What Are Flower Remedies?

September 7, 2021  •   4 min read

You might be wondering what flower remedies are, as they’ve been quietly erupting in the wellness world. Though they are almost 100 years old, these potent yet subtle tinctures are making waves when it comes to energy healing and regulating our emotional states. This article dives in deep in uncovering what they are, where and when they originated, how they’re made, and most importantly, how they can help us. Read on to learn more, and to find a way to gently shift and release any stuck inner emotions you might be dealing with.

_____

What are Flower Remedies?

As gentle as the name suggests, flower remedies are beautiful botanical essences created in a mindful way to help support, guide and balance our emotional states. In line with homeopathic healing, flower remedies are tasteless tinctures formulated from wild flower essences that are designed to naturally release and balance any underlying negative or stuck emotions, while also promoting emotional well-being, soul development, and a deeper mind-body connection.

Flower remedies are part of a newly emerging field of subtle energy healing, and this field includes homeopathy, reiki, acupuncture, colour therapy, therapeutic touch, sound healing, and other gentle practices (Fes Flowers).

_____

When and Where Did Flower Remedies Originate?

As with most natural healing practices, flower remedies have been used restoratively in many cultures spanning centuries. The potent efficacy of flowers has been understood by many natural healers, however they really only gained awareness in the western world in the 1930s. They were discovered in their current form by an English physician and homeopath named Dr. Edward Bach, who was diagnosed with cancer, being given only months to live. Bach believed that emotional well-being was key to overall health.

He recalled his field work from the war, where he noticed a trend with his patients that greatly intrigued him – those that seemed to have positive, joyful, and lighter emotions healed at a much faster and better rate, compared with those who tended to be more negative, sour, and dark. Upon receiving his diagnosis, Bach took this as an opportunity to deeply study his findings with his war patients, retreating to the English countryside to conduct his experimental work.

Here, he began to delve into natural medicine, working under an herbalist who understood plant medicine. He used himself as the test subject, undergoing many hours of trial and error with different flowers and plants to discover the distinctive energetic properties they carried.

He eventually settled on 38 different flowers, recording their healing and energetic properties. He then established The Bach Centre in Oxfordshire, England, where he developed the essences as we know them today. This line of healing flower essences is still available today, under his eponymous line, Bach Remedies.

_____

How are Flower Remedies Made?

Bach realized that when a flower imprints its energetic properties into spring water via sun infusion, it creates a healing modality. The process of creating flower remedies is quite lovely, encouraging the same mindfulness and gentleness that the remedies themselves deliver.

Bach devised two methods for creating the flower essences – the sun method and the boiling method. For plants with delicate flowers, the sun method is used, and for woodier plants that bloom when the sun is weak, the boiling method is used.

When creating a flower essence, the dewy wild flowers needed must be picked in the early morning with minimal bodily contact, as the oils from human hands can too easily transfer into the pure botanical. Often times, makers will snip the flowers from the stem, holding the water bowl underneath so that they fall directly onto the water’s surface, avoiding contact with them completely.

When using the sun method, the day must be sunny and cloudless. Pure spring water is added to a glass or crystal bowl and once the flowers have been added, the bowl is left out under direct sunlight for three hours.

When using the boiling method, the flowers should be added to pure spring water and boiled for half an hour.

The purpose with both methods is for the heat to transfer the energy from the flowers into the pure water they float in. This process creates an energetic imprint, where the water begins to embody the healing archetype of the plant. The energized water is then filtered, with an equal amount of pure brandy added to it as a preservative. This creates a mother tincture, where a few drops from each essence can be added to a specific remedy to create the desired blend needed.

This beautiful practice of creating flower essences engages the four alchemic elements – earth, water, air, and fire – which come together in harmonious balance. The addition of the fifth element – spiritual awareness – comes through from both the flower’s energy as well as the one making it.

_____

How Do Flower Remedies Work and What Do They Help With?

Flower remedies are similar to tea, but instead they use their energetic properties in a more spiritual and mindful capacity. Tea deals with issues on the physical plane, targeting imbalances such as inflammation or digestive upset, whereas flower remedies tackle our emotional ebbs and flows.

“Flower remedies are unique in that they respond to our nervous systems and the stress receptors in our bodies, peeling back those layers and moderating stuck emotions. They really have to resonate with people on a personal level, and when deciding on which remedy to take, it should be related to something someone is going through emotionally. In short, a flower remedy will only be effective if it’s aligned with an emotional imbalance within that person.” – Cassy Vantriet, Founder of Woash Wellness

Another key factor in their efficacy is that they have to be taken habitually. This means, one whole bottle from start to finish, delivered in 4 drops, 4 times a day. Setting a reminder, keeping the bottle somewhere where it’ll be seen often, or even adding the drops to cups of tea or water are all ways to remember to take the doses. This schedule is important as this is how our bodies build up the potency over a period of time, which then renders the remedy effective.

At first there might not be much of a difference felt, however over time, our bodies begin to respond, and that too, in a range of ways. As each person is unique, there is no singular response that a flower remedy might elicit. For one person, there might be an upheaval of emotions, and for another, they might find that they are sleeping deeper and longer. Over time, the shifts will be felt – depending on which remedy is taken and for what purpose, a person might find they have more energy, clarity, creative out-put, a feeling of grounding, a feeling of being deeply rooted within the body, a release of negativity, of judgement or of unsettling feelings – the list goes on, as every person will respond differently, depending on what their body and emotional state needs.

Flower remedies are gentle, subtle, and easy to take by anyone. They are safe for pregnancy, children, seniors, and anyone in between, easily implementable into daily routines.