August 2016 – Self-love

Hello everyone!

We are in the peak of the Fire season right now! And it still feels very much to do with the Heart energy that I’ve been talking about over the last few months. In Chinese medicine, the Heart’s blood nourishes self-love. When our Heart is not open, our spirit is disturbed and we can become tired and anxious.

Looking after ourselves spiritually, so that we can open our hearts, build healthy relationships and follow our true path in life often means choosing to change the stories that we tell ourselves – and in particular, the way we talk to ourselves about it. Listen to the way that you talk to yourself this month and see what you hear. Try saying out loud some of the things you say. If your thoughts towards yourself are unkind and critical, it’s time for a change!

If you find that you are not being kind to yourself, consider Milk Thistle which is a beautiful heart-opening essence for people who do not love themselves fully. When you truly love yourself, there is no need to be unkind towards yourself, because you can accept yourself as you are in this moment, bringing you into a place of light and love in your life.

Another organ associated with Fire is the Small Intestine, which is to do with separating the pure from the impure. Spiritually, this relates to separating true thoughts and beliefs from untrue ones. When we can look at ourselves honestly, facing sometimes difficult truths, we grow spiritually in leaps and bounds. It’s often not just what we say but also the way we say it that is the problem. There’s nothing wrong with facing truth – even when that is uncomfortable. But we can speak those truths in a kind or an unkind way.

We all have our inner critical voices, and we need to listen to them objectively and ask them to speak kindly. When listened to objectively, the Small Intestine has the chance to determine whether this is a thought that has some truth in it, or whether this is a burden from our past that needs to be left behind. Where there is truth in the thought, we need to make gentle changes to grow, rather than turn on ourselves in an unkind way, beating ourselves for not being perfect.

The time for being unkind to ourselves needs to end. I think it helps to remember that a rounded human being has experience of a very wide range of feelings, emotions and ways of seeing things. If we can be kind to all parts of our self, we can heal our hearts and move into self-love.

Buttercup is a wonderful essence to use when our inner critic is in full flow. Buttercup is an essence for bitterness and we often think of it as being directed to other people, but it can easily apply to ourselves.

This month is a very good month to focus on your relationship with yourself. When you are in good health, relating to other people in a healthy way becomes a natural thing.

Meditation is a powerful way to improve our relationship with ourselves, especially in the season of Fire. Meditation brings some of the cooling Water influence of stillness and calm that we need in the heat of summer. It keeps us firmly grounded with the Earth energies.

Fire energy can sometimes rise and whirl around and then dissipate without going anywhere unless we are properly grounded. People who are searching on a spiritual path can easily become heaven-bound, with their eyes and minds looking upwards in search of the mysteries of life. But we need to be grounded before we can be fully in touch with the heavens.

Heath Bedstraw is a beautiful tiny little white flower that helps us to find inner peace and stillness. It’s great to use to bring us in touch with the tranquillity of meditation. It’s also a lovely essence to use when making changes to our lifestyle, helping us to relax and let go of old ways of being.

Here’s to a world where we celebrate ourselves and those around us for simply being the way we are! I hope you see the best in yourself this month.

Love
Becca