Virtual Plant Medicine, Genuine Nature Connection

Sally Brockway,
Freelance Journalist

Global warming is rarely out of the headlines these days and I have my own Extinction Rebellion to contend with – my three teenagers are fervent in their urge to save the planet and tell me I am not doing enough despite the fact that we recycle, have swapped to a green energy supplier and even clean our teeth with bamboo toothbrushes. Just as I was wondering what else I could do, my sister returned home from a retreat with tales of some modern-day Shamanism that had awakened her inner eco warrior.

She’d been on a retreat in Portugal. I thought it was going to be all yoga, joss sticks and Cordon Bleu vegan food, but she’d been bowled over by a healing session with a man who had put the spirit of a plant into her. “That sounds a bit dodgy,” I said. “I know it sounds mad and I can’t explain it, but this guy was incredible. I felt energy fizzing around my head and something happened. I feel different,” she explained before revealing that the session had enabled her to experience a deep connection to the planet. And in case you are wondering, my sister is not in the least bit woo woo. This sort of thing is not normally her bag.

I was intrigued and when I found out that this guy, who is an International Marketing Consultant by day, treats people via Skype from his homes in Munich, Dorset and the Algarve, I decided to give it a go, after all, what did I have to lose?

I got in touch. His name is Andy; he helps global brands improve their green credentials and has even worked with Sir David Attenborough. So far, so ordinary. Then he explained that he talks to plants. “They speak in another dialect,” he told me.

Had I not been given such an incredible account of his work from my sister or heard about how he’d persuaded a global coffee company to create rain forest reserves and set up a webcam with live streaming so that somebody in London drinking their espresso could see exactly what their purchase was helping to fund, I’d have assumed he was either insane or on something.

Andy has been learning about plant healing and doing this work quietly for seven years and feels called to talk openly about it.

"Changing the world doesn’t need to come from protesting and battling, it can come from more of us sitting in our heart space and emanating that beauty. Together with the plants, I help people re-awaken to nature. I say: ‘Here’s the planet, experience it. Feel it.'"

I couldn’t quite grasp what he meant, but it sounded nice. I wondered about the mechanics of it. Did I need to be in the same vicinity as the plant that was going to ‘heal’ me? Or would Andy have it in his possession?

“We don’t need to be physically close to the plants because they are already connected to us in another way – think of it like Wi-Fi. We’re all connected by a universal energy field,” said Andy. “I will go into a meditative state and enter into another realm where I will connect with you and the plant energy. I can feel in my palms the strength of the energy that goes into you.”

Andy went on to explain that most people get in touch with him because either they feel something is missing in their lives, things feel out of kilter or they’ve tried other forms of healing that haven’t helped.

“There is always an imbalance somewhere with everyone I treat. We bully and beat ourselves up over the things that we do, but it is just programmed into us from our childhoods and that is what needs healing – the first thing people need to do is love themselves.”

I can relate to that. I certainly don’t love myself enough and if a friend or family member spoke to me as cruelly as my inner voice does, I’d disown them. I told him this and also explained that I lack confidence in my abilities and while I am an adept giver, receiving is a struggle.

He said that the ‘plant medicine’ could help by connecting me to my inner wisdom and enabling me to respond to situations in a ‘healthier’ way.

“It’s spiritual work,” he said. “Many people see pictures in their mind, but others, say they didn’t experience anything, yet they find that significant changes happen in their lives. It’s not dissimilar to how hypnotherapy works – the practice can re-programme the sub-conscious, whereas this goes higher. In the West we have become very good at exercising our bodies and our minds, but our spiritual muscle is neglected. Now it’s time for people to start developing it.”

Andy’s love affair with nature began when he was a boy growing up in Surrey.

“I felt whole playing in the forest and later in life, witnessing the destruction of nature would move me to tears.”

While he was working with the coffee brand and creating rain forest reserves in the Amazon, Andy yearned to learn from the Shamans who have a deep connection to nature and he took part in their Ayahuasca ceremonies, where a brew made from plants is drunk with the intention of experiencing a spiritual awakening.

