We had windstorms last week.  Two tall forest-like pine trees fell across our driveway, blocking me and the children in and my husband out.  The trees were wrapped in woody poison ivy vines that climbed the length of the trees. The ivy had wooden branches reaching out four feet and more.  We had to cut the trees and unfortunately, despite wearing lots of layers, we ended up with a rash.  It started as a small rash …
and then …
My son and husband puffed up in their faces, eyes swollen shut.  I started with one small spot (I don’t care what the books say, you can spread it by scratching … ) and now my arms, legs, and torso are covered.  I won’t go into any more details but suffice it to say that we’ve been miserable.

Well, I use homeopathy, I’m an EFT practitioner, I have plenty of professionals to turn to.  I expected to clear the poison ivy in a day. 
(For the record, there are many cases of where that is done.)  But, for some cosmic reason unknown to me, nothing I tried worked.  I tried every remedy possible, working with our homeopath and two other EFT practitioners and our holistic pediatrician.  I tried every home remedy possible - I learned a few things — and it still didn’t clear up.
(Do you know that cucumber is incredible cooling for inflammation and that if you wear calamine lotion and put on your pajamas, they stick quite nicely?  Do you know that very hot water feels orgasmicallly good on itchy skin? Do you know that epsom salt baths feel really good?  So do oatmeal baths ?  And so do baking soda baths?  But don’t mix them all at once — I don’t want to be responsible for the mess in the tub … )

We were miserable;  and I was operating in a crisis mode of having to fix it now.  My constant checking on my son and examining his skin was driving him crazy. He told me that the only time he itched was when I looked at him.
I finally realized (after using EFT to address my sense of urgency and many other internal issues), that this episode was much bigger than poison ivy.  That’s why the rash didn’t disappear in a day like it could have.  That’s why when I tried to address the rash using EFT, other feelings kept coming to the surface.  This episode was a reflection of how I handle pain, how I get help, how I feel supported, and how I feel useful.  I was operating out of childhood patterns that were no longer serving me.  And worse yet, I was sending the wrong message to my son.
As a mother, it’s natural to have our internal maternal alarm go off. 
What’s key is sorting out the important maternal instinct and intuition from the unnecessary crisis response mode.  I realized that I was conveying to my son that he wasn’t okay and that I had to fix him.  Once I relaxed and settled, I was able to tell him that he was being brave (he was), that he was okay, and that he had poison ivy.  All three were
true.   I let him know that I was available to help him and I wasn’t
going to hover over him.  And I reminded him that our bodies have an innate wisdom, health is always what our bodies want, and there are ways to support our bodies in healing.
And sometimes you just have to itch!
 

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