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Flower Essence Pic

I first got involved with flower essences about 15 years ago when I was studying energy healing for personal growth. My soul had been nagging me for years to take a deeper look, to make some changes, so that it could bloom in full.

I tried a variety of modalities including yoga, Reiki, massage, craniosacral therapy, and nutrition and although they all helped to center my mind and calm my energy, they weren’t able to specifically address my deeper feelings. I realized there was an emotional component to whatever was holding me back and until I could temper it, I would never be able to fully heal and move forward.

The mentor with whom I was studying at the time recommended I try Essence Therapy.

I was quick to fall in love. I ordered a few bottles of the concentrated remedies from Alaskan Flower Essences (https://alaskanessences.com/) and began to experiment. Their gentle healing energy flooded my senses in the most subtle ways and suddenly I would notice my perspective had changed or I was no longer feeling angry or sad about a particular situation. It was that easy. No talk therapy. No painful memories. No medication. No discomfort.

Many years have passed and I am once again revisiting the power of the flower essence.

As I began to work on the Life Purpose Project (a business I started recently), I noticed that a lot of the obstacles that keep people from moving towards their fullest potential have an emotional component. I realized that even though I had developed tools for gaining insights and designing action steps, without the ability to remove the emotional roadblocks, we can only get so far.

In my program of identifying and moving towards one’s life purpose, I encompass dream interpretation, tarot, collaborative discussion and planning, and lots of additional resources. I also encourage everyone to choose one or two flower essences to help them move along more quickly and easily.

There are many excellent sources for essences including Alaskan Essences (https://alaskanessences.com/), Hawaiin Essences (https://www.janebellessences.com/), and the most widely known, Bach Flower Essences (https://www.bachremedies.com/).

According to the Flower Essence Society, “flower essences are liquid extracts used to address profound issues of emotional well-being, soul development, and mind-body health. They are part of an emerging field of subtle energy medicine, which also includes homeopathy, acupuncture, color therapy, therapeutic touch and similar modalities.”

Essences are made by harvesting pristine wild flowers and garden blossoms and then capturing their unique energy imprint in distilled water as it is infused by the sun. The potentized herbal infusions or decoctions are then preserved in an alcohol base and further diluted before being distributed. They are administered by putting a few drops under the tongue a couple of times a day or by dropping the essence in a glass of water and sipping as needed.

Many people confuse Flower Essences and Essential Oils and although each complement the other, they are in fact very different.

According to the Flower Essence Society, “The most significant difference is that essential oils have definite aromas; flower essences do not. Essential oils work primarily through the sense of smell and its effect upon the old brain. They are highly concentrated chemical substances, many of which are quite poisonous taken internally. Essential oils are produced from large quantities of plant material, the flowers, roots, seeds, or bark, depending on the location of the volatile oils in the plant. Steam-distillation is the most common extraction method. With flower essences, only the flowers are used and in a very small quantity. The vibrational imprint of the flower is extracted in water, which is then further diluted. Thus essential oils are a physical extract and flower essences are a subtle energy extract.”

For more information, visit http://www.fesflowers.com/learn-about-flower-essences/what-are-flower-essences/

During the pandemic, I have experienced more anxiety than usual. I have found Bach’s Rescue Remedy to help curb the stressful feelings and keep me calm. I am also working with Bach’s Star of Bethlehem and Walnut.

I am an advocate of flower essences for many reasons, but perhaps the most powerful is their ability to balance our emotions and help us adjust to a healthier perspective through the gentle and subtle genius of nature. Sometimes life’s greatest healing gifts are right outside our door.

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I am almost one week into my daily meditation experiment and it is going well. At some point during the day (usually the morning), I set my timer, settle into a seated position with feet flat on the floor, and then drop into the moment as best I can. I usually begin by taking three deep breaths.

It is amazing how once we shift our focus to our breath, we come into the moment almost immediately. The trick is to stay there for the duration.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, there are many ways to approach meditation. We can use music, color, mantras, visualization, object focus, crystals, and essential oils to keep our focus and clear our heads. The idea is to train our minds to stay on one thing like a phrase, a scent, a sound, or a visual and keep the river of thoughts at bay. The better we get at quieting the mind, the easier it becomes to reduce stress, increase concentration, and open up to more truths and creative ideas.

Each time I have settled into my practice over the last week, my mind has migrated to the use of color. I remember a meditation practice I was implementing years ago in which I would visualize white light energy coming from above. I would pull the white light into my body through the top of my head, down through my face, neck, chest, down my arms and through my fingers, then through the stomach, abdomen, pelvis and out through the legs and toes. I would allow the light to spill out of my body and form a protective layer around myself.

I would then ground my feet into the earth and pull up energy from as far down as I could imagine. Once the heaven and earth energy were flowing simultaneously, I would begin to bring in the colors. Red first, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The colors would come from deep within the earth, up through my feet and into all parts of my body. I would allow each color to take its time, stopping wherever there seemed to be a need. I would then allow the energy to settle in the appropriate location where it would rest, spinning in a healthy spiral.

I have been using this technique in my daily meditation as it is very effective in allowing me to clear and balance my energy while keeping my mind away from incessant thinking.

According to Jan Purser in her book, Meditation, Easy Techniques to Help You Relax and Focus,” each color has specific qualities which can affect our emotions and in turn help to balance our physical and mental health. For example, red is the color of power and action. It is a warming color and represents vitality, sexuality, and high energy. Red spurs us into action by increasing our motivation and aggression.” Blue, by contrast is “calming and encourages feelings of peace. It is the color of serenity and protection and promotes restful sleep.” Yellow brings happy joyful thoughts and magenta is “excellent for helping you step away from obsessive behavior.”

While meditating, we can allow colors that come to mind to swirl through the body in a way that is guided by our inner intuition. The idea is that these colors will bring the necessary qualities for balance and healing.

Once we become more familiar with color energy, we can introduce them as we see fit. For example, if we are hoping to gain more insight and intuition, we can bring violet into the session.

Another beautiful way to use color for meditation and healing is through art. In recent years, I have noticed coloring books for adults, which claim to reduce stress and promote mindfulness. More recently, I have thought of painting. As I struggle through some of the mental and emotional challenges of the recent pandemic, I have been sensing the need to bring more color into my life.

Today, I ordered some acrylic painting supplies and checked out a few YouTube tutorials and I have to say, I’m excited. In addition to my daily meditation, I feel that mixing colors and putting them on a canvas will not necessarily result in a masterpiece, but it may just help me stay balanced, happy and healthy.

Photo from Nambu Botanicals. Link to article with color and sound meditations: https://nambuherbs.com/blogs/news/heal-your-chakras-to-change-your-karma-color-sound-meditations