Full Moon In Taurus & Hops: Permission to Relax & Surrender

About a week ago, I found myself reaching for my Kava/Passionflower tincture-the one I reach for first when I’m feeling stressed and depressed. Although Kava, Passionflower, and Hops are extremely different plants, they are all allies of mine from various periods in life for dealing with anxiety, stress, pain and depression. When the Kava/Passionflower tincture didn’t seem to be doing the job I was looking for, Hops popped back into my awareness.

Before I looked at my notes on Hops to analyze why it would be showing back up at this time, I did what I always do when working with plant sentience and got myself into a meditative state before taking a few drops of the tincture on my tongue. After a minute or so, I felt the energy of the plant moving in my body and was amazed at how quickly it allowed me to drop into a silent and calm space.

Read more: For Navajos, Desert ‘Tea’ Fosters Kinship With Heritage And Nature

The plant felt like a gentle weight sinking my whole body and mind slowly down into the earth. I felt myself entering into a place of silence and the tension leaving my muscles. I saw how it was creating circulation in my lower chakras so that it could effervescently bring up suppressed emotions trapped in them gently up through my higher chakras for processing.

Although it was sedating the rest of my system, it was also allowing the energies from the liver, spleen and gallbladder to slowly bubble up and dissipate.

After I felt this process coming to an end, I became aware of the shadow aspect of this plant and how too much of it in my system could create an anesthetic effect on my consciousness and prevent me from focusing on the trapped emotions I needed to process. Early on in my herbal training, I noticed I actually felt hung over from taking hops tincture, which then helped me to remember why I switched to Kava and Passionflower.

When I felt complete with my Hops Mediation, I opened my eyes and looked at my notes on the energies of this plant. This is what I found:

Advice from Hops: “Look for opportunities to share what you have and be open to what others want to share with you. Guard against giving and receiving in a way that is ego-oriented. When you do not feel good about the exchange, then don’t make it. Giving and receiving must be from the heart to be of benefit to either party.”

Taken internally and in its physical plant medicine form, Hops is used to, “treat insomnia, nervous tension, anxiety, restlessness, headache and indigestion. It will calm, reduce pain, and induce rest. It is used for delayed or scanty menses due to estrogen deficiencies. Its bitter taste will enliven the appetite and cleanse the liver, spleen and digestive system. “

*For a full monograph on the medicinal properties & contraindications of Hops, Humulus lupulus, click here