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Journal
of an Herbalist:
Healing
Messages from our Dreams
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By
Karima Burns, MH, ND |
14/03/2002
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Client:
Mirium
Problem:
Constipation induced by stressful living conditions
Mirium
had just moved in with her mother-in-law a month ago while she and her husband
waited for their new home to be built. Her mother-in-law was very kind and
cooked wonderful vegetarian meals for her special diet. The home was comfortable
and her finances and relationship with her husband were all going well. She also
had a good diet. However, upon moving into their "temporary home"
Mirium began to suffer from constipation and bad digestion for the first time
since she was a child.
Miriam’s
problem started at the same time she moved so we decided to look into two
possibilities – had her eating habits or exercise habits changed during this
move or was anything emotionally bothering her?
We
first looked at her physical situation and discovered that her diet had not
changed at all. Even the water she drank was the same. Mirium also exercised at
the same rate. Nothing physically had changed much regarding her lifestyle
habits.
We
then explored her psychological state of mind. More than half the people I have
seen who suffer from constipation have a psychological reason for it – usually
having to do with stress issues or issues of "letting go". Mirium was
one of those people who never like to admit that anything was wrong. On the one
hand, this attitude had served her well. She was a very kind and generous person
who spent a lot of time thinking about the feelings of others. She also tended
to accommodate life’s changes and challenges in a very positive way. However,
the demands she made on herself to always be positive and "make the
best" of everything had also created an inability in her to see what was
upsetting her. She did not realize that admitting that something was upsetting
her was not a bad thing; it was simply an opportunity to take care of the
problem. Her solution had always been not to admit to the problem in the first
place. However, in this case her body would not let her ignore the problem.
In
cases like Mirium’s, it is often helpful to use other tools to find out what
the person is thinking. Sometimes I request that the person pray about the
situation and see what thoughts that activity brings. Other times I have them
discuss the situation with a spouse or close friend. In Mirium’s case she
provided us with something even better – her dreams.
Some
people do not get enough sleep to dream. Others do not remember their dreams or
even try to. And still more do not get a deep enough sleep to stimulate vivid
dreams. Other people do not welcome dreams into their life, perhaps fearing what
may come. However, dreams, I have found, are the best window we have into the
inner depths of our psyche. The Prophet Mohammad himself (saws) used dreams to
find out what was wrong with people and often had dreams himself that contained
meaning. In fact, dream interpretation is a long and respected tradition in the
Muslim and Arab world.
Mirium
recounted for me the two most recent dreams she could remember:
"I
was attending the wedding of my husband’s sister and his old fiancée showed
up. Usually I don’t care about her. He even still sees her during the course
of his day at work sometimes and I know it is all over and it is no big deal. I
even think she is engaged to someone else now. But in this dream it upset me so
much. She was there and all of his family was fawning all over her and she had
brought gifts and everyone was paying attention to her and not to me and I was
so angry and jealous. When I woke up I had to talk to my husband about it I was
so upset."
The
second dream:
"I
was on a bus and an old schoolmate whom we all used to hate was on the same bus.
He was grown now and he came up to me and was waving cards in my face. I told
him to get the cards ‘out of my space’ and was very upset. Then he continued
to torment me and ask me questions and talk to me and I started yelling for him
to go away and finally he asked me why I was yelling and he sat down next to me
and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I softened a bit and I let him sit down next to
me. I was surprised to feel that I was now much calmer and felt comforted by his
presence."
The
first dream was very indicative of Mirium's problems with "personal
space" in her new living situation. She had no space that was only her own
and even her daughter slept with her and her husband at night. In the dream she
was disturbed by the presence of the old fiancée because her psyche could no
longer handle any more invasions of space…not even the ones she could
previously handle. Although she said to me she was happy and comfortable and she
would not trade her ‘family bed’ situation for anything, I sensed very
strongly from both of her dreams that she had some major issues with space in
her new situation. In the second dream she even told the man "get out of my
space". Mirium needed more space in her life that was her own so I
suggested some ways in which she could create this.
The
second dream suggested she had some trouble with accepting help and this new
situation was perhaps the prefect situation in which she could learn this skill.
In the past she told me she was the person who everyone came to for help and she
was the one who took care of everyone. In her second dream she was forced to let
this person into her space and into her heart and accept help from him even
though she resisted and it made her uncomfortable. Similarly, in her present
life situation she was forced to be "taken care of" by her nurturing
mother-in-law, and left helpless to do anything on her own. She even said to me
at one point that she had not been calling her friend because she felt she had
nothing to give them.
I
explained to Mirium that perhaps this was her time to receive something in life
instead of giving. The Prophet knew that receiving was as blessed as giving when
he told all Muslims not to refuse an invitation by another Muslim to dine.
I
told Mirium to find some space that was hers and to bring a bag or basket of her
favorite things into this space every day. Her space could be her own prayer rug
with her own Qur’an and prayer beads, a rocking chair with a book and a
journal, a park bench with a drawing pad and some colored pencils or any other
space she could find. However, this space should be only hers, she should visit
it alone for thirty minutes every day and it should be treated in a sacred way.
She should use this space for thought and inspirational reading and prayer and
during a quiet moment should imagine that everything around her has turned into
a pleasant forest with flowers and small animals and that her space has
expanded. She was also to start allowing people to help her and to call up her
friends and allow them to offer help even if it was something as simple as
listening to her talk.
To
help her relax and make it easier to find some space and accept help I gave her
an aromatherapy formula and an herbal tea that would assist her in relaxation,
openness and constipation.
Aromatherapy
Rub
1
TBS. Of massage oil
Rosewood
4
Geranium
4
Patchouli
15
Mandarin
6
Herbal
Tea
Passionflower-2
parts
Hops-1
part
Hibiscus
Flowers-2 parts
Blessed
Thistle-1 part
Make
as an infusion
Mirium
at once recognized herself in the dream interpretations and sighed with relief.
She said that just admitting she was feeling that way finally made her feel as
if the weight of the world had lifted off her shoulders. The same night, even
before she started the tea, her constipation eased and she was able to eat
without discomfort. She continued the month by taking the tea and using the
aromatherapy rub on her abdomen. However, she felt her therapy was preventional
since her problem actually went away entirely from the third day she followed
it.
NOTE:
Dream interpretation is one alternative method of healing that can be used in
online consulting. Karima Burns uses this and many other methods of
communication to assist people who are interested in using herbs. For more
information visit www.herbnmuslim.com
or write her at herbnhome@yahoo.com
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