24 Apr 2007
FLOWER ESSENCES © Linn Wiggins
The longer I am in clinical practice, the more I can see how mental attitudes and emotional stress contribute towards physical dis-ease. Listening to people’s stories, the language they use with their words and body, paints a clear picture of where we need to go with treatment.
As an herbalist, I always treat with herbal medicines. The same plants have been used by all the major civilizations down through the ages for the simple reason that they work. They have the same healing powers for us in modern times as they did with our stone age ancestors, although the challenges we face now are quite different. Herbs primarily heal on a physical level, but given that many dis-eases commence on an emotional and mental level, wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could be stopped there – without us ever having to get physically sick?
This concept was what first led me to explore flower essences in the early 1990s. Flower essences too, have been used since Stone Age times. Indigenous Australians were observed by the white settlers to soak flowers in water in the sun and drink the water. Across the world many countries including India and South America, have similar traditions. For western civilization, the ancient Egyptians, Hildegarde von Bingham, Paracelsus and Dr Edward Bach, used flower essences for healing.
Flowers are the highest expression of the plant kingdom so contain the most healing potential. I always use flower essences as part of the healing regime for every person who comes to see me, as they help heal the underlying attitudes and emotions on a very deep level. Huge shifts occur for many people when they start taking flower essences.
Australian Bush Flower Essences include flowers to help improve self esteem, parent & child relationships, overwhelm, memory, learning problems, group harmony, guilt, jealousy, obsession, co-dependency, addictions, grief and anger. These are often things we all experience at one time or another. You don’t need to be professionally qualified in anything to know if you need assistance with any of these issues. Imagine if you had access to healing tool that allowed you to move through these difficult emotions faster and with fewer traumas?
The great thing about flower essences is that anyone can choose what they or a loved one needs. They are totally natural, with no effects and are safe for people of all ages. Even many animals have improved on flower essences, strongly suggesting that the improvement is not due to a placebo effect.
Other remedies can assist in developing your spirituality. For example Bush Iris helps open up the third eye and clairvoyance, while Green Spider Orchid enables you to communicate with other realms. Sydney Rose gives us a sense of being at one with God. Angelsword and Fringed Violet protect you energetically. Pink Flannel Flower brings a sense of gratitude and Boab assists with releasing negative family and karmic patterns.
Australian Bush Flower Essences are holding their Level 1 workshop in Noosa on 2nd & 3rd June 2007. For more details you can phone Linn on 07 5485 2724
herblady@bigpond.com www.ausflowers.com.au
TEENAGERS AND BUSH FLOWER ESSENCES
© Linn Wiggins
Many parents dread the time their children will be teenagers. There are so many things going on during this life phase, I wanted to share my understanding of this process through the Australian Bush Flower Essences.
Puberty. The body is shifting from childhood to adulthood which, from a physical point of view, is huge. Hormones are extremely potent substances and through puberty they are circulating in large quantities. Moods can swing all over the place. This is as confusing for the child as it is for everyone around them. Try Peach Flowered Tea Tree. Anxiety benefits from Crowea, as do muscles which are sore from growing so fast. She Oak helps balance female hormones and Flannel Flower the male hormones. The pituitary gland is supported by Yellow Cowslip Orchid and the Hypothalamus by Bush Fuchsia. Puberty is a natural process but hormones can take a while to settle into the new rhythm. The last four remedies really help ease the transition.
Self Esteem
We all struggle with this one from time to time, but teenagers especially so. If self esteem or confidence could do with a boost, Five Corners is excellent. Low self esteem often manifests physically as acne – the face we are showing the world. Billy Goat Plum is helpful here as well as Dagger Hakea to support the liver and Dogrose for the kidneys.
Sexuality
For teens feeling guilt over sexual thoughts or activities, or who may have been “caught”, Sturt Desert Rose can help. Flannel Flower is very good for feeling comfortable with physical touch and for setting and maintaining boundaries within close personal relationships. This last is especially important for teens beginning to explore their sexuality. Wisteria and Fringed Violet help release any trauma from inappropriate sexual advances or incidents that may occur at this time (or have in the past).
