TEDDY BEAR CHOLLA FLOWER ESSENCE

Article submitted 04/17/2009 by Linda Reiger
www.apathtowholeness.net
www.natureshealinggrace.blogspot.com

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Looking deceptively soft at a distance, and even though the branches resemble the arms and legs of a fuzzy teddy bear, this plant is far from cuddly. With its painfully clinging spines, it is one of the most formidable and respected Cacti of the Southwest United States.

The Teddy Bear Cholla lures unsuspecting hikers, and then snags them with their joints, which is how Cholla reproduces itself. These joints, or stems, when shaken loose, send out roots and grow into clones of the original plant sometimes forming large “forests” of cuddly looking Teddy Bear Chollas. Although this Cholla has flowers and forms fruit, the fruit is usually sterile, and the plant relies on the dropped stems to propagate.

These plants have developed several adaptations to survive in the arid desert environment of its habitat. The thick covering of spines shades the plant from the desert heat. They also prevent animals from eating them. The stems are separated into segments that store water and allow for photosynthesis.

The Teddy Bear Cholla grows in low elevation desert areas below 3000 feet. The plant blooms in the spring and produces green or yellow flowers, which are 1.5" wide, followed by egg-shaped fruit. Pack rats often pile the joints of this Cholla around the entrance to burrows to ward off predators.

The Chollas and the Prickly Pear cacti, which are classified in the genus Opuntia, have a segmented growth pattern. The Prickly Pears have flattened segments, or pads, and the Chollas have cylindrical segments. The segments of the Teddy Bear Cholla are easily detached from the plant by a soft touch of a passing animal or human, or even by strong winds. This species relies on detached segments to form new plants by rooting and growing. Because the spines are so well barbed, loose segments of the cactus easily stick to passing animals and can be transported far from the mother plant before they become dislodged at their new home site.

The yellow green flowers of the Teddy Bear Cholla hide. They are only visible when you come very close to the plant. Do you sometimes hide from others, just like the flowers of the Teddy Bear Cholla? Do you keep people at arms length so that they will not see who you really are?

The simplest and most understandable way I have ever heard intimacy described is by breaking the word down: in to me see. That is what intimacy is about - allowing another person to see into us, sharing who we are with another person.

Emotional intimacy is one of the most wonderful experiences we ever have. Nothing else really comes close to the experience of sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings with another, of being deeply seen and known, of sharing love, passion, laughter, joy, and/or creativity. The experience of intimacy fills our souls and takes away our loneliness.

Why then would someone be afraid of intimacy?

At the foundation of our relationship with our self ~ and therefore with other people and life ~ is the feeling that we will die if we reveal ourselves to other people, because then they will see our shameful self. We feel deep within us (in those rare instances of breaking through denial), that if we let anyone see who we really are, they would run away from the disgraceful being that we think we are.

Our lives have been dictated by an emotional defense system that is designed to keep hidden the false belief that we are defective. We use external things - success, looks, productivity and/or substances to try to cover up, overcome and make up for, the personal defectiveness that we felt caused our hearts to be broken and our souls wounded.

That personal defectiveness is a lie! That feeling of toxic shame is a lie!

We can intellectually throw out false beliefs. We can intellectually remember and embrace the Truth of Oneness, Light, and Love. However, some of us cannot integrate it into our day-to-day human existence, in a way that allows us to substantially change the dysfunctional behavior patterns that we had to adopt to survive. Until we deal with our emotional wounds. Until we deal with the subconscious emotional programming. Until we are willing to face the pain inside, feel it and release it ~ it will return.

Teddy Bear Cholla Flower Essence helps us move through our fears of allowing others to come too close to see our true selves, which is perfect and beautiful. When you can see your own inner beauty, you will see it in others as well. This Essence is very helpful in building intimacy between people.

A Path to Wholeness website offers a variety of different flower essences to choose from; please stop by and learn more about them!

Walk in Beauty,
Linda Reiger
www.apathtowholeness.net
www.natureshealinggrace.blogspot.com

Linda Reiger has studied Metaphysics and Animal Wisdom for over ten years. She loves and appreciates beauty in anything, whether it is a person, art, music or nature. Being a Libran soul, balance and harmony in life and surroundings are very important to her. She has attained third-degree Reiki, and infuses all her flower essences with the Reiki energy. Her website was created from the evolution of her own experiences and the deeper relationship she has developed with nature.

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