My mentor once told me if had to choose one of our tools as naturopaths to bring to that theoretical deserted island, it would be flower essences. He felt they made the big shifts in patients to allow for the grounding force needed to heal. I love, love using these powerful little gems to meet exactly what patients are going through emotionally and in that big-life-lessons sort of way that only the energy of flowers can touch.
To make a flower essence, the blossoms are selected at the peak of bloom and with the highest respect for the plant as well as the rhythm of the Earth. The flowers are placed on the surface of a bowl full of spring water and left so that their energy of the flower is transferred to the water. The water is then preserved with brandy and diluted into individual blends. I often have patients write an affirmation on the bottle as a reminder with each dose. People are generally very good at remember to take them because they make them feel so good!
It’s not just about selecting a remedy to ease anxiety or to support a new mom, but about how that individual is manifesting the experience in the own unique way. There’s a flower that captures that imprint and we can use it to unlock the potential for easing resistance to whatever is coming up. I feel that’s so much the thing that leads to healing. Surrender, learn, surrender some more.
When I think about flower essences (and homeopathy, for that matter) I really love the system because it honors the unique individual while reminding us that we are not alone in the things that we feel. There are themes developed by and for the many that came before us and those that exist among us and that notion is something that also links us across time and humanity. There is only one you but your challenges are also shared by others and that has always been so.
There’s comfort in that, I think.
