What's Up with the Whales?

When I was in herb school, I learned to love whales.

One afternoon, in my first year of herb school, I believe it was our last session for the week, we decided to have lecture outside. At some point, our heads full of physiology and herbal actions, we took a pause for a somatic activity:

We walked out to a wide open field, out where mostly brown grass and the thistles that get stuck in your socks. A big, expansive place, where we had a lot of space.

"Everyone pretend you're an animal."

Ok, fun :)

Yes, that's how we ended class that week. Folks were slithering like snakes, neighing like horses and barking like a dog. I forget what animal I choose to be. I remember my teacher Karyn choosing to swim like a whale. 

A few years later I'm back on the same land; I'm in my second year program at The Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine. We start to nestle in to better understand how whales can be our teachers. We listen to whale songs. We sing along.

At some point along the spiral of time I came to understand that whales are teachers. Here on the pacific coast they are our neighbors too. Some whaly fun facts I've gathered along the way are:

• They have the largest hearts on the planet (some about the size of a mini cooper)

• They have an alphabet

• They sing unique songs, yes underwater singing!

• They travel from the bottom of the ocean to the top, which supports the composting/regenerative process of the ocean

• Pods have unique social behavior and etiquette

If all that wasn't enough, I invite you to consider how very, very large beings whales are!

They live in the ocean, which is larger and vaster than our urban realities. This is important medicine for city people who are crammed into small offices, aboard buses, stuck in traffic and living within urban grids.

An antidote to urban life is to taste a bit of the vastness and expansiveness that imagining whales navigating underwater landscapes like mountains, as well as rejoicing in their song or admiring a whale breaching (why whales breach, we're still not sure, it could be communication or play :) is medicine for our hearts. Coming from an animal with the largest heart on the planet, that is profound!

A few ways to incorporate this into our daily urban hustles include:

• Looking at picture of whales, even for a few minutes

• Listening to their song (links to their debut album in 1970)

• Going for a coastal hike, and keeping an eye out!

• Supporting whale populations by living a lower-impact life, like reducing single use plastic, reducing carbon emissions and supporting ocean clean up efforts.

The other part of my logo is of the moon, which represents cycles and the expansiveness of outer space. It's a bit of a mental workout to think of these two huge places/spaces interacting :)

• Want to try on Whale energy? Book a consultation and request whale vibes only

• Check out my interview on The Herbalist Hour, where we get into the reasoning behind the whale logo

• Join my newsletter, Whale Mail with weekly tips for holistic wellbeing, event announcements and more. 🐋

Whaly glad you're here!

Bonnie Rose

P.S. The whale in my logo was named "Moonbeam" by a newsletter reader for my 10 year biz anniversary.

P.P.S. Did you know the first time our species were able to document humpback whale sex in 2022, it was found that both whales were males?