Ruta Lauleva Aiono // Healing with Desert Plants

“From earliest childhood each of us learns ways to respond to our lives- to relationships, to challenges, to the circumstances beyond our control- based on a deep seeded will to survive. Over the course of time and surrounded by a fast-paced culture with little time for connection or self-reflection, these stories become so deeply ingrained that it can feel almost impossible to see outside of them.

Essence work allows the seeker to reflect upon and step outside of their patterns, to see and separate the drama from personal truth, while offering another path devoid of ego and informed by the plant’s own adaptations to THRIVE in its environment. Flower essences are especially helpful in shifting the patterns that reside in the subconscious and in the subtle body, especially when one feels like they have reached an impasse- the plants step in to share their vibrations with our own, holding the space for us to link up gently, below the level where our ego can get in the way.

Desert plants hold the wisdom of not just surviving in their demanding and often harsh climates but how to then move past a survival mentality to the place of offering beauty and nourishment to their surroundings/community. In these tumultuous times we stand to gain so much from the lessons of the desert: beautiful resilience, appropriate and functional boundaries, deep self-knowledge, integration of personal/cultural/ancestral trauma, graceful navigation of both abundance and scarcity, the transformation of survival into THRIVAL, and liberation in realism, to name a few…

Ruta has spent several years living with and learning from the desert where the big sky and glaring sun first set her on the path to knowing her Self. Drawn by the energy of ocotillo and saguaro, then with the guidance of her friend and mentor Mimi Kamp – she has studied and learned from the plants have who taught her about healing herself and her community. For the last two years she was also apprenticing under a traditional midwife on the border of Arizona and Sonora working primarily with families from Sonora supporting them in natural pregnancy and childbirth. Ruta recently moved back to the Bay Area to learn from the water here and with intentions to continue both plant and birth work as a doula. She is especially excited about cultivating deeper relationship with her Pacific Islander community and to continue working with POC and queer folks to build frameworks of mutual support on the path to collective liberation. <3. ALL people are welcome to contact her at rutalaulevaaiono@gmail.com with inquiries regarding flower essences consultations, nutrition and herbal medicine as well as holistic health and support in all phases of pregnancy, birth and the post-partum period.”