Being Grounded So You Can Take Flight : Feel Good Friday

“Flying starts from the ground. The more grounded you are, the higher you fly.” J R Rim

(Companion essential oil: Young Living Grounding™)

Today’s post is inspired by the sight of a tiny pine bonsai within a simple metal frame drifting in space. It struck me as both vulnerable and brave, both fragile and strong. And a thing of beauty.

The Exobiotanica project of Japanese artist and botany lover Azuma Makoto is a labour of love. You can read about it here. Prepare yourself for some breathtaking imagery which has a sense of poetry that can be understood in any language.

Frankly, I’ve never taken the time to explore bonsai.  I’m more into pottering around in my vege garden.  But seeing this piece of living sculpture bravely enduring all kinds of adversity has given me a new respect for this reverent botanical artform, if not the desire to get out the clippers and spritzing bottle.

What fascinated me as much as the idea and execution of the project was Azuma Makoto’s choice of plant.

“It’s not so important to use bonsai, but rather a pine that has a strong sense of vitality as well as the natural beauty of having a number of twists and turns to its shapes.”  Azuma Makoto

“A strong sense of vitality.”  It surely does have that.  Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, was the first to investigate pine for its benefits and pine is a common inclusion in massage oils and sports rubs for invigorating tired bodies after exercise.

Pine has many constituents in common with Eucalytpus globulus. When the two are combined, there’s a synergistic effect so you’ll often find them used together in formulations.

Given the hardiness displayed by Shiki I, the 50 year old pine bonsai dispatched by Azuma Mokoto into all kinds of extremes — from space to the desert to glacial cold — even someone with no knowledge of essential oils could imagine the feelings of strength and solidarity its essential oil can impart.

Sadly, pine essential oil is often sold adulterated with turpentine because it makes it cheaper and easier to produce. I kid you not. Turps is handy for some uses around the home and workshop, but not something you want to be inhaling or applying onto your body. How crazy is that?! It’s always vital to check out the brand of essential oils you’re using thoroughly to be sure they are genuine. That’s the reason I always choose Young Living. You can get the assurance of their Seed to Seal process here.

Isn’t it funny how in order to fully take flight in our lives and explore things that bring us gladness, we need to be grounded? In this case, Mokoto’s stoic pine bonsai tree had no choice in the matter, though the artist says, “Since I am using the life of these plants to create my work, I approach them all with a profound devotion.”  It’s nice to think his bonsai would have a sense of that.

And by a stroke of coincidence, can you guess which Young Living essential oil blend includes pine oil ?

It’s Grounding™.   (R.C.™ blend contains pine, too, just so you know.  It’s great when you want to fortify yourself against the winter chill.)

Grounding™ was formulated by Gary Young to create a sense of stability to help us work constructively with reality rather than attempting to escape through avoidance. Along with pine (energising while grounding), it includes such oils as:

• white fir (for empowering and anchoring)
• angelica (helps release negativity)
• juniper (lifts spiritual awareness and feelings of peace)

This blend can be diffused and inhaled from the bottle, and makes a relaxing bath before bedtime by adding a few drops to a good splash of natural shower gel (Young Living has a beautiful one). Or if you’re heading out the door in the morning to your equivalent of being pummelled by a waterfall or dropped into water and way out of your depth, it makes for a showering experience that leaves you feeling centred and ready.

Now, let’s take a few minutes for a healthy dose of wonderment.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the good oil daily.

The information on this site does not constitute advice. Please consult with your health practitioner. When using any of the products mentioned throughout this site, please be sure to read the labels and follow their suggestions for safe use.