Rebellion
Until about the age of twelve parents are the major influence on their children. After that their peer group becomes much more influential. It is a natural psychological process for teenagers to begin to separate from their family as they begin to establish their own sense of separate identity. Bottlebrush is good to help parents let go. This doesn’t mean throwing them out on the street or not caring anymore; it means being comfortable with allowing them to begin to step out into the world. Of course they still need you to come back to. Bottlebrush also assists with the bond between mother and child at any age.
If the restrictions on them are too tight, teens will rebel. At the same time, they need firm guidelines of what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Red Helmet Orchid is the remedy for knowing when to stop, and for when there is any issue with authority. It helps give a greater sense of responsibility and a sense of inner authority and respect. These qualities can often be missing if the child has had a father who was absent either emotionally or physically. Red Helmet Orchid assists with father – child bonding.
Depression
Unfortunately some teens sink into depression. This may be partly hormonal or due to poor self esteem. Tall Yellow Top is very good for depression and also for feeling lonely, isolated and as if you don’t fit in. If the depression has reached black despair, Waratah is more appropriate and is very fast acting.
THE HEALING QUALITIES OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH
The healing power of plants has been known for thousands of years with our ancestors leaving behind many records of their use of flowers as medicine. From ancient rock paintings in Europe and Australia, to hieroglyphics in the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the texts of the Hippocrates of Greece and Dioscorides of Rome, there is a rich traditional of knowledge which has been passed down through the ages. Much of the wisdom has been passed down orally also, amongst the shamans and medicine men and women of the native American Indians and indigenous Australians.
Flower essences were rediscovered by Dr Edward Bach, a Harley Street physician in the late eighteenth century. He went on to develop the still popular “Bach Flower Remedies” range. In the 1980s, fifth generation Australian herbalist Ian White launched the Australian Bush Flower Essences.
Amongst his range are many essences which address some very modern issues. For example there is the Cognis (or superlearning) combination. Students report much better results after taking this combination prior to exams.
It constains:
Paw Paw This flower assists us to digest information. In these modern times, many of us are suffering from information overload: there is simply too much to take in. We are relentlessly bombarded with information all day long. This leaves many people feeling totally overwhelmed. Paw Paw helps relieve this feeling.
Isopogon This flower helps us to recall information we have previously learned, be it a language learnt in childhood or the details of a study course we need to have fresh in our mind for an exam.
Bush Fuchsia One of the stars of the range there many quite astounding case histories documented for this one. It is used for anything to do with speech, hearing or learning and appears to have a balancing and rewiring effect on the brain. Many testimonials are on file for improvements in stuttering, stammering, dyslexia, glue ear, ADD and recuperation from stroke.
Crowea Another essence assisting with digestion, Crowea helps us assimilate the information we need and to discard the rest.
Many of us today are choosing to live our lives much more consciously than previous generations and are wanting to parent in a way that breaks the cycle of passing down negative family emotional patterns. Several of the essences directly address these issues. Bottlebrush assists mothers and their babies to bond intensely as nature intends, especially if there has been an interruption to this bonding (common when there has been medical intervention during the birth). Research shows that if a baby does not go on the breast within six hours of birth, the bonding process is severely compromised, much to the distress of everyone involved. Bottlebrush can re-establish this vital bonding, even many years after. For bonding between father and their children there is Red Helmet Orchid. This one helps fathers not to overlook their small children and also to provide a positive role model as an authority figure by healing any internal issues they may have around discipline, limits, responsibility and authority. For the same reason, it is also wonderful for teenagers during the rebellious stage. Finally there is Boab which is used to help us stop passing on our (often inherited) bad attributes to our children. It is said to cut negative karmic ties between family members and others, leaving us freer to live out the destiny we were meant to have, uninhibited by shackles which don’t belong to us. The aborigines of the Kimberleys were still using this remedy in a similar way in the not too distant past.
Self esteem is another issue many people struggle with. Somewhere is our lives, most of us suffer from a period of low esteem. The worst time for this is often puberty and this can lead to all sorts of problems. Five Corners is the remedy to help raise low self esteem. Five Corners helps give us self confidence—to allow our star to shine. It can also be used to overcome subconscious sabotage patterns. You can recognise if these are running in your life because despite doing everything in your power to achieve a cherished goal, somehow something always happens to prevent you from reaching it.
