One of the certificates I have is for Flower Essence Therapy. So what is it? FE is a vibrational therapeutic – like homeopathy, sound bowls, or music. They are created from spring water that particular flowers have been infused in, then preserved with brandy. The essence (full strength is called the mother) is further diluted to ‘stock strength’, then even more to ‘dosage strength’. FE therapy helps to break down emotional blockages that hold us back from our full potential.

My first experience with flower essences was while I was attending herb school. The instructor came in and I was thinking: “I get herbs. Herbs have active ingredients (constituents), but what is this? Special water? O. K. Maybe this won’t be long and I can beat the traffic home. I need to pick up dog food and …..”

As with many things in herb school, we tried them. She divided the class in half – half took white chestnut (my half), the other half took hornbeam. Pretty soon, I was thinking, “If she doesn’t start talking a lot more, I’m gonna fall asleep.” White Chestnut is to stop circular thoughts. Many people use it before meditating or going to bed to help stop all those thoughts that tend to just keep chasing themselves through your mind. I could remember my shopping list, but it took a little effort to bring it back to the forefront of my thoughts.

Since then, I have had several other experiences with flower essences that have significantly helped with emotional processes. There are thousands of different FEs out there, but the standard ones are the 38 that were studied by Dr. Edward Bach back in the 1930s.

One of the most familiar flower essences is Rescue Remedy, also called Five Flower essence. It is a combination of 5 flower essences that work very well in situations where there is a lot of trauma, pain, or fear.

So – do they work? I have two thoughts on this: One is that we don’t fully understand everything. We didn’t understand in the 1930s that penicillin worked by disrupting the cellular walls of bacteria – we just knew it helped cure pneumonia. I don’t know how FEs specifically work, I just know that they do (although this link to the work of Dr. Emoto is very interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQUFvufXp4. If you are very interested, there is a much longer documentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wH0VczXhLg ).

On the other hand, what if it is simply the placebo effect? If it helps you to cope, conquer your fears, inspires you, encourages you, let go of something that is not serving you well… if it helps, does it matter?

There are typically no side effects to flower essences, and unlike herbs, if formulated incorrectly, FE cause no harm – they just don’t really do anything. If formulated well, they can have pretty profound effects, I have had clients that used them to help with addiction, hyperactivity, fear, and relationship issues. Flower essences can be used long term or for a short time, depending on what the concern is.

Now, I’m off to take a little Mimulus (for known fears) and Cherry Plum (for frustration) before I start working on setting up a website!