Brown Boronia (Boronia megastigma)
Presiding influence: the embodied self
Key energies: tangible body, having a combative relationship with your body, what makes you unique, loving being embodied, your personal relationship with food, cellular knowledge, tapping into the energies of whole foods, the Annamaya kosha (food body), human incarnation, exploring the world with your five senses, your environment as a sensual paradise, the art of making mistakes, the seed of the Self, the five elements, the kapha dosha (the dosha responsible for the stability, lubrication, substance, and support of our physical body), remembering, evolutionary impulse.

This fragrant plant has bell-shaped flowers that are enclosed and point earthward. The flowers are bright yellow inside, while the exterior is a handsome reddish-brown color. In general, bell-shaped flowers explore the concept of embodiment.

Brown boronia offers a fascinating gift: she helps you understand what it means to be embodied and the opportunities this entails. It’s tempting to regard the physical body as something we have to transcend, and some people even have a combative relationship with their body such as hating how they look or not valuing the specific gifts they were born with. This flower helps you develop a curiosity about what your specific gift set is, what makes you unique, and what makes you love being in your body.

I frequently teach on vibrational nutrition, about food as our ultimate ally. And no matter how clearly I advertise the course material—food as a means to access the deep self—on average about half of the participants are seeking a means to conquer their body and remake it into the image they have decided on instead of seeking what is stored inside.

Whole food, when treated in a mindful manner, allows us to access the full spectrum of who we are. Brown boronia helps you tap into this innate knowledge and work with the food body—the first layer, or Annamaya kosha—of who you are. This flower’s vibration attunes you to the subtle fields of whole foods so you can begin the work of unlocking and accessing the deep self, thereby gaining access to the timeless truths stored in your body.

The Annamaya kosha, or food sheath, consists of flesh, blood, muscles, bones, and internal organs. It is the outermost layer, the tangible physical body, which is nourished and maintained by the food we eat. Maya means “veil,” implying something that is obscured from view. Kosha means “sheath,” referring to the layers that make up your being. The body is the vehicle that houses the five elements, a storehouse that holds the energetic imprints of everything we are aware of and not consciously aware of. This includes our senses and our means of understanding and interpreting our body and the world around us. Without a body to house our consciousness we could not execute the profound evolutionary push of existence. All wisdom traditions teach that obtaining a human incarnation is auspicious and rare, as it allows us to learn in an entirely unique way.

There are several myths concerning fallen angels that became jealous of humanity’s aspect of free will, which provides opportunities to learn through mistakes and the ability to experience the world through the senses. The ability to taste food, kiss your beloved, bask in the sun, pet a dog, and smell flowers make this life a sensual paradise. This flower helps you to not shut down when you make a “mistake” but rather revel in it as a chance to learn something new. This flower opens you up to drinking in Earth’s delights and bask in being alive and experiencing the marvels all around you.

This brings me to the idea of matter as a mediating factor. The physical body acts like a gatekeeper to deeper states of awareness; navigating this can be puzzling. One of the most remarkable aspects of our human design is the act of learning something, then taking it further to true understanding and finally to wisdom in action. The truth of all times and realms is held within our cellular memory. This memory holds the entirety of creation and is held in stasis within the Self. The implication is that it is a dormant potential not yet realized. The question then becomes: How does one harvest this vast knowledge? Let us explore.

We live in juxtaposition. On the one hand we are bound by the material rules of the world. To quote an old pop song lyric, “We are living in a material world, and I am a material girl.” We are indeed impacted and formed by the cultures, traditions, families, finances, and inherited physical forms we are born into. We bend to the seasons, compulsions, illnesses, and how much energy we have. We are influenced by vast emotional ranges, cultural conditioning, vacillating thoughts, and a will that feels impotent. We strive for security, thirst for spirituality, and need purpose. These factors are all impacted by our physical bodies, which sometimes feel unchangeable.

On the other hand, our cognitive memory stored within our flesh can be understood as a learning system involving the storage of patterns and data, and it provides access to our vibratory field. According to the Vedas, the memory of all our lives—our own and that of all other organisms—is remembered by the human embryo at the moment it leaves its watery domain in the womb and begins to emerge into the open world. After this passage we gradually lose this understanding. The Vedas teach us how to regain access to our dormant memories. A few starting points involve using the plant kingdom (including absolutes, essential oils, herbs, and fixed or carrier oils), whole foods, yoga, meditation, prayer, and being present and fully feeling what is actually occurring in your life. This flower helps you know what tool to use at any given moment.

At a base level, everything that exists in the material world is formed from the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and ether/space. This includes the plant kingdom. Although many have forgotten the fundamental understanding of how this works, brown boronia helps us remember. The five elements arise from vibration. These elements are what create the feeling of existing. What we call the inherent self is just a label describing emanations of form that help us interpret the self and the environment. For example, what we refer to as earth does not mean just “soil” but is to also be understood as a combination of light and vibrational patterns that have collated to act like a specific set of behaviors. So we experience the element of earth as the earth around us, but at the same time it is a set of behaviors that arise internally with us.

To realize we are born with inherent knowledge of the elements is to remember from the beginning to the present. When we consciously start to work with the elements within and all around us, we start down the path of remembrance. And as we deepen our relationship with our inner elements, we can comprehend and work with our deepest underpinnings.

The Bhagavad Gita tells us, “My prakriti [material nature] is of eightfold composition: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and ego (see entry on narcissus in this chapter for more detailed information on ego). You must understand that behind this, and distinct from it, is the principle of consciousness that is present in all beings and is the source of life. It sustains the universe. Take a minute to sit with this declaration. You are composed of all of the elements, each offering an evolutionary impulse to help you learn specific lessons. You are born with all the tools you need to explore the emanations of form, mind, intellect, and ego. But behind all of this is the ultimate consciousness from which all expressions of form, both subtle and solid, are birthed. Do keep in mind that your body is the means to reach and grow toward the one unified source of life.

The food body consists of earth and water (the kapha dosha in ayurveda), while the cognitive memory is carried in the impulse of everything that has existed through the passage of billions of years, from the beginning of time and space. Food (the plant kingdom), which includes all of the substances in this book, are one of our most tangible forms connecting us to this universal consciousness. Yet paradoxically it is the very density of our physical form that prevents easy access to the subtle and pervasive truths around us! In releasing consciousness from matter using our refined senses, we must see the body as densely packed energy and subtle information, and the five elements as the keys to accessing this information.