Metodología y estrategias de la implementación del modelo pedagógico

• Liver Qi constraint with Shen disharmony, with distraction, confusion, irritability, mood swings, frustration:

Mandarin/Spearmint/Grapefruit/Basil ct. chavicol

• Liver and Heart Qi constraint with Shen disharmony, with distraction, restlessness, overstimulation, insomnia, palpitations, irritability, anxiety with possible depression:

Blue tansy/Marjoram/Ylang ylang/Jasmine sambac

2. Activates the Qi, reduces stagnation and harmonizes the Middle Warmer • Liver-Stomach disharmony/Qi stagnation with epigastric fullness,

bloating, appetite loss, nausea, vomiting: Peppermint/May chang/Fennel/Ginger

remarkS

Bringing their advanced agricultural skills with them, the Arabs established extensive citrus plantations in Malta and Sicily during the early 10th century. They introduced the lemon, a variety of oranges and various other citruses to these islands. Their hybridization of the bitter orange and the Persian citron, creating the bergamot orange, was their special gift to the region – and to the West. The name Bergamot may also be rooted in the now defunct language of Sicilian Arabic. Its oil has long since become the most classic of all the cold pressed citrus oils from the sun-soaked climes of Southern Italy. Perfumery, aromatherapy and Earl Grey tea would not be the same without it.

Bergamot oil has always been regarded as being beautifully relaxing, refreshing and uplifting at the same time, and rightly so. A tangle of fine fresh-citrus notes embedded in sweet-fruit notes, Bergamot on inhalation at first never fails to relax tension and overcome any emotional frustration that may be present. Moodiness, irritability, and so on, can easily be lifted here.

However, this oil also exerts a renewing and uplifting effect that can be beneficial in conditions such as negative thinking, mild depression and loss of insight and discernment. Bergamot can promote optimism and set the stage for true emotional transformation. What is behind Bergamot’s unique ability to help in navigating these two opposite phases, the relaxing and the uplifting?

Clinical experience shows that it is essentially a balancing and harmonizing effect that underpins Bergamot’s psychological and physiological actions. In the corresponding language of energetic Chinese medicine, Bergamot basically regulates the flow of Qi. On both mental and emotional levels, Bergamot clearly promotes a balance between the extremes of elation and depression, stimulation and

sedation; mood swings and emotional conflict and instability are primary indications for its use. In clinical terms therefore, we can say that Bergamot is a fundamental oil for treating conditions of dysregulation, which present symptoms of neither true hyper- nor hypo-functioning, but simply of dys-functioning. This includes clinical conditions such as bipolar disorder and ADHD. In terms of fragrance energetics, we note the balancing and relaxing effect of the sweet citrus aroma offset with the stimulant, uplifting effect of fresh, pungent top notes; together these two notes also point to a net balancing effect.

Bergamot oil can definitely be viewed as exceptionally harmonizing. Bergamot ‘helps close the gap between mind, body and emotions’ (Pollard 2011) and is useful for enhancing integration between thinking and feeling with general conflicts present. On the physiological level as well, Bergamot essentially addresses dysregulated conditions. This oil is one of the very few autonomic nervous regulators, thereby managing to reduce swings between sympathetic and parasympathetic functioning. Bergamot is ideal then for treating stress-related conditions with symptoms that fluctuate between hyper- and hypo-functioning – the hallmark of an ongoing state of dysregulation. Because Bergamot has a selective affinity for the upper gut and, along with that, the enteric nervous system, it should be used for all stress-related disorders involving the upper digestive tract and gallbladder, and that require relaxation and stimulation at the same time. Bergamot can act as both a gastrobiliary stimulant and a spasmolytic relaxant at the same time, especially when dosed orally.

It is interesting and illuminating for many reasons to see Bergamot’s balancing nature reflected in its chemical composition. Not only is this dominated by esters (primarily linalyl acetae), well known to be inherently balancing, but it is in addition equally polarized between the more relaxant monoterpenols and the more stimulant monoterpenes.

In terms of mental awareness, Bergamot helps us let go of preconceived notions, fixed ideas and ego-driven thoughts in general. It can gracefully lighten the load of thoughts that can bog us down with their stagnant, rutted, repetitive patterns. Bergamot seems to re-set the brain by short-circuiting the brain’s habitual stimulus- response pathways, and by stimulating the hippocampus it helps different parts of the brain to communicate and integrate memory packets. In this connection, Bergamot can be very helpful for breaking bad habits of any kind, as well as for treating addictions in general.

Ultimately, then, we can say that Bergamot’s highest gift is to assist in staying with our own experience and to be ever open, curious and in wonder about each moment of life as it arises, each now as it unfolds – without the burden of previous feelings and concepts. As a light-filled refresher of mind and soul, Bergamot simply suggests that to experience life in a balanced way, we need to start by accepting the experience of each moment exactly for what it is, without prior expectations.

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