Health Options
FLOWER ESSENCE
The Flower Essence Transformational Process
Overview: When flower essences are well-chosen and used with attention and consideration, we should be able to observe a transformational process within each individual which is unique and noteworthy. The aim of flower essence therapy is not to "fix" outer symptoms, adjust or mask uncomfortable behavior, or return to a static condition of social normality or conformity. Instead, flower essences are intended to encourage the development of human potential and the overall evolution of the human soul. Mental, emotional, or physical suffering (dis-ease) can be understood as the labor pains of the soul as it struggles to give birth to new aspects of its Higher Self. The skillful and compassionate practitioner acts as a midwife to the soul, and encourages those processes which can lead to this new birth.
Based on two decades of clinical research through worldwide Flower Essences Society, four major stages of transformation have been identified. Although they generally occur chronologically in the order outlined, they can sometimes operate contemporaneously, or in a slightly altered sequence. Not all stages are operative in every case. In particular, the last two stages are more likely to occur when several cycles of essences have been used and when clear healing goals and inner work accompany the application of the essences.
Stage One: Release, Relaxation or Rejuvenation
This stage is characterized by many sensations, which are often registered in the body. Depending on the unique circumstances of each situation, these changes may be experienced as a release of excess or dysfunctional energy, a general feeling of calm, or a sense of renewed stamina. Many diverse, but short-lived symptoms may accompany Stage One, such as changes in sleep patterns, changes in breathing, a variety of discharges, or headaches. These shifting symptoms occur as the energetic relationship between body and soul comes into new alignment.
Stage Two: Realization and Recognition
While the effects of Stage One are more likely to be registered in the body, during Stage Two the benefits of the flower essences can now be more distinctly felt in the mental field, producing a variety of cognitive responses. As the body and soul shift their point of balance, thoughts and feelings that operated just below the radar of consciousness can now be identified. Unlike allopathic drugs which tend to mask negative symptoms, the flower essences provide new information about our emotional and mental life. They cleanse the window of perception by which we view ourselves, stimulating increased objectivity and clarity. This heightened awareness of our "shadow side" can sometimes be startling or discomforting. The flower essences help us to compare and contrast old behaviors or feelings with new alternative choices and solutions. By attending to the inner work which the flower essences signal to us, we gradually anchor positive soul qualities that resolve negative or dysfunctional traits.
Stage Three: Reaction, Resistance and Reconciliation
For short-term problems, or day-to-day stress, the first two stages may be sufficient to anchor a new part of the Self. However, core level transformation usually involves the need to address traumas and afflictions that have a strong psychic imprint from the past. In this stage, it may appear that the condition has worsened or has regressed to an earlier stage of dysfunction. True change involves conscious choice and this often means that the soul must revisit its original wounding or trauma in order to bring renewed understanding that may not have previously been possible. Thus, the first two stages of transformation are related primarily to present time within the soul, while Stage Three addresses underlying or unhealed aspects stored within the memory of the soul.
The inherent fear of and resistance to encountering this original wounding is often called an awareness crisis. It is characterized by a pronounced experience of polarity in which older patterns or beliefs about the self oppose the new qualities for which the soul is striving. This tension of opposites creates an alchemical catharsis in which the warring parts of the self must be reconciled. True development occurs when the soul can bring these parts of the self into a new union of opposites, which acknowledges rather than denies the wounding of the past.
Stage Three healing can involve intense physical symptoms, particularly the eruption of chronic disease tendencies in the body, or stress patterns. Usually these physical symptoms can be traced back to a core psychic wound which has never fully healed. Because this stage involves many archetypal challenges for the soul it is best accompanied by dream work, journaling, art therapy, affirmation, meditation and various forms of counseling.
Stage Four: Renewal and Reconstellation
To the degree that the soul has healed its present challenges and past afflictions, it can create new possibilities for its future expression; in other words, the soul reconstellates and regroups its psychic forces and basic personality structure. In this stage we often see the emergence of entirely new aspects of the self. The active transformation of character defects results in new strengths and creative choices which would not have been possible without such inner work. Stage Four reflects the ultimate goal of flower essences therapy: to give the soul the roots and wings it needs to shape its highest destiny in concert with benevolent spiritual powers which guard and guide its evolution.
Flowers that Heal is published by Newleaf, an imprint of Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, Ireland. ISBN 0-7171-2573-4, retails in US $15.95. It is available at most bookstores and natural foods stores, or order direct from Flower Essences Services, 800-548-0075, www.floweressence.com
©1999 by the Flower Essence Society. All Rights Reserved.
Flower Essence Society, PO Box 459, Nevada City, CA
95959
tel: 800-736-9222 fax: 530-265-0584
email: research@flowersociety.org
Website: www.flowersociety.org
Heather Young, BEP
II
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Iowa City, Iowa 52245
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