flower essences: how to use

how to use flower essences

There are several ways in which you can take flower essences (called remedies in England), and all of them are incredibly simple! It's important to keep in mind that even if you choose the wrong essence, it can do you no harm. The incorrect essence simply won't have an affect on your current emotional state, but it isn't dangerous in any way. What I suggest is that you experiment with the different methods and choose the avenue that suits you best. I have my personal preferences, but I encourage you to play around and see what works most effectively for you.

No matter which brand you purchase, you'll use the essences in exactly the same way. The small bottles that you purchase are called stock bottles and generally come in either a .25 ounce bottle or 1 ounce bottle; these stock bottle are diluted from the original Mother Essence, which was made directly from the flowers or buds. The first method that we'll talk about today involves using these diluted stock bottles to make yourself a further diluted dosage bottle.

Of those three, we'll be talking about two of them—the stock bottle and the dosage bottle—extensively in this post. The dosage bottle is the most cost-effective method and the one I typically recommend, especially for chronic issues. Once the dosage bottle is made, it's extremely easy to add it to whatever you're drinking throughout the day.

in case you forget

Mother Essence: The full-strength flower essence that is made directly from the flowers or buds. It's a fairly simple procedure and you can actually make the Mother Essence yourself, but that's another story for another day!

Stock bottle: The bottle that you will purchase; this bottle is more concentrated and made directly from the Mother Essence. If you take the drops by mouth, you'll taste the preservative (either alcohol or glycerine).

Dosage bottle: The bottle you will create, using the specific essences you need; this bottle will be much, much more diluted and is made from the stock bottles. If you take the drops by mouth, there won't be much, if any, flavor unless you add an additional preservative.

Dosage Bottle

1. Fill a 1 ounce glass dropper bottle with clean spring water. Distilled water is not recommended, and I have found that this "dead" water doesn't seem to work nearly as well, if at all. It will preserve the essences for longer if you aren't using any additional preservative, but it doesn't pack nearly the same (gentle) punch. For whatever reason, the essence doesn't seem to be able to impregnate distilled water. Filtered water does seem to work fine, however.

2. To this spring water, you will add 2 drops each of your chosen flower essences, up to 7 different essences. There is usually no need to add any preservative if the bottle will be used with 2 or 3 weeks, especially if you store it in the refrigerator. Make sure the dropper never comes into contact with your mouth or fingers, and it should keep fine. You could, however, replace 25% of the spring water with either brandy or vegetable glycerine to preserve it for longer.

3. Add 4 drops of this diluted dosage bottle to whatever you're drinking throughout the day, or prepare a single glass in the morning and sip it throughout the day. The energetic vibrations will imprint on the water, so essentially you're getting a hit of the essences with every sip that you take. This method is great for children, adults, pets, or even plants. You will continue on with this until the symptom(s) passes. In the case of an acute flare-up, this may only be needed for an hour or perhaps a day. In the case of a chronic condition, I'd take the essence blend for 3 weeks and then reevaluate. If you feel the need to continue and aren't using any preservatives, I'd prepare a fresh bottle at this time.

4. You can also drop 4 drops from the dosage bottle directly into your mouth 4 times per day. If you have an emotional flare-up, these 4 drops can be taken every 10 minutes until the episode passes. I tend to prefer adding the drops to my drinks throughout the day when using the dosage bottle, especially for chronic emotional issues. This is mostly because I get the essence(s) more frequently, but this is entirely up to you. You can always pop your dosage bottle into your purse/pocket and carry it with you, taking drops throughout the day.

5. Making a dosage bottle is my preferred method when you're working with multiple essences at the same time (which happens frequently), or when you anticipate the essences will be needed long-term. It'll save you the time of having to sort through all of your essences and drop them in individually whenever you need some support. If you're worried that one of the essences that you originally included is no longer applicable, no worries. Remember, the worst that can happen is... nothing. An essence that isn't needed will have no effect, nor will it make things worse or create a new problem. On your next bottle, simply leave it out of the blend.

Stock Bottle by Mouth

1. Take two drops of the stock bottle (the original bottle you purchased) and drop directly into your mouth. I have experimented with both myself and my family, and I find this to be one of the two most effective ways to approach an acute emotional flare (the other is stock bottle on skin). Usually within minutes I can feel a shift, and then the mood begins to blessedly lift. This lifting will almost always expose new emotional issues underneath, and I continue working with the revealed emotional blockages until I'm feeling better.

2. If, after 15 minutes or so you haven't felt any change (or enough of a change), take another two drops by mouth.

3. If, after another 15 minutes you still haven't felt any kind of shift, no matter how minute, it's quite possible that the wrong essence has been chosen. Sometimes it's difficult to differentiate between moods and there is definitely some trial and error involved. If you're certain that it is the correct flower essence, I would then switch over to a glass of water with 2 drops of the stock bottle added and sip it throughout the day (see below: Stock Bottle in Drinks).

4. This way certainly isn't the most cost-effective method, but it is easy and works well, especially short-term. The bottles preserved with brandy will taste like alcohol and the ones with vegetable glycerine will taste sweet. If, like me, you choose not to drink alcohol, then you'll want to purchase the glycerine-based bottles.

   
   

Stock Bottle on Skin (my preferred method)

1. You will do exactly as described as when taken by mouth, except now you'll drop them onto your skin. I generally drop the essences onto my wrists and rub them together, but you could probably apply them anywhere. Remember, they're energetic in nature and the rules are far less rigid than what most people are accustomed to.

