What Is a Plant Ally? How to Cultivate a Healing Relationship with Plants

Stephanie Burg
Mar 31, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Jun 23

A hand gently touches vibrant purple flowers amidst lush green foliage, capturing a moment of connection with nature.

If you've been following along with me, you'll know that my relationship with plants - medicinal, entheogenic, house, vegetable, and otherwise - is a huge piece of how I connect with the natural world and heal.

As the herbalist, Rosita Arvigo, so beautifully says:

"A healer without plants is like a mechanic without tools."

I love this quote because it reminds us how essential nature is to the healing process.

Plants are abundant, wise, and limitless in the ways they support our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Let’s talk about what it means to have a relationship with a plant ally—and how to begin listening for the one that might be calling you.

What Is a Plant Ally?

The term plant ally gets used often in healing spaces, but what does it actually mean?

A plant ally is a plant you’ve formed a deep, personal relationship with. Just like building intimacy with a trusted friend, this connection is relational, reciprocal, and rooted in respect.

These plants become partners in your healing, teachers in your spiritual journey, and anchors in your nervous system regulation.

If you’ve worked with entheogenic or psychoactive plants in a ceremonial context—like Ayahuasca, San Pedro, or Psilocybin—you probably already know this on a soul-deep level.

But you don’t have to work with these “louder” plants to understand their intelligence.

You might notice:

You feel more grounded after sitting under a tree.
You feel calmed by the smell of lavender.
Peppermint or coffee perks you up with just one inhale.

These subtle, sensory experiences are forms of communication between you and nature, you and the plants, and they are how our bodies & plants connect & communicate.

How Plants Speak to Your Body

These connections happen through your five senses, through resonance, vibration, and felt experience. While they may not speak your language, plants are speaking to your body’s innate wisdom all the time.

This is embodied communication—rooted in feeling, intuition, and the nervous system’s natural responses.

How to Cultivate a Relationship with a Plant Ally

One of the most beautiful things you can do is choose (or allow yourself to be chosen by) a single plant, and begin to form a relationship over time.

Here are a few simple ways to start:

🌱 Grow it in your garden ⁣

🌱 Make medicine or food with it (if possible)⁣

🌱 Burn it as a blessing herb⁣

🌱 Diffuse its essence in your living space⁣

🌱 Meditate or sit with it ⁣

One of My Favorite Plant Allies: Nettle

Here I am, pictured with one of my most beloved allies—Nettles, wild-foraged in Ireland.

Nettles teach us about boundaries, receptivity, and clear communication. They support the circulatory, endocrine, and digestive systems—and they’re powerful, grounding allies for healers, caretakers, teachers, nurses, and empaths.