In ancient times, life was intricately woven with the cycles of nature. Our lives were intimately connected with the journey of the sun through the constellations as our Mother Earth transformed through her seasons. In a self sufficient society, knowledge of the seasons and their effect on the food supply were crucial to survival and to quality of life. For the same reason, our ancestors also observed the phases of the Moon and its effect on the tides, plant growth and the behaviour of animals and people. We lived in harmony with these cycles.

Astrology is believed to have evolved as it was also noticed that those born at specific times of the year exhibited distinct character traits. Indeed, Confucius said, “He who wants to understand man must first understand Heaven, for it is Heaven which gives man his nature and his law.”

The ancients were possessed of much wisdom that modern man is only just now beginning to appreciate. Stonehenge (conservatively dated at 1800BC), is a giant astronomical observatory, not remotely understood until computers discovered its ability to accurately predict solstices, equinoxes, eclipses and other significant astronomical events. Zodiacs from ancient Egypt, China, India, Mexico, Greece, Babylon, Assyria and Sumer have all been discovered.

In ancient times, spirituality, health and astrology were all linked. 14th Century Chinese zodiacs show the effect of planets and constellations on health. Archaeologists have unearthed 30000 year old bones with engravings marking the moon cycles, believed to be female fertility calendars. (Francesca Naish’s book “Natural Fertility” details a natural contraceptive method that is 97% effective and includes the use of the moon cycle to predict fertility.)

In the bible, Ecclesiastes and Genesis contain obvious references to astrology to those who know how to read it from that perspective. The 12th Century church doctrinist Thomas Aquinas said, in Opusculum XXII, “When someone uses the judgement of the stars in order to foretell physical effects… this is not a sin…. for all people observe the heavenly spheres in some way with regards to such effects; the farmers sow and harvest at certain times in accordance with their observation of the course of the sun; and boatmen do not go out onto the waters at full moon. When a person is ill, the doctors observe the course of the sun and the moon to foretell the critical days. Therefore it is right and proper to heed the advice of the stars in other cases with regards to physical effects.” In 1586, Pope Sixtus V stated, in his bull, (regarding astrology) “Allowed however, are judgements and natural observations in support of navigation, agriculture and medical science.”

Ancient Greece gave us Hippocrates, known to the medical world as ‘the father of modern medicine’, but like so much of the ancient healing arts, many of his wise teachings have been disregarded through ignorance. Hippocrates was a herbalist and an astrologer. Modern medicine chose to ignore certain of his statements including:

“Ignorant is the doctor who understands nothing of astrology. The role played by astrology in medicine is no small one; indeed it is very large.”

“A doctor without knowledge of astrology does not have the right to call himself a doctor.”

“He who practises medicine without the benefit of the movement of the stars and planets is a fool.”

However the modern Hippocratic Oath did include: “First, do no harm”. Unfortunately this has now gone by the wayside too, and doctors (in Australia) no longer take this oath upon graduation. Thankfully however, “Do no Harm” remains a cornerstone of naturopathic philosophy.

When modern science took hold, we were told that nothing was valid unless it could be measured. One of the consequences of this was that the marriage between spirituality, human nature, healing and astrology dissolved, not least because there were no machines sophisticated enough to measure many of the variables. The “Not True till Validated” mindset of scientists has always perplexed me. How do you measure love? If you can’t measure love, does that mean it isn’t real? Being possessed of a strong sixth sense that revealed to me many things that weren’t necessarily obvious to others, particularly scientists, I spent many years living in faith that one day science would catch up.

Joy of joys, in the 1980s Dr Percy Seymour, an astrophysicist, set out to disprove astrology and instead, his research converted him. His 1997 book “The Scientific Basis of Astrology” makes for fascinating reading. As does Dr Richard Gerber’s tome “Vibrational Medicine” which details how Quantam Physics explains the action and efficacy of flower essences and other natural healing modalities. “Molecules of Emotion” by Dr Candace Pert is another excellent text which eloquently describes how our emotions profoundly affect our physical health and the cutting edge science that explains why this is so.

None of this would have been news to Hippocrates. Nor is it to practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (a healing system dating back over five thousand years), or to those trained in wholistic herbalism or naturopathy. All these therapies have the philosophy that dis-ease is the result of mental and emotional imbalances which, left unaddressed, eventually manifest in the physical body in a predictable manner. The book “You can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay covers this subject beautifully.

