Thursday 29 March 2012

Gorse, glorious Gorse


Gorse,  Dorking  March 2012

Gorse, glorious Gorse - the flower of HOPE

Many moons ago I used to do a fair bit of driving up and down the M3 for work. It was a tedious journey, but made almost into a treat at certain times of year, when the miles of Gorse bush stretching along the road side came into blossom. Its glorious yellow colour gave me a sense of “everything is alright with the world” even when the skies were grey and a tiring day of work lay ahead.

Little did I know at the time that Gorse is one of the many flowers / trees used by Dr Edward Bach to make his wonderful flower essences. 

The Bach Flower essences were developed during the 1920s and 1930s in England by Dr Bach, a renowned physician and researcher, who became disillusioned with conventional treatments, and used his highly developed sense of intuition to tune into the healing properties of a variety of flowers and trees. Dr Bach believed that disease resulted from a conflict between our spiritual and mortal selves. We each have a spiritual purpose in life, and when we are out of synch with this, there is an imbalance, and illness can result.

This can come about by our moods and fears but also by the strong influence of other people. The idea of the essences is to release any disharmony, rebalance us emotionally and give us a sense of wellbeing. Dr Bach believed that it should be simple for everyone to use his essences; when someone was hungry, they would go to their garden and pick a lettuce; when they were afraid, they would take a dose of Mimulus (the essence indicated for known fears).
Bach Flower Essences are a form of vibrational medicine. The energy or vibration from the flowers gently enhances our own energy / vibrations, and helps us to release negative emotional states.

So how can Gorse help us?  Gorse is the Flower of Hope.  It can help rekindle the hope within us that our life situation, whatever that might be, can improve. 

We can all go through periods of hopelessness, when we feel like we have come to a dead end.  For those who are seriously ill, there may seem little hope of a cure or improvement; some are resigned to lifelong pain. For those out of work even after countless interviews, there may seem no hope of ever finding a job. Gorse essence can help restore hope and bring about a more positive outlook.

It is also useful as winter months drag on and we feel that that there is no hope of reprieve from the grey and the cold. Gorse brings a spot of sunshine into our lives and with it hope. And lo and behold, then comes spring and with it hopefully real sunshine!  


Finding the blessings within

Blackthorn blossom,  Box Hill,  Dorking  March 2012 



Yesterday, a friend posted on Facebook about the soon-to-be increase in first class stamps from 46p to 60p, thus inviting a few, not too surprisingly, negative comments (including from me!). These were, however, nicely rounded off by a very enlightened lady, with “What a bargain, I wouldn’t like to deliver them myself”. How lovely - a positive slant! I certainly wouldn’t want to have to trail up to Manchester or Glasgow or wherever every time I wanted to send a card or letter. In the grand scheme of things it IS actually a bargain.

This came on the tail of a couple of challenging days for me. I had been to a new dentist on the Monday morning and had been found wanting in the brushing department let’s say!!  It hadn’t been a pleasant experience; the dentist’s delivery lacked empathy; I felt railroaded into a dental plan a mile long, and I came away shaken, tense and feeling quite angry. Several Bach Flower remedies and some meditation later, I could see the hidden blessings / lessons within! It has made me realise I needed to be more mindful of my brushing in future and that I would feel happier working with a holistic dentist going forward. Quite a bargain - TWO positives coming out of an “awakening” experience.

It is not always easy to see the positive in something immediately. It can take time to find the proverbial silver lining of every cloud. Sadly, we live in a negative culture. There is almost an enjoyment in finding fault and a denial in celebrating positives. Complaining is infectious.

Negativity holds tension within each of the cells in our body and drains us of far too much energy, energy which would be far better used in repairing, cleansing and nurturing our cells so that our health could be the very best that it can be.      

Changing the way we look at a situation can help raise a smile (it certainly did for me when I imagined myself in a traffic jam on the M25 trying to deliver a single letter, d’oh!!); it can release tension and make us grateful for all the blessings we do have. As a result we can feel lighter and more energetic, and that energy can go towards nurturing each and every one of our cells.

Now that’s what I call a silver lining!!       

Thursday 15 March 2012

Nourish to Flourish - Spring Equinox

Wat Pan Tao, Chiang Mai, Thailand, February 2012 

When I was thinking up suitable blog titles, I thought that I had struck gold with “NOURISH TO FLOURISH” only to find that half the UK’s Nutritionists had got there first !! It is, however, a catchy little slogan – a good reminder for all of us and worthy of a word or two.

First of all, what does it mean to you personally to flourish?

For me, it brings to mind a flower in full bloom, which gives a sense to the word – something, be it human, animal or plant, growing and living to its full potential and being allowed to be what it was meant to be. We all have talents and dreams but how many of these are not realised due for example to ill health or perhaps emotional blocks such as fear or preconceived notions set in childhood? In such cases, we live smaller lives than we should, often accompanied by the inevitable frustrations and disappointments, which can in fact lead to ill health. 

In order to flourish we need to nourish our every sense. Looking at a beautiful landscape or hearing a piece of music which resonates with us can feed us and heighten our sense of wellness.  But more than anything we need to feed the vehicle in which we live our whole lives – our body.

Whether we are in pain, lacking concentration, frozen with fear or happily going with the flow, fluid in our movements, thoughts and emotions – this is due to our cellular makeup which relies heavily on us eating the right things – food which is nutrient-dense. If we eat food which is dead or empty, how can we expect to build vibrant cells which help us to be vibrant in all aspects of our lives?

As we approach Spring Equinox, watch Nature start to unfold her full potential as the sun starts to shine more (hopefully!), and flowers and trees begin to blossom. During this time, there is a huge surge of natural energy which we can tap into. We are part of nature after all.  Eat lots of fresh vegetables, especially greens, lightly steamed to help gently release some of the congestion built up in the body during winter. Gradually introducing more vegetable juices is also useful for this. Note too that light and sunshine have a part to play in fuelling our wellbeing, so try to get lots of fresh air in the spring sunshine.

Use the spring energy to think how best you can nourish yourself and consequently grow to your full potential.  Nourish yourself to flourish fully.  

Happy Spring Equinox (Tuesday 20th March 2012; 5.14 am)


Anais Nin said “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage”. I believe it shrinks and expands in proportion to how much we nourish our cells and ourselves.