On 23rd of March I first showed symptoms of Covid19 and little did I know then, that a strange journey had just begun. A journey that weeks later (I am currently on week 10 going week 11 on Monday 8th of June…my birthday) is still unravelling as I am not 100% as yet.
Like everybody else, I naively thought that contracting Covid19 was like having flu, a bit of temperature, few days in bed and hey presto back on my feet, right?
Apparently a two week recovery period was what to expect according to the NHS and the media.
Really? These 2 weeks belong to the fairies’ realm.
It is not like having flu, it is far worse, the symptoms linger long after the virus has apparently died in the body.
The virus is like a super villain on steroids because it tries to create as much disruption as possible in the body in a short time, attacking the body on many fronts at once.
Covid19 attacks the central nervous system leading to disrupted sleep patterns, nightmares, cognitive problems, loss of smell and/or taste, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, confusion, brain fog, giving people the impression of being disconnected from the world and life, distortion of time and spatial awareness, and hallucinations.
The cardiovascular system is not left out of the fun and is under tremendous assault by the super villain. Disruption of heart beats creates arrhythmia (abnormal rate or rhythm at which the heart beats). Chest pain, giving the impression that the heart is going to explode and high blood pressure is another way the super villain puts pressure on the heart. These symptoms could lead to potentially serious problems such as cardiac arrest for example. Some scientists believe that in fact, Covid19 is a cardiac disease as well as a lung disease!
The super villain continues on its destructive path by attacking (for good measure) the gastrointestinal system leaving people with nausea, loss of appetite, heartburns, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation, abdominal pain and/or gastrointestinal bleeding.
The respiratory system has no chance with the super villain as the lungs are under systematic attack. For some people a secondary infection such as pneumonia (my case) will be the result of such attacks.
For other people, their lungs will be rendered inefficient and sadly they will need treatment at the hospital to help them to breathe.
The upper respiratory system won’t be shown mercy either by the super villain and sore throat, nasal congestion, cough, shortness of breath will be part of the virus working through the body.
Other symptoms include (and the list is not exhaustive): extreme fatigue, sweating, fever, lack of vavavoum, loss of hair, loss of weight, headaches, heaviness of the chest, conjunctivitis, eyesight problems, short term memory loss, difficulty concentrating, vertigo, shortness of breath, various pains and aches all over the body, gastric reflux, blood circulatory problems, bladder or kidney problems, blisters and rash, low oxygen levels, blood clotting, earache, sensation of coldness in some parts of the body, etc.
If you want to find out more, Professor Paul Garner (professor of infectious diseases at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) has written a blog about post Covid19, as he has experienced the virus first hand as a human being but also as a doctor/scientist.
The media need to give the right information when it comes to Covid19 as 2 weeks convalescence is not the norm to overcome the virus…weeks or even months to recover is what many people are experiencing and so far, no one knows when we will recover completely.
Those of you who have been infected by the super villain can find help and support online.
One group about Covid19 is in the UK Coronavirus Covid-19 UK & Ireland Sufferers and Survivors Support Network
Now, what all this has to do with Bach Flowers remedies I hear you ask 🙂
Well, after 3 weeks mostly in bed, I started my convalescence but although I knew that the body will take time to recover, I was crippled by anxiety, fears of all sort (that I will contract the virus again, that this time around I won’t be lucky and will end up in an ICU or worst).
I felt that I was not myself anymore. The strong spiritually minded Crone that I used to be was nowhere to be seen, and in its place was a frightened woman who felt that her body had been invaded by an invisible ‘monster’ winning the battle and leaving ruins behind.
I simply felt powerless whilst the super villain was rampaging through me.
As many of you know a psychic tarot reader needs their mind to be strong and clear when providing readings. I felt that even my spiritual side had been taken away. I thought that maybe I won’t be able to use my psychic abilities to help others, that I won’t remember my tarot cards and that I would be left with nothing.
Those totally irrational fears were the product of Covid19 and knocked my confidence for a while. I thought I was going through not only a physical breakdown but also a nervous one!
Then I decided that enough was enough. As soon as the body started to show little signs of getting better, I took the bull by the horns and decided that I needed help to reconnect with myself.
What better and a more natural way to do so than the Bach Flowers Remedies?
I have used them professionally (I am a Bach Flowers Practitioner for Animals but did my level 1 and 2 in humans) and personally for years. Although many people dismiss them as placebos, this cannot be true for animals as they do not know if you have put the drops in their food or not and yet they (like us) recover from negative emotions.
The Bach Flowers system was developed by Dr Edward Bach (pronounce Batch), an English doctor, homeopath, and surgeon. He believed that a strong emotional wellbeing was the key to good health. He developed the 38 flowers remedies in the 1930’s. His system is simple but highly efficient. The most famous one is the Rescue Remedy.
Here is my personal blend that I used during my convalescence to help my emotional state.
I choose: Mimulus, White Chestnut, Olive, Oak and Rock Rose.
Mimulus: for fear of what the super villain has done to my body. Fear of re-contamination. Fear that my body won’t cope if a second infection, fear that I won’t be able to work on the spiritual side anymore. It is a good essence for anxiety.
