I’m 10 feet above the ground perched on the highest rung of an aluminum stepladder, gazing out at a sea of delicate pink and white flowers. “I’m back,” I say to the Albizia tree, “thank you so much for blooming another year. May I harvest some of your blossoms?” In answer, a beautiful silken flower drifts down to rest on my shoulder….
This isn’t my tree, it belongs to my neighbor, Albizia Seth (well, he doesn’t actually know I call him Albizia Seth, but what greater honor than to be named after such a heavenly tree)And by the grace and generosity of Albizia Seth, I come here every July when the skies are blue and the days are long, to harvest these medicine flowers.
And, what, pray tell is the medicine of Albizia? Known as Happiness Flower in traditional Taoist medicine, Albizia is a 2000 year old medicine that gentles the heart and the emotions, treating anxiety, insomnia, depression, irritability, and all manner of post traumatic stress. And, it grows everywhere here in California as an ornamental tree. I’ve counted at least 10 in my immediate neighborhood in Oakland alone.
Sitting down to a cup of Albizia tea tastes like soft moist earth and a sweet embrace. Sipping the gentle brew, I feel a ripple of calm spreading into my heart and throughout my whole body. An herb’s taste is like its’ handshake, how it introduces us to its spirit- medicine. Albizia’s handshake begins with a mild sweetness, telling us everything is ok, yet it finishes with an astringent almost provocative kick, to remind us that not only is Albizia here to offer serenity and inner peace, but to also help move out pent up emotions and blocked energy in the body.
For many of us, the stagnations and difficulties of life can build up over time as constraint in the body. When this happens we can experience symptoms like chronic frustrating pain, especially chest pain and tightness, as well as upper back pain (the heart energy center has a front and a back), and moodiness, anxiety, depression, or just a lack of joy. We can’t be fully in the present, because we’re carrying around a heavy load of stuck energy. This can be particularly true for survivors of trauma.
Every person responds uniquely to trauma, often developing an unconscious survival strategy to cope- these strategies are brilliant and get us through difficult events, but years down the line, we may find that we have lingering physical and emotional discomfort, because we were unable to process the trauma fully at the time. Now the memory of the events lives just below the surface of conciousness in our bodies, as unexplained physical pain or chronic anxiety, shame, depression, or irritability
Albizia, Happiness Flower, is the perfect medicine here. Albizia not only calms the spirit, it also moves out stuck energy and physical blockages simultaneously. What’s more, it does so with an innate knowing of how much to move and how much to soothe, so that the release happens at the pace that is right for us.
This is of utmost importance when we’re working with trauma. If we try to unravel the knots too quickly or forcefully, we can overwhelm the nervous system and then restimulate, rather than heal the trauma. Just as we cannot rush or force a flower to open, so we cannot push or compel the heart to open again after a traumatic event. When tended with care, the heart opens in its own time and knowing, just like a flower only blooms when it is ready. So, when the time is right for us, Albizia can be a truly exquisite guide and companion for healing.
Safety Note: Please do not harvest or consume medicinal plants unless you are under the guidance of a trained professional.
This article copyright 2025 by Dr. Athene Eisenhardt, L.Ac, all rights reserved.