What Does Abundance Mean and How to Get in the Flow

A recurring theme that surfaces during conversations with my clients is a desire to align with abundance. I wonder, what does abundance mean? And how do we align (or re-align) with abundance? As I pondered these questions, the Plants offered guidance and insight.

Before exploring the Plants’ wisdom, I’m curious, what does abundance mean to you? How do you align with abundance? How do you disengage with abundance? Do you have a feeling or image that you associate with abundance?

What Does Abundance Mean?

In our current culture, generally abundance means wealth, or having a lot of money. Since there is no set amount to abundance, even incredibly affluent people can feel like they lack abundance.

We have many stories and beliefs around money and wealth, collectively and individually. Countless books, workshops, and techniques exist to help us uncover these beliefs, especially those that are blocking us from abundance. These can be eye opening and helpful. In general, I think there is great value in investigating our beliefs and biases, understanding where they come from, and shifting them to reflect our Truth. 

However, if we solely define abundance through the lens of money or if we allow money to determine our abundance, we cut ourselves off from truly experiencing abundance. 

Awakening to Abundance

One evening as I cut corn kernels off the cob to freeze, I began to commune with the Spirit of Corn. I saw each kernel as a meditation, a prayer. Giving thanks for each one and thinking about the gift these will be for our family during the winter, I thought about the many times my grandparents froze corn for our family celebrations and the thousands of years Corn has nourished humanity. Prior to this meditation, I was a bit overwhelmed trying to preserve our harvest. Through our connection, Corn helped me to see that what I was perceiving as a stressor was actually the gift of abundance. 

Corn reminded me that we are surrounded by abundance. We are inherently abundant. 

Abundance isn’t an amount. It is a feeling, a mindset. As such, it is not something we can chase or capture. All that we can do is recognize abundance, align with ki’s energy, and allow abundance to flow through us. Abundance means delighting in the gifts, giving gratitude or engaging in reciprocity, and sharing with others. 

Nature’s Abundance

As I tend the garden and process the harvest, I am continually amazed at the return of investment from one seed. No mutual fund or stock can touch the return. From one seed, we receive hundreds and thousands of seeds within a couple weeks or months. I save the seeds to include in my Healing Landscapes and for next year’s garden and still, there are too many. Most are added to the compost pile. In fact, the abundance is so great that each year, my Beloved and I struggle to temper our desire to plant the many incredible varieties of vegetables that call to us knowing that if we planted all that we would like to, we would not be able to keep up with them.

This is just the abundance from our small garden. When you begin to forage, you see that there are medicines and food all around us. One of my favorite classes to teach is an urban Plant walk. I generally walk around a block and point out the medicinal and edible Plants we see and how to work with them. People are always amazed at the medicine that surrounds them. Often responding, “This grows in my yard!”

Nature is abundant and provides all of our needs. In fact, humanity continues today because of the overwhelming abundance of Nature which has supported our Ancestors for millennium. 

I have only been discussing the abundance of Plants; however, abundance surrounds us in many forms – we breathe in the abundance of oxygen, we are warmed by the abundance of sunlight, even our bodies are testaments of abundance containing trillions of cells.

The Natural Cycle of Abundance

It is important to say that like any natural cycle, abundance ebbs and flows. Some Plants, like Oaks, are known to have cycles of abundant harvests (or mast years) with lean years in between. Of course there are other factors that impact harvests: weather, insects, animal foraging . . . 

This is why diversity and community are important. Both help to spread out the need. Diversity is our insurance plan for disasters. While some Plants may die in a drought, others will thrive. Community reminds us of our interconnection. When we have an excess, we share the abundance with others. And when we have a need, others share with us. Diversity and community lesson our risk while increasing our adaptability and resiliency. We are reminded that we thrive together.

Of course, we can also prepare for those lean times, such as freezing corn or canning salsa. However, there is a natural limit to our preparation and storing. It takes quite a bit of time, effort, and space to store our vegetables. Plus, our results have a shelf life. Finding an old jar of jelly or tomatoes that has gone bad is so sad. 

These limits innately protect us from greed and hoarding, encouraging us to share and delight in the gifts of Nature. Transforming these gifts into money, removes the limits. Devoid of a shelf life, we are encouraged to stockpile and hoard as much as we can. This hoarding disrupts the cycle of abundance, for the energy is no longer able to flow. It also creates an insatiable hunger for more, which is one of the main drivers of the destruction of our environment, as well as social injustices.

Economy of Natural Abundance

What does an economy of natural abundance mean? Well, this is the message of Corn. It is the message of Nature. That abundance is the foundation of our world, of our bodies. We contain abundance. 

Economy means how we care for our home, also known as household management. We so often think economy means management of money, but it doesn’t actually have anything to do with money.

How does the flow of our resources change when we recognize that economy means how to care for Home? How does our economy shift when we recognize that we are surrounded by natural abundance?

Several years ago, I visited Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in Onchiota, NY. While there, David Fadden, an Akwesasne Mohawk artist and storyteller, shared a story from a wampum. While the story was interesting, what I continue to carry with me was his introduction. As he talked about wampam, David shared that his people did not have money before the colonists arrived. More importantly, they did not have poverty.

Since that day, I have tried to hold a vision of a world without poverty. As Corn demonstrated, abundance is everywhere. However, our current economic system is out of alignment with Nature. Poverty is a man-made, completely unnecessary phenomena. If our economic system does not reflect an economy of natural abundance, it is our responsibility to shift It, to bring it back into alignment with Nature, and create a system that supports all.

