Comfrey: The Miracle Plant
I could feel the pain in my neck area manifesting into a pinched nerve as I stubbornly held my upside-down shoulder-stand yoga position. I vehemently attempted to breathe through it, praying the pain would dissipate if I were able to breath “harder”. But instead, the level of discomfort continued to rise; then reality set in. The kink in my upper back became more painful and I felt guilt for such a foolish act of self-sabotage. I began to worry about all the heavy responsibilities on the farm and homestead in the week ahead. My breath unconsciously began to shorten as the stress and pain spread like wildfire throughout my upper back and neck.
But then I thought, how can I alleviate the discomfort, stress, and worry? How do I turn this situation around, take full responsibility for my self-inflicted pain, and not fall prey to the helpless role of playing “the innocent victim”? I asked my eleven-year old daughter to apply our Kauai Farmacy Comfrey Salve with both Comfrey root and leaf directly onto my pinched-nerve located throughout my upper back and lower neck area.
As soon as she applied the Comfrey (aka Miracle Plant), my body and mind positively shifted and I began to breathe more deeply and consciously in an almost meditative state. My life-giving breath provided a pivotal healing moment. It felt so good! I immediately let go of any feelings of worry as I trusted the healing process. The Comfrey profoundly called in the powerful oxygen that began breathing new life into my upper back, which helped to break up acidic blockages and cultivate healing pathways of nutrient-infused circulation.
As I hastily came down from the shoulder stand position, the toxins in my body strategically ambushed the weak area in the body that lacked breath and was void of sufficient oxygen. The toxins quickly moved in to take over the zone; they set up an acidic camp with numbing inflammation, further suffocating the area, and strategically starving it of circulation, alkaline nutrients, and vital oxygen. But the Comfrey (aka Warrior Plant or Knit-Bone) with its deep-rooted, collagen-like calcium and phosphorous-rich, volcanic earth medicine was just too robust to be denied. A relaxed, restorative and regenerative healing alchemy kicked in and began to simultaneously cleanse and nourish the traumatized area. I began to breathe in a calm, intentional, and methodical way; a healing trajectory that I could not have fathomed just moments prior when my body remained in fight or flight.
Soon after my Comfrey application, I am then intuitively called to drink water and more water to symbiotically increase my hydration to compliment the highly effective increase in oxygen levels. I had just experienced that the two healing essentials on earth, water and oxygen, are synonymous with a strong comfrey infusion. The radical alkalinity of comfrey’s constituent elements chemically attract the regenerative purity of both clean oxygen and water. I proceeded to drink three, four, then five large glasses of spring water over the next few hours, almost as if I was under some a hypnotic spell. I became more aware of the extreme dehydrated condition of my body, which must have contributed greatly to my injury. I then B-lined to my bed to rest. I surrendered to restorative sleep, copious amounts of spring water, and simultaneous breathwork with a warrior-like intention on my healing path. I continued to massage Comfrey Salve and apply Comfrey Cast (potent root powder), and use Comfrey Hydrosol (gentle “Spirit” water) interchangeable throughout the next few days as the pain and inflammation completely dissipated.
I am grateful for the intimate relationship that I have developed with the Comfrey plant. I can truly say that I love comfrey - from its large, green nitrogen-rich leaves to its deepest, darkest mineral-rich roots. It has helped heal my bones, ligaments, tendons, teeth and muscles, as well as those of my family and community countless times. I truly cannot imagine my life without the power of its simple yet potent restorative healing medicine that makes miracles happen.