Medical astrology is an ancient science and gives us valuable clues as to our vulnerabilities emotionally, mentally and physically. As such it provides a wealth of information for those interested in practising preventative health care as potential weaknesses can be supported or treated with the use of natural remedies including herbs and flower essences.

Flower essences are an accessible healing tool that anyone can use as they are completely safe and natural. If the wrong remedy is taken it simply doesn’t work, so it is impossible to do any harm with them (Hippocrates would approve).

If you are interested in learning more about medical astrology and how Australian Bush Flower Essences can be used to improve your health on all levels, click here to see when and where my one day seminar is next being held near you. If you would like to host one in your area, contact me. Professional astrologers will gain tools to assist those clients with harsh natal aspects and difficult transits, however no formal training in astrology is needed. Everyone can apply this easy, practical and effective information in their day to day lives and practitioners can use it with every client for better healing outcomes.

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What most people think is a “bad menopause” is really oestrogen dominance. This is when the proportion of oestrogen is too high compared to the other female hormone progesterone.

Dr John Lee, an American gynaecologist, did ground breaking research in this area. He discovered that it is the hormone progesterone that stimulates the body to lay down new bone, while excess oestrogen erodes bone. According to his research, internal and external dryness also resulted from not enough progesterone. Dr Lee consequently pioneered natural progesterone treatment. A free series of articles on Oestrogen Dominance, how it can affect women throughout their lives, as well as how natural remedies can assist with it, is available here.

Poor memory and vagueness are also common complaints during the hormonal shift in menopause. A good digestive detoxification, along with flower essences such as Isopogon, Paw Paw and Crowea help strengthen both your digestion and your brain function. Your brain has first dibs on any nutrition you extract from your food. If its truggling, imagine what is going with the rest of you.

Mood swings can be another problem in normally rational, sensible women through menopause. Crying spells, outbursts of anger, bitterness and feeling low can all be helped with specific flower essences. I find Red Suva Frangipani wonderful for assisting with excess crying; Dagger Hakea for bitterness; Mountain Devil for anger, and Tall Yellow Top for low moods. I use these flower essences an excellent addition to herbs when supporting women through menopause.

An important part of this healing process is to allow yourself to acknowledge your feelings, understand where they may be coming from and take various steps to release them. This may include counselling; it is quite extraordinary how much resolution with old emotional baggage can be reached in a short amount of time with a good counsellor.

For more on flower essences for women, Australian Bush Flower Essences have a One Day Workshop on Women’s Wellbeing. Their Level 1 workshop discusses women’s hormonal health in detail and one of the themes in Level 2 is the release of anger and sadness. More information on these workshops and the full international workshop schedule is available here.

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In 2007, a major clinical trial into the long term effects of pharmaceutical hormonal replacement therapy was ceased due to safety concerns. According to the scientists conducting the trial, the increased rates of breast cancer and heart disease in the women taking HRT, as opposed to the control group (who were not taking HRT), was unacceptably high.

ABC radio Australia reported in late February 2009 that the number of women taking HRT in Australia dropped in both 2007 and 2008, and that the incidence of breast cancer in women over 50 years of age (the age group most likely to be diagnosed) had dropped significantly in 2008. Researchers now recommend that HRT only be taken by women with severe menopausal symptoms, and then only for a period of one to two years.

Given all this, what are the alternatives, other than to go cold turkey and take nothing through menopause? Horror stories abound of hot flushes continuing for years, as well as the spectre of wrinkly skin, osteoporosis and mood swings.

This is where natural therapies can help, for although these symptoms are common, they are not normal. After ten years in practice as a herbalist specialising in womens health, I would have to say that no woman needs to suffer from, nor tolerate, a bad menopause.

There are many herbs which will ease the symptoms of menopause, including hot flushes, though what works for each individual woman is always different. Rather than buy something over the counter, you are best to seek the assistance of a professionally qualified herbalist who can give you individualised treatment. Herbs are strongly therapeutic, and our bodies are all different what works for you may not work for another woman, nor even for you in six months time. I rarely give anyone the same herbal mixture twice.

