What celebration is complete without flowers? We use flowers to express our joy, love, sorrow and grief. They delight our senses and soothe our soul. We use them for decoration, adornment, in cooking, and for healing. We know that our herbal remedies and aroma therapy products are made from plants, but not so many know about the healing essences made just from the flower itself.

Flower essences have been used for healing since the dawn of time. Many countries have stories of healing which use plant spirit medicine, but it wasn’t until the 1930's that these energies were rediscovered and used by English physician, Dr. Bach. Dr. Bach felt that many of the ailments he saw in his practice were a result of feelings such as anger, anxiety, fear, that he saw in his patients, and realized that surgery and the medicines of the day did not addressing these issues.

Dr. Bach was a very sensitive and intuitive person who had a love of nature. He knew there were healing qualities in the plants and flowers and was led to create what we know of today as flower essences.

A flower essence is the lifeforce of a flower which is transferred to water and preserved usually with brandy. Their action is very gentle and often very subtle. They work on our nonphysical bodies, that is, our emotional, mental and spiritual state, rather than our physical bodies. However, many find that as the emotional body heals, an improvement of physical symptoms is noted. It could be an actual healing or it could be that by changing attitudes, we find our symptoms easier to live with or that they become less limiting. As our dis-ease is seen in a new light, our quality of life may improve.

Essences work on the theory of resonance. It is like a violin which resonates a note in response to another violin being played in the same frequency. When an essence resonates with our energy we see an effect, and the closer the match, the more the effect. If an essence is taken and there is no resonance, there is no effect. That is why flower essences are safe for adults, children and pets.

Flower essence therapy does not do our inner work for us, rather, it helps our body remember what it is like to be in balance and harmony. As we become more aware, our thoughts and feelings on a conscious level shift. We start to work through unresolved emotional trauma and make changes in our belief systems and habits that are no longer serving us. Essences help us to relearn, remember and reaffirm our gifts, talents and strengths that have been lying dormant or have been programmed out of us in childhood. It’s not that the ability has never been within us, but like that old forgotten favourite song, once you hear it again, even after many years, it comes back to you and soon you are singing out loud.

Since the 1970's there has been a resurgence of this healing modality and today there are essence producers all over the world and essences are being made from not only flowers, but gems, the environment and even animals. The original Bach Remedies dealt with issues and emotions that were prevalent in that day such as anger, fear, impatience, loneliness, anguish and apathy. These emotions are of course still with us, and as well as dealing with these, the essences made in the last 20 years also address issues of communication, aging, sexuality, spirituality and others that are seen in 21st century.

If you want to try essences, there are many books describing the properties of different flowers. The use of kinesiology or a pendulum is a wonderful way to choose appropriate essences, or seek out a practitioner who uses flower essences. Bach Flower Remedies, the best known of flower essences, are available through most health food stores, and some businesses offer essences from other producers as well. Flower essences can help bring you back in to balance and enjoy life to its fullest.

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