The more I learn about Yoga and Ayurveda the more I want to deepen my knowledge and connection to plants and our planet. From nutrition to botany to herb drying. From creating herbal soaps and shampoos to cultivating a herb garden for tea and remedy making. To learning the symbolic and folklore meaning of flowers and plants to learning how to dye clothes with plants. As well as wishing to study both a herbalism course and botanical illustration diploma one day; needless to say I’ve been doing a lot of self study on the world of plants and how to bring them into my every day life- I’ve even been trying to learn how to make a traditional Canang Sari which is a Balinese flower offering. I’d love to swamp my home with house plants, herbs and botanical illustrations too.
Until then, I am collecting books to read and here are some lovely books I recommend any plant lover would love on their shelves.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This is a beautiful book that straddles the place between scientific research and indigenous wisdom. The author narrates the book and her down-to-earth storytelling is personable and sweet. She has such a wonderful way of teaching the science of how a whole variety of plant life lives and adapts in the world, while seamlessly blending in indigenous stories and commentary on climate change and environmentalism. She holds all the feelings in one handwoven basket – the fear and frustration at the decimation of so many species, the awe at how other species have adapted, and her own vulnerabilities and hopes about the future. It’s like taking a long nature walk with a very wise friend, who points out the beauty and resourcefulness of the plant life all around us.