Transcripts
When we learn how to work with
the energy of our heart space,
Speaker:not only do we invite in more love
and possibility into our lives,
Speaker:but we actually change our perception
and our ability to commune with meaning.
Speaker:Hello and welcome back to
Remember Why You Are Here,
Speaker:a podcast for seekers and sensitives
where you can relax, receive,
Speaker:reconnect to yourself, and remember
the most important thing of all,
Speaker:why you're here.
Speaker:In this episode leading
up to Valentine's Day,
Speaker:I thought I would revisit one of
my favorite videos I've made called
Speaker:Earth as Valentine. So in this episode,
Speaker:we're going to step into a framing,
Speaker:a way of looking at the earth that
helps you to connect in an even
Speaker:deeper way,
Speaker:this way of seeing our
earth as your valentine.
Speaker:It's really one of the sweetest
things I think I've made,
Speaker:and I'm excited about revisiting it
because it always helps me in this season
Speaker:where we are so focused on
romantic love to expand that
Speaker:romance into the lives we're leading,
Speaker:into the relationship that we have
with this planet and to really
Speaker:create more romance in our lives because
if we can have a romance with the
Speaker:earth, we can have romance at any
second, at any time. In English,
Speaker:we really only have one word for love,
Speaker:but I think a lot about
in the ancient Greek,
Speaker:how there's this whole vocabulary to
describe the wondrous variety of love that
Speaker:we can experience on this planet.
There's philia for friendship love,
Speaker:and storge for the love of one's kin.
Speaker:And then of course
there's the infamous eros,
Speaker:that burning passion that we're used
to seeing on valentine's day cards and
Speaker:such. But then beyond all
these loves, there was agape.
Speaker:And for the ancient Greeks,
Speaker:agape was this expression
of pure unconditional love.
Speaker:It's a word for love that's boundless in
its kindness and compassion and divine
Speaker:warmth. When we're in agape,
Speaker:we're connected to the reality
at the heart of all existence,
Speaker:the knowledge that we're loved
without condition. In agape,
Speaker:we can know just how precious we are and
we can feel how profoundly we're held
Speaker:by a wider benevolence.
Speaker:I feel like we don't have that many
experiences of agape these days in our
Speaker:culture,
Speaker:partially because we've cut ourselves
off from the wellspring of agape that
Speaker:exists beneath our feet, this
relationship with the earth.
Speaker:So regardless of whether or not I've
had a sweetheart on Valentine's Day,
Speaker:I've always loved celebrating
Valentine's Day. I just can't help it.
Speaker:I'm such like a goon for this day.
Speaker:I'll do things like just leaving myself
flowers in the morning or surprising my
Speaker:coworkers with chocolates.
Speaker:But really a lot changed for me when I
started seeing the earth as my valentine.
Speaker:And on a very real level,
Speaker:the earth is the valentine who will
never stop sending you flowers.
Speaker:So you can put that on your
little altar for this month.
Speaker:The earth really is agape itself.
No matter what we do or where we go,
Speaker:we're unconditionally held by this planet.
Speaker:No matter how far we stray from the
perceived path, the earth is there.
Speaker:Bringing us honey to
sweeten our existence.
Speaker:And I'm so grateful for this ability
to reframe the earth as beloved.
Speaker:So if you're interested
in that, that framing,
Speaker:if you want to create a
Valentine's Day based around
Speaker:earth connection and earth ritual,
Speaker:then definitely stay tuned for
this sweet little Valentine's Day
Speaker:episode. But before we
hop into this episode,
Speaker:I wanted to let you know about a
really exciting event coming up.
Speaker:And that is the 2026 Virtual
Herbalism Conference put on
Speaker:by the Herbal Academy.
Speaker:This event is like not to be
missed if you are interested in
Speaker:herbalism,
Speaker:if you want to study with some of
the top teachers in the whole world.
Speaker:Like my favorite herbalists
ever are speaking at this
Speaker:event. This event runs from
February 15th to the 20th,
Speaker:and it's completely free,
Speaker:which is bonkers because when I think
about how much money and time I used
Speaker:to spend going to herbal
conferences around the country,
Speaker:I'm honestly in shock that you can
sign up for this and just access all
Speaker:these talks completely for free with just
some of the most incredible herbalists
Speaker:on the planet. And so I am speaking
as a part of the conference.