2. Some flower practitioners may disagree, but so far I have found this method to be just as effective as dropping into the mouth for acute negative moods. I think taking it by mouth makes one think of a traditional medicine and so the mind has an easier time accepting what it (most likely) can't understand, but your energetic field surrounds your entire body; thankfully, the flower essences can work with it in a number of ways. This is my preferred method for acute emotional flares.

3. This is an excellent approach to use with children. Just the other day, my young niece wasn't feeling well—dizzy and light-headed. I pulled out the appropriate essence and without thinking, went to drop it into her mouth. She recoiled with the legitimate question of: "does it taste bad?" so I instead applied it to her arm. After the first dose she felt better, so I gave her another. After the second, the next time I saw her she was smiling, chatting, and happily eating again :)

4. I would recommend this method only with the essences that have been preserved with brandy. They'll dissipate quickly and leave no residue behind whereas those with glycerine will leave an unpleasant stickiness on the skin.

Stock Bottle in Drinks

1. Instead of the mouth or the skin, simply drop 2 drops of the essence directly into the drink you're drinking.

2. One of my girls likes to make up a fresh glass each morning to address the moods that she feels pressing on her when she wakes; she calls this her Trauma Cup ;) She'll sip from it periodically, making it last for the entire day. If the glass runs low, you can leave some of the essence water and refill; I've found the essences will impregnate the fresh water and continue their work. You can also simply make up a fresh glass with fresh essences.

3. This method would be helpful if you feel as though your emotions are continually shifting. Daily, you'll peel back fresh layers of emotions to be dealt with. Eventually you'll almost certainly reach a chronic personality blockage that will require more than simply a day to work through, but you can continue on with this method for chronic issues if it's most convenient for you.

patience, diligence & time

I think it's important to note that your response to the essences won't always be immediate. I can almost always, quite quickly, find relief to the acute moods that strike, but chronic deep-seated issues usually take longer. I've been working with someone on their guilt issues for several months now (they add drops from a dosage bottle to their water throughout the day) and just recently they've begun to feel a welcome shift.

If you're confident that you've properly identified your emotion, then keep on keeping on with the essences. Give them time. I personally believe that some of these blockages are carry-overs from other lifetimes and won't disappear overnight. With time and patience, however, I've seen some remarkable shifts that make your consistency well worth it. In the end, does it really matter whether it takes an hour, two weeks, or four months if you can finally shake an emotional blockage that saps much of the joy from your days? Continually addressing my emotions has given me a lightness and newly focused clarity that only enhances the hard work of living life as a human. And all it took was a commitment to sipping water!

Additionally, I think it's very important to add that I anticipate needing the support of flower essences for the duration of my lifetime; I don't think of them as a tool to use and then discard, but to continually reach for in times of emotional distress. People are generally a seething bundle of emotions—often negative ones—and I think that's just part and parcel of being a human. While souls may be universally "good," not all people are. And because we're social creatures and require at least a modicum of interaction, we'll get plenty of chances to work on those negative emotions that we struggle with most. While flower essences are excellent at helping us tackle our chronic issues, they're also invaluable for supporting us with the day-to-day struggles. In my home, my essence kit is kept in a spot that is available to all, day or night, and there's always someone rummaging through the bottles in search of just the right helpmate!

working with infants

Flower essences are safe to use, even with the smallest of babies. I wish desperately that I'd known about essences when my girls were young because they would have been such an awesome tool to have in my mama tool-belt! Upon reincarnation, I think some souls have a much more difficult time re-acclimating to the human body and struggle with being so helpless and restricted again. I believe flower essences would have made a world of difference for some of my girls (and definitely myself!).

Obviously, though, babies can't speak. In this case, it's up to the caregiver to assess the baby's behavior. It's often easy enough to tell when a baby is irritated, scared, weak, or in pain. Look to what their body and face are showing you. This would also be helpful with anyone unable to speak—including your animal friends. Are they feverish and restless? (Agrimony) Irritable with being unwell? (Impatiens) You can apply the essences directly to their skin, knowing that they can do no harm. Hardworking mamas could also benefit greatly from the support of flower essences, both during pregnancy and then for those challenging days (and sleepless nights) beyond!

where to buy

If you don't already have the essences on hand, then there are two options I would recommend you explore. I buy my bottles through Flower Essence Services and the essences are prepared by Julian Barnard exactly as Bach prepared his. Barnard's line of essences is called Healinherbs and the reason I choose them is because they're prepared with organic ingredients. The preservative used is organic brandy but even if, like me, you don't consume alcohol, there's another way besides consumption to use them if you wish. (And take it from me, they work just as well when applied topically!) I'm also a huge fan of Barnard's book Bach Flower Remedies: Form and Function. I highly recommend his work if you're interested in diving deeper into Edward Bach and his flower essences.

The second option is the original Bach line, still made by Nelsons which is the company Edward Bach donated his essences to. These are prepared with either alcohol or vegetable glycerin if the alcohol concerns you and you'd prefer to avoid it. I'll just add here that if you make a dosage bottle as outlined above, the amount of alcohol will be minuscule, having been diluted multiple times. Alcohol is considered a Group 1 carcinogen, however, so if drinking it is off the table for you and you'd prefer to take the essences orally, then the glycerin bottles would be the way to go!

slow & steady

And before I leave you for today, I will reassure you that I'm still slowly but surely working through each and every one of the flower essences! You can find them all conveniently located here: flower essences. I hope I've answered all of your questions on how to take the remedies, but if not, feel free to reach out to Melinda via our contact page! Thanks so much for reading, and I hope your day is an awesome one ♥

Much love,

Melinda