There has been a large discussion surrounding generational curses and breaking them. There's little discussion surrounding the ancestral curse of overworking, especially for people that come from descendants of the diaspora. We have an ancestral accumulation for centuries of work and inhumane labor that our people involuntary fulfilled, some of them until they died. A large portion of my shadow work involves tell myself that my body and time now belongs to me. It doesn't belong to my partner, my job, or my parents but me.
Can we also discuss the decolonization work surrounding being a black women, in fucking America?! I am shaking typing this because for me, there's nothing more blood-curdling. We are conditioned very early to cater our life to men, with no emphasis on growth or personal development. Some of us come from masterful parents that instilled in us that we need to have a degree, home, and children by a certain age. Some of us also come from people that have contributed to diming our light to not outshine or fret the men of the bloodline.
When I discuss decolonizing your nervous system as a black women, it comes from a very comprehensive and destructional standpoint. It comes from a place of freeing our bodies from the chains of capitalism, racism, sexism, misogynism, and all the rest of the ism's!
As herbalist, we have a very important fight in this battle. Some of us are working with clients who fit this archetype and only believe a good herb will fix their nervous system when in reality its so much deeper. There's generations worth of healing work to be completed. Some of us may not even live to see it accomplished in this lifetime, but the fight must continue.
So where do we start on this journey of decolonizing and regulating our nervous system? To decolonize the nervous system, is to really decolonize the mind (which is part of our nervous system). It starts when we make the decision to reclaim our time, as my good sista Maxine Waters says. It also start with the decision to take back our bodies. It starts with intentional rest. For me this means preparing my body and mind to slow down. It starts with resting with and for our ancestors.
I have only intentionally made the decision to really work on regulating my nervous system the beginning of this year. This is a practice that is accompanied with you for a lifetime. There's no ceiling you can reach when it comes to working on your nervous system. It is never healed, its just flexible. A good nervous system is not a healed one, but a resilient one.
If you are trying to find a more natural and wholistic approach to regulating your nervous system, I would love for us to connect. Feel free to book a one on one clinical herbalist consultation with me so we can come up with a plan for you to take your life back.
Also check out my podcast episode Decolonizing Your Nervous System ft Theuntaimedherbalist. We are Herbalism With The Plantcestors on all streaming platforms. In this episode, we hear from an herbalist and nervous system coach on what it really means to regulate your nervous system from a decolonization lens.