Guilt And Shame.

Guilt and Shame can be healthy when it serves as a natural internal feedback system that tells you when you're psychologically or spiritually off-track. But there's also an unhealthy type of guilt that prevents you from taking the healing action you need.

"Unhealthy guilt is one of the biggest blocks to healing," says Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., a psychologist and president of Mind/Body Health Sciences in Boulder, Colorado. "It's a constant and uncomfortable sense of having done something wrong, of being deficient. It doesn't really matter what you do or don't do. Noting you do is ever quite right. You never feel that you are truly a good person."

Alternative healing offers many simple ways to overcome this type of guilt. Perhaps one of the best is flower essence therapy, which uses specially prepared tinctures from various flowers to help you release or outgrow feelings and thoughts that block your strength and creativity.
Flower essences may be part of a holistic healing plan for mild guilt, but you should seek professional help if you're constantly plagued by severe guilt. "Guilt is one of the most powerful blocks to physical, emotional, and mental healing," says Patricia Kaminski, cofounder and codirector of the Flower Essence Society, based in Nevada City, California. "Flower essences can help remove that block."
For each of the following remedies, take four drops four times a day for about a month.

PINE: To Forgive Yourself
"This is the most important remedy for guilt," Kaminski says. "It's for people who, no matter how much they can forgive others, can never forgive themselves. It allows warmth toward yourself and acceptance


for all life." Pine may also work for people who always feel sinful based on their religious upbringing, she says.

MULLEIN: For a Stronger Conscience
Mullein as a flower essence is for people who know that they are doing something wrong (such as having an affair) but need to bring guilt to bear on their conscience and lake steps to resolve the issue, says Kaminski. "This remedy helps the person come to an inner place of clarity about moral decisions," she says.

CRAB APPLE: For Those Who Feel Impure
This essence is for those whose guilt is in their bodies, who feel that they have a physical stain or are impure. "The person who can benefit from this remedy very often has unusual gynecological or sexual symptoms," Kaminski says. (Another remedy for women who feel guilty about their sexuality is Easter lily.)

PINK YARROW: For Unproductive Guilt
This remedy is for people who feel a level of guilt that is totally out of proportion to anything they did, such as an employee who feels guilty when the boss is angry at a coworker or a child who feels guilty because of a divorce. Such guilt is completely unproductive, Kaminski says.

Ayurvedic Remedies for Guilt
Ayurveda, the ancient natural healing system from India, says that the body is composed of three essential elements: vata (air), pitta (fire), and kapha (water).


"Guilt is a vata imbalance," says DeAnna Batdorff, a clinical aromatherpist and Ayurvedic practitioner in Forestville, California. "The individual has too much vata, or air, in their system and needs grounding."

This vata imbalance can cause lower-back pain, dry skin, brittle nails, and kidney problems, she says. The following remedies are intended to decrease vata, helping rid you of guilt as well as preventing the physical problems that it can cause.

ENERGY HEALING: Put Your Hand on Your Throat
Guilt is usually caused by a feeling that others' needs are more important than your own. The result is that you often can't express what you need to say or do. Such guilt usually wells up in your throat, Batdorff says.

"In fact, your energy feels like it's stuck in your throat," she says. "Verbalization is down. You feel very vulnerable."
To counter this physical pattern of guilt, Batdorff suggests that whenever you feel uncomfortable about saying something because of guilt, you first put one hand, palm down, on the lowest part of your throat, at your collarbone. Announce that you have something to say, then say it.
"This simple physical gesture protects you and nourishes you and lets you know that it's okay to say or do what you need to," Batdorff says.

VETIVER ESSENTIAL OIL: Ground Yourself
The essential oil vetiver is thought to stabilize the body, says Batdorff. This grounding can help eliminate guilt.
"Using this essential oil will help you feel 'in your body' rather than having your attention on everyone else because you're worried about how you're affecting them or what they're thinking about you," Batdorff says. "It builds self-awareness. It also nourishes the kidneys."
To use it, put one drop over each kidney (directly above your waist and about 3 inches from each side of your spine) twice a day. You can also inhale the oil whenever you're feeling guilty.

PETITGRAIN ESSENTIAL OIL: For Guilty Secrets
Sometimes, people feel guilty because of something they've done. They know that they have to talk about it to restore peace to the relationship, but they just can't get the words out. If you're in that situation, petitgrain essential oil can help, Batdorff says. Put two or three drops in a bath, take a few minutes to think about the problem, and then have a chat with the person you feel you've wronged.

FOOD: Don't Put More Air in Your Body
To decrease guilt, you need to avoid vata foods, says Batdorff. They include carbonated beverages, citrus fruits, vinegar, and pickled or fermented foods.