Guilt is another way we can make ourselves feel bad: for something we did or didn’t do. Sturt Desert Rose helps us to release guilt and to move forward in our lives. It also allows us to remain true to our own sense of personal integrity even if this goes against the values of those around us. This flower is the national floral emblem of the indigenous Australians and makes a powerful remedy.
A more insidious means of lowering self esteem is the failure to acknowledge ourselves. How many of us in this country shout our achievements from the rooftops before throwing a party to celebrate? It’s almost viewed as being un-Australian! The tall poppy syndrome is alive and well….don’t stretch your neck too high above the others or it might just get lopped off!. However achievements, no matter how modest, do need to acknowledged, even if quietly amongst those who love us best and will share in our joy. It helps us feel good about ourselves. If this is hard for you Philotheca is the remedy to help you to open yourself to acknowledgement.
There are sixty nine essences in the range—for emotional, physical and spiritual issues. Those discussed briefly above are just some that we will be discussing in detail at the annual Level One Australian Bush Flower Essences Workshop in Noosaville on 2nd and 3rd June 2007. If you would like to join us for a truly transformative weekend, please phone me on 5485 2724 for a brochure or to book. The early bird discount is valid till 11th May. For further information, log onto www.ausflowers.com.au or email Linn on: herblady@bigpond.com
BOTTLEBRUSH AND MOTHERHOOD
One of our common native trees, the humble Bottlebrush, has strong healing qualities as an Australian Bush Flower Essence. On an emotional level it is very good for helping us with the process of letting go. Letting go of old outdated habits, addictions, emotions, people and things. If you are having difficulty releasing anything at all, try taking some Bottlebrush. On a physical level, difficulty with letting go can translate into sluggish bowels. If you regularly suffer with constipation (or even from time to time), ask yourself whether you are holding your emotions in. Look around your home—are you a hoarder? The doctrine of signatures is very strong with this plant. The red colour of the flower indicates a lot of energy and the ability to stimulate movement. As the name suggests, the shape of the flower strongly resembles a bottlebrush and so is perfect for cleaning the tube-like structure of the large intestine. Fortunately this doesn’t have to be in a literal sense! Taking 7 drops of the essence under your tongue twice a day for a fortnight will achieve the same result. Faeces left sitting in the bowel too long can start to break down the mucosal lining and lead to “leaky gut”, where toxins begin to be reabsorbed. In women, an early sign this is happening can be the appearance of fibrocystic lumps in the breast. Many of these lumps spontaneously resolve when Bottlebrush is taken. Another application of this essence is with breastfeeding. If a baby is having trouble attaching to the breast or with suckling in any way, Bottlebrush is of enormous help in quickly resolving these problems allowing baby to go on to easily breastfeed. If a baby doesn’t go on the breast within 6 hours of birth, the bonding process with its mother can be disrupted. This can result in adult children who do not feel close to their mother or women who feel they should be more connected to their children (even though they love each other). Bottlebrush helps heal and reconnect this bond even many years later. It is very good for helping clingy children or smothering mothers let go and relax into a more healthy relationship. I often think motherhood is a constant process of slowly letting go—starting with birth when we have to let them go from our womb. Weaning is probably the next big physical letting go and can be an emotionally difficult time for mother, baby or both. Bottlebrush is wonderful for smoothing the way. For anything to do with the mother-child relationship, Bottlebrush is the first remedy I would think of.
Bottlebrush is one of about thirty flower essences discussed in Level 1 of The International Workshops Series by Australian Bush Flower Essences. The major themes of this workshop include healthy digestion, a well balanced hormonal system, connecting with your creativity, dealing with major life issues, releasing family patterns that no longer serve you and healing issues with your parents. All the basic things we need to function well in life. This workshop is being held in Noosa on 2nd & 3rd June 2007. For more information on Bottlebrush or to enquire about the workshop please phone me.
© Linn Wiggins. RN. Dip Herb Med. ATMS.
Tel: 07 5485 2724
e-mail: herblady@bigpond.com
Linn Wiggins
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