Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self-Healing from the Living World

by Asia Suler

Overview

An award-winning nature therapy session for the soul—encounter the benevolence of the living world through 12 essays on the Earth-healing powers of self-compassion and empathy.

When healing is needed at the deepest level, nature will always call us back home—not only to the oak woods or water-filled coves, but to the homes within ourselves.

In a series of 12 lyrical nature essays, herbalist, writer, and Earth intuitive Asia Suler illuminates the healing power of the living Earth—and gives us permission to nurture self-compassion and empathy as forces for personal and ecological healing.

In a time of unprecedented ecological devastation, it’s easy to feel hopeless and disconnected. It’s easier still to mask our inherent goodness—to imagine that our unique and precious gifts simply aren’t enough, or forget the power of our inborn empathy. For those of us who are highly sensitive, innately attuned to the workings and whispers of the natural world, it can be hard to embody the belief that we’re enough as we are—and that can heal the Earth.

Here, Suler reveals the opposite: our goodness, our empathy, our intuitive connections, and our capacity for self-compassion are more than personal traits or antidotes to despair: they are, in fact, our most potent vehicles for planetary transformation. And as we learn to more deeply nurture and accept ourselves, we unlock living, healing connections to Earth.

Combining poetic nature writing with exercises and reflection prompts at the end of each essay, Mirrors in the Earth coaxes us to come as we are: to discover and tend the inherent brilliance and medicine that lives in each of us. From the manatee-calm springs of wild Florida to the flower-dotted coves of the world’s most biodiverse mountains, Mirrors in the Earth is an invitation and encounter with the benevolence of the living world—and a nature therapy session for the soul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623176914
Publisher:	North Atlantic Books
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	354,498
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

ASIA SULER is an herbalist, nature writer, spiritual educator, ecological philosopher, social media figure, and entrepreneur. As a teacher in the realms of herbalism and Earth spirituality, she has taught for the most well-known herbal programs in the country, including the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, the Northwest School of Botanical Medicine, and The Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine. She has guided more than 10,000 people through her various online programs.

Table of Contents

Preface xv

Introduction: A Book of Mica 1

Part 1 The Glimmer (Seeing Yourself) 17

Chapter 1 Garden Edges and Paradise on Earth 19

Chapter 2 Florida Inner Worlds 43

Chapter 3 The Seasons of Trauma 65

Chapter 4 Those That Keep Their Leaves 89

Part 2 The Mirror (Appreciating Yourself) 103

Chapter 5 Tender Spring 105

Chapter 6 Drop Dosages 125

Chapter 7 The World Sees You 147

Chapter 8 Young Forests 167

Part 3 The Glow (Giving Yourself to the World) 187

Chapter 9 Willow Water 189

Chapter 10 The Sugar Bees 207

Chapter 11 Chestnut Groves and the Resprouting of Hope 221

Chapter 12 The Reishi Tree 243

Acknowledgments 267

Notes 269

Index 279

About the Author 295

Editorial Reviews

04/18/2022

Herbalist Suler debuts with an uplifting collection of essays about the restorative power of nature. The author reflects on her “most pivotal moments of earth-given revelation,” sharing the lessons she’s learned from spending time in the wilderness and offering guidance on how readers might become closer with the natural world. “Willow Water” describes how Suler—overwhelmed by anxiety on the first day of a conference for basket weaving, blacksmithing, and other “earth skills”—took refuge in a patch of willow trees and realized, “No matter how hard you are on yourself, or how harsh life becomes, you are already forgiven for anything you could have ever done.” In “The World Sees You,” the author recounts breaking up with her partner and moving to a remote part of southern Appalachia, where she found community with the trees, squirrels, and deer. Exercises encourage readers to gain perspective by making a timeline of their lives and mapping one’s social circle to help weed out unfulfilling relationships. Suler’s sense of wonder is infectious, and her prose exudes her boundless reverence for nature (“Waving in thickets of silver and olive, greeted me with long, ballet-like gestures”). Spiritual nature lovers will treasure this meditative volume. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Suler's sense of wonder is infectious, and her prose exudes her boundless reverence for nature...Spiritual nature lovers will treasure this meditative volume."
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"I am in awe of how one small book can hold so much wisdom. This book offers readers a pathway back to self-acceptance, interconnection, and belonging and empowers one along the way to make a stand for the Earth."
—ROSEMARY GLADSTAR, herbalist and author of Medicinal Herbs

"Mirrors in the Earth offers a living example of how to reestablish communion and balance." 
—Maia Toll, author of the Wild Wisdom series

"With her wide-ranging experience and elegant writing, Asia Suler helps us all to recover an intimate, loving, and generous relationship with the natural world." 
—Perdita Finn, coauthor with Clark Strand of The Way of the Rose

"[...] A beloved herbalist and Earth keeper, Asia Suler now reveals herself as an enchanting poet of consciousness who rouses us to heal our lives by telling better stories about them."
—Robert Moss, best-selling author of Dreaming the Soul Back Home

"Mirrors in the Earth is offered as an antidote for despair; it is grounded in ecology and the author’s love of the world."
—ROBIN ROSE BENNETT, author of Healing Magic

"If you seek to heal the land, awaken sacred spaces, or regenerate nature, this book will bring you to the origin of your connection with the world. This is the place to start."
—SARAH THOMAS, founder of the Upper Clarity School of Stone Medicine

"Part personal healing journey, part prose poem in praise of the living world, and part wisdom teaching, Mirrors in the Earth is the wildly compassionate, fiercely loving map we all need in these times to guide us back to our innate and joyful wholeness." 
—SYLVIA V. LINSTEADT, author of Our Lady of the Dark Country

"... a keepsake, one that will serve as an intrepid and tender guide for the ages.”
—JULIET BLANKESPOOR, author of The Healing Garden

"Asia Suler’s exquisite ability to create rich and vibrant images with her metaphors placed me in the center of my belonging which felt like a homecoming. This book is a gem...."
—PAM MONTGOMERY, herbalist, teacher, and author of Plant Spirit Healing

"The book you hold within your hands is a true treasure whose gifts will live within you and guide you on your way long after you’ve turned the final page."
—SOPHIA ROSE, herbalist and writer

"As someone who was projected onto more than mirrored as a child, it was so validating to hear Asia Suler speak about nature as our eternal mirror."
—MARYAM HASNAA AT-TAUHIDI, founder of New Earth Mystery School and Resonance Apothecary

"A poetic and heartfelt exploration of our healing journey as humans towards ... remembering that ... healing the Earth begins with ourselves.
—SAJAH POPHAM, author of Evolutionary Herbalism

"A book of hope in times that feel hopeless..."
—HEATHERASH AMARA, author of Warrior Goddess Training

From the Publisher