Bach Flower: Gorse

Gorse and Hopelessness

The Bach flower remedy Gorse in its positive state spells hope in the face of the worst adversity. So even if a person is very ill or caught in some
terrible situation, the glimmer of hope keeps him alive and very often pulls him through and back from the edge. When there is a need for Gorse, you’ll find that the person loses all hope and there is abject hopelessness. So even if there is a way out of any situation, the person just lies back without looking for it.

Physical

The negative Gorse state is most evident when a person is ill. When the illness is serious, there seems to be no will power left in the person and he just resigns himself to what he believes is his fate. There is no attempt or will power to fight against what is ailing him in order to try and get well. So when a person like this gets ill, it requires that much more effort by the medical people attending on him to pull him through as he does not help in the process at all. Gorse gives him that little bit of fillip to fight and to try and come back to normal.

Mental

The basic problem that these people have is in the mind. The mind tells someone like this that there is really no way out of whatever it is that befalls them – that there is no hope of things getting better. So they give in and don’t look for a way out of the tunnel they are in. With Gorse, the person believes that there should be a light at the end of the tunnel and they keep trying till they find it.

Emotional

Emotionally too, these people give up far too easily because they feel that there is no way forward. In relationships, any roadblock is seen as the end of the road and there is a strange sense of despair and the feeling that things have come to an end. It is this feeling that makes them not want to
even look at the possibilities of things changing and getting better. Theirs is a downward spiral – never an uplifting way of thinking which is what Gorse brings along with it.

Spiritual

When a person is in a state of hopelessness, they tend to lose faith in everything – even the divine. There’s an all-pervading sense of doom and when Gorse is given, it helps the person get spiritually stronger and believe – in life getting better if not immediately in miracles. Their faith becomes more balanced – with hope pervading it.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Headache After Exercising

A headache after exercising is associated with hypoadrenal functioning. You may need to have your provider run an Adrenal Street profile test for cortisol/ DHEA ratios to find out the actual stage of decompensation you are in.  Chronic stress will cause the cortisol levels to drop leading to a decreased ability to control the blood sugar, which leads to hypoglycemia, irritability, headaches, etc. Headaches after exercise are a strong indicator of the above scenario.  Exercise will cause the blood sugar to drop. If the cortisol output is not sufficient, the blood sugar will not be able to be regulated properly leading to all the symptoms of hypoglycemia.


Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Bach Flower: Holly

Holly And Love

The Bach flower remedy Holly is all about love. It brings peace and harmony where there is strife – and caring where there is hatred and anger. This flower remedy has the incredible power to turn negativity completely around and instill positive feelings in its place. It is called for when hearts have got hardened with months, even years of anger, hate, mistrust and envy. This is the remedy that spells a gentle love which erases past wounds and rage and lets love grow.

Physical

His eyes are always full of suspicion and mistrust. He’s always looking for a cause to get angry and be hateful. This translates into physical problems like high blood pressure and the possibility of strokes. He might be sporty but his body is usually tense, not supple. This will change only when he has learned to give up his hatred and relax with love. Holly opens the doors to a more healthy body by getting  rid of this baggage of rage and ill-feeling.

Mental

He loses his temper not just at people but also at ideas. There is a latent anger that is just below the surface all the time and never goes away, waiting to lash out at someone or something. It could be a colleague, it could be a family member it could even be a book or a movie. In his mind, it is a waiting game – who or what do I annihilate next? Holly calms his down and teaches him that he does not have to be one-up on everyone – it is fine to just accept and appreciate without tearing down.

Emotional

He cannot give love freely – his love is always conditional. The recipient of his love has to conform to what he wishes them to be otherwise he loses his cool. This is a great remedy for the raging control
freaks of this world – not the cold, calculating person who controls but the bully who controls with a loud voice and sometimes violence. This is not a once in a way losing of his temper but a constant state of mind. Holly makes him love as he should – by giving first.

