Newsletter Signup »
HERBSTALK
  • Home
  • Mission + Values
  • Event Info
  • About
  • Press
    • Kind Words
  • Blog
  • Community Partners
  • Contact

Men’s Cycles and Self-Reliance

5/20/2013

 
Submitted by Ryn Midura of The CommonWealth Center for Herbal Medicine

Often, discussions of “women’s health” or “men’s health” are limited to the reproductive systems. When I teach about men’s reproductive health, I like to include an overview of common problems for men, because sexual function is dependent on the vitality of the rest of the body. But even before I get to that, I start with a discussion of the place of men in society today, and how it is problematically different from our ancestral patterns. There are several elements to this, but one of the most important has to do with cycle.

Men don’t menstruate, but they do have cycles, little-recognized and less-studied though they be. You can identify them in your own body and mind, tune into them, and learn something useful about yourself – if you’re willing to do the work. The thing is, this work might not look like “work” as understood today. It’s about perception, and reflection, and connection; awakening your senses and directing them with intent, building skills of memory and pattern recognition.

It’s also about recognizing things that are right in front of your face. One of the most important cycles we live through is that of day and night, activity and sleep. In a culture of grey cubicles and electric lights, where is our contact with the blue sky at midday and the stars at night? What are the consequences of that absence on all our other cycles? On the physical level, sleep debt and melatonin dysregulation have direct and measurable effects on health, including hormonal disruptions that can impact physical performance and sexual function.

On a deeper level, this is a symptom of our homogenized experience of time: we expect all our employees to produce the same amount of work in the dead of winter as the height of summer. We expect our salesmen and spokesmen to go out and sell or convince or cajole, no matter if they’re feeling overtaxed or irritable or simply tired. Nothing in nature works this way; our bodies don’t work this way. When we expect them to, we invite disappointment.

As a culture we claim to value self-reliance, but we don’t teach it and we don’t make allowances for it. We have to choose to pursue it. Start by going to the forest (or the nearest approximate greenspace), alone, with nothing but a notebook and a knife, and staying as long as you can – even if it’s only twenty minutes. There are well-researched physiological benefits to this act of “forest bathing”.

Look at trees. Listen to birds. Breathe. You’re not here to do anything, you’re just here to be here. If this is difficult, examine the difficulty. Where does your mind go? Where does your body twitch? This will show you your habitual patterns of imbalance in a context where you can’t ignore them by clicking on another link or refreshing Facebook.

Are you reliving a difficult conversation or a fight, thinking up clever arguments that would have shut down your opponent, getting angry and hurt all over again? Drink some yarrow infusion, or take tincture; yarrow releases pent-up heat and frustration, and provides emotional armor.

Are you tensing up your muscles, gritting your teeth, clenching your butt, unable to enjoy where you are? Take kava. It relaxes muscles and lightens the mind without sedation.

Are you feeling your heartburn act up, just about to pop an antacid? Drink some catnip tea, or eat a leaf right off the plant. Catnip is great for anxiety rising from the stomach; it releases the gaseous and psychological pressures that contribute to reflux.

Are you floating away in abstractions, visions of spreadsheets dancing in your head? Take wood betony; it’ll drop you down into your center and root you there.

Just as you can’t truly rely on a work partner without recognizing their limitations, you can’t be self-reliant if you don’t know your own limits and imbalances. What you’ll find will be your own, but whatever it is, there’s an herb out there that can help. Start by recognizing these patterns, and you’ll be ready to put the knowledge into action when it presents itself to you. On that note, I’ll see you at Herbstalk!


Ryn is one of those herbalists who didn’t spend enough time in the forest as a child and is making up for lost time. He co-founded theCommonWealth Center for Herbal Medicine with his partner Katja Swift. His favorite herbs are sage, solomon’s seal, ginger, and kava. Ryn will be teaching Men’s Reproductive Health on Sunday, June 9th and Working with Chronic Illness on Saturday, June 8th.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    October 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Angelica
    Anxiety
    Aromatherapy
    Artichoke
    Autumn
    Ayni Institute
    Ayurveda
    Bath Salts
    Becoming An Herbalist
    Beltane
    Bitters
    Black Cohosh
    Blue Vervain
    Botanical Crafts
    Botanical Dyeing
    Cacao
    Calendula
    Cancer
    Canine Nutrition
    Cannabis
    Chaga
    Chamomile
    Chickweed
    Chinese Medicine
    Cleavers
    Climate Change
    Community
    Connection
    Cultivating
    Curandismo
    Dandelion
    Deserts
    Digestion
    Doshas
    Earth Healing
    Ecological Herbalism
    Eco-printing
    Educational Gardens
    Elder
    Eleuthero
    Elixirs
    Energetics
    Essential Oils
    Ethnobotany
    Events
    Evergreens
    Fall
    Farming
    Flax
    Flower Essences
    Folk Traditions
    Food Plants
    Free Clinics
    Fungi
    Gardening
    General
    Gentian
    Ghost Pipe
    Gifts
    Goldenrod
    Groundwork Somerville
    Growing Herbs
    Guide To Herbstalk
    Hawthorn
    Healer's Path
    Herbal Education
    Herbal Energetics
    Herbalism
    Herbal Marketplace
    Herbal Oils
    Herbal Salves
    Herbs For Pets
    Herbs Of The Enneagram
    Hibiscus
    History Of Herbstalk
    Holidays
    Holy Basil
    Honey
    Imbolc
    Immunity
    Interviews
    Lammas
    Liver
    Living With An Herbalist
    Local Classes
    Local Plants
    Lyme
    Marshmallow
    Meadowsweet
    Medicinal Mushrooms
    Medicinal Uses
    Meet The Herbalist
    Meet The Herb Farm
    Menstruation
    Milky Oats
    Mimosa
    Mint
    Motherwort
    Mugwort
    Mullein
    Mutual Aid
    Natural Dyeing
    Nettles
    New England
    Nourishing Herbs
    Oat
    Passionflower
    Permaculture
    Phytochemistry
    Pink Lady Slipper
    Plant ID
    Plant-of-the-year
    Plant Profile
    Podcast
    Poisonous Plants
    Psychological First Aid
    Queen Anne's Lace
    Recipes
    Reciprocity
    Reishi
    Rhodiola
    Rose
    Rosemary
    Russian Herbalism
    Samhain
    Schisandra
    Seasonal Cycles
    Seasons
    Seeds
    Shen Tonics
    Skullcap
    Snow
    Social Justice
    Spring
    St. John's Wort
    Summer
    Survival Herbs
    Tea Blends
    Tincturing
    Tonics
    Traditional Chinese Medicine
    Trauma
    Travel
    Tree Medicine
    Tulsi
    Urban Gardening
    Urtication
    Vata
    Vervain
    Violet
    Water Hemlock
    Wheel Of The Year
    Wildcrafting
    Wild Edibles
    Winter
    Wintergreen
    Yarrow
    Yule

    RSS Feed

Copyright © Herbstalk 2021