018. David Crow on Plant Medicine and Eastern Spirituality

Jan 3, 2021

David Crow is a renowned plant medicine expert who studied Chinese, Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicines and their spiritual lineages. In this episode, David discusses the three indigenous medicines from Asia and what they teach us about immunity and planetary health. He dives deep on the four levels of medicine discussed in the Tibetan tradition, the five elements from Ayurveda, and why it’s difficult to separate the medicine from the spiritual lineage. 

 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why the indigenous medicines are inseparable from the spiritual lineages they came out of -- for example Ayurveda, Yoga and Tantra all came out of the Vedic philosophy
• Tibetan medicine’s poetic description of the nine months of pregnancy and embryology, and - being rooted in a belief in reincarnation - also what happens at the end of life and in the transition between death and the next phase, referred to as the bardo
• The four levels of medicine as depicted on a Tibetan thangka
• Why prana from Ayurveda, chi from Chinese medicine, and ultimately enlightenment, are the goals of medicine and spiritual practice
• How plant medicine is reconnecting us to ecophysiology and the health of the earth and why this is important right now spiritually
• Your definition of “me” at the levels of the microcosm and macrocosm
• How to dissolve the boundaries of the self into the unified field and the stream of consciousness 
• Why yoga and meditation create biological unity, where the individual self is part of something else
• The role of herbal medicine, nutrition and detoxification in strengthening the immune system and planetary health
• Why everyone went crazy for herbs like turmeric this year

 

David Crow, the founder of Floracopeia, is a plant medicine expert, clinician, consultant, researcher, educator and author. He is a specialist in Chinese, Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicines and their spiritual lineages. He is the author of the 2000 book In Search of the Medicine Buddha, offers consultations and is one of the featured teachers with The Shift Network.

Heather Grzych is the author of The Ayurvedic Guide to Fertility and the host of the Wisdom of the Body podcast. A board-certified Ayurvedic practitioner, she bridges the worlds of conventional and alternative medicine to help women and men heal their physical and emotional lives. Heather is on the board of directors for the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) and has consulted with doctors, governments, and insurance companies. She offers virtual consultations and programs worldwide. www.heathergrzych.com 

Connect with Heather:

Instagram.com/heathergrzych

Facebook.com/grzychheather

 

This podcast is for educational purposes only.