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Impatiens – For Our Hurried Lives

Impatiens is a flower essence to bring patience to our fast-paced lives. When we are rushing from place to place like a headless chicken, frenetic getting to work in the morning, the kettle takes ages to boil,  … the driver in front is too slow; … irritable because the train’s running late … the microwave’s not fast enough …the computer’s too slow … the webpage takes ages to load …

 

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.  ~ Lily Tomlin

 

Impatiens flower essence from the Bach Flower Essence range is for people with impatience, irritability, and who react too quickly. For those that are mentally tense, constantly pressured by time, want to finish everything quickly, those that cut off other people in mid-sentence and finish their sentence before they can. If you are driven crazy by people who work too slowly and impatiently take things into your own hands or feel too hurried to meditate then this flower essence is for you.

The positive potential of the essence is patience and gentleness and having the ability to wait for things to take their natural course. It supports alertness, quick thinking, quick acting and independent mindedness but respects the slower pace of others at the same time.

In closing, some interesting facts on the plant. Impatiens glandulifera is native to the Himalayas and also known as Himalayan Balsam or Policeman’s Helmet. In 1839 it was imported from Kashmir to England to be used as a decorative garden plant for those gardeners that couldn’t afford growing expensive orchids. The species name ‘Impatiens’ is derived from its seeding habits with the seed pods exploding when disturbed and scattering the seeds over a distance of up to seven metres. I still have fond childhood memories of gently touching the pods and feel them curl up in my fingers.

© 2013. Annette Zerrenthin

Change, the only constant

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“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu

Beginning where I ended my last blog with this quote by Lao Tzu there is a flow taking place that is asking to write on change. It was sparked this week, when I listened to a program about astrological aspects of the current Uranus – Pluto square while initially wanting to write about Bottlebrush flower essence. Co-incidentally, both are about change.

The Pluto – Uranus square is about major changes that are shaking up all aspects of our lives – personal, political, institutional, banking and big corporations.  It allows for old patterns to be released, to clear them, for transformation to take place. Uranus apparently let’s us see new perspectives, allowing for new insights and therefore, to support the letting go of the old.  These planets moved into this position sometime in 2011, setting in motion the wheel of change. It impacted me personally late last year, when I resigned from a permanent job in the media I’ve had for 20 years to set up my own business in complementary health. Not having a regular income has brought with it anxieties, yet at the same time, I’ve never know myself being so congruent with what I do for a living and who I am, my interests and joys in life. Now my life has started to move again, to be in flow, where before I felt stuck and unmotivated, without direction. It is, as if the seed that has been planted a long time ago has taken hold of the earth, is sprouting and breaking through the earth to be seen.

The more often we are confronted with having to change, the more we learn to deal with and respond to constant change. This in turn allows us to be able to handle its dynamics and as a result, be in the flow of life. You can find out more on the astrological aspects when following the links below, while I will highlight some flower essences that can be of support when being confronted with change.

Bottlebrush

Bottlebrush, an essence from the Australian Bush Flower Essences (ABFE) range, helps you deal emotionally with major changes in life that may include starting school, getting a job, redundancy, marriage, divorce, buying or selling a house, retirement, moving interstate or to another country. Also including the two major changes in life … birth and death.  These events can involve feelings of uncertainty, apprehension or overwhelm. When taking the Bottlebrush essence, it allows a person to flow through life and its changes. It fosters the ability to let go of the past and move ahead into new experiences. Bottlebrush is also part of the ABFE Emergency Essence.

From the Desert Alchemy range, Prickly Pear Cactus encourages adaptability to situations and events in our life. It helps us find a state of active surrender to what is and supports our awareness in being synchronous with the events in our lives. The essence supports the harmony between feelings, thoughts and intuition and resulting in taking action when the time is right. “The strengths, calm and centredness that is fostered within us by Prickly Pear Cactus can allow us to wander the earth and always feel at home.” (Cynthia Athina Kemp Scherer in ‘The Alchemy of The Desert’)

You can take Bach’s Rescue Remedy for a sudden shock, emotional upset or in a stressful situation at work or home.

For further reading here are some websites on the Uranus – Pluto square.

http://www.lunarplanner.com/Uranus-Pluto-Square/index.html

http://darkstarastrology.com/uranus-square-pluto-horoscopes-2011-2012-2013-2014-2015-predictions/

http://www.alanoken.com/newsletter/Aug11_C.htm

© 2013. Annette Zerrenthin

 

Chicory flower

Chicory … the girl left behind waiting in vain

Chicory, is a common sight along roads and in meadows in the European summer. The German name for the plant ‘Wegwarte’ (Waiting by the way) emphasizes its symbolism in old folk tales of a girl left behind, waiting faithfully but in vain for the return of her lover.

With its bitter taste, the plant has been valued for its healing qualities for liver and gall bladder disorders, poor digestion, nervous exhaustion, diabetes, loss of appetite.

Chicory can be used as a tea or coffee substitute and its close relative, the endive, is used in salads.

As a flower essence, Chicory helps with behavioural patterns that are characterised by a possessive attitude, tendency to interfere and manipulate, and a feeling of insufficient love and appreciation. Edward Bach compared the positive Chicory state with the archetype of the ‘universal mother’ that gives without expecting anything in return.

© 2013. Annette Zerrenthin