Passionflower

What a beauty! Behold the potent and dangerously gorgeous, passionflower! Our plant ally for the month of August is this beautiful lady right here. I am lucky enough to have stumbled upon a passion flower vine at a grocery store, and she was generous enough to produce some flowers after a few weeks of being in her new home! Such a beautiful marvel from the plant kingdom, a reminder of the ever-present sacred geometry that envelops us in our daily lives.

The other day I went to look at her at night and realized the flower had closed! Google has indeed confirmed that this flower is so incredible, she blooms in the morning and opens her petals and then closes them at night. The flower also doesn’t bloom open everyday, which I found to be a great parallel to human behavior. Sometimes, we’re wide awake on Monday and ready to take on the world, exhausted on Tuesday and need a little more time to rest and find the balance of it all on Wednesday. 

Just another little reminder from nature that we are not meant to be robots, navigating through life living the same day and work schedule every day Monday-Friday for 52 weeks a year. This is even more true if you are biologically female. That’s just not the way female hormones work, and that’s the truth. 

Passionflower is associated with the planet Venus due to her obvious beauty and graceful appearance. A powerful sedative, this plant can put even the greatest of insomniacs to sleep. Her sedating qualities, in smaller doses, allow for profound relaxation of the muscles and the body as a whole. In some traditions, a poultice of the plant is used to treat inflammation and pain. Passionflower has been listed in holistic medicine for the treatment of insomnia, nervous tension, irritability, neuralgia, irritable bowel syndrome, premenstrual tension and vaginal discharges. It has an antispasmodic effect on smooth muscles within the body, including the digestive system, promoting digestion.

Passionflower tea is a great way to incorporate this ally into your life. Simply add a teaspoon (start small!) into a cup of boiling water and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. Work your way up to 1 TBSP as needed. The fruits of this vine are also delicious– yes, it’s passionfruit! Commonly found in South America in places like Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela. We hope you give this girl a try next time your nervous system could use some relaxation, such as before bed, meditation or any other relaxing activity.