Happy New Year! 

I know many of us are going for some sort of self-improvement this month, I for one am losing my holiday weight.  I've noticed the motivational essences are pretty popular when people choose essences for me to combine so I thought now would be a good time for me to talk a little more about them. 

Motivators

Blackberry helps those with big ideas but lack of ability to translate these into concrete action.  Blackberry helps you to organize your plans into steps, priorities etc. so that you can tackle your goals with decisive action.

Tansy is very similar to Blackberry except that the thing getting in the way of the action is indecision or procrastination.  There may be almost a self-sabotage thing going on.  The type of person who gets helped by this is often someone who had an unstable childhood and responds to any type of pressure by withdrawing and being indecisive.  To the outsider this person appears lazy or detached which is not the reality.  When this becomes a deeply engrained pattern of behavior it takes time, even using Tansy to change it.

Self-Heal is great for motivating us to take better care of our self.  It helps you tune in to what your body needs, it helps you stick up for yourself in the doctors office, it helps you be more confident in finding your own path to health instead of relying on "experts".  Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of seeing different health care professionals, but you know you the best and should take responsibility for your self.  I love this essence, love giving it to people whose butts I wanna kick for not taking care of themselves and I would recommend it to everyone.  Back to this motivation thing, I find Self-Heal prods me into finding time for the things that I should be doing.  For instance with me it would bump cooking from scratch up on my priority list.  I would say this would be a good motivator if your resolution is of the healthy sort.  On a side note, some essence makers say Self-Heal helps you utilize nutrients better, I don't see how this can be proven, but I like the idea.  I put this in the Recovery formula for that reason and also for the self-care and self-responsibility part.  It also strengthens your belief that you can get better, you can bounce back.

Dianthus is a little energy shot, we have good intentions with our New Years resolutions but it takes some stamina to accomplish stuff. 

Horseradish helps you with goals when you feel stuck or powerless to do anything about your situation  "I would like to lose weight but I just can't find the time to exercise and cook."  "I've already tried and failed so many times I don't see how this can work"  There is a depressive or self-effacing thought pattern happening or the feeling of being a victim of circumstances.

Ok, those are a good foundation for a motivation formula, now lets talk about weight problems.  There is no "fat melting" flower.  In fact essences won't help you lose weight at all unless you are an emotional eater.  Selecting essences based on what is stressing you out is one way to go about it if you are a general stress eater.  Take a look through my individual essences. Flower essences can help a great deal with eating disorders, I'm going to talk about my essences as well as a few that I don't make, because I wanna see you get healed one way or another and if it means you buy Bach, well at least you are doing something.

Flowers for Food Issues

Agrimony (Bach) helps if you are using food to avoid real feelings.

Black-eyed Susan -  hiding food, binge eating, stealing, denial related to eating, Black-eyed Susan is your girl.

Cherry Plum (Bach) feeling like you're not in control, binging or purging

Elder - not happy with your body, feeling ashamed, if you are familiar with the Bach line, this is almost "Crab Appley" with that issue of uncleaness.  There could be an issue with eating impurities in foods or doing constant body cleanses.

Iris for cravings for sweets, hypoglycemia, using food as a high.  Usually teamed with ignoring or repressing creativity.  (ohmigosh that's me!)

Manzanita (FES) Inability to love your body, self-destructive as in anorexia or bulemia

Mariposa Lily (FES)  Using food as a crutch, due to lack of feeling nurtured as a child

Missouri Primrose  Used for all types of eating disorders and self-esteem problems.  Go to the Missouri Primrose article on the side bar to learn more about this essence.

Morning Glory (FES)  food addictions, desire for stimulants like caffeine.

Nicotiana  craving for food when quitting smoking, eating to numb emotional pain.  This is in my quit smoking blend.

Pretty Face (FES) Not seeing yourself as beautiful, too much focus on the external, creating an exaggerated image of fatness.  When you go shopping do you pull out the big pants on the rack to try on and find out they are falling off?  You need Pretty Face. 

FES means Flower Essence Services, FES and Bach are available at better health food stores and on the web.