Body by Bach:
Part Two

This is Part Two of a two-part series.

I am reprinting here my introductory remarks from Part I. The issues covered were disgust with one's body and mental/physical rigidity.

Dr. Edward Bach formulated his Remedies for the purpose of relieving emotional imbalances. He believed that the dissolving of emotional blockages could also cause restored physical health and harmony.

This idea is now accepted among many who choose alternative health practices. Practitioners have noticed that often when patients have one physical problem corrected, a new one emerges to replace it. This is usually because the underlying emotional issues remains unresolved.

I believe that one of the requirements for a healthy body is an appreciative attitude towards it. With this idea in mind, I've chosen several Bach Flower Remedies that address some negative attitudes towards the body and practices that may actually limit its ability to flourish. In addition, I've listed some related crystals for each condition.

I precede each description with a brief character portrait of someone who might experience the particular imbalance.

The following three conditions are most closely connected through their disconnection to the body. This disconnection, however, takes different forms.

The Clematis condition is a total checkout. While the individual may be living in the body, aware of physical existence both within and without that body is dim at best.

The Olive condition demonstrates disconnection due to both emotional and physical exhaustion. One might almost say the body and emotions are too tired to connect. All they want to do is rest.

The Holly condition shows active hostility against the body. It is viewed as an enemy, not as a partner.

Be Here Never

Cynthia had to get up early that morning. This upset her, because she liked nothing better than to curl up under the blankets and sleep. Her dream life rewarded her far more than her endless waking hours. She drifted into the kitchen, put on some water, and stared at the selection of teas, enjoying the pictures on some of the boxes, imagining herself in a deep forest or a field with dancing flowers.

In the real world, something was whistling. By the time she realized it was the teakettle, all the water had boiled out. No time to start again. She grabbed something from the refrigerator and smeared something else on it. She ate it on the bus and left half of it on her seat when she got up for her stop. When a fellow employee, glancing at the thick white stain on her skirt, asked what she had for breakfast, she said, "It was round."

She went to her desk, turned on her computer, and started to think about the dream she'd had last night. She'd been in a palace full of shiny flying creatures that sang the most beautiful song to her . . ..

Some people have decided to check out from the earth experience as much as possible while reluctantly occupying a physical body. While they don't hate these bodies, they've withdrawn all attention from them, so that their physical beings are essentially orphans. They are ungrounded and indifferent to the details of everyday life and get their greatest pleasure from withdrawing into fantasy worlds. Although they may be very creative, the products of their imagination rarely achieve real-time expression.

When dreamers awaken and decide to become part of the world, the Clematis remedy can likewise awaken their true potential. It helps to create a bridge for them between the spiritual and physical worlds.

Crystals for Anchoring

People who are accustomed to avoiding the earth plane need practice in connecting to it. For this reason, smoky quartz can be the preferred crystal. A pale and translucent brown, it acts as a light grounding stone.

Another good choice is tiger's eye. Though its brown is rich and deep, the golden flash in this stone connects one to the golden light that is one aspect of the crown chakra. Thus tiger's eye can blend body and spirit.

I'm So Tired

Sarah chose to take care of her mother during the last months of her illness, and while it was sometimes hard work and often emotionally painful, she didn't regret it. When she was exhausted, she reminded herself she could rest after her mother died.

She couldn't have imagined, though, how deep exhaustion could go. Once her mother had died and Sarah had taken care of the details of selling the house and other necessities, she thought she would get on with her life-but she couldn't. All she could do was sleep. Even when she was awake, she lacked alertness and focus. She could barely read a book. She felt as if her life were stalled.

Many people experience what Sara did after a prolonged caretaking experience or as the result of a job that involves intensive care of others, such as hospice nursing or counseling for an at-risk segment of the population. Usually they become drained because they don't take time for themselves.

We all have natural access to unlimited energy: energy that heals, revitalizes, recharges us on every level of being. When we unknowingly block this energy, drawing instead solely on personal physical and emotional resources for prolonged periods of time, we sooner or later find that these resources are limited.

Because we've blocked the connection to universal energy, we've also blocked the connection to inner guidance, the voice that says, "Time to take a break now" or "There's more energy available, if you only ask for it."

Olive is the antidote to physical and mental/emotional exhaustion. It teaches us to listen to our bodies' needs and to the voice of intuition and inner guidance which tells us how to solve problems and when it's time to slow down. It renews and revitalizes us so that we can face the most difficult task with acceptance and cheer, learn to ask for help, or just say no.

Crystals

It can be useful to suspect that depression plays a role in exhaustion.

Herkimer diamonds are very cheerful stones, but their energy is so high that they may lead one to feel ungrounded. I have found that when they're combined with amethyst, they both energize and soothe.

My Body, My Enemy

The character in this story is me.

A while back I hated one of my teeth. I expected it to stay in my mouth and do what it was supposed to do, but not only was it torturing me, it was letting me down. It was betraying me.

I threatened it with a terrible fate. It would be thrown away, and that was the last anyone would ever see of it.

Then the tooth spoke to me. It said that it wanted to be well and get better, but it was having a hard time when I was so angry. I realized then that if I wanted the tooth to get better, I had to start loving it. It wasn't easy.

If we get angry with friends we think betrayed us, it makes even more sense that we might hate our body-with which we spend much more time.

Poor body. It seems unfair that it should have to not only become the repository for our emotional aches and pain, conflicts, and unresolved, unexpressed feelings, but gets blamed when this burden causes it to behave less than perfectly.

That doesn't mean anyone's wrong to get angry with his or her bodies. It's often pointless to try to be rational about something you need so much. Go ahead and yell. It will help release some of the tension you feel. However, also let your body yell back, as I did. You'd be surprised what it might tell you, and whatever it says is sure to be helpful.

More details on this method are provided in To Your Health at http:

Dr. Edward Bach said: "Holly protects us from everything that is not Universal Love. Holly opens the heart and unites us with Divine Love."

In doing this, it helps us to fully connect with others and with our bodies. When we realize that we and our bodies are in this together, we can give our physical beings a break and benefit from its wisdom.

Crystals

Sometimes learning patience with our bodies is vital, and rhodonite is the crystal that can help us to do this.

Anger is often an automatic reaction rather than a choice. Kunzite helps us to make loving choices.