How We Look At Disease

I continue to have people contact me for help with specific physical conditions. I cannot state often enough that flower essences are neither herbs or drugs. If you're looking for a substance that is going to take physical effect, flower essences will be disappointing, however, last week I had a client with a realistic perspective toward his illness. Lets call him Jack.

Jack has just been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. "What's that?" you say? Ankylosing spondylitis is a long-term disease that involves inflammation of the joints between the spinal bones, and the joints between the spine and pelvis. These joints become swollen and inflamed. Over time, the affected spinal bones join together.

Jack is on medication to control pain, and is working on an exercise program to maintain flexibility. He's a fan of yoga, even though its a real challenge for him. He's looking at getting into a regular physical therapy program as well. His current job as a helicopter pilot is not doing him any favors. Long hours of sitting and high stress are major contributors to the progression of the disease. He's planning on getting into a line of work that features more activity. I say all this so you can see that he is not looking at me to "fix him". He is interested in hitting this from all angles to improve quality of life as much as possible.

Where I come in:

Keeping stress levels down is a huge factor in Ankylosing Spondylitis. Until he can transition into a lower stress job, we need a work-around for right now. He also mentioned some anxiety, and taking on some family responsibility that really wasn't his to deal with. Since Ankylosing Spondylitis is genetic, he also needed to do a spiritual cleansing of his genealogical line. It's also thought to be an autoimmune disease, which in many instances, childhood trauma can flip the switch meaning what may have been a simple genetic predisposition before, becomes a seed of disease for later on in life. Only 5% of the people who have genotype for Ankylosing Spondylitis actually develop it. Your genetic predisposition does not determine your health. Your emotional health is the larger factor.

We worked out the following custom combo, which if you order one, you get a sheet like this detailing what each essence does. There's an emphasis on mental/emotional flexibility here, as stubbornness runs in the family as well. You'll also see me target that childhood trauma, as well as the stress, anxiety and the tendency to take on too much. We will probably need to revisit all this when he gets his lifestyle a little more conducive to managing his symptoms.

Jack's Custom Combo

Verbena loosens up rigidity in the body and mind. Softens stiff conceptual thinking, hostility, judgement and hardened attitudes. Used internally to relieve stress when one feels overwhelmed with a "taskmaster" mindset, as if one has too many things to do. Can also be used to balance the emotions and smooth out rigid, more abrasive personality traits. Creates a detached perspective without eliminating a caring and loving attitude.

Arnica flower essence helps deal with emotions that get locked in the body after accidents, or violent experiences. Arnica is the remedy of choice for dissociative disorders, puzzling illnesses or autoimmune diseases that don't respond to other methods of treating the physical symptoms. Arnica is also helpful to release shock held in the body's musculature, or it can be used as a release of old "set in" trauma whether for emotional or physical.

Dandelion works out the knots and stress that are held in the musculature of the body. For the overdriving enthusiastic personality that pushes beyond their physical capacity to carry out such intense activity. Dandelion will tune you in to what your body needs as well as help you process through some much needed inner quiet time. If you tend to throw yourself full-on into too many activities, over-plan, over-schedule, Dandelion is a great balancer for a more sustainable lifestyle.

Lemon Balm facilitates a deep natural relaxation. It eases the velocity of the mind, helping you slip into an alpha state more easily. Lemon balm also moves anxiety out so that revelation can surface. Calming to fears and helps to regulate sleep cycle. Sleep is key to restoration and healing. Lemon Balm flower essence is a restorer after stress from modern civilization, being around too many people and stretched too thin. There may be anxiety over something obvious or anxiety over something lurking in the background of the mind. Either way, Lemon Balm helps to release those, usually through dreams.

Star of Bethlehem is the classic trauma essence. Whether old trauma or new, it helps people find reassurance and rapidly neutralizes any kind of trauma. Practically all of us experience shocking events in our lives that we are unable to cope with. A practitioner I know uses Star of Bethlehem in every combo because "Everybody's been through something." Star of Bethlehem reverses the "shutting down" effects of trauma and helps the person regain the ability to cope with circumstances with mental clarity and inner strength.

Lilac helps assorted back problems due to emotional resistance. Helps you find a balance between not accepting anyone's help and being overly dependent on others. If you've taken on too much of a load, lilac helps you find a way to release some of that.

Pussy Willow helps us regain our balance and flexibility when there has been too much doing and not enough being. In today's society, we tend to create high pressure situations, trying to cram it all in at the expense of relaxation. Too much pressure causes us to become rigid and resentful and eventually crack, much like a willow that is no longer tapped into a water source. The positive side of willow is creativity, flexibility, increase in intuition, patience, kindness, grace and a proper balance of right brain/left brain functioning. Pussy Willow helps us to find new ways of operating, new ways to organize our days to have a balanced lifestyle that is conducive to love, comfort, flowing in proper timing and rest. Pussy Willow also helps us engage with our 5 senses, helping us take in life and all it's sensual pleasures more fully.