Trust: The Foundation of Healing and Connection

Trust

When I lived in Altadena and had access to so many phenomenal healers, therapists and acupuncturists, I definitely took for granted all of the profoundly insightful clinicians that I was fortunate enough to meet durning my decades in the LA area. I trusted their wisdom and their insights to help me heal and balance my life. So I was especially excited by a strong referral to a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner here in Eugene. After one session I felt like I was in very good hands and that this practitioner was the real deal. I trusted him. A few weeks ago he prescribed some Chinese herbs as a tonic for restoring what he described as a “very depleted” set of pulses. Turns out there are over 300 combinations of pulses that are used to read the body and the energetic systems in TCM. In addition to acupuncture, of course herbal remedies are foundational to the culture practice of healing in Chinese medicine.

So with full confidence I ordered up the Rx herbal concoction. The remedy was an Aconite based blend of herbs. Aconite is renowned as the “king of 100 herbs” in TCM and has been used for over 2,000 years! It also turns out that Aconite—a plant found all over the world—is in fact quite toxic prior to a special preparation that eliminates its toxic side effect. Dutifully, I prepared my first brew by pouring hot water over 5 small scoops of the powder. The taste was almost not believable at first—a combination of alkaline, chemical, metallic and extremely bitter flavor profile; honestly unlike anything I had every tasted. If I didn’t trust the person that had prescribed me this brew, I would have thought someone was trying to kill me it tasted so bad.

I have now been using the herbal concoction every night religiously for about 10 days. The flavor that began as almost unpalatable is now this sacred brew that I look forward to sipping on. The strong, bitter taste has evolved into a really enjoyable smoky, medicinal flavor. I sip on it slowly and savor the experience. It has become a nightly ritual that is amazingly pleasant.

I am sharing this story for a few reasons. The first and most obvious: things that are good for us sometimes can have a harsh “taste” the first time we try them. Over time, the initial shock of the new experience gives way to something magical; so many examples of this. But the second thing that I was reminded of is something a little more subtle: at the core of this experience is trust. The energy of trust is powerful. When we trust someone—in this case a practitioner of TCM—we allow a grounded relaxation to emerge and an openness to process and ultimately solution. The act of trusting someone or something brings a feeling of ease; a sense of confidence, of well-being, a sense of reliability.

So this week’s meditation is on a deep sense of gratitude for everyone and everything that brings the energy of trust into your life. There is so much instability and uncertainty all the time. And yet, in the midst of all the chaos, there is a surprising amount of stability in our personal relationships and in things in our lives that we have come to trust and rely on as very predictable and solid support systems. Action item: take five minutes, even less, and make a list of your top ten people and things you trust. In addition to people, things like the mountains or the ocean or pets should on the list. Just make a list of all the elements that create the foundation of trust in your life and drink that herbal brew of goodness. It’s so good.

And I will leave you with a gem of a poem by Wendell Berry that speaks to this. He is an American writer from Kentucky. This poem is just a beautiful vision of the trust we feel with nature and the natural order. “For a time, I rest in the grace of the world!”