{"id":22886,"date":"2020-06-12T17:06:02","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T00:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nourishedkitchen.com\/?p=22886"},"modified":"2022-03-13T12:10:46","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T19:10:46","slug":"how-to-make-flower-essences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nourishedkitchen.com\/how-to-make-flower-essences\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Flower Essences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Flower essences are increasingly popular remedies thought to work on an energetic level to lift the mood, release fear, and revitalize a worn spirit. Making them at home is a joyful experience in radical self-care, intention-setting, and mindful action. It's also marvelously easy.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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\"Rose<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What is a flower essence?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flower essences are a cross between herbal remedies<\/a> and energetic medicine. You make them by allowing freshly picked flowers to float in spring water set in direct sunlight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional herbal remedies like fire cider<\/a>, CBD oil, <\/a>and nettle infusion<\/a> extract plant matter into another medium like vinegar, oil, or water. By contrast, the intention behind making a flower essence is to extract the flower's metaphysical energy. Developed by Dr. Edward Bach, an early 20th-century homeopath, these remedies are thought to convey an uplifting energetic imprint into water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bach believed that each flower harbored its own distinct energetic vibration and then imprinted this energy into the water. Accordingly, practitioners believe that ingesting floral essences in microdoses helps convey that vibrational energy to the people who take them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People take flower essences to support emotional balance, lift the spirit, gain greater mental clarity and connect with their higher self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do they work? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because of how you make them, and because they are so dilute, flower essences contain no residual physical compounds from flowers. Rather, they're simply a mix of alcohol and water. For this reason, they do not work on any physiological level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some studies suggest they might be helpful for easing pain (1, 2), supporting sleep, and easing menopausal symptoms (3), and animal studies suggest they support blood sugar balance and heart health (4). But many studies fall under criticism, due to poor design or conflict of interest among the researchers. And systematic reviews tend to find no evidence of efficacy beyond the placebo effect (5, 6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why make them?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So while systematic reviews show no efficacy, floral essences can still be powerful tools for healing, and many people swear by them. Intention-setting, meditation, and mindfulness practices influence and support emotional balance and stress reduction (7, 8). Mindfulness and meditation also help improve chronic pain and elevate mood (9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice of making and taking flower essence is deeply meditative. Also, as you prepare each essence you begin by setting an intention and goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Bach's traditional flower remedies, each flower is associated with an emotional outcome: rose to reignite your passion for life, cherry plum to find clarity in chaos, olive for restoring mental energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you prepare your own remedies, you can tap into your own needs and set your own intention. When you gather flowers, pay attention to how you feel around them, what you need, and what your goals are. Perform these acts with mindfulness and meditation, and then when you take your remedy, it acts as a gentle reminder of that intention. Whether it's the energetic imprint of flowers relayed through the essences or intention-setting, it's a beautiful (albeit a bit precious) exercise in radical self-care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips for Making Flower Essences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It's easy to make your own flower essences. You'll need a few household items, a sunny day, and a place to gather flowers. Beyond that, keep these simple tips in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n