Flower Essences are much more accessible than herbs, because they are self adjusting, which means you cant do any harm to yourself or others with them. This makes them very safe for home use by anyone. That said, many professionally qualified natural therapists, including myself, also use them in their clinical practice.

In regards to menopause, there are several flower essences that work really well. These include She Oak, which assists with female balance and also with hydration so it can be used whenever dryness in the body is an issue. This makes it very useful as an addition to your skin moisturiser. Many women also find improvement in terms of vaginal dryness.

Mulla Mulla can be of great help in any conditions where there is excess heat, and I find it excellent for hot flushes. However it must be realised that hot flushes serve a purpose – to sweat out accumulated toxins.

A question I often contemplate whenever comes to see me with unpleasant symptoms is this: body right? Or body wrong?

Do you think it is a good idea for your body to rid itself of toxins? Might this assist you to enjoy a long and healthy old age?

Your body knows what it needs to do to be well. Of course you will be more comfortable without hot flushes (especially if you live in a hot climate) however in order to support your body to cleanse itself, I would recommend other remedies to stimulate your liver, kidneys, bowel and lymphatics. This way your natural self healing process can be supported at the same time your hot flushes are being reduced.

More detailed information on how flower essences can assist women through menopause is explored in both the Level 1 Workshop and the Women’s Wellbeing Workshop by Australian Bush Flower Essences. Click here for details of when and where these internationally taught workshops will be next held near you.

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The longer I am in clinical practice, the moreI can see how mental attitudes and emotional stress contribute towards physical dis-ease. Listening to peoples stories, the language they use with their words and body, paints a clear picture of where we need to go with treatment.

As an herbalist, I always treat with herbal medicines. The same plants have been used by all the major civilizations down through the ages for the simple reason that they work. They have the same healing powers for us in modern times as they did with our stone age ancestors, although the challenges we face now are quite different. Herbs primarily heal on a physical level, but even that is a simpliification – Pulsatilla and Motherwort are two herbs that immediately spring to mind that have strong emotional healing qualities.

But, given that many dis-eases commence on an emotional and mental level, wouldnt it be wonderful if it could be stopped there without us ever having to get physically sick? Not that there are not lessons to be learned through illness – there are but if we are living consciously, flower essences are a wonderful tool to energetically shift and heal the negative emotions and attitudes underlying most if not all dis-ease.

This concept was what first led me to explore flower essences in the early 1990s. Flower essences too, have been used since Stone Age times. Indigenous Australians were observed by the white settlers to soak flowers in water in the sun and drink the water. Across the world many countries including India and South America, have similar traditions. For western civilization, the ancient Egyptians, Hildegarde von Bingham, Paracelsus and Dr Edward Bach, used flower essences for healing.

Flowers are the highest expression of the plant kingdom so contain the most healing potential. I always use flower essences as part of the healing regime for every person who comes to see me, as they help heal the underlying attitudes and emotions on a very deep level. Huge shifts occur for many people when they start taking flower essences.

Australian Bush Flower Essences include flowers to help improve self esteem, parent & child relationships, overwhelm, memory, learning problems, group harmony, guilt, jealousy, obsession, co-dependency, addictions, grief and anger. These are often things we all experience at one time or another. You dont need to be professionally qualified in anything to know if you need assistance with any of these issues. Imagine if you had access to healing tool that allowed you to move through these difficult emotions faster and with fewer traumas?

The great thing about flower essences is that anyone can choose what they or a loved one needs. They are totally natural, with no effects and are safe for people of all ages. Even many animals have improved on flower essences, strongly suggesting that the improvement is not due to a placebo effect.

Other remedies can assist in developing your spirituality. For example Bush Iris helps open up the third eye and clairvoyance, while Green Spider Orchid enables you to communicate with other realms. Sydney Rose gives us a sense of being at one with God. Angelsword and Fringed Violet protect you energetically. Pink Flannel Flower brings a sense of gratitude and Boab assists with releasing negative family and karmic patterns.

Australian Bush Flower Essences regularly hold their Level 1 workshop worldwide. For details on the next one nearest to you click here.

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The Australian Bush Flower Essences range includes many flowers to help with issues specific for women.