Mimulus is the remedy for known fears and will help to remove these fears by rationalising them.
White Chestnut: to calm an overactive mind, to let go of worries, to help with sleep as the mind is more relaxed. With the virus, thoughts are erratic and sometimes one can be locked into a thinking pattern that can turn to obsession.
Olive: for the sheer mental exhaustion one can feel after Covid. It is a great remedy to regain mental clarity and peace of mind. Olive brings optimism and rebalances the solar plexus (centre of the self).
Oak: to regain strength on the mind, body and spirit. Oak trees are known for their resilience and their longevity. To give the mind the space to regain momentum after such destruction.
Rock Rose: the remedy for terror, and post stress disorder. I must admit that I was terrified during the illness, that finally my time had come (and I was obviously not ready) but also terrified for my beloved who had contracted the virus too. Of course, the sheer thought of contracting the virus again had me running for cover and something needed to be done for me to calm down and be more rational with it all. So Rock Rose was a life saver for my headless chicken syndrome 🙂
Also Rock Rose helped to ease the nightmares or heavy dreams typical of Covid. Beloved had such heavy dreams too.
How to make a bottle of mixed remedies
Take a 30 ml dropper medicine bottle and fill with still mineral water (no tap water).
Add 5 drops of your chosen formula.
In this case, 5 drops of Mimulus, 5 drops of White Chestnut, 5 drops of Olive, 5 drops of Oak and 5 drops of Rock Rose.
Taking the remedies
Put 4 drops of the mixed remedies in a glass of water, or in a cup of tea (or coffee, cocoa), or on the tongue, or like me I put it in my food.
The minimum dose is twice a day.
The best is 4 drops x four times a day.
With this dosage your bottle will last around 3 or 4 weeks.
After 4 weeks discard the remedies and make a fresh batch, this time tweaking your remedies as the remedies act as the peeling of an onion, some new emotions may rise to the surface.
In my case, impatience raised onto the surface as I had enough of convalescing and wanted to do things. When I prepared my second bottle I used the same essences but I added the remedy Impatiens flower to help with well….impatience 🙂
Other remedies you may want to consider
Crab Apple: this is the remedy when we feel unclean or when we cannot stand an untidy/unclean environment (particularly when ill). It is a great spring cleaner of energies and many therapists take Crab Apple between clients to cleanse their energies.
Holly: For anger.
Many of us experienced anger during Covid, particularly when seeing how other people have been careless, not respecting the lockdown and the social distancing rules. Anger that we caught the illness despite taking every precautions, anger about the lack of understanding of other people (friends, colleagues and family) but also health professionals.
Hornbeam: When feeling overwhelmed by life. Not being able to face daily challenges, feeling weak and for mental fatigue. The Monday morning feeling that we all know.
Pine: for those of you who were hospitalised and survived, whilst others did not. Pine is the remedy for guilt.
Scleranthus: When the mind is going from one thought to another, when unable to make up one’s mind. To stop the mind going in circle. Scleranthus may help with vertigo.
Walnut: For the change in your routine due to the illness and the lockdown. To accept that the body is temporarily not as efficient and that energy levels are low. To adapt to change.
Water Violet: for the feeling of isolation and loneliness.
Wild Rose: when one has given up and feels unmotivated, a lack of interests in surroundings and everything is meaningless. When having no drive, no energy.
Please note that the maximum number of flower essences you can mix together is 7
If you use the Rescue Remedy with any other essences, then the Rescue remedy is considered as one essence (despite being a mix of several essences).
How the remedies work
The remedies do not push down troubling emotions; instead they raise your vibrations and encourage the development of positive emotions. The process is gentle and simple. A passing mood is likely to respond to remedies more quickly than a long-term feeling. Working on deep-rooted issues, this will take longer than a recently occurred feeling.
The remedies are not a quick fix and take time to work on your auric field. On average a few days to a few weeks will see subtle changes in your way of thinking!
Personally, I respond very quickly to the remedies, but this might be not the same for everyone.
Adverse reactions to remedies
The remedies do not cause any actual side effects and can be taken with allopathic medicine. There are no risks of overdose or addiction. They can be stopped immediately without any problems. They do not work on the physical but on the emotional and spiritual side. They are safe to ingest as they are diluted with water.
They are preserved in Brandy though, so seek medical advice if you have any problems related to alcohol. You can find the remedies preserved in oil as well.
Always consult with your GP or health professional as certainly the Bach Flowers remedies are not a substitute to medical care and attention.
Where to find the Bach Flowers remedies
The remedies are widely available online or depending on where you are, health shops, pharmacies, healing centres etc.
I hope the Bach Flowers remedies will help you with your emotions, as it will help with the convalescence. We know more than ever today that a healthy mind has an impact on the body and of course, the spirit.
Obviously, there are so many things you could do to help your emotional state, such as using aromatherapy in a burner or on a pillow (lavender and valerian to help sleeping), doing gentle stretching exercise sitting on a couch, mindfulness, meditation, visualisation, sound therapy, acupuncture, apothecary to name but a few.
I am sure there is lots of information online.
I choose the Bach Flowers remedies because it is a system I know well and that has and continue to work for me 🙂
Get well soon fellow Covid warriors
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