Flower Power

Healing memories

Rose Morley

This month we’re looking at memory. A complex part of the human body, memory likes to play with you, and sometimes play tricks on you. It can retain a lot of information— all the tiny fragments of experience that make up a life —and yet it can take all of that away in the blink of an eye. Flower essences can help us to engage with the emotional side of memory, and the varying ways in which it plays with, delights and distresses us.

There are so many questions about our individual relationships with memory. Are you someone who lives in the past, or do you dream about— perhaps fixate on —the future? Is your memory mentally draining, or even drained? Does a particular memory hold you back from moving forward?

If, like me, you find memory a fickle friend, then using flower essences can make all the difference. From personal experience, and from my work with my patients, I have found that particular essences can help mind and memory move forwards, gain clarity, and focus on the here and now.

Of Dr. Edward Bach’s 38 Flower Essences, the following are considered especially suited to aid memory: Olive (Olea europaea), Clematis (C. spp.), and Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp). Australia’s Bush Flower Essences recommend Isopogon (Isopogon cuneatus); meanwhile, from Scotland’s Findhorn range, there is Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla spp.), Broom (Genisteae spp.) and Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba).

This month, I will be focusing on Ginkgo flower essence. The Ginkgo tree has been around on earth for over 150 million years, and has been grown and used medicinally since time immemorial. In the herbal medicinal world it is more commonly encountered as a tincture or dried herb, but it can also be used as a flower essence. Its attributes include helping the conscious mind to find clarity, and aiding us in finding clear powers of judgement, association, and recall. The indications that suggest Gingko would be useful include mental and emotional restlessness, finding difficulty in concentrating, mental confusion and disturbed sleep patterns. Gingko’s response? ‘I align and connect, I stand in the light of truth’ (Leigh, 2012:56). Gingko encourages coherence and co-ordinated thinking and reasoning, and also stimulates endurance and connectivity. Crucially, it evokes the light of the conscious mind, helping to regulate the body’s responsiveness to light by magnetising the photosensitive mechanisms of the etheric pineal gland.

We know that stress, worry, and anxiety can disrupt the brain, but there remain many questions about the impact of these factors on an individual’s memory and well-being. You may find clarity and reassurance by exploring flower remedies. Seek advice from a practitioner, and give your memory some flower power.

Image: Courtesy of Findhorn Flower Essences, reproduced with permission.

References: Leigh, M. (2012) Findhorn Flower Essence Handbook. Nature Spirit Publishing: Findhorn www.facebook.com/AROSEmatherapies