Who is Annie Meredith?

I grew up in a male dominated household (I had four brothers and no sisters) and my mum was so swept off her feet caring for all of us that she and I didn’t get much special ‘girly-bonding’ time as I was growing up. In effect I had to discover what truly being a woman was all by myself.

From early on in my life I wanted to be happy and healthy but through my teenage years I noticed that I was growing further and further away from achieving that goal. So far in fact, that I felt completely out of touch with the person I had been as a child. I felt like a stranger trapped in my own body  - and even my body was acting in ways that I didn’t like. I finally realized that I needed to find the path back to feeling as I had in my natural free-spirited state so that I was connected to my inner self. I began to study Natural and Energetic Medicine.

And it was here that my journey back to who I really am begins. It truly began when I was introduced to the concepts of yang (the male principle) and yin (the female principle) in my studies of Traditional Chinese Medicine. That’s when I first recognised that women and men are decidedly different from one another. And not just in the obvious ways, but on all levels of being, such as:

• ways of thinking
• preferences
• values
• mindset
• emotional responses and capabilities

Now, remember that this realisation is from someone who was raised in a male atmosphere! Suddenly, I was becoming aware that I was totally different to those I had shared my childhood with. So I asked myself, if I had observed the behaviour of those around me to learn from and role-model, and they were all boys, then where did I fit in as a female, and what did being a female mean?

From that point, early on in my life journey, I sought answers and lived my day-to-day experience conscious of those questions in the back of my mind. I married, had children, divorced and remarried only to be widowed some time later. Life was sure taking me on a rocky path of discovery.

In my career path however, the answers seemed to be coming thick and fast. My clinical practice was largely made up of women. I worked with women’s health problems while simultaneously sharing their joys.  I attended many births, at home and in big and small hospitals, sometimes as the sole mid-wife and other times as the attendant health practitioner. Women shared their stories with me, their hopes and dreams, their anguish and fears and many times we wept or laughed together. Enmeshed in a sisterhood of mutual cooperation, networking and support I learned about what it means to be a woman. I blossomed as a woman myself.

Because women’s health and well-being was my passion, I went on to teach women in Australia and all over the world, how to honour themselves and to find their own sovereignty within, rather than looking outside of themselves for answers.

At the same time, as a teacher for the Australian Bush Flower Essences for 14 years, I introduced the MindBody paradigm to the system, by mapping the essences to the Chakras and the meridian system. The workshops I developed became the basis of the ABFE teacher training course, the College course, and the Correspondence Course, all of which I also authored, and which are currently  used around the world.

I found many women need the support of other women to find their inner truth. This is one of the unique strengths of being female. I also came to recognize that most of the structures and systems that operate in our society are largely hierarchical and male in nature (based on logical, rational, linear and organizational principles). Unless women make a conscious effort to tap in to their feminine nature (intuitive, circular, wholistic, and creative) for direction, they look for answers in the society outside of themselves and consequently lose confidence in their own inner guidance. They become alienated from their core wisdom and lose control of their own life.

Women from all over the world have asked me to help and support them as they journey the path back to who they really are. That is why I wrote my first book, Essence of Woman. You too can take the journey back to your own truth. In so doing you will discover, as I did, that being a fully authentic woman is the pathway to vital health, wealth and happiness and whatever it is that you choose to be.

And that’s also why I have finally been able to bring these remarkable essences to the market, with the help of my colleague and friend, Sandy Kumskov. I hope you find the essences are as powerful in your life as they have been in the lives of my family and clients.

If you would like to get to know even more about Annie and what she thinks, please click here to read her Blog at floweressencedeva.com.