Speaker:My talk is on Tuesday, February 17th,
Speaker:and it's entitled Green
Whispers and Wisdom: Soul
Lessons from Plant Encounters.
Speaker:And I would absolutely
love to see you there.
Speaker:So if you're interested in a
six-day conference with topics
Speaker:ranging from medicinal mushrooms
to everyday herbalism for families,
Speaker:energetic patterns of diseases,
to lessons from a curandera,
Speaker:ancient healing traditions,
Speaker:and ways of connecting with the plants
that really help you open up new
Speaker:eras of being in your life.
Speaker:So I'm super stoked to be a part of this
and it would be awesome to connect with
Speaker:you there.
Speaker:So I'm going to put the link for that
below if you would like to sign up,
Speaker:if you want to receive all of these
incredible teachings for free,
Speaker:and I'll see you there. Okay,
Speaker:so let's go ahead and get
into this episode now,
Speaker:this episode entitled The
Earth is Your Valentine.
Speaker:And cozy in, maybe get
a box of chocolates,
Speaker:because this is a very cute
and very fun one. Here we go.
Speaker:We hear the phrase the earth
is your mother all the time.
Speaker:That's really beautiful,
Speaker:but sometimes I wonder what would
happen if we saw the earth as our lover
Speaker:instead. What if the
earth was our beloved?
Speaker:How would we treat the earth then?
Speaker:As we come into this
Valentine's Day month,
Speaker:I think it's worth a reframing and
a shift of our mindset to think
Speaker:about this earth as
our ultimate valentine.
Speaker:This is my ultimate reframing
of the earth as your valentine.
Speaker:There's so many different ways
that we can connect to the earth.
Speaker:Earth as caretaker, earth as
source, earth as companion,
Speaker:and of course, earth as lover.
Speaker:A lot of times people roll their eyes at
this month of February and Valentine's
Speaker:Day,
Speaker:but there's really so many different
ways we can work with this invitation to
Speaker:give and share love.
Speaker:And one of those ways is to invite
the earth to be your valentine.
Speaker:There's a whole movement called
ecosexuality that is looking at reframing
Speaker:this idea of earth as
mother as earth as lover,
Speaker:specifically because of the ways in which
we often mistreat our mother and are
Speaker:mistreating our mother the earth. What
would happen if this was our lover?
Speaker:How would we treat the earth differently?
Speaker:This movement was really started by
performance artists and activists,
Speaker:Annie Sprinkle and
Elizabeth (Beth) Stephens.
Speaker:I encourage you to check out their work
if you're interested in learning more.
Speaker:One of the things that they suggest that
I want to suggest to you as a practice
Speaker:on this Valentine's Day is
to make love to the earth.
Speaker:And there's so many ways to do that.
Speaker:One of the ways to do that is just
to go outside and tell the earth,
Speaker:"I love you." In fact, how much more
sense does it make to say to the earth,
Speaker:"I love you and I can't live without
you," than it does to any person.
Speaker:This is the truth. We can't live
without the earth. So express this.
Speaker:You might even want to write a love
poem to the earth and speak it out loud.
Speaker:You could hug a tree or immerse
yourself in a pile of leaves.
Speaker:This kind of intimacy, touch
and engagement is another
way of loving this earth.
Speaker:I also think there's something about
learning how to love the earth.
Speaker:It helps us to learn
how to love our bodies.
Speaker:Because truly our bodies are the earth.
Speaker:We are nature. And when we feel
a disconnect from our bodies,
Speaker:this naturally can translate into
a disconnection from the earth.
Speaker:Learning how to love the earth,
love the body of the earth,
Speaker:helps us to love our bodies,
this earth that we inhabit.
Speaker:So as an act of self-compassion
and self-love this Valentine's Day,
Speaker:one of the things that you can do in
honor of the earth is to honor your body.
Speaker:Maybe you would even want to create
an earth temple out of your body,
Speaker:anointing yourself with infused oils or
using diffused essential oils on certain
Speaker:parts of your body.
Speaker:How can you love up on the different
parts of yourself as a way to
Speaker:metaphorically and holographically
love up on the earth itself?
Speaker:So how can you dote on yourself?
