Honouring How We Feel

Happy Spring! The month of April has arrived, as has my renewed focus to inspire others to use Bach flower remedies to work through the layers of grief and sadness that come with losing a loved one. The two year anniversary of my Mom Wilma Johannesma’s passing is April 1st — April Fool’s Day! It’s been emotional and lonely at times for sure, I have felt deep grief and I sure do miss my Mom and our close relationship. Bach Flower remedies have been tremendously helpful to me in soothing my grief and raw emotions over the last two years. Although grief is part of being human, it’s something that one never gets used to. Rather, it is an experience to live along side with, and an important time to lean on tools and remedies, especially gems like Bach flowers for emotional healing.

Bach Flower remedies were developed by Dr. Edward Bach (1886–1936) a very inspiring healer who was an accomplished British Doctor, Bacteriologist, Homeopath, Spiritual Writer and Pathologist. By looking at the personality of the person and their emotional state, instead of the dis-ease or symptom, Dr. Bach believed true healing with Nature can occur through the use of gentle flower remedies. Starting in 1930, Dr. Bach began collecting plants and flowers and devoted much of his life to developing a system of medicine aimed at a particular mental state or emotion. Dr. Bach developed a total of 38 flower remedies and divided them into 7 groups: Fear, Uncertainty, Lack of Interest in Present Circumstances, Loneliness, Despondency & Despair, Over-sensitivity and Over-care for Others.

Sometimes I use Bach Rescue Remedy, a fabulous ‘go to’ remedy of a five-flower blend for acute stress, trauma, anxiety. I made myself a personal mix for grief and sadness to give comfort including the following remedies: Walnut (my favourite remedy) for protection, change and transitions, and to aid in breaking links with the past... Pine remedy for working through guilt and shame, providing some selfacceptance. The remedy Mustard has helped with sadness, gloom and despair and to give me some peace of mind and hope. Honeysuckle is for dwelling in the past and helps me to let go, move on and focus being in the present. Willow is for resentment, self pity and bitterness… honest feelings to have following such a big shock and loss of a key person in my life. This remedy assists with the ability to forgive and forget, and can provide optimism and more joy. The last remedy for my mix is Star of Bethlehem for distress and unhappiness following shock, trauma and grief and provides comfort and consolation, neutralizing the effects of shock. This remedy is also in the Rescue Remedy blend.

I have come to a place of peace about my Mom’s transition, and I feel more connected to her than ever in some ways which gives me great comfort. I am grateful to work through emotions for real healing and to Dr. Bach for such amazing remedies to assist the sometimes painful process. It is also deeply rewarding to help myself and others peel the layers of the ‘emotional onion’ to discover our true selves through personal honesty about how we’re feeling using Bach flower remedies.

I happily offer Bach flower remedy consultations that include a personal questionnaire to help guide your choices for appropriate remedies. I create a personal blend of remedies based on your remedy choices, lasting three weeks, taking 4 drops 4x a day as a daily practice of focused self care. If you would like to learn more about a personal Bach flower remedy, please be in touch by email to afreshstart@shaw.ca or call Diana at 250 597-2102. Bright Spring blessings and happy planting!

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across from Salt Spring ferry terminal 1532 CHAPLIN ST, CROFTON

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Diana Pink is a Holistic Health Mentor, offering ways to detox and balance your life to restore vitality and health.

Heart-Centred Counselling values the wideangled, heart-centred space of the practitioner and the phenomenon of shared and co-created space, as much as any intervention, viewing each client as the ultimate expert on what is needed for resolution. The Heart-Centered approach has been developed and refined for the last 40 years, by Diane Zimberoff, MA, LMFT, and David Hartman, MSW, at The Wellness Institute, in Washington, USA. Graduates are now practicing in Canada, the USA, Turkey, South Africa, Taiwan, Kuwait, Turkey, Denmark, Mexico, and more. "In talk therapy and other theories," says Zimberoff, "we have spent years communicating with the conscious mind. As HeartCentred clinicians, we have learned to proceed slowly and listen carefully to the revelations of the deeper mind, body and spirit." Each pathway to resolution is unique, with its own rhythm, images, resources and inner experiences. Some people find resolution in the speaking of their story out loud, in the transformative power of compassionate

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