“Ayahuasca enables you to see other realms and I started to understand the true healing potential and power of nature. I was a changed person when I returned home from Peru. Plants started calling to me when I was gardening. Images would appear in my mind. I could picture them growing and they told me myths and folklore, which I later looked up and found to be well documented.

These plants are my teachers and my friends. They want things to be nice here on this planet, so it is in their vested interests that people are balanced and respectful of nature. It’s in all our best interests. There are approximately nine million unique living organisms on this planet and without them, we couldn’t exist. They supply us with oxygen and clean water. They enable plants to grow and feed us, keep pests and diseases in check, protect against flooding and regulate the climate."

"We are all one, everything is connected and my work helps to restore that balance, to enable people to know and feel that they are nature as well as heal themselves on an emotional level.”

I liked this idea, a lot, so agreed to a healing session with Andy. First he asked me to send a photograph and explained that he would use this to connect into me.

I was instructed to lie on the floor, close my eyes and listen to three songs Andy had sent me via Spotify; meanwhile, he would be 1470 miles away, in a deep meditative state.

I was exhausted, which turned out to be a good thing because my normally questioning and cynical mind switched off for once. I was prepared to go with the flow, come what may, but deep down, I didn’t really believe that a stranger in the Algarve could heal me whilst I lay on the floor of my darkened office in Surrey. It goes against everything I’ve been taught about reality.

I closed my eyes and as soon as the music began it all got a bit trippy. I saw vivid pictures in my mind. I was an eagle soaring over the mountains, then I was in the ocean, being bathed in a golden, loving light, there were waterfalls, fish and a horse staring at me with deep soulful brown eyes.

At one point, I had roots coming out of me and grass grew over my body – it was as if I was literally earth. I also experienced a strong sensation in my palms, as if energy was swirling out of them like a magnetic force.

This went on for 15 minutes and there was no let up. It was like having a surreal movie playing in my mind and when the music ended, I felt a bit odd. Changed. I could feel a lightness running through me, as if I were a child again, unburdened by the strains of adult life. If it had been light outside, I might have been attempted to do a cartwheel on the grass.

I slept deeply that night and woke up feeling happier than I have done in years, but the real bliss didn’t hit me until I went outside where I found myself staring at birds, leaves, buds etc with wonderment. I noticed things I hadn’t before. The richness of a Starling’s plumage, the delicate tapestry of veins that run through a leaf and the furriness of tiny little bees that feed on dead nettle flowers in my garden. I’ve always loved the natural world, but this was on another level. I was aghast at the sheer brilliance of nature, so much so, I sat down with my three teenagers and asked them to come up with more ways we could help save the planet – we jotted down everything from using shampoo in bar form to mending clothes rather than buy new stuff.

I felt softer too, more compassionate, as if my heart had been cracked open. I experienced an outpouring of love and kindness to fellow humans. I was a better listener and most importantly, kinder to myself. Others noticed a change. “What have you done? You look different,” they said.

"This happens a lot,” Andy told me. “A natural sparkle returns to our eyes when plant energy heals us.”

Andy explained that he’d called in the spirit of a plant to help heal the feminine in me. He’d balanced my Earth and Water elements to enable me to reconnect to Mother Nature, whilst calming my Fire, symbolic of my more masculine side, which dominates my personality. I’m a ballsy go-getter who struggles to show vulnerability and is often judgmental with myself and others.

The feeling lasted for about a week, before old habits set in. However, I can get in touch with the part of me that Andy’s plant medicine awoke in moments of stillness and meditation and I continue to feel inextricably linked to nature. It’s helped my stress levels enormously. The sound of birdsong or five minutes in the garden is a real worry buster.

The planet saving measures will continue in our household. I might even join Extinction Rebellion. I can’t explain it, I really don’t know how it worked, but I will never be quite the same again.

Note: This article has been slightly edited from its original form, nothing has been added, but a few things removed to help shorten it and enable greater privacy. Despite submission to national newspapers in the UK incl The Guardian, it remains unpublished.