Speaker:Can you take some time on your feet and
meditate on the roots of this world?
Speaker:Can you spend a luxurious amount of
time washing your hair and really send
Speaker:out love for our atmosphere?
Love up on your body,
Speaker:and this is one way to
love up on the earth.
Speaker:One of my favorite practices to do
every single Valentine's Day is to give
Speaker:flowers to the earth. So where I live,
Speaker:there normally aren't flowers
blooming on Valentine's Day,
Speaker:and yet there are so
many flowers being given.
Speaker:So if I receive flowers
for Valentine's Day,
Speaker:I will often keep them around in my
house. And once they start to fade,
Speaker:instead of throwing them out
or putting them in the compost,
Speaker:I bring them outside and I arrange
them in a beautiful way for the earth.
Speaker:You could also take whole flower heads
and separate the petals and spread them
Speaker:out at the roots of a tree.
Speaker:Another thing you can do is actually go
to your local supermarket and ask them
Speaker:if they have any flowers that
they're throwing away. This day,
Speaker:Valentine's Day is such
a big flower holiday,
Speaker:that often the supermarkets
are overstocking with these
flowers and so many of
Speaker:them get thrown out.
Speaker:So you can actually go a few days after
Valentine's Day or in the week after and
Speaker:ask them,
Speaker:"Do you have any flowers that you are
throwing out because they're past their
Speaker:peak?" And you can take those flowers
home and create something truly beautiful
Speaker:for the earth around your home.
Speaker:The last suggestion is to go on an
earth date this Valentine's Day. Now,
Speaker:it might be cold where you are, so
this might not be a whole day outside,
Speaker:but instead of planning a fancy dinner,
Speaker:what if you plan to go
have a picnic outside?
Speaker:Or instead of planning to go to the
movies, what if you took a long walk?
Speaker:If you were going to go on a date
with your beloved, the earth,
Speaker:what would you like to do? How do
you like to spend time together?
Speaker:Just initiating intimacy on this
day of love with the earth can help
Speaker:reprogram your brain to see
the earth as your beloved,
Speaker:as someone that you cherish and as someone
that cherishes and takes care of you
Speaker:day in, day out.
Speaker:So much of being able to reframe this
way of seeing the earth and ourselves
Speaker:is all about opening our hearts.
Speaker:And a lot of people don't realize
that our hearts are actual gates,
Speaker:that when we learn how to work
with the energy of our heart space,
Speaker:not only do we invite in more love
and possibility into our lives,
Speaker:but we actually change our perception
and our ability to commune with meaning.
Speaker:So if you're interested in this
idea of opening the heartgate,
Speaker:you can check out my online
class, Herbs for the Heartgate,
Speaker:where we talk about specific plants that
can help you connect into this space of
Speaker:perception, magic, and
possibility. So with that, lovers,
Speaker:I hope you have a
wonderful Valentine's Day.
Speaker:So really listening to this actually may
be really inspired for Valentine's Day
Speaker:next week with my daughter,
who is now four years old,
Speaker:the kind of rituals that we can do
together to really help her ground in
Speaker:feeling the earth as her valentine.
Speaker:Valentine's Day has taken on a whole
new dimension for me since becoming a
Speaker:mother and creating and cultivating
that kind of love and agape between your
Speaker:child and the earth is just so special.
Speaker:So I think we're probably going to
bring some flowers outside and create a
Speaker:little altar out there and just thank
the earth for all the ways in which she
Speaker:holds us.
Speaker:So if you were inspired by this
episode and you end up doing some
Speaker:sort of Earth as Valentine ritual,
I would love to hear about it.
Speaker:You can leave me a message
over on my website,
Speaker:asiasuler.com/remember.
That's my voicemail service.
Speaker:I love getting little messages
and love notes from you there.
Speaker:And I'm just sending you so much
love and coziness and blossoming
Speaker:for this Valentine's Day
ahead and for the weeks ahead.
Speaker:And if you do end up at that
virtual herbal conference,
Speaker:I hope you receive so much from that
experience and I'm excited to see you
Speaker:there. So until next time, may
so much agape flow your way,
Speaker:may the earth just continue to
unfold new layers of becoming and
Speaker:blossoming for you in this life.
Speaker:And may you remember that
most important thing of all,
Speaker:why you're here.
