Recently my 11 year old daughter has been very lackluster with regards to school, she loves school don't get me wrong, it's the learning part that she finds uninteresting. Her symptoms arrive as soon as the teacher hands out a sheet of math to work on, she zones out - sound familiar? I don't know about you but that describes myself, my husband but somehow not our son - just can't wait to attack that worksheet - who knew!? We have had teachers who had a serious concern about Franny, until they met her parents... somehow just meeting us secured the fact that it might just run in the family - DAYDREAMERS. I'm not proud of it, it certainly didn't make things easy, but I feel that if she can learn to take an interest in any aspect of school, she will be fine.
Then Linda Beal walked into my store - she changed our lives. We have used Bach's Flower Remedies over the years, I used rescue remedy during pregnancy and after for breastfeeding support (see more information on that in a previous post here) and I gave my husband (unknowingly) sweet chestnut to lift his depression and it worked. So when she told me that she works with healing with flower remedies, I lit up like a light! I knew this was the answer for Franny - to help with her focus and boredom at school.
Flower essences can help us gently release unwanted emotions and behaviors, while helping to foster our innate strengths. Used widely in Europe for many decades, flower essences are remedies made from the blossoms of plants and trees and are taken orally in liquid dropper form or applied topically. Within the context of Flower Essence Therapy, flower essences work subtly to affect profound change. This just speaks to the way that Franny operates, anything related to nature or a flower.
I was lucky, I also had the chance to sit down with Linda and she created a remedy for me as well. I told her that I wasn't really sure what to work on because I feel I have way too many emotional issues to focus on one. She sat me down and we went through what came up for me and it was just spot ON. Linda is a trained and experienced flower essence practitioner, she has been helping people for most of her lifetime. It is not easy to put into words but I feel less complicated, more in tune - I don't want to bore you with my problems but I feel lifted and supported, but from within.
As for Franny, she loves Linda, I think children just know when people are good for them. They sat down and had a conversation that was very comfortable for Franny, Linda uses kinesiology to find the remedy that supports each person. Franny had an immediate response when she started taking her remedy. She said she felt very 'awake' while in school and her teacher told me that Franny is participating more rigorously. We haven't had our normal stressful conversations about school and studying that we had before - which always ended in tears no matter how 'softly' you approached the subject. Her attitude now comes from a place of strength and she's not making excuses for everything.
Each person has their own remedy which Linda puts together with you while you are in your session. You look through the meanings of the flowers that pertain to your 'spirit' or constitution and you can gain wisdom on your blockages. We will probably see Linda again to adjust but for now it's exciting to see how this helps. Linda suggests that Flower Remedies can help with:
* separation anxiety
* shyness and social sensitivity
* focus and concentration
* self confidence
* performance anxiety
* academic overwhelm
I had the chance to sit down with Linda and talk to her about what she does. Here are some questions that I came up with for Linda to help you get familiar with the process. My favorite part about talking with Linda is that I always learn something from her, this is what a good friend is all about, you respect someone to listen deeply to them and learn from what they are saying. When Linda and I talk I find myself hanging on her every word.
CS: How do you feel diet enhances or works with the flower remedies?
LB: Because flower remedies assist us to assist ourselves, anything that brings us into greater strength, clarity, balance and alignment enhances their work. So, indeed, a diet of pure water and ample hydration, along with fresh, nutritious and anti-inflammatory whole foods provide the perfect foundation for flower essence therapy.
As with so many other things I also think of one's "diet" on various levels… In addition to being conscious about what we physically ingest, we may also being to consider what we are "feeding ourselves" and absorbing on a sensory level, an emotional level, and on an intellectual level. What are we exposing ourselves and our children to on all these levels and how "digestible" is it? Just like eating too large a meal, "too much" on various levels can truly be too much to process and lead to a feeling of sensory, emotional or intellectual overwhelm. In this way, we choose healthy and enhancing foods and "feasts for the senses", while forgoing the junk food and toxins.
CS: 2. I feel that Franny's issues were a bit subtle - how profound have you found the remedies to be on larger 'issues'?
LB: Flower remedies help us to release our own imbalances, whether subtle or more complex. Children are usually able to cast off 'issues' quite quickly. In contrast, more complex issues that stymie us have often developed over time and become more enmeshed with our sense of self and involve working with a trained and experienced flower essence therapist in a more sustained manner. Unlike some medications which attempt to alleviate the symptom(s), flower essences help us to resolve the cause and bring us back to our own self-alignment. Everyone is on their own healing journey. I love to say, flower essence therapy may feel like a "snail's pace" at times, but it is truly ones "soul's pace". You can't source it. You can't rush it. But you know when you or your child has resolved the "issue".
CS: 3. What brought you to flower remedies?
LB: My quest to find the most natural and non-intrusive ways to help children heal themselves began at age 17 and led me, two decades later, to my work with flower remedies. Along the way, I became a special education teacher and a Waldorf education teacher and I used Bach Flower Remedies and Perelandra flower essences. However, when I discovered the anthroposophically based Flower Essence Society and their work in California, I found the answer to my quest.
CS: 4. Can you talk a bit about your kids and your use with flower remedies with you and your family.
LB: My daughters were extremely sensitive as children and flower essences were, and still are, a constant in their lives, as well as mine. A specialized flower remedy has accompanied them over each "threshold" they have crossed, whether academic (grade school through graduate school) or emotional/social. Flower essences have helped them, now ages 26 and 22, to strengthen and sheathe themselves, while simultaneously allowing them to retain their glorious innate gifts of empathetic awareness and sensitivity.
CS: 5. Are there some other things that you like to suggest to do in conjunction with the flower remedies? (meditation or reiki or something?)
LB: Flower essences help us to connect to ourselves and Nature, so the best "environment" that we can provide for this healing work, for ourselves and/or our children, is a safe and loving space and quiet, calm time, along with time in Nature, and any other health-giving practices. In addition, I like to ask my clients to engage in some ongoing creative activity, such as journaling, visual journaling, or an art for that they enjoy, which encourages them to express themselves and may also, hopefully, profice a kind of "mirror" for their growth.
CS: It's so interesting that you say that because I innately wanted to write down what I was feeling, my thoughts in a simple way so that I could remember the changes or shifts that were taking place for me.
CS: 6. I like to ask people to share one of their favorite recipes - I have found that when you trust someone you like to eat alike :)
LB: My absolute simplest, but tried and true, favorite healthy, anytime snack, pick me up, and palate cleanser that went into my girls school lunches, on road trips, to potlucks, and is a fun breakfast staple: "Cinnamon Apples"! I cut up tart, organic apples (I prefer granny smith or gala) into slices and festively arrange them on a pretty plate, then sprinkle them with cinnamon. That's it. And if I am over-zealous with my cinnamon apple offering, I use the uneaten slices to make applesauce!
CS: (I think I should share my Apple Tea recipe with Linda! right!?
If you want to contact Linda Beal visit her website: Inner Garden - Flower Essence Therapy all of her contact information is listed on the website and read more about her transforming work. I just can't say enough about how it has helped our family, on a very profound level. All of us have benefited from her work. I am so excited to keep an ongoing openness and awareness as my friendship with Linda continues.