The most important flower of all for women is She Oak. It is excellent for helping to restore female balance at any time during a woman’s life, be it puberty, menstruation, conception, pregnancy, menopause or aging.

Sometimes a woman is unable to fall pregnant, yet all the medical tests show that everything looks fine and there is no reason physically which she is not conceiving. In these instances, She Oak is worth considering.

Birth can be an extremely empowering experience for a woman if she is supported emotionally and encouraged by those around her. Even in the absence of this, Bush Fuchsia will allow her follow her own gut instincts in regards to her pregnancy, birth and mothering style.

Many emotions and thoughts around sexuality, touch, and intimacy can also be assisted with the Essences.

Flannel Flower (above) helps you to feel more comfortable with physical touch and enjoy your sensuality, while Billy Goat Plum addresses iissues surrounding body image.

For relationships, Bush Gardenia has helped many a couple reconnect and remember what first brought them together, to be more considerate of each other, communicate more deeply, and rediscover the passion of the early years as a result.

Old Man Banksia can be very helpful if you are feeling bogged down, especially if you are feeling disheartened, weary, burdened or frustrated. I often give it to women who are feeling this way after having a baby or around about the age of 40 or at menopause. Times of hormonal change are when we are often more prone to these emotions, and Old Man Banksia can be of great assistance. These are times when we tend to re-evaluate our life direction and goals and any discontentment with our situation becomes apparent.

The aboriginal women were well aware of this and considered this flower sacred and a symbol of female spirituality. This is not surprising given their strong connection to their land and with the plants and animals they shared it with.

To meet Old Man Banksia out in the wild and learn more about its healing qualities, have a look at the video below.

Have you used any Australian Bush Flower Essences?

• Which of the Essences in this post have you used?
• How did you find them?
• Would you like to know more?

Please share your experiences in the comments section below.

If you would like to learn more, Australian Bush Flower Essences hold their one day workshop ‘Australian Bush Flower Essences and Womens Wellbeing all over the world. For details on the next one near you, click here.

Have you done The Women’s Wellbeing workshop?

• What did you think of it?
• Did you gain any insights?
• How has it changed your life?

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Weekends, in the middle of the night, whilst overseas or out camping are all times when medical help is not as readily available as you might like. This is when a well stocked first aid kit comes in handy, and there are many safe, simple and economical natural remedies that can be of assistance until more help is at hand.

Insect stings respond very well to an application of Nettles ointment. I have used Nettles successfully with wasps, fleas, mozzies, ants, leeches, ticks and march flies. And of course, close encounters with Nettles herself. Apart from the fact that it works quickly, the best thing about this remedy is that the sting does not continue to come up itchy again in the following days and weeks.You can also make up Nettles Tea and apply it as a lotion compress. Nettles tea is available to buy by clicking the icon immediately below.

If applied immediately Nettles as an ointment or lotion / compress will soothe the bite within ten minutes (and that will usually be the last you think of it). If its still itchy after ten minutes, repeat the application at ten minute intervals until you have relief. Three times is nearly always enough.

Be aware that Nettles ointment will only relieve the itch from ticks. It is VITAL that the tick is removed fully by the head and any other symptoms watched for and immediately treated because tick bites can quickly prove fatal.

Chickweed is another good remedy for itching this time for the itching of eczema and psoriasis. You can also take it as a tea for eczema or psoriasis. Chickweed is a herb that you can both put on the outside while you are taking it on the inside. Chickweed ointment is very soothing if the skin is really dry.

My Soothing Itch Balm is absolutely wonderful for people, horses and dogs – click below for more information and to buy.

• Soothing Itch Balm for people
• Soothing Itch Balm for horses
  
• Soothing Itch Balm for dogs

(But do not use Soothing Itch Balm on cats – they are very sensitive and the essential oils in this formula are way too strong for cats to use it safely).

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When you get stressed, your brain responds by telling your adrenal glands to secrete the hormone adrenaline. This is the fight or flight hormone. If you get a fright, nature instantly turns on your survival response. Blood is diverted away from your digestion to your heart, brain and muscles; your heart and breathing rates increase, your muscles tense (ready for action) and your blood pressure goes up. All of this is designed to enable you to attack whatever is threatening you, or run away from it whatever your brain believes is the best option in the circumstances.