Spiritual

Even though he might belong to a religious group, he is the one who will argue and shut whenever there is a getting together of a group. He will want his voice to be heard and he will make it a point to be spiteful. He can rarely be happy in the spiritual commonality that has brought the group together and tries to disrupt things with arguments. Holly makes him feel one with a group that espouses love and helps him be drained of his spiritual pride and envy.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Low or Reduced Fat Diet (Past or Present)

Low fat diets are a very good way to become deficient in essential fatty acids. This person needs to be assessed for essential fatty acid deficiency, and supplement them with the correct essential fatty acids and co-factors for optimal absorption and utilization. 

Lifestyle Changes
Avoid all sources of hydrogenated oils and deep fried foods, which rob the body of essential fatty acids.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Bach Flower: Rescue Remedy

Rescue Remedy And Emergencies

Rescue Remedy is perhaps the most well known of all the Bach remedies available today and yet it isn’t strictly one of the 38 remedies. Rescue Remedy is made up of five of the flower  remedies and so many people today keep a bottle at home because it is a great first aid remedy. For the ones who believe, they feel that Rescue  Remedy has been responsible for saving many, many lives because it is essentially a remedy that helps to decrease shock or stress. Very often, trauma and accidents can result in death simply because the person goes into a state of extreme
shock. This remedy prevents that from  happening and helps the body to get out of and overcome the feeling of shock.

What are the five flower remedies that make up this wonderful remedy? They are Rock Rose, Star of Bethlehem, Cherry Plum, Impatiens and Clematis. Each of these flower remedies has a specific healing energy. Rock Rose is the remedy the mitigates terror and panic, Star of Bethlehem eases the numbness of any trauma, Cherry Plum makes sure the person is in control of his feelings, Impatiens helps to get rid of tension and Clematis makes the person to resist the urge to pass out or swoon from shock. All five together work to take the shock out and put the sense in. Rescue Remedy given  immediately makes a person calmer and more collected and brings a degree of practicality in.

Rescue Remedy is of great help not just to the person who has undergone the accident or trauma but also those around him. It prevents people from losing control so that decisions can be made in a cool, collected manner. Women who get hysterical when they hear bad news benefit a lot from this remedy. Children who are frightened or scared stop shivering and became calm with a few doses. Pets can be calmed down especially when there is noise around and they get scared. It helps when there is thunder and lightning or when there are fireworks or firing. Children’s tantrums and pets getting overexcited also respond well to Rescue Remedy. They have even been found effective when plants are diseased and start dying.

Rescue Remedy is available in the form of tablets, liquid in glass dropper bottles and as creams. The creams can be used externally when there is a swelling or a suspected sprain or fracture. When it is taken internally, it could be four tablets that make up a dose or if it is the liquid form, a few drops are put into a cup of water and this should be sipped slowly. This is a great emergency medicine before one goes to the hospital to get treated. Not only does it calm the patient mentally and emotionally, physically too, there is less strain and stress and therefore less pain that is experienced.

Rescue Remedy can be given to a group that has seen something terrible happen, to a group that is fighting and squabbling, during family arguments that get very heated, after a scary movie or TV serial, especially to kids, before going to the doctor or the dentist, after hearing bad news, to prepare children or for that matter anyone, for a divorce or death, before an exam or an interview or in high stress jobs or environments. Rescue Remedy should find a place in every home’s medicine cabinet because it is the first remedy in any emergency. It is of great help when there are children and pets at home.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Nose Bleeds and / or Tend to Bruise Easily

Nose bleeds, bleeding gums and bruising easily are all signs of bioflavonoid deficiency. Bioflavonoids are a class of compounds found in brightly colored fruits and vegetables. They serve to stabilize membranes in the body, especially the blood vessel membranes. Bioflavonoids have antioxidant properties, are essential for collagen cross linking (which provides the strength to collagen fibers), they act as an adjuvant to vitamin C and will help re-charge vitamin C in the body. They have anti-inflammatory activity by stabilizing the cell membranes and making them less likely to release their fatty acids and thus preventing the eicosanoid cascade.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Bach Flower: Sweet Chestnut

Sweet Chestnut and the Last Straw

The Bach flower remedy Sweet Chestnut in its negative state describes a person when he has reached the end of his tether. He feels like he has his
back against the wall, in spite of everything that he has done and there is no way out. He feels completely exhausted and it is as though every avenue he has explored is a dead end with nowhere left to go.

