When you begin working with Wood Betony, you may find a few emotions rising. Maybe they’re brand new, but more likely they’ll be at least a little familiar even if the details of the story around them seems fresh off the press. That’s because Wood Betony is a very practical character who recognizes sometimes you just gotta clear away the old stuff so life can flow properly again.
Wood Betony for Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Fear, Worry
Karla McLaren talks about Anxiety and related fear-related emotional states as warning signs. They tell us that a situation is not okay and ask us to reconnect with our power to effect change. In Yoga practice, as in many related disciplines, they’re recognizes as the self projecting into the future…which is another way of saying when you experience anxiety you’re projecting your power into the future but you don’t have a solid foothold there, so you feel ungrounded fears. When your fear is grounded, you have the power to take action and the experience is quite different. Grounded fear allows us to take action to avoid or handle a dangerous situation, usually without thinking a lot and without feeling a lot. When fear is fully grounded, we move into a state of flow akin to the creative flow. No so with Anxiety and it’s cousins.
Anxiety, worry, and related states keep us engaged in speculation over what may come. Our feet aren’t on the ground, so we cannot redirect all that energy into action to avoid the outcome we wish to avoid. Instead, the energy swirls about, creating unbalance throughout our bodies, minds, emotions, and relationships. That unbalance creates points of weakness where our energy or power can slip away, leaving us feeling powerless to stop whatever it is we fear.
When Wood Betony steps in to help us, we’re reminded of the flow of our power. Wood Betony coaches us to pull our power back into the present moment, to center it in ourselves, and to be still long enough to see what is true right now. Wood Betony helps us no only shift our focus, it reminds us that we actually have more power than we thought.
Folks who are working with chronic anxiety-related conditions may find that Wood Betony brings the root cause to the surface. You may find yourself remembering that time when…. all over again. Or, you may find yourself remembering a series of events, each of which share the same underlying pattern tracing back to something that happened long ago before the condition began. Make space to acknowledge the part of yourself who was there, who remembers, who still feels that intial powerlessness.
Wood Betony can help you gather the strength, courage, and willingness to hear the story that part of you has to tell. It can also help you recognize the places where you’re currently giving your power away to a story you no longer want to live. In either case, Wood Betony asks you to clear the old out of the way to make space for your own inherent balance. Once you do, you’ll start to see that you actually have more power than you realized, and Wood Betony will help you return balance to your system and see more clearly how you can use your power to create the future you want to live into.
Wood Betony for Depression, Sorrow, Saddness
Today, we talk about two types of sorrow-based conditions. Big-D Depression is the chronic, clinical, unrelenting sort that has many names but ultimately could be encapsulated as a seemingly permanent state of depression or sorrow. Little-d depression is the temporary, generally situational sorrow we often call The Blues. When you feel Little-d depression, you can usually trace it directly to something that’s happened in your life, probably recently, and it’s often tied to a sense of loss or grief that may not have been fully expressed.
When you feel Big-D Depreession, you may or may not be able to trace it back to it’s root, and it tends to arrive unexpected and unbidden then stay longer than desired, essentially robbing you of happiness, joy, or even contentment. Often, Big-D Depression leaves us with an underlying anxiety over when it may or may not return, especially if we’ve suffered with bouts of it for a long time or feel it for the first time when we’re quite young. Yoga and related practices often describe both types of sorrow-based experience as a focus on the past.
While it’s wise to take time to look at what has been once in awhile, like when you’re doing a review of a past project or looking for understanding over why something didn’t work as expected, problems arise if we spend too much time and energy looking at the past. That stuckness can turn into either form of depression…and you don’t necessarily have to even be looking back consciously.
When Wood Betony joins your team, you may find yourself remembering past events or experiences you’d forgotten or you’d thought you’d already addressed. Those old hurts that still evoke an emotional response are holding a charge, David Lang told me long ago. He’s right. The emotional response you feel is an indicator of how much energy is still wrapped in the story of that event. Depression is a sign-post in our present that some of our power is still attached to the old story, and Wood Betony’s here to help you unhook and reclaim your power for in shaping your current story.
As you work with Wood Betony, you may find yourself revisiting those old stories, but you don’t have to re-traumatize yourself by feeling how it felt that first time around. Instead, Wood Betony offers you the opportunity to take a look at it with a fresh perspective, this time as the strong soul you are holding your power to ease the pain of that part of you who is still wrapped in the story. Wood Betony asks us to feel the Earth under our feet and the Wind in our hair, Rain on our cheeks, Sun on our shoulders. Be present with yourself. Hold yourself in a loving and present embrace as that part of you who has been stuck finally digests or processes the old story and lets go of it.
Wood Betony for the Present
One of the key pieces of Wood Betony’s energy or medicine is the idea of reclaiming your power and holding it at your center. When we’re centered, we’re balanced. Wood Betony helps the body find balance where there has been weaknes or trauma for any reason. That’s the core of it’s work on the digestive and nervous systems. Wood Betony tends to work gently and diligently to transform and heal from the outer spaces inward, which is part of why it’s been connected with healing skin lesions, acne, psoriasis, and excema.
Folks who are working with Wood Betony to heal physical ailments, like chronic digestive conditions, may find emotions rising as their systems begin healing. Those of us who are working with Wood Betony to handle emotional states may find that while we’re noticing traumatic memories surfacing, we’re seeing them from a slightly different perspective, as a clue to understanding our present experiences. In either case, Wood Betony is helping us clear away that which no longer serves us then use our power to heal the damage so we can life the life we were meant to live.
Ask for Help: Wood Betony’s Message
We are never in it alone. Wood Betony is healthiest when growing in a community of plants, each one with a different specialty in the ecosystem. You’re every bit as important as the wild grasses and giant oaks growing next to you, Wood Betony says. As you work with Wood Betony, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed, alone, or uncomfortable. Emotional work and Healing are often that way. Don’t try to go it alone. Heed the wisdom of Wood Betony and Plant World. Ask for Help.
There are more and more Licenced Therapists who are well-versed in herbal medicine and can offer guidance as you work through the Emotions you’re facing. Naturopaths, Acupuncturists, and similar professionals can often walk the path with you or offer you references to a skilled practitioner who can help.
Energy Medicine practitoners, like Reiki Masters, are often trained in handling emotional crises, as are some Body Workers. Shamans, Medicine People, Pastors and Priests also are often trained in guiding people through Emotional work. There are also a variety of support groups you might draw on as you work through emotional challenges.
Most of us need a team to help us get through so many aspects of life – you didn’t build the computer or device you’re reading this article on all by yourself, did you? Emotional work is the same. All of these professionals are potential team members who can help you alongside Wood Betony.
Resources
The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You
