by Naomi Harrison-Clay
Standing atop the hill as a storm approaches from the East, all things are enlivened by the Wind.
Leaves and flowers dance like marionettes;
Soft petals grip heroically to their stalk.
Long trunks creak in a noble nod from left to right.
Branches become wild incantations of her song, grateful to be stretched and spun again.
Dark and godly clouds are governed by her moods.
Even the most stoic creatures of the woods find themselves bowing in the erratic rhythm of her native tongue;
The invisible being that moves everything.
She is Wind, known only by her stain.
Wind, licking the fur of a cow on a sticky summer day.
Wind kissing ripples onto the surface of a lake.
Wind carrying Dandelion’s children safely through the field.
Wind sounding chimes on a weathered porch.
Wind uplifting the strong wings of a falcon.
Wind animating stillness into breathing life.
And when Wind carries Spirit from Sky to Lungs, we are given Life, who arrives upon our first emergent breath. And every moment from then on, we are met by the constant motion of Wind’s quiet journey, in and out.
She travels through the spongy seashell of our nasal conchae, the leaf-shaped flap of the epiglottis, the vestibular folds of the voice box, dividing from the cartilaginous windpipe into a web of branching bronchi and bronchioles where she finally merges with the Lungs, nesting in alveolar sacs that groom her gaseous form.
This is the respiratory system: the body’s primary vehicle for Wind to travel through us in a journey that we call “breathing.” The simple, thoughtless act that follows us through every moment of our earth-bound Life.
Breathing is unconscious, occurring involuntarily by the hands of the autonomic nervous system, whose two moods govern the Lung’s pulse: parasympathetic causes breathing rate to slow as bronchial tubes narrow and pulmonary blood vessels widen; sympathetic does the opposite, causing breathing rate to increase. For this, Lungs’ dance with Wind is a sensitive thing, bound to move in step with the tempo of electrical signals carried from the brain by nerves who are always listening to the vibration of the world outside: is it time to be stressed? Excited? Frightened? Am I safe?
So the Lungs — carriers of Wind, digesters of Spirit, humming of Life — behave as a fragile membrane between the internal and external worlds. They are a delicate and sensitive organ, in conversation with Nature’s Air element until Life ceases.
Inhale, exhale. Absorb, and release.
But there are times when this dance with Wind falls out of balance, causing trouble to the system. What does an imbalance of Air feel like for the human body?
In Ayurveda, an excess of Air (Vata) is commonly experienced as anxiety: excessive movement of thought; rapid winds tearing through the psyche; erratic fixations; an ungrounded mind, whipping through the air; a hyper-excitable nervous system; the sense of self floating away. Too much energy flying about in the mind, the sky of the body –– a disconnection from the grounding of the earth. A body that is unable to access faith; unable to perform the quiet art of surrendering to what is.
In a culture that is growing increasingly more rapid-paced and disconnected from Nature and Spirit, it is no wonder that anxiety, an ailment of Air, of Wind, of Breath, of Spirit, is the most common mental disorder in the United States. More than 40 million adults are effected by chronic stress. In an anxious body, the sympathetic nervous system is continuously activated even when there is no immediate threat, setting off a cascade of hormones that jolt the body into a state of alertness and fear — heart rate increases, muscles tense, stomach clenches, and breathing intensifies. The natural rhythm of the flow of Air is disturbed into a hurricane. The body is gasping for Spirit.
And the solution is so often simply to pause, slow down, and nurture that ancient and powerful healing art that we all innately possess. Breathe in. Breathe out. Of course, this is easier said than done — but certain plants can help us to breathe with more ease.
Aromatic plants use the vehicle of Air to speak directly to the mind and Lungs, and can be valuable allies in moments of heightened Wind imbalance. Aromatherapy has been around since the beginning of time in the form of burning resins, incense, and bundles of dried plant matter. We can say that the act of burning certain plants wards off evil spirits and purifies the soul — or we can say that the phenolic compounds found in the volatile oils of aromatic plants are detected by olfactory receptors on the nasal olfactory epithelium, causing a stimulation of changes in the autonomic nervous system that result in physiological responses such as pupil constriction, decreased heart rate, relaxed muscle tone, and slower breathing...
Regardless of how we want to spin it, there is no question that certain plant aromatics are a powerful tool for settling the wired mind, soothing the body, and calming dysregulated Wind.
The term "essential oil" actually comes from the ancient Latin "quinta essentia," or "quintessence" the fifth element. We have Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and Essence, the element of Spirit, or Life Force. The extraction of volatile oils that carry a plant’s fragrance was thought to be the process of removing the Spirit from the plant to use for healing.
So when we are riddled with anxiety, unable to breathe, and gasping for Spirit, maybe it is just the body inviting us to reunite with the Spirit of the plants. Lavender, Bergamot, Frankincense, Rose, Cedarwood, and so many more friends are waiting for us.
When I am struck by anxiety, I reach first for Cedarwood, who carries in her woody scent the deep grounding and strength of the forest. Lavender’s gentle purple essence softens my shoulders and neck while sweet Rose travels straight to my heart to induce a woozy calm. Frankincense carries a potency that works to swaddle the boundaries of my body while clearing my mind. And all of their aromatic teachings travel into me through Wind.
Wind, the home of angels, whose love notes whistle through her everywhere-wings.
Wind, conductor of movement, breathing change and life.
Wind, aroma’s spiral staircase, sharing the essence of our allies:
Cedarwood — whose forest embraces those who wander between its fingers at dusk;
Lavender — neighborhood children following bumblebees down the block;
Rose — like the one she hands me after a long time gone;
Frankincense — the ancient temple’s silent song;
These are friends, waiting to mount Wind’s everywhere-wings
animating stillness into life
and breathing through our wanting Lungs
to bring us home to ourselves.
Naomi Harrison-Clay is a first-year student at ArborVitae.