This is a biological hangover from earlier times, when sabre tooth tigers and marauding war parties lurked at the cave or castle entrance. The adrenal response is just as useful today in life threatening situations being accosted in a dark alley, being caught up in a natural disaster, getting stuck halfway down a cliff, finding a loved one underneath something heavy. There are many stories of people displaying incredible strength and presence of mind in such circumstances, feats that they would normally not be capable of. All thanks to the adrenal response.

However often the threat not quite so immediate or overt. Nonetheless your body still responds the way nature has programmed it to in times of danger adrenally. Good examples of this in modern times include: foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings; wondering if you can make your mortgage or rent repayments; fear of terrorist attack; the government deciding to forcefully resume your home to build major infrastruture; your boss threatening to sack you; worrying if you can feed yourself and your family; someone nearly running into you in your car; a violent or abusive relationship; bullying. You probably call these things stress. Your body regards them as threats to your survival.

In civilised society, it is deemed unacceptable to belt politicians, bank managers or bosses whom you believe are threatening your survival in the aforementioned ways. The police tend to take you away and lock you up, adding to your stress. Often, it is simply not possible to run away from the stress either. Which leaves your body all hyped up and with no place to go.

Normally, once the danger has passed, your body secretes another hormone to return you to your former relaxed state. However with these types of ongoing modern day stresses, your body remains in a state of high alert ready to fight or flee.

The physical effects of this in the short term include any of the following: high blood pressure, raised pulse rate, poor digestion, muscle tension, aggression, anxiety, panic attacks, lowered immunity and reproductive problems.

High levels of circulating adrenaline over an extended period of time can cause heart problems, thyroid imbalance, infertility, vulnerability to communicable diseases, auto-immune disorders and cancer. Stress can, potentially, have serious repercussions on your health and longevity. There are many natural remedies that can help. with stress. Australian Bush Flower Essences have two very good combinations for stress – Calm and Clear and Emergency Essence, available here.

Herbs that can be useful include the generally calming and soothing Chamomile Tea. Rosehips Tea, being full of Vitamin C, has a tonic effect on the adrenals and helps you to cope with large challenges.

Should these fail to help, professional herbalists have many practitioner strength herbs which will be of great assistance.

If your stress levels are high, or stress has been going on for more than a month, you really need to seek professional advice and not try to self diagnose or self treat.

Meditation, yoga, massage, exercising, spending time relaxing with friends or pursuing a hobby you enjoy, are all other excellent ways to alleviate stress. A good counsellor is also invaluable for helping you put things into perspective and for giving you tools to deal with your situation.

Avoid coffee and cigarettes. They make you feel better at the time because they give your adrenal glands a boot to produce more adrenaline. However ultimately they deplete your adrenal glands, leaving you less able to cope than ever.

The natural remedies listed above not only help you feel better in the short term, but actively build your reserve energy and strength.

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We are literally swimming in a sea of Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR). Here we look at EMR and how you can protect yourself against any adverse effects it may have.

EMR is emitted in varying levels from all electrical devices – including electrical power lines, electricity sub stations, mobile phone towers, household appliances, TVs, computers, cordless and mobile phones. Of the latter, wireless computers are the worst offenders as are the latest photo / video / internet transmitting and receiving mobile phones.

What price are we paying for the convenience of these devices? Are there any safe levels? Given the popularity of mobile phones, and electronic games with children, what effect (if any) do they have on developing brains and bodies?

Research shows that your head becomes a radio transmitter when you are talking on a cordless or mobile phone. Studies have shown that due to their smaller and thinner scull, this effect is amplified in children. The conclusion drawn in one German study was that there are NO safe levels of mobile phone use for children.

In some countries, it is illegal to build houses close to major power lines after a German study concluded after twenty years of observing the health of those living close to major power lines, that anything closer than 3km had an adverse effect on human health. However some governments (including Australia) have a policy of renting the airspace above publicly owned buildings (including schools) to telecommunications companies for their mobile phone towers. Is this a responsible policy? Is the health of children at risk as a result? Surely such a major issue warrants at least some investigation.

