Back in 1998, when I was a newly trained medical professional, I secretly spent my free time studying alternative healing modalities, including a course on Herbal Medicine at the NY Open Center in New York City.

In one of our weekly meetings, the teacher taught a brief segment on Flower Essences. They sounded silly, too good to be true—an infusion of flower blossoms that could grant you positive attributes such as self-confidence, creativity or courage.

But having always been open to the magical side of life, I ordered a dozen different flower essences to experiment with.

Sometime later, my sister was visiting from Boston, and I pulled out my box of essences for us to play with. I asked her what qualities she would like to bring into her life, and she explained that she was feeling a vague dissatisfaction in her work. So I made her a flower essence formula to help her find her true life’s path. Then I forgot about it.

About a month later, my sister called and announced that she’d decided to become an acupuncturist. She explained that she’d applied and been accepted to acupuncture school, secured financing, worked out an arrangement with her employer and was well on her way to a completely new career. That’s when I knew there was something to these Flower Essences! And thus began my love affair that has continued to this day.

Flower Essences are the liquid energy of a plant.

Every flower has its own unique ‘intelligence’ or vibration. When we ingest this vital plant energy over time, deep healing occurs through the release and processing of unhealthy patterns held in the psyche, emotions and/or physical body.

Flower essences are most often confused with essential oils, the plant remedy used in aromatherapy and topically on the skin. But unlike essential oils, herbal tinctures and other supplements, Flower Essences work by way of the energy system in the body, akin to acupuncture or homeopathy.

Here are five ways that Flower Essences can be a great ally in your healing and in your life:

1) Acute Stress:  There are many Flower Essences that work to relieve anxiety and bring a sense of calm to the nervous system. Try Blue Vervain or Lemonbalm while in the midst of a nerve-wracking moment. You can try Shasta Daisy before taking an important exam to assist with concentration, Celandine before a public speaking gig to assist with clear communication and Sunflower before a job interview to usher in self-confidence.

2) Changing a Habit of Mind: Flower Essences can help with fluidity of mind when attempting to create new beliefs and clear negative self-concepts. You can try Beech to help soften your inner-critic, Motherwort for changing your story around victimization and Golden Amaranthus for learning to ‘go with the flow’. There are countless essences to help improve self-esteem and soften mental patterns that you may feel powerless to change.

3) Moving Stuck Energy: If you’re needing help to get out of a bad relationship, make the switch out of a dead-end job or clear clutter from your home, a Flower Essence such as Horseradish can bring fresh energy and a new perspective to the situation, in order to get your life moving again.

4) Healing Trauma: Overcoming the debilitating effects of trauma involves more than just a cerebral understanding of the events that caused it. As the massage therapists like to say, “the issues are stored in the tissues.”  When the healthy, vital energy of a Flower Essence is presented to the system, (within the safe environment of a trusted therapist and therapeutic setting), trauma can be kicked up into consciousness where it is then free to be processed and cleared. Note: this work is best done with a trained flower essence therapist or other somatically-trained therapist.

5) Physical Health: Physical illness can be treated through the energetic system with modalities such as acupuncture, homeopathy and Flower Essences. With Flower Essences, physical healing occurs by changing the internal terrain of the body, making the system less hospitable to microbes such as bacteria, viruses and yeast. In my practice, Flower Essences have been very effective in treating the symptoms of chronic Lyme disease and its co-infections, autoimmunity and women’s health issues, to name a few.

For the past thirteen years, Flower Essences have been my go-to remedy for personal challenges, as well as in my healing practice helping women to overcome ailments that they have not found relief for elsewhere. The longer I use them, the more I learn more about their great healing potential, and unmatched ability to catalyze personal growth and genuine transformation.

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Author: Carla Savetsky

Apprentice Editor: Monika Carless/Editor: Caroline Beaton

Image: wiki commons