Flower Therapy - Healing with Flowers

Flower therapy is one of the most natural and universal ways we express feelings of happiness, congratulations, sympathy, love and friendship with each other. Whether enjoying a single wildflower, a grand bouquet, or a dose of a medicinal flower remedy or essence, these gifts of nature have the power to heal, inspire, and touch our hearts.

We are instinctively drawn to flowers. Young children, with no judgments of weed or flower, naturally gravitate to cheery yellow dandelions. They pick them by the fistful as springtime bouquets for moms and loved ones.

Sometimes what we cannot say in words, we let flowers say for us.

A bouquet of red roses speaks of love and passion. Amaryllis and Poinsettias herald winter holidays.

Cheery daisies and forget-me-nots help you say, "I'm sorry, let's think of happy memories."

The beauty and intoxicating aroma of lilacs and honeysuckle are the perfect flower remedy for chasing away the last of the winter blues as they announce the beginning of warm days ahead.

Just being in the presence of flowers touches our spirits. Whether we experience them as a gift of nature along a country road, in our gardens, or by receiving or giving a gift of flowers, these beauties are a welcome and positive addition to our lives.

It is no wonder that flower therapy is an age-old form of healing.

Types of Flower Therapy

There is much more to flower therapy than the good feelings they evoke just by looking at them. As the reproductive part of the plant, flowers have a lot of life force energy. Flower medicine is powerful, effective medicine for mind, body and spirit.

There are several forms of flower medicine.

Dried and fresh flowers prepared as tinctures, oils, and foods address the needs of your body on a physical level. These remedies affect the organs and systems of the body. When taken for stress-relief, for example, they work because they have a calming effect on the nervous system.

Flower oils and ointments are helpful for external use. They may be used for wound healing, relaxing muscles, acne and more. Flower oils are made from fresh or dried flowers that have been infused in a carrier oil. A good carrier oil, such as olive, jojoba, apricot and grape seed oils may enhance the benefits. Two wonderful medicinal flower oils are calendula and dandelion.

Teas and infusions must be made only with dried flowers and plant parts. Otherwise the cell walls will still be in tact and no nutrients or constituents will be able to escape into the water. Drying breaks the cell walls.

Flower Tinctures extract constituents from the plant into a solvent, usually vodka and water. Glycerine is sometimes used for children and people who are sensitive to alcohol. It does not extract as many constituents as alcohol. Sometimes dried flowers are used to make high quality tinctures, but usually fresh flowers are best.

Essential Oils are usually made from the steam extracted volatile oils of flowers and other parts. When you pick up the scent of flowers in the air, that is their volatile oils escaping. Molecules enter the blood stream as you inhale. They can also be absorbed through your skin.

Aromatherapy primarily heals on a physical level, even though certain flowers and resins, such as frankincense and jasmine, are sometimes used as vibrational remedies for spiritual healing, energy healing, or raising the vibration of a space.

Rose, jasmine and lavender are three flowers that make flower therapy a joy because of their heavenly smelling healing essential oils.

Vibrational Flower Therapy

Homeobotanical Remedies include combinations of herbs to address certain conditions. Most remedies include tinctures made of flowers along with other plant parts. These remedies work on a physical level, because they do contain actual plant material, as well as on the energetic, or vibrational, level, because they are dilute and potentized like homeopathic remedies.

Flower Essences are in a class by themselves. Unlike tinctures, oils, teas and other herbal preparations that may use any and all plant parts, flower essences are made solely from flowers. The only exception I am aware of is one of the Bach essences, which is rock water.

Flower essences are vibrational healing remedies that work on the emotional, mental and spiritual energy levels. If a physical healing happens from using essences, it is usually because a related core issue is released at one or more of those levels. By intuition and anecdotal evidence, each flower in a system is linked to specific emotional, mental, and spiritual states. By taking the essence, you introduce the energy signature of the flower, and those positive qualities into your energy field.

Flower essences combine beautifully with homeobotanical remedies and may be mixed in the same bottle for one convenient remedy.

Live flowering plants offer the same benefits as essences. Benefiting from the vibration of a flowering plant for mental and emotional healing is as easy as sitting in its presence with an open heart and meditating on its qualities. Learn a flower’s qualities by consulting a flower essence book or searching on-line. Better yet, let your intuition guide you to a flower. Visit a nursery and choose flowers that make you feel good when you look at them and/or smell them.

Whether you take the essence or sit in the presence of the flowering plant, your vibration raises to match the vibration of the plant. As your vibration rises, negative states shift to more positive ones.

Healing with Flowers

Flower therapy, in all its forms, helps you heal and transform in mind, body and spirit. What I find very interesting, is that one flower, depending on the constituents that are extracted from different parts of the plant and how it is prepared, may have very different actions.

For example, hypericum perforata, commonly known as Saint John's Wort, is not limited to being an ordinary depression remedy.

Hypericum means over the spirit. Its hypericin sensitizes us to light, so you must be careful of too much sunlight when taking it.

As a tincture, hypericum is useful for mild to moderate depression, menopausal symptoms, and for those who manifest their mental states as body symptoms.

From a flower essence perspective, hypericum is for people who are highly sensitive. They carry a lot of light within and it is difficult for them to incarnate and contain their light. It is also for sustaining light when feeling melancholic or depressed due to light deprivation. It provides protection during the dark of night, and helps with sleep disturbances and negative entities.

As a flower oil, hypericum helps with wound healing, scar formation, and nerve pain.

Another example is white yarrow, Achillea millifolium.

White yarrow relaxes smooth muscles, making it good for cramping in the digestive tract and uterus. It may reduce fever when taken internally because it makes you sweat.

Yarrow is astringent and helps stop external and internal bleeding, which made the tincture a popular remedy for heavy menstrual bleeding and nosebleeds.

Yarrow is a natural antiseptic and antibiotic, making it useful for infections inside the body and out. Make an infusion of yarrow flowers and drink to help relieve congestion and stimulate digestion. Also use the infusion as a wash for eczema, oily skin, and wounds.

From a flower essence perspective, yarrow is useful for those who are particularly affected by their surroundings. It is wonderful for counselors, teachers and healers. It helps strengthen the aura and harmonizes one's spiritual nature with the physical world.

As you can see, flower medicine has far reaching effects for mind, body and spirit. Whether enjoying a single wildflower, an herbal brew, or a flower essence remedy, flower therapy has the power to heal, inspire, and touch your heart.