We are constantly told that there is no evidence that mobile phones (or their towers) are harmful. I dont’ know about you, but there seem to be a lot more people these days developing brain tumours. This was unheard of when I was growing up; now there is not a month goes by without me hearing of someone else in the community (or one of their friends or family) being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Whether there is a link I don’t know. However I will share what I have been told by nurses who work in neurological (brain) wards and oncology (cancer) wards in major cities. They tell me that a proportion of the people suffering from brain tumours say that they have spent a lot of time on their mobile phone and that their brain tumour is right where they hold their mobile phone against their head. Or it is right over the place where they usually wear it (a front or back pocket). These stories are deemed anecdotal i.e. just someone telling their story and with no scientific evidence to back up any possible link (that’s why there is ‘no evidence EMR harmful’). I guess thats an acceptable response as long as it is not your story or that of one of your loved ones, but given the number of similar stories, this surely warrants further investigation.

There have been few long term studies done on this subject and those that have been rarely reach the mainstream media. It is also a highly emotive and contentious topic – everyone wants 5 bars of reception strength on their mobile phone and the onltyway to achieve that is with a lot of transmitting towers. So what to do about it? How do you protect yourself against this constant, invisible bombardment with radiation?

You could banish all electrical devices from your home and office and live far away from power lines and phone towers, but this not always practical. Since the introduction of wireless technology I’m not sure this is even possible any more as one telecommunication company in Australia proudly advertises that its mobile network now covers 97% of our population.

Some companies sell chips for mobile phones that are said to cancel out a good deal, if not all, the EMR. It also depends on the quality of the device.

There is also a combination called Electro made by Australian Bush Flower Essences. When I give talks, using a kinesiology demonstration with a volunteer, I show how simply holding a mobile phone in standby mode induces a stress state in the body. I then demonstrate that holding or taking Electro eliminates this stress.

In 2004, a double blind, cross-over placebo trial was conducted on Electro by scientists in Russia. These scientists had been trialling and evaluating various allopathic and natural substances for many years in an attempt to discover the most effective means of reducing levels of accumulated body radioactivity in children, all heavily contaminated as a direct result of the Chernobyl accident. The team is made up of medical specialists and other health professionals who care for the children using many modalities.

The clinical trail concluded that Electro Essence is the most effective treatment ever discovered by that medical team in reducing human radiation levels. The children who received Electro had high radiation levels and the Essence reduced the childrens radiation levels by 43% in just 2 weeks, compared with a control group which had a reduction of just 3.5%. Upon repeated psychological and psychometric examination, the children treated with Electro Essence showed a reliable decrease in the dose of accumulated body radioactivity. It was concluded that Electro Essence is a reliable and efficient anti-radiation preparation.

I spend about half an hour talking about this and many other uses for Electro when I teach the Level One Workshop for Australian Bush Flower Essences workshop, so if you would like to know more, please join me some time.

Until then, consider taking Electro every six months. It’s simply a matter of taking 7 drops under your tongue twice a day for two weeks. It is available for purchase here.

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Id like to give you an example of how flower essences can be used as preventative medicine for a sun sign.

Each sun sign has specific parts of the body which are vulnerable. As you are probably aware, everyone responds and reacts to stress differently and this is partly due to the filters we each have. We all see life differently and this is due to a combination of our genetics, our cultural background, our family patterns and our own life experience.

Another filter is our sun sign, and this has a powerful effect upon the way we think as well as our emotional responses.

Aries, for example, are high energy people who tend to be impulsive. They act before they think and dash through life, becoming impatient if anyone or anything slows them down. This can emerge as frustration, anger or rage emotionally and high blood pressure physically. Physically they can be prone to accidents due to their hasty, poorly planned actions. Aries leaps in where angels fear to tread so can find themselves in dangerous situations, requiring constant adrenaline to remove themselves from harm.

One of things adrenaline does is raise your blood pressure. With the head and adrenals glands the vulnerable parts of the Aries body, this makes Aries people more prone to strokes. Knowing this in advance, flower essences and herbs can be used preventatively to keep an Aries in balance throughout their life.

Mountain Devil is a very good essence for anger; Black-eyed Susan for rushing and impatience, and Macrocarpa for supporting the adrenal glands. So a combination of these three essences will go a long way towards keeping an Aries calm and balanced and therefore healthier in the long term.

