A Devotional Life in a Broken World — The Sting and the Nourishment

What does it cost to begin? What am I willing to be stung by in order to be fed?These are the questions I sit with in the opening episode of a new five part series exploring what it means to live a devotional life in a world where many of our spiritual, cultural, and ecological containers feel fractured. Rather than offering answers, I want to create space for honest inquiry, trusting that the questions themselves can become a form of prayer.🤝 Share this Video: https://youtu.be/02Wv5uKuI7s 🌿 Subscribe for herbal tips and wellness insights: https://bit.ly/4iRnpyXOur guide for this first conversation is Stinging Nettle, one of the most nourishing plants in the herbal tradition and one that asks something of us before she offers her gifts. She grows in disturbed places. She stings when we reach for her carelessly. Yet beneath that sting is profound nourishment, resilience, and the quiet promise that life returns, even after devastation.In this episode I reflect on beginning from a place of humility rather than certainty, allowing longing itself to become a doorway into the sacred. Drawing inspiration from Clarissa Pinkola Estés and the image of the Divine Mother who meets us most readily in our need, I explore how our deepest hunger may not be a problem to solve, but the very place where devotion begins.To close our time together, I invite you into one simple practice that has become central to my own spiritual life: creating a small altar dedicated to the Divine Mother or to whatever sacred presence calls to you. It doesn't have to be elaborate. A candle. A stone. A flower. A living plant. The practice is simply making a place in your home and in your life that is devoted to something beyond productivity and achievement.In this episode we explore:• Why devotion often begins in longing rather than certainty• What Stinging Nettle teaches us about resilience, boundaries, and nourishment• How disturbed ground can become fertile ground for transformation• Creating a simple altar as a daily act of devotionQuestions for Reflection• What are you hungering for?• What have you been avoiding because you are afraid of being stung?• What would it mean to begin your devotional life from exactly where you are, rather than where you think you should be?I'd love to hear what this conversation awakens for you. Share your reflections in the comments, and if this series resonates with you, please subscribe and join me as we continue exploring what it means to cultivate a devotional life alongside the wisdom of the plants.With love and green,Ashley #Herbalism #DevotionalLife #StingingNettle #DivineMother #PlantSpiritMedicine #NatureSpirituality #SacredLiving #HerbalWisdom #EarthBasedSpirituality #SkyHouseHerbSchoolChapters: A Devotional Life in a Broken World — The Sting and the Nourishment0:00 Introduction1:40 Series4:40 Devotion6:50 Nettles10:10 Boundaries13:40 Harvest16:20 Nourishment19:40 Infusion22:40 Inquiry25:50 Fear29:40 Practice33:40 Altar37:20 Tending39:40 Closing Resources:Series - The Divine Mother in Nature Series - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtGmbdK5tigcuozGrUHM0L5DGG2uP5R3L&si=M2ezPk60pk9iYz4ABook - “Untie the Strong Woman” by Clarissa Pinkoles Estes - https://amzn.to/4f4KWOdNettles - Mountain Rose Herbs - https://mountainroseherbs.com/nettle-leaf?srsltid=AfmBOoqyDjSbWLs0EON2pd1-0ntODERVhzUYIBiRoyLorUyZqh9TS8hMNettles Video - How To Make an Overnight Infusion - https://youtu.be/J1N86C1KSgY?si=ZaBHRf3uNTZLfCn1