What are flower essences?
Native Columbine
I use flower essences as part of my repertoire of therapies, especially when emotional issues are at the forefront and need to be addressed quickly. These essences were originally developed by a Welsh physician, Dr. Edward Bach. He soaked the flowers from thirty-eight species of wildflowers in water, preserved the resulting liquids, and found that each of the resulting essences could be used to work on specific emotional issues, making them a useful adjunct to his homeopathic prescriptions.
Since the creation of the original essences, many sets of flower essences have been developed from all over the world. I mainly use the set made from flowers grown in the foothills and Sierra mountains of California and the Bach English essences.
Helping kids with difficult transitions
I often give flower essences to children for the emotional strain of travel, because they can help them be more flexible, which makes it easier for them to tolerate new situations.
Flower essences can really help the following:
Difficulty sleeping
Jet lag and time change
Difficulty adapting to different routines, foods, customs
Anxiety in new places and situations
Overwhelm and tension
Anger and tears when unable to process new things
Homesickness
Here's an example of how flower essences helped one family about to go on a trip.
A new client of mine is a four-year-old girl who already has a hard time relaxing and going to sleep at night. Her parents have a very specific routine they follow which helps her, but on nights when the routine is broken, it can take more than an hour for her to get to sleep. She also has a short list of foods she eats, and can be very anxious and shy in new situations—her parents think her stomach aches are a somatic sign of this.
The parents are planning a trip to see their extended family on the East Coast, and are concerned she will have a hard time adjusting to all the changes. When we meet for her first follow-up visit, her health issues are better, thanks to the constitutional remedy she started a month ago, but I think adding some flower essences will help all of them enjoy their trip more.
I take a look in my Flower Essence Repertory book, and find a short list of specific essences that I can put together in a single bottle for her.
Lavender: To soothe and regulate her psychic/spiritual energy and allow her to sleep more easily.
Walnut: To smooth transitions and help her be calm in the face of change.
Dill: For the overwhelm she may feel from overstimulation, to lessen her sensitivity to new impressions.
Rock Water: To give her more flexibility and tolerance in terms of her diet, routines, and new experiences.
Chamomile: To help her release tension in the stomach and psyche, which builds up until bedtime, so she can more easily sleep.
In this case, I made a one ounce combination bottle, instructing her parents to give her four drops a few times a day as needed, starting a few days before their trip began. I told them to give it until she didn’t seem to need it anymore.
They reported back that their trip was much easier this time; their daughter was able to get to sleep more quickly (after some initial jet lag) and was much more relaxed in general. She was more curious than withdrawn and enjoyed a lot of new activities. She even tried some new foods at her grandparents’ house!
I told her parents to give her the flower essence combination if any of these issues reappear since she's been home, but so far, she’s doing great.
I have a complete set of flower essences, and make the combination bottles with a few drops from the stock bottles. Lots of health food stores carry the complete sets— you can buy them individually and make up your own combinations or use them individually.
A set of FES Quintessentials at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco.