The good thing about flower essences is that they are completely safe and totally natural. They are incredibly easy to use just a matter of putting seven drops of the appropriate remedy under your tongue morning and night. They are also really accessible there is no need to do five years of naturopathy or three years of herbal medicine or acupuncture to be able to use them.

You can learn how to use flower essences in a weekend and because you cant hurt anyone with them, anyone can use or prescribe them. They are also, literally, medicines for emotions. This makes them wonderful for home use you dont to be formally qualified in anything to know if you or a friend, colleague or family member is feeling upset. Flower essences give everyone a tool to safely heal emotionally.

That, said they do also dovetail beautifully with any other natural healing modality, enhancing and locking in any other healing being done. For this reason, an increasing number of doctors, psychologists, counsellors and physiotherapists are using flower essences in conjunction with their more medical treatments. Flower essences
dont interact with medications and it is impossible to overdose on them, another aspect of their safety.

You can learn more about flower essences through Australian Bush Flower Essence workshops – click here for more information on the international workshop series and international schedule.

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You MUST have all breast lumps checked medically to make sure it is not cancer. This is true not matter what your age – more and more young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Oestrogen dominance is one cause of benign (non cancerous) breast lumps and can be reversed naturally using various herbal medicines. For my free series of article on Oestrogen dominance, sign up to the mailing list on my website.

Sore, swollen or lumpy breasts pre-menstrually can also be quickly assisted using herbs, with Chaste Tree being one of the good, over the counter, herbs available. Herbalists also have stronger herbs that should only be used by those who are professionally qualified.Medically, fibrocystic (benign) lumps are viewed as sometimes preceding breast cancer.Naturopathically, they can also indicate lymphatic congestion. Consider going without a bra as much as possible – more on this in the next post in this section.

Breasts are full of lymphatic tissue and are designed to move around. Bras prevent your breasts from doing this and so stop this all important self cleansing mechanism. Many fibrocystic lumps disappear altogether if you don’t wear a bra for six months. Lightly stroking your fingers from sternum to armpit for several minutes a day also helps by promoting lymphatic drainage of your breasts. Fenugreek Tea has traditionally been used to help cleanse the lymphatics also. Bush Iris from Australian Bush Flower Essences energetically balances the lymphatics. Much more information on Bush Iris is shared during the Level 1 Australian Bush Flower Essences Workshop.

Breastfeeding your babies is another traditional way of reducing your risk of developing breast cancer. If you get mastitis and a lump remains afterwards, herbal medicine can nearly always remove it, even many years later. It is important that you do so, to reduce the risk of the trapped toxins providing fertile soil for cancer to take root in.

A toxic colon often underlies breast lumps. The Australian Bush Flower Essence Bottlebrush is excellent to energetically re-balance the colon and shift the emotional pattern of “holding on” that is often underlying a sluggish bowel. Much more information on Bottebrush is shared during the Level 1 Australian Bush Flower Essences Workshop.

A mammogram is obtained by squashing the breast flat to get an image. This is recommended annually for all women over fifty. Due to the known cancer causing potential of accumulative X-Rays, from a naturopathic viewpoint, it would seem wise to remove this radiation after each procedure. Double blind trials have shown “Electro” by Australian Bush Flower Essences to be effective in dramatically reducing radiation levels.

Old wives and folk medicine advise women to protect their breasts, due to an increased risk of cancer following trauma. Interestingly, young sufferers of breast cancer today often report a history of an injury to the affected breast at the cancer site. External application of arnica, calendula or comfrey in the form of an ointment or compress at the time of the injury, assist with complete healing from bruising (obvious and otherwise).

Due to the density of younger breast tissue, mammogram is not very effective at diagnosing bnormalities in women under fifty. The latest technology in breast screening is using a hand held infrared thermal scanner to detect “hot spots” in the breast during monthly self examination. Early cancers immediately
establish a blood supply so they can grow. This generates abnormal heat at the site that is detected by the thermal scanner, prompting it to beep. Further investigations can then be undertaken via ultrasound or mammogram. Another alternative further investigation is professional thermal imaging, a painless, non invasive, non radiation procedure that shows up abnormalities at their earliest stage. More information, including clinics throughout Australia and the USA, is available here.

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