* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Description
Let the soothing floral essence of Aspen provide comfort and security!
Aspen (Populus tremula) is the Bach Flower Remedy for any fear where the cause of the fear cannot be named. At one end of the spectrum the Aspen fear can be no more than a sense of foreboding, an uneasy anxiety that something unpleasant or frightening is going to happen. At the other it can be a real terror, with physical symptoms such as the hair standing on end. At this extreme Rock Rose could also be helpful.
Sometimes people think of Aspen as a night-time fear, as causeless emotions seem to be uncanny. And of course if you were lying awake in a dark room scared of something but not knowing what it was, then Aspen would be the remedy to take. But in fact Dr. Bach said that for fear of the dark itself Mimulus would be the appropriate remedy to take, since the cause of the fear (the dark) can be named. And nameless Aspen fears are just as likely to occur in full sunlight as on a dark night.
Dr Bach's Description: Vague unknown fears, for which there can be given no explanation, no reason. Yet the patient may be terrified of something terrible going to happen, he knows not what. These vague unexplainable fears may haunt by night or day. Sufferers often are afraid to tell their trouble to others.
General Herb Information
Aspen Populus tremuloides Michaux.
Family: Salicaceae.
Other Names: American aspen; Canadian aspen; peuplier faux-tremble (French); Amerikanische Espe (German); pioppo (Italian).
Description: American/Canadian aspen is a deciduous tree of about 20 m in height, with small, oval, dentate leaves on long stalks that quiver markedly in the wind. Aspen (P. tremula) and black poplar (P. nigra) are also used. Poplar buds, however, are most often obtained from the balsam poplar (P. balsainifera) or balm of Gilead (Populus candicans), sometimes called P. gileadensis or P. x jackii 'Gileadensis' (known only as a cultigen). Balm of Gilead is a confusing term because it represents several products from unrelated plants (Abies balsaniea, Commiphora gileadensis, Liquidambarorientalis and Populus species).
Origin: North America (P. tremuloides, P candicans); Europe and Asia (P. tremula, P. nigra).
Parts Used: Bark (Populi cortex) and buds (dried, unopened leaf buds - Populi gemmae), rarely the leaves (Populi folium).
Uses and Properties: Poplar bark is a traditional medicine against rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic conditions, but also cystitis, diarrhoea and the common cold. The leaves and bark are used for urinary problems resulting from an enlarged prostate. Buds are used against chronic bronchitis and rheumatism a externally for treating superficial wounds, external haemorrhoids, frostbite and sunburn (and as an ointment for myalgia).
Preparation and Dosage: Dosage depends the treatment, but a typical dose would be a decoction of 1 - 4 g of bark, taken three times per day. Buds included in semi-solid preparations (ointments and creams; Populi unguentum) (concentration 20 - 30%).
Active Ingredients: Poplar bark is similar to willow bark and also contains salicin (about 2.4%), salicortin and various benzoyl esters of salicin - mainly populin (salicin-5-benzoate), tremulacin and tremuloidin. Also present are tannins and triterpenes. The buds contain essential oil and flavonoids in addition to salicin and related phenolic glycosides.
Pharmacological Effects: Salicin and salicin derivates are converted to salicylalcohol in the intestine. In the liver it is further oxidised to salicylic acid, the active compound, known for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.
Status: Traditional medicine; Comm. E+ (buds only)
User Group Forum
Share your questions and information with the ZooScape community!
Be the first to post!
Directions
Dilute two drops of Aspen in a glass of water and sip at intervals. Replenish as necessary.
For multiple use, add two drops of Agrimony to a 30 mL mixing bottle (you may combine up to seven essences in this bottle), top up with mineral water and take four drops at least four times a day.
If necessary, the Bach Flower Essences can be dropped neat onto the tongue, or rubbed onto the lips, behind the ears, or on the temples and wrists.
You can take Bach Flower Remedies as often as you want. If you are in a mood or a bit of a crisis, you only may need one dose, but if you've been feeling the same way for some time you can take them as long as you need to.
Taking Bach Flower Remedies
You can take the remedies in several ways. For the treatment of a short-term mood or problem the easiest way is to put two drops of each selected remedy in a glass of water and sip as required, but at least four times a day, until relief is obtained. If using Rescue Remedy, put in four drops instead of two.
For the treatment of more chronic problems you should make up a treatment bottle, as this is more economical and will make the precious stock remedies go a bit further. Simply get a 30ml bottle with a dropper in the lid (try the local pharmacy), and then add two drops of each selected remedy (four drops of Rescue Remedy) to the bottle. Top this up with still mineral water and from this bottle take four drops four times a day.
If you keep them in the refrigerator, treatment bottles will last from 2 to 4 weeks. If you can't keep your bottle in the refrigerator but have to keep it in your pocket or handbag then you can add a teaspoon of brandy to the treatment bottle - this will help to keep the water from going off. If you don't want to use brandy, cider vinegar is an alternative, although it isn't quite so effective.
Ingredients
5x dilution of flower extracts of Aspen (Populus tremula) in an alcohol solution (27%).
Cautions
Gentle, safe effective treatment for the whole family. No artificial additive. Suitable for vegetarians. If pregnant or breast feeding, ask a health professional before use.
Additional Information
Where do Bach Flower Essences come from?
The Bach Flower Essences were developed by Dr. Edward Bach a Harley Street doctor and well known Physician, Bacteriologist, Homeopath and Researcher. He believed that attitude of mind plays a vital role in maintaining health and recovering from illness. BR>He identified 38 basic negative states of mind and created a plant or flower based remedy for each one.
After leaving London in 1930, Dr Bach explored the countryside in search of the essences for several years. In 1934 he decided to settle down and create a centre for his work, and chose Mount Vernon, a small cottage in Sotwell, Oxfordshire.
He spent the last years of his life at Mount Vernon and it was here that he completed his research.
Nowadays, Mount Vernon is better known as The Bach Centre, and the present custodians continue to prepare the mother tinctures (first process in making the essences), often using the same locations that Dr Bach identified in the 1930's. Only the Bach signature guarantees that you receive the original Bach Flower Essences, prepared as they have been since Dr. Bach's time with tinctures made exclusively by the Bach Centre at Mount Vernon.
Selecting Bach Flower Remedies
Dr Bach wanted his remedies to be so simple to use that anyone could select and take them without professional advice or the need for any special techniques. That is why the simple method set out here is still the only one used by the Bach Centre and by the practitioners on its register.
Imagine for example that you are suffering from asthma. There is no Bach Flower Remedy for asthma, since this is a physical complaint. Instead you need to ignore the asthma and look at the kind of person you are. Perhaps you are someone who is shy and timid, and who gets nervous about things like speaking in public and meeting new people. This would indicate that you are a Mimulus type, so this would be the first remedy to select.
Then you might think about the way you are feeling at the moment. Perhaps your son is about to start school and quite without cause you are frightened that he will be bullied. Red Chestnut is the remedy for the fear that something bad will happen to loved ones. Perhaps you have been working too hard and are exhausted: this would indicate the need for Olive.
You can select up to six or seven different remedies in this way. Don't worry too much if you make a wrong selection, because if a remedy is not needed it will not do anything. Experience has shown, however, that too many remedies taken at one time are not as effective as a few well-chosen ones. This means that there is no point mixing all 38 together to zap everything at once!
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
