Bach Flower Remedies
& Nature Essences

THE MAIN TRIED AND LOVED WAYS ARE

Internally, by mouth, inhale;

Externally (on the skin): bathing, cream / lotion, patch, compress, meridian / chakra, reflex points;

Proximity (away from skin) / ambience: holding bottle or placing in room; spray; meridian massage.

Essences available as: Drops, sprays, roll-ons, creams

You choose what way will suit you, what feels 'right' and convenient, probably different ways in different circumstances. Vibrational Essences are safe and benign (link to find out more) so we can experiment with various uses. However, just use them!

Generally, Flower Essences are sold in dropper bottles – a simple, inexpensive and versatile package. From the dropper bottle you can also make up your own sprays, baths and so on. Some producers make up their product directly into sprays and roll-ons (more notes at end). Do contact the producer, as most are able and happy to package their Essences as will suit you. They are also open to your suggestions. Do ask!

INTERNALLY

By mouth
This is the best known way to use Flower Essences, as instructed on propriety bottles available in shops: 2 or so drops in water and sip, or in water in a dose dropper bottle for longer term use. Of course we can also just splash drops from the stock bottle straight into the mouth (assuming you are OK with a minute amount of brandy), especially useful in 1st aid and panic situations.

For animals, plants and babies (and us too) we can add drops to their food or drink.

Inhaling: Put a drop or two in your hand, rub your palms together, then inhale from them.

EXTERNALLY, on the skin

BATHING When prepared carefully, I’ve found bathing with Essences to be a deeply touching and effective experience.
Generally, the best time is before noon when the body is focused on cleansing and elimination. Clean the bath with bicarbonate of soda or fresh lemon juice. Add 7-10 drops of your chosen Essence/s at dose strength. You may swirl the water with your hand in figure 8 around the bath, first one way then another, to make sure the bath is fully ‘charged’.

Its important that the water is not hot, just body temperature or a little warmer. Gently scrub the body with a cotton flannel (washcloth) or loofah bringing the blood to the skin surface. Then if needed top up the bath water so the whole body can be submerged. Relax for 10-30 minutes. Rest afterwards, preferably with feet up, and breathing well.

Baby: Essences can be added to baby’s bath, a very supportive, safe and simple way to help them maintain inner balance.

Hands and feet: Especially for those unable to bathe fully submerged, remember that bathing the feet and / or hands is also an effective way to take Essences in through the skin. This is especially because these are places of many meridian end points, minor chakras, and reflexes.

CREAM OR LOTION including for first aid, in massage oil or lotion, and specific area application. Check what if any preservative is added. Some people have an ill response to preservatives, and synthetic additives. You could add other Essences to Healing Herbs' Five Flower Cream, which is an organic, very gentle, almond oil base.

For general use mix 2-5 stock drops into your favourite cream or lotion (a cocktail stick is handy), or get an inexpensive, unscented base. To my surprise I get along well with the very inexpensive aqueous cream (mineral based). Essences in your face or hand creams mean you benefit from them with the frequent use. If what you’re needing is just for now, then put a bit of cream in your hand, add the required stock Essences drop/s and mix before applying.

For 1st Aid, (burns, sprains, bruises, wounds, stings etc – and accompanying shock) Essences can be mixed with any liquid or cream cleaner, soak or remedy salve.

If you have a trauma or emergency mix of Essences made up for you personally, ask for an extra bottle of stock mix as well. This can be used for bathing as well as a lotion or cream mix ready for the ‘everyday’ bumps, bruises, burns, etc, - remembering that the quicker you apply it, the more helpful it can be.

PATCH We don’t have to be giving up smoking to make use of a ‘patch’! Flower Essence drops on a plaster can be put wherever (see also meridians and chakras). With the range of colours and patterns now available, plaster patches can be fun too.

COMPRESS This can be useful especially where there is a sore place - whether an acute situation such as burn, bruise, sting, sprain etc, or chronic condition such as a sore, eczema, joint pain, scarring and so on. Also if there feels to be a place in the body where, for instance, anger, grief, fear or past trauma is being held, a compress may be a great help and comfort. Simply put the Essence drops into a bowl of comfortably warm water (unless a cold compress is indicated). Wet a cloth and squeeze out excess water so it doesn't drip. Hold the cloth to the area. In general terms I would say apply a compress hourly for an acute situation, three times daily for a chronic complaint. For either it may be appropriate to follow up with an application of cream.

MERIDIAN, CHAKRA AND REFLEXOLOGY SYSTEMS We can use Essences according to our knowledge of the various energetic systems, and their philosophies, sciences and arts. With a minimal amount of knowledge of chakra, meridian or reflex systems, we can see that applying Essences to a chakra area (major or minor), or meridian or reflex points may be even more effective than to a place of physical ill symptom, though there is no harm putting Essences on both places if they different. If in doubt, simply try a few drops on wrist pulses and palms.

