Healing Plant Blindness: Reclaiming Your Connection with Nature’s Wisdom

When was the last time you truly saw a plant?

Not just glanced at the green blur on your morning walk or while driving past a patch of trees — but actually connected with the intelligence, beauty, and sacred presence of the plant world?

Most of us suffer from what scientists call Plant Blindness — a term coined in 1999 to describe our unconscious tendency to overlook plants as simply the background to our lives. Plants are more than scenery, and more than just oxygen providers. They are ancient beings, healers, teachers, and allies — and they are waiting for us to remember the profound relationship we once shared with them!

My Personal Awakening: From Bushfire Recovery to Plant Wisdom

I first discovered I had plant blindness while working on a plant conservation project after the devastating 2020 bushfires in Australia. Like many, I had taken plants for granted most of my life — enjoying nature’s beauty without realising the rich, ancient intelligence quietly rooted in the world around me.

Through my research on the biology and ecology of plants, I became fascinated with one particular plant: the Dorrigo Daisy Bush (Olearia flocktoniae). My curiosity led me on a wonderful and winding path of discovery. I learned about the name sake of the Dorrigo Daisy, an incredible botanical artist, Margaret Flockton, whose illustrations captured the soul of Australia’s plant life. My curiousity about other female botanical artists lead me to the London Darwin Group’s inspiring workshop series on some of the great (and little known) female botanical artists of our time, which through a side conversation in one of those workshops, introduced me to the groundbreaking work of evolutionary scientist Monica Gagliano and her research in plant sentience and communication. I don't remember how I found the deeply inspiring stories of cultural connection and plant lore by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss), but I can tell you that my life is forever changed since I did.

On this winding road of journey, I realized just how much I had been missing out on. I was missing an entire green world of wisdom, beauty, and healing. That was the moment I began reclaiming my connection — I dusted off my herbal medicine text books, spent many hours in the garden, in the kitchen, and in meditation reaquainting myself with my herbal friends, and now I would love to introduce them to you!

Why Healing Plant Blindness Matters

In places like Tweed Heads, Coolangatta and throughout the Northern Rivers, we are surrounded by breathtaking biodiversity — yet much of it is under threat. Since colonization, nearly half of Australia’s forests have been cleared, and today over 1,374 native plant species are classified as threatened.

But the true tragedy of plant blindness isn't just financial or ecological — it's spiritual.

When we stop seeing the living world, we lose:

• Our sense of belonging

• Our ancient connection to nature’s wisdom

• Guidance available to us through plants and cycles

• The opportunity to heal ourselves as part of the natural world

The good news? We can heal plant blindness. And in doing so, we heal ourselves.

The Sacred Sage: Your First Plant Teacher

At The Healing Bower in Tweed Heads, I invite you to take your first steps into plant wisdom through the beloved plant Sage (Salvia officinalis).

Sage has long been revered for:

• Clearing stagnant energy & negative emotions

• Supporting digestion, hormones, and immune health

• Enhancing mental clarity and intuition

• Offering spiritual protection and ancient wisdom

Modern science now confirms much of what herbalists have always known — Sage supports cognitive health, hormonal balance, inflammation, and even metabolic function. But Sage’s medicine goes far beyond the physical. She teaches us how to return to right relationship with the natural world — one moment of presence at a time.

Introducing: Wisdom from Plants - Sacred Sage Workshop (Woo Woo Lounge, Coolangatta Region)

Date: 5:30pm, 9 July 2025 Location: Clear Skies Project space, 30 Griffith Street, Coolangatta, Southern Gold Coast. Booking: HERE

In this intimate 2.5 hr plant wisdom workshop, you will:

• Discover both scientific and ancient healing knowledge

• Experience a guided meditation to meet Sage’s spirit

• Learn simple sensory practices to awaken connection to the natural world

• Explore intuitive plant communication techniques

• Find space for creativity, journaling and personal insight

You don’t need any prior herbal experience — just an open heart and a desire to reconnect.

Practical Ways You Can Start Healing Plant Blindness Today

Whether or not you can attend the workshop, you can begin shifting your awareness with a few simple practices:

Name 3 Plants Daily: As you walk, consciously notice and name 3 plants. If you don’t know the name, take a photo and research it later.

Practice Slow Observation: Sit with a single plant for 5 minutes. Notice textures, colors, scents, shapes. Allow yourself to be curious.

Create a Plant Journal: Begin documenting plants you meet — both facts and any feelings or impressions you experience.

Read and Learn: Explore books that open your awareness to plant wisdom. (I’ll be sharing my personal recommended reading list soon — keep an eye out for my upcoming blog post: The Healing Bower's Reading list to Transform Your Life.

Listen With Your Intuition: As Monica Gagliano’s research reminds us, plants may communicate in ways science is only beginning to understand. Be open to sensing, feeling, and receiving messages from the plant world.

Your Invitation

If you live near Tweed Heads, Coolangatta, Northern Rivers or the Southern Gold Coast, I warmly invite you to join me for the Wisdom from Plants: Sacred Sage Workshop @ The Woo Woo Lounge

Together we will remember.Together we will reconnect.Together we will heal.

Book your place now!