If you suffer from stress or anxiety like me, let this story about the bee and the passionflower here help you as it has helped me.

I took this photo yesterday feeling a bit stressed out as time seemed to be slipping through my fingertips, the day was getting ahead of me and my camera was giving me problems. It was easy for the steam to start pouring out of my ears and my heart rate to increase as anxiety began having its way with me...

Realizing I needed to slow down, wandering in the garden, watching nature at work... I could imagine what the busy bee here was feeling with so much to do... buzzing around here and there... tirelessly aiming to fulfill its mission in life.

When I was a little girl, I remember running through the grass, lying around in the soil, playing with the ants, letting creepy crawlies run up my arms and interacting with the natural world like it it was normal, no fear of it, no worry, no care in the world. No stress to dream of.

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As I got older, I became conditioned to fear nature... fear insect bites, fear bacteria, fear dirt... All of the aspects that belong to our nature world, our Mother Earth... why is that? All of a sudden, I was taught to fear the very thing I came from and with fear, stress snowballed into anxiety.

It took me years to transition from my estrangement with the world around me. I would find myself hyperventilating over the feeling of an ant on my toes or screaming out loud as I got acquainted with the forest and grasshoppers who would land on my shoulder unexpectedly.

Slowly, I found my way, falling in love with nature again like it was the first time. Today, every moment I spend outside is like looking at the world through new eyes with ever growing love for everything moving and growing around me yet stress still finds its way in from time to time.

I know that in today's age, many of us may find ourselves distanced from the natural world, living in cities where we spray pesticides to ensure no bugs 'bug' us... I know, and I understand. I was recently right there too.

However, opening my heart up and learning to trust the environment and natural phenomena around me has given me such a full heart which is why I am so excited to have this opportunity to share that relationship grow here, with you.

Our friend, @papa-pepper urges us back to nature with his combination challenge and lucky me, with my nose all scrunched into a passionflower, filling my mind with the calming scents provided from it, I noticed I wasn't the only one hanging out there.

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Yesterday, I went on a day trip leaving my oasis behind and the pups distracted as I snuck out of my gate and into the big world out there beyond my walls. I suffer from severe anxiety and sometimes it cripples me. Finding natural ways to manage it has made a substantial difference in my life, opening new doors for me and freeing me of the cage I was once stuck in.

As I traversed the island to see some of the epic attractions it boasts, I ended up finding a beautiful relationship to share with you. @papa-pepper holds this contest every week for the marriage between an animal and plant and well, that’s exactly what I caught red-handed on camera so, here it is to share with you!

First a lesson of the birds and the bees… and what this all means.

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Do you know that bees (and other insects/bugs/animals) are needed to pollinate flowers, turning them into their fruit and veggie forms? That's pretty important to our food chain (especially mine as a vegan!)

Are we all aware how babies are born? I’m going to go ahead and assume we at least understand the male to female importance for this process to occur (without intervention of medical science.)

Well, flowers have sexual organs as well! Pollination happens when pollen grains from the stamen (male) come into contact with the stigma (female) allowing fertilization to occur! Yay, a fruit, carrying seeds has now been born!

I watched this process happen in my own garden with my eggplants! It’s so fun to see nature in action! The astounding beauty makes me forget to be scared of it.

Anyways back to the bee…

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It's pollinating this passionflower! By collecting the pollen on its tiny hairs, it will transport the male to the female for the conception of a fruiting body and that is in short, how new plants come to be (bee!)

Does that sound scary or does that sound like magic? The bee I have been taught to fear stinging me my whole life wasn't bothered with me at all, even though at times, my face was right up in his and he easily could have stung me if he was really that scary.

Natural Assistance: Passionflower

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If you have anxiety or suffer from stress, (let's face it, most of us do!) passionflower is a Godsend for the overworked mind.
I scaled a wall to get my head close enough to this flower which was worth all of the bruising my legs ended up with just for the tranquility it provided me with.

My mind works overtime, always on the go, always a new idea, always thinking faster than I can keep up with. Writing is intuitive to me because of this. At the keyboard, I just let go and let those thoughts translate themselves as they quickly spin into stories with meaning and feeling in every word.

Have you ever seen a passionflower before? It's the flower of the popular fruit, passionfruit (which happens to also be one of my favourite fruits!) Go figure right? It's a vining plant and is a beautiful addition to any home.

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My puppies decided to kill not one, but all of my passionflower plants so whenever I see them out in the wild, I always stop and admire their wonder and let their healing powers enter my nostrils, providing me a calm sense of ease which no pharmaceutical I was ever prescribed was able to achieve.

To find passionflower wherever you are in the world, it is sold as tea most commonly however you can also get extracts/tinctures and essential oils. I personally love getting up close and personal as I feel the strongest effects from the living plant! 🌺

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I am using nature to heal an intense system upset that has interfered with my life too long and its working! Call it facing my fears maybe but spending my time, immersed in what frightens me gives me hope and strength to bring into other aspects of my life. Learning about how this amazing system (our Earth) operates and protects and supplies for us everything we need, brings me a wholeness that I could never hope to find elsewhere.

I hope we can all take more time to look around us, appreciating the beauty and wonder that abounds.

I know that for me, someone who was ill with stress, I can tell you, this connection back to the planet, zoning in on the origins of my fears has granted me a new life and I hope this will inspire you as well!

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Sending you love today and every day! If you'd like to come along with me on my journey across life, while I continue creating and inspiring from my heart, please join me over @heart-to-heart, I'd love to take you with me on this incredible adventure I'm on!
All content is originally crafted, photographed and belongs to my heart!
XO,
💜💚💙