Physical

He feels drained and this is not something that is psychosomatic – it happens after he has worked hard towards his goals. Physically, he is at a point when he feels that his legs will carry him no further, when he has exhausted the last ounce of his energy. It isn’t just the incredible fatigue that he has to bear, it is the feeling that his body cannot go on. Sweet Chestnut gives his tired bones a fillip to go that  extra mile. More than that, it puts hope into him that all is not lost and that there could be a rainbow ahead after that next turning.

Mental

Mentally, he has given up and that is why perhaps he has this ‘I’ve reached the end of the road’ feeling. He feels tortured mentally because nothing seems to be going his way till at last, he gives way to despair and feels there is nothing ahead to give him any kind of hope. However, even though it is extreme despair that he experiences, he never thinks of ending it all with suicide. All he does is feel terribly tired and gives up. Sweet Chestnut makes him hope and opens his mind to other avenues to explore where he could begin to see success.

Emotional

After suffering inside, he comes to a point when all he feels is a desolate nothingness. However lost he feels, he tries and hides his feelings from the world. Much of his heartache stems from the fact that he tries to do everything himself and doesn’t let others know what he is feeling. He quite forgets that burdens shared are burdens borne better. With Sweet Chestnut, he  feels again and he learns to love and share both the good and the bad.

Spiritual

There’s a hollowness inside – a darkness of the soul. All belief seems to die and therein lies the utter hopelessness. His soul writhes in pain till it reaches a point when there is only desolation. Sweet Chestnut helps him tap the hidden springs within and lets hope flow over his parched soul. With belief comes the feeling that his soul can rise up and feel joy again.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Bach Flower: Star of Bethlehem

Star of Bethlehem and Shock Treatment

The Bach flower remedy Star of Bethlehem is wonderful to treat shock of any kind. This is not the terror that is palpable which needs other flower
remedies. This is the numb state that shock makes him retreat into. A state when he doesn’t feel and very often cannot even think. It could happen with bad news, with traumatic experiences during childhood that one cannot even remember or even with any kind of an emotional letdown.

Physical

There are many physical changes that can come about with shocks. Bad news about a loved one’s death, a lover breaking off a relationship, being told to vacate your home suddenly because you haven’t kept up with the payments can all bring with them changes like greying of hair, loss of hearing, heart attacks, aches and pains, etc. Star of Bethlehem,  when it is administered soon after a shock can work wonders and prevent the shock from leaving its mark on the person physically. Many psychosomatic ailments like allergies and asthma are thought to be results of shocks that have been suppressed.

Mental

Very often, when a person experiences shock, the after effects are not immediately felt because the mind goes numb and the feeling is pushed into the subconscious. This is dangerous because it can give rise to a whole lot of mental issues which could manifest themselves much later. Star of Bethlehem prevents this from happening and drains the shock from the mind, allowing the effects to flow out and not be frozen inside. This remedy usually brings on mental clarity after it is taken.

Emotional

An emotional shock sometimes results in the person blocking out all feeling and going about as though nothing happened. Or, in some cases, it could even lead to a hysterical outburst. Star of Bethlehem helps the person to cope emotionally by helping him ride the pain and slowly get
rid of it rather than trapping it inside where it could cause irreparable emotional harm.

Spiritual

Star of Bethlehem has been called the ‘comforter’ and even on a spiritual level, it soothes and helps a person enjoy the communion with a greater power rather that do things with a numb, half-asleep attitude. This remedy awakens the senses and makes the energy links with the higher self revitalized and alive. With Star of Bethlehem, there’s an inner strength that seeks the divine with joy and fervor.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Greasy or Shiny Stools

Greasy or shiny stools are an indication of hepato-biliary dysfunction. Fats in the diet require adequate bile production from the liver and adequate bile release from the the gallbladder to be properly emulsified and digested. Decreased output of bile from the gallbladder will cause fat to remain undigested in the small intestine, leading to steatthorea or greasy / shiny stools, There is a strong need for bile salts to help with the emulsification of fats.

Another possible cause is pancreatic insufficiency. The pancreas produces lipase, which aids in the digestion of emulsified fats.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash performing for prisoners at Folsom Prison Jan. 13th 1968