It can take a holiday or respite from normal routine – such as Christmas – to show us how much we need rest and recovery time. The final lead-up to Christmas, with its end-of-term events, additional shopping and catering, can find us plodding on, barely able to keep putting one foot in front of another. That’s when – if we are not actually overwhelmed (Elm) or tired to the point of collapse (Olive) – we probably need to take some Oak.
Someone on Twitter recently said of the oak tree, ‘Always
the last to go to sleep’, referring to how it’s the last to lose its leaves. For those adults toiling into the night to
get ready for Christmas or any other event, this is a reminder that when we
plough on as though through deep mud, committed to do our best and meet our
responsibilities, there comes a time when we must stop and get some rest. Resilience and will-power can only take us so
far.
The image of the oak hanging on to its leaves epitomises the
doggedness of the Oak remedy. The stoicism
to keep going culminating in despondency because our strength has gone; an
inability to see when ‘letting go’ has become imperative. The Oak remedy reminds us to listen to our
body and our needs. It restores our understanding
of flexibility: when to battle on and when to stop. When to overwork and when to rest. When to hang on in there and when to let go.
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| Oak tree at Christmas 2022 |
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