10/13/2025
The popular opinion of the wellness model of our times seems to be that the goal is to always be open: open-hearted, open-minded, etc. The accompanying assumption is that to be guarded is to be shut down or cut off from connection, from feeling. But what if some guardianship and protection doesn’t cut us off from feeling, but actually allows more feeling?
Unboundaried openness does not always bring feelings of just expansive bliss; it can also bring so much openness that it can also bring feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, or excessive feeling to the point it turns the corner into numbness.
Hawthorn is a brilliant teacher for the balancing of opening and guarding, of vulnerability and protection. She is known to be a heart medicine, supporting both the physical and emotional heart. Her soft blossoms and tender leaves and berries help clear out and release what steels the heart. Surrounding these gentle parts are severe, nail-like thorns. And while these thorns are not consumed, their protection supports the survival and thriving of the flowers, leaves, and berries, so that they might offer their gifts of opening and clearing when they’re ready. Embedded in her being is a powerful example that to guard ourselves wisely is not about closing off, but about creating sufficient safety needed for deeper love, connection, and vitality to take root.
How do you discern between guarding and closing down? What are instances in your life that you might need more protection to let your heart open fully and freely?
Inspiration for ways to work with Hawthorn:
-in a tea or infusion, such as our herbal tea blend WATER
-as a tincture
-in a vingar or oxymel
-as a flower essence
-in meditation or ritual, such as sitting with a Hawthorn tree, or placing a thorn in spaces you seek protection
