September, first day of school, whether a first time at play school, Kindergarten, grade school, junior high school, high school, university or adult education, school can be scary. Scary for all kinds of individual reasons and scary because in general, doing anything new or for the first time can remind us of everything that makes us doubt whether we can actually do this new thing…or not.
So many situations in school that can create anxiety:
Exams
A new level at school
New teacher “I hope I get so and so only to find uh-oh…the one I didn’t want.”
Homework
New school
Meeting New kids
Have to take the school bus home
Reading out loud
Giving a speech
Remember This One?
‘Please come up to the front of the class and tell us what you did this summer.’
Now I don’t know that teachers still do this, but I can well imagine what that request might do to some…full on panic, need to pee, shaky knees, bright red face, dry mouth and empty head. But maybe teachers are kinder now than they were in my day with the ‘what you did last summer’ exercise. Maybe teachers now are aware that speaking in public is the number one fear. Yep. Numero uno…beating out fear of death. And guess where fear of death lines up in the order? Read on.
“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
—Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician
Public speaking is listed as American’s number-one fear, before death at number five, and loneliness, weighing in at number seven. Guess that means that most of us are less afraid of dying alone than of making fools of ourselves in front of others. Fear is a powerful motivator for leadership, which means that you stand above the crowd. There is the fear of being seen as exceptional and different; the fear of the unknown; the fear of being a fraud; the fear of forgetting everything you were going to say; the fear of being at risk publicly; and the fear of being up there, alone. They all come together, for most of us, in public speaking.”
Read more at www.westsidetoastmasters.com
mind; ANXIETY; school, about (5)
mind; FEAR; school, of (7)
mind; SCHOOL, aversion to (33)
mind; EXAMINATIONS agg. (23)
mind; ANTICIPATION; examination, for (21)
mind; FEAR; examinations, of (29)
mind; FEAR; failure, of; examinations, during (5)
mind; ANTICIPATION; ailments from, agg.; stage-fright (48)
mind; ANTICIPATION; ailments from, agg.; stage-fright; singers and public speakers, in (2)
mind; ANXIETY; time is set, when a (19)
Homeopathy to the Rescue
By the time you get this issue of the newsletter, you are likely back into a fairly good routine but maybe you still have some anxious kids or adults in your household. Good news! Homeopathy has lots to offer.
Just this past week, one of my favorite families had the fright of an accident in addition to the stress of a new school situation. Two remedies and the young child is recovered nicely from the shock of the accident and is looking forward to being in school. Where before the situation was one of surviving an ordeal and facing the ordeal of a new school, after the remedy, the child bounced back. That is the beauty of a gentle homeopathic remedy…or two.
What Did Mom Give for Homeopathic Help?
What is the first remedy you think of for accident or injury with shock? Yes. Arnica!
Can you guess what the second remedy given was? A remedy that has something to do with facing an ordeal where you are shaky, nervous, need to pee, maybe even have diarrhea (and wouldn’t that be the ultimate disgrace at school?) and you maybe feel like you just want to hide under the covers and sleep.
Gelsemium
This is the number one remedy to consider if you have to give a speech, speak in front of friends even or even if you have to speak privately with the teacher or heaven forbid, the principal. The principal’s office still can create fear in me!
And guess what? Gelsemium can be an excellent flu remedy when these symptoms of shakiness, redness of face, sleepiness, need to pee, head pain at the back of the head (occiput) and thick speech are present with the common symptoms of the flu – fever, chills, aches and pains.
Gelsemium is only just one of several remedies for back to school anxiety. Another remedy to consider is Silica.
Silica
As the little chart shows, Silica can have a great deal of fear and anxiety around school, especially new situations. With Silica however, there is a kind of stubbornness or unwillingness to undertake anything new in any situation. Those needing Silica are more likely to take a long time to warm up by watching and waiting, and then they might try something new. Once they try and accomplish, they will work hard.
James Tyler Kent’s lectures on Materia Medica says this about Silica:
“The peculiar Silica state is found in the dread of failure.”
If he has any unusual mental task to perform, he fears he will make a failure of it, yet he does it well. This is the early state; of course there comes a time when he cannot perform the work with accuracy and still he may need Silica.
Like Gelsemium, those needing Silica will have tremendous fears when anticipating exams but with Silica, the driving fear behind it is the possibility of failure. Deadlines will also create stress (In the language of homeopathy symptoms are listed like this in our books – Anxiety; time is set, when a) for the child or adult needing Silica. So any situation where a time is set, can create anxiety e.g. getting to school on time, writing a 2 hour exam and you feel like you are running out of time, preparing for a trip, having an essay due…any of these time deadlines can create a situation where Silica might be very helpful to ease the stress.
One last remedy to consider, especially if you think Silica is needed and guess what? It doesn’t help. There is another remedy that can be similar in many ways to Silica and that is Lycopodium.
Lycopodium
Lycopodium will have many of the fears and anxieties about school and learning that Gelsemium and Silica have but there will be some very characteristic ‘tells’ that Lycopodium might be of more help.
This is the child or adult that is worse between 4 and 8 PM. In my parenting days, we called this the Arsenic hours. After school, the melt downs, the craving for sweets and…dare I say it in a public newsletter? These are the kids/adults with all the gas, at both ends. At the top end, the gas is in the form of boasting or bragging – trying to make themselves seem bigger or more important than what they really feel inside which is quite unsure of themselves. The gas at the other end? Do I really need to explain? 🙂
There you go…Three more remedies to have in your home kit. As you can see from the chart, there are several more that have the theme of fear and anxiety around school, exams and failure. Your homeopath can help you figure out what your child or adult might need to get through these first couple of months of beginning a new school year.
Where can you buy remedies? Renewal Homeopathy and Wellness in Calgary (403-202-8507) can ship to you or you can visit them in their store in NW Calgary.
Yours in health, healing and a successful start to the new school year,
Donna
