Ladyhawk Reiki

Can you imagine a time when we were so connected to the land that we instinctively knew which herbs to pick when we were ill? When we would sit beside a plant absorbing its energy unthinkingly when we needed to? When the knowledge of our inter-connectedness with nature was stored in every cell of our being?

We’ve turned our back on nature but if we keep turning we come full circle and are face-to-face with nature again. And those ancient memories stored in our DNA start to flow back into our consciousness. We won’t need to imagine, we’ll remember.

Over the past few hundred years we’ve been captivated by all the clever, glittery, shiny things that bring ease and wonder into our lives. I can’t imagine life without my Mac but we spend more time staring at screens than we do staring at flowers and it’s time to find a balance.

My computer enables me to do wonderful creative things and connect with wonderful creative people but sometimes I get so shackled to it that I don’t go outside enough. I’ll just check Twitter, I’ll just send a quick email (47 emails later….) I’ll just read that inspiring blog entry, I’ll just download that free e-book that I will never be able to live my dreams without… And so it goes on.

For all that I love being outside, I find it hard to give myself permission to spend time in nature in the same timeless unquestioning way I did as a child. I’m sure it’s the same for you. So my body’s taken things into its own hands by giving me the gift of painful RSI this year. Despite the new ergonomic chair, mouse and keyboard the pain burns into my right hand, arm and  shoulder.

I’ve worked with it holistically but it comes back if I spend too much time in front of the screen so I’m listening to my body more and tapping the keyboard less. I now have one day a week when I don’t press the On button on my computer at all and that feels like a huge relief for me and Mac. We both get to rest our inner drive! And there’s a voice that comes to me in quiet times to say ‘get outside’ so I’m listening to that and taking the opportunity to spend more slow time in nature instead.

What is your walking speed when you’re in nature? Is it more speed walker or snail? Have you noticed how the speed of your breath is linked to the speed of your walk? By slowing down your step you allow your breath to slow down too which begins to relax you.

As you slow down to the pace of Mother Earth, you start to notice the detail of the natural world around you and the natural world starts to notice you! I’ve been up close and personal with a fox, squirrel, birds and butterflies this week simply by slowing down to a different pace in nature.  By slowing down I had a beautiful connection with a seabird which I’ve written about on my blog.

When you slow down you will notice there are flowers that call you.  If you listen to their promptings you will be tapping into a long tradition of free, accessible and instant healing. After many years as a successful Harley Street physician and influential researcher, Edward Bach turned to flowers to find the future of healing.

He walked the fields and lanes of the South of England asking to be shown those flowers that would bring relief to the emotional states he saw in his patients and himself. He followed his instincts to make flower essences from these plants then he tested them rigorously. Now millions of people around the world use flower essences and anyone can tap into the subtle world of flower healing by connecting with flowers in their natural surroundings.

Every flower has a particular vibration made of its shape, colour, pattern, form and intrinsic essence so every flower has a different gift to share with you if you are open to receive it. But don’t listen to me, listen to the flowers and try it out for yourself by following these steps.

1. Go for a walk somewhere with flowers, either wild or cultivated. It could be your own garden, a park or some wild countryside.

2. Slow down to a snail’s pace and give yourself time to let distracting thoughts float away.  Be conscious that with each moment your foot touches the earth you are connecting to Mother Earth.

3. Be quiet and turn your attention inwards.  Think of it like meeting a new friend who could be shy of meeting you for the first time. Be quiet, gentle and open… without expectation.

4. Look all around and notice the flowers you can see, from tiny little flowers on the verge to tree blossoms above your head.

5. Which flower seems most attractive to you? It might be something unexpected and seemingly insignificant. It might be a flower that you never noticed before. I hadn’t noticed holly or cleaver flowers until last year.  Do some flowers bring your joy and laughter bubbling to the surface? Do some make you stop in your tracks in wonder?  Do some make you feel calmer as you admire them? Perhaps there will be one that you didn’t want to look at but when you did, it made you cry.

6. Notice your reactions to the different flowers around you and when you feel a strong connection, spend some time with that flower.

7. Close your eyes and carry its image into your mind’s eye as you journey together.

8. Open your eyes and let yourself be drawn into the centre of the flower losing yourself in its sweet colour and beauty.

Some days you’ll find this easier than others. Some days I’m too tense and distracted to feel any connection, but the more you quietly practice this the more you’ll become sensitive to what a flower has to tell you. That knowledge may come as words or inner knowing, you may get images of how a flower heals, you may even feel a reaction in different parts of your body.

Follow your intuition on this and be open to the possibility that the flowers you most love carry the vibration you most need. As you spend time in nature actively connecting with flowers in this way you’re absorbing healing at a subtle level. Animals do it all the time.  When I look into the heart of a flower I see my own heart reflected back to me. It will be the same for you.

“He who sees into the secret inner life of the plant, into the stirring of its powers, and observes how the flower gradually unfolds itself, sees the matter with quite different eyes – he knows what he sees” ~Goethe

Guest Post First published in the Essence of Wild newsletter July 2010.

© 2010 Jackie Stewart. Respectfully