Corn shared that our disconnect from the abundance of Nature contributes to our sense of lack. Even the convenience of getting our food from the grocery store, especially out of season produce, unknowingly supports the false realities of not enough because it commodifies abundance. The Corn in the grocery store freezer is multiple degrees removed from the magical act of placing a Seed in the ground and harvesting hundreds or thousands of kernels. This incredible yield of investment from one Seed is what true abundance means.

This doesn’t mean that we should only eat the food that we grow or that there is anything wrong with exchanging money for food. Corn is encouraging us to counter our disconnection by becoming conscious of our transactions. Recognize where our food comes from and the humans who were involved in bringing this food to our plate. Recognize the generosity of Nature. When we pause to consider all who are involved in our nourishment (both our human and more-than-human kin), we very quickly realize that our lives are dependent on so many. We are brought back into the circle of connection and abundance.

The Illusion of Capitalism

Living an authentic, Soul-aligned life often requires discerning what is illusion and what is Truth. Much of what we consider “reality” is actually illusion, often manufactured to seemingly benefit a select few. I say seemingly because no one actually benefits from these illusions. 

As stated previously, our current economic system is out of alignment with the abundance of Nature. Besides fostering hoarding and greed and creating a false sense of lack, capitalism limits resources to their monetary value. In other words, a Forest is worth more as cut timber than as the invaluable, intelligent ecosystem/Being ki is. Or some people are deemed to have more value than others. The illusion of capitalism requires hierarchy, scarcity, and competition, as well as, constant growth and is enforced through violence (including the violence of overwork).

Overtime, a mythology was crafted to bolster the system, helping the illusion to take form. These myths are passed down from generation to generation until questioning them becomes sacrilegious. A few examples: if you work hard, one day you too will be rich; your value is dependent on your productivity; some bodies are worth more than others; you are not enough; rich people are blessed by God, poor people are lazy and lack moral rectitude; asking for or needing help is a sign of weakness; the more you donate to charities, the more virtuous you are; there will always be poor people; the ultra wealthy are innovators and geniuses . . .  Do you recognize any of these? What stories/myths have you absorbed or been fed?

Other myths are created to counter these: money is bad, poor people are more moral, rich people are evil, it is wrong to charge for your work/art/hobbies, bartering is more ethical, scraping by/struggling is honorable . . . Have you been exposed to any of these? What other counter stories have you heard?

Both the myths and counter myths are false and reinforce the system. Trying to counter an illusion only helps to legitimize it.

We may not be able to shift our economic system overnight. And sure, in our current system, money is a necessity. (I cannot pay my electric bill with tomatoes, no matter how delicious they are.) However, we can investigate our beliefs and actions, noticing when we support the illusion. And we can create a new mythology that encourages the respectful maintenance of our inherent natural abundance that supports a healthy, thriving society and world.

Abundance and Spirituality

One area that requires particular attention is the belief that money is a reflection of our spiritual life. This belief does double duty. Some believe a spiritual life requires eschewing money. While others tout exercises and healing techniques to spiritually attract money, even stating that money is a reflection of our spiritual lives.

In part, the latter makes sense. In a healthy society/system, having a strong spiritual connection opens us to the flow of universal energy aka abundance. Money is often considered an expression of energy. However, our distorted economic system disrupts the flow of energy or money. The system is rigged to benefit relatively few people, it no longer represents the flow of life or our communal connection. In other words, money is not an accurate measure of a person’s spiritual well-being. 

We have to be honest and look at the world around us with eyes wide open. The wealth gap is exponentially growing. For the last 40 plus years, the flow of abundance has shifted from the masses, the commons, to the billionaires. According to the non-profit RAND corporation, from 1975 – 2023, $79 trillion has been redistributed from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%.¹ We can look at statistics and discuss theories; however, it takes very little effort to recognize that it is harder for the average person to make ends meet. Rather than seeing a person’s struggle as a lack of spiritual fortitude, we need to recognize it as a symptom of a broken system. 

How to heal our economy and shift the flow of abundance

As healers and creators, we can choose another way. As Ursula K. Le Guin stated, “We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.”²

It is time that we realign with Nature, that we embrace a society based in a Love ethic — recognizing that all Beings are Sacred, deserve a safe place to live, drinkable water, clean air to breathe, nourishing food and medicine, and opportunities to learn and express their gifts. 

While this may take time to create, every thought, choice, and action we make can help to bring it into fruition. Every time we choose to recognize the abundance around us and share this abundance with others, we help to heal our economy. Every time we rest, breathe deeply, and experience the magic of our world, we help to heal the economy. Every time we recognize the sacredness of each other (including our more-than-human kin) and engage in caring connection, we help to heal the economy. Every time we add to the beauty of our world, we help to heal the economy. Every time we choose to support small businesses instead of billionaires, we help to heal the economy. We heal our economy, our society, when we shift the flow of money from the billionaires back towards the commons; when we actively ensure that everyone’s needs are met, and when we engage in co-creative partnership to manage our abundant resources in a way that allows them to regenerate and continue.

In this manner, healing our economy and re-aligning with our natural abundance can be enjoyable, nourishing, and fulfilling. 

I’m not an economist, I can’t write up formulas for the best way to manage our resources, our Home. However, from my work with Nature, I can say that if we manage these with Love and respect, taking our guidance from our more-than-human kin, at the very least, we will create a better economy than we have now and we may just create a thriving world.

And remember, Nature, especially the Plants, is ready to guide and support us as we make these changes and create this more beautiful world.

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1. Price, Carter C., Measuring the Income Gap from 1975 to 2023: Extending Previous Work. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WRA516-2.html. ↩︎
2. Ursula K. Le Guin, “Speech in Acceptance of the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters” (speech, New York, NY, November 19, 2014), Ursula K Le Guin, https://www.ursulakleguin.com/nbf-medal. ↩︎