A therapist using these systems can tell you the relevant places needing attention, and you may be able to feel for yourself the best place to apply an Essence. Sometimes you or a friend can feel an area becoming suddenly cooler or hotter as you hold an Essence bottle and move the other hand over the body. If you practice dowsing, or muscle testing and finger kinesiology, you can use these means to test the most helpful applications of how and where. I find a dowsing arc is useful for choosing among various applications (mouth, skin, bath etc), and then, if indicated, to which chakra, reflex or meridian point/s (end points seem to be particularly efficient for Essences).

PROXIMITY AND AMBIANCE

HOLDING, AND FOR ROOMS Essences can be effective not only in or on the body, also near. Our subtle bodies (and electrical system) extend outward from our skin, and we are sensitive to energy qualities in a room or place. So, especially with intention and awareness, we can simply hold a bottle of Essence/s in the hand, or carry a small dose vial, e.g. 3ml, of Essences in a pocket, or in a pouch hung on a necklace. I know several people who prepare a room for visitors by putting Essences into a bowl of water on the mantelpiece or table. If using an essential oil burner, flower Essences can be put in the water with the oil.

SPRAY Using sprays is how I have the most fun, including creating recipes such as Relax, Cleanse, or Uplift, and co-creating personalized mixes for people and homes. Spraying over my head (don't look up!), the mist falls all the way down through the subtle bodies. I may spray heart area or back of neck and shoulders. Its great to mist around the room, my bedding, and the ironing so the Essences permeate my clothes. Then there’s the car, the greenhouse, the office...

Chemists sell small plastic spray bottles in the travel goods section. Though I prefer Essences in glass, for general purpose the plastic bottles do well enough. I reckon 2-3 drops of each Vibrational Essence required is plenty for a 50-125 ml fine mist spray bottle. The larger garden sprayers are fine for plants, outside, and ironing.

If adding essential oils to the spray, remember they are very strong and concentrated, and some can be harmful, so use them responsibly with great care and fully informed - a drop is usually plenty. It is also in order to remember that it takes a massive amount of plant matter – flower, leaf, wood, etc, to make just one drop of essential oil. Just the opposite of Flower Essences which use a small handful of material (or none picked at all) to make a vast amount of Essences.

MERIDIAN MASSAGE To give yourself a ‘meridian massage’: Move one hand a couple inches away from the body, to ‘stroke’ from the heart area down the inside of the other arm and up the outside; then swap sides and do the same for the other arm. Now move both hands from heart area up over the face, and on up over the top then down the back of the head. Continue down, as best as possible reaching down the back (imagine 'stroking' the bits you can't reach), and then down the backs of the legs. Imagine the hands going under the feet, and then move them on up the inside of legs, up along the lower front of the body, and back to rest at heart area. Got that? Give it a go two or three times, even if without Flower Essences, and notice how you feel.

ESSENCES ARE AVAILABLE IN SEVERAL FORMS As well as the most common liquid in dropper bottle form, producers now also make up Flower Remedies and Nature Essences in different forms so you can choose what is most convenient for you and your family, clients etc. Sprays are lovely for rooms, as well as over the whole body and aura, and often also contain essential oils. When you have your own stock Essence in dropper bottle, you can make up your own spray too, although please take informed care if also adding oils. I suggest that unless you know a lot about using oils that you just use Essences to make you own spray, especially if you are spraying around children, animals, and frail people.

Roll-ons are great for handbag, and obvious for wrist pulses, and meridian end points. Creams are also easy for handbags – and baby bag! So easy and at hand especially around children for bumps, cuts, bruises, stings, burns and so on. You may have others ideas. Many producers are happy and able to try out new forms, so it is always worth asking.

HOWEVER - JUST USE THEM! However Flower and other Essences may be used, I am deeply grateful that we have these wonderful gifts of nature for our use. In my experience, the more I use them for my general care and evolution, the more easily I remember them in times of crisis. Then as I use them something deep and quiet within me remembers that whatever is going on, just as I am a part of the whole of life, so also the whole of Creation is helping me on my journey.

For me the wonder of Flower Essences is even more than the development of a whole new branch of health and development, plus the abundance and profundity offered, their simplicity, the low environmental impact in their making, their myriad uses, and my now countless happy experiences with them. Even more than all this with the world of Flower Essences, it is about recalling and refreshing the wonder of life on Earth.

Cynthia Alves copyright 2005, 2008

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All information, recommendations and instructions are given intending to support and not replace medical care. Please use "Flower Essences" and all other Lifepower teaching and recommendations responsibly, and seek medical help as appropriate.