very small. I remember being delighted at its incredible taste and was always keeping my eye out. The Latin name is derived partially from the word for mother, and it does have some nurturing qualities, like a mothers hug that takes your worry and discomfort.

For those interested in astrology I like to link each plant with a planet and this beauty makes me think of moon (mothering, emotional nuturing) and jupiter (color yellow and its expansive qualities [expands comfort, feeling of being cared for])

Regardless keep your eye out for this lil plant in your local sidewalk cracks, abandoned lots......if you are in need it will probably be nearby. ABUNDANCE IS ALL AROUND US. Love to all 💚🌱🍃