Archive for the ‘Aromatherapy’ Category

Flower essences are made when flowers are infused in water by sun or moonlight, then further diluted, potentized, and preserved with alcohol. In holistic healing flower essence therapy is considered “vibrational medicine”. Vibrational medicine incorporates the use of energies within living organisms such as plants, gemstones and crystals, water and sunlight. Because the remedies are extremely dilute they do not have a characteristic scent or taste of the plant but it has been demonstrated that their “energy” can have a healing effect on our emotions.

Lotus Wei Founder and Formulator, Katie Hess has spent a lifetime cultivating her expertise as an organic alchemist and sourcing flower essence from all over the world. She has developed a new line of organic based elixirs, body oils and aromatic mists, all infused with her hand collected flower essences and (except the elixir) carefully chosen aromatic essential oils.

Katie says that by contemplating these flower images and intuitively selecting the one you are most drawn to, you will uncover which essence you need most.  I chose the Bird of Paradise which led me to the Quiet Mind group.  It’s no surprise that it turned out to also be my favorite of all the different unique and beautiful aromas in the line.  Before deciding to bring the products into our carefully curated lineup at spiritbeautylounge.com, I had to try them myself.  I also wanted to know more about the formulator and her process and I thought I should share this with you!

How did you personally become interested in Floral Essence Therapy?

After I graduated from college (sociology, Madison), I left the country for a few years … had also already lived out of the country for 2 years prior to that as well, was searching
for a way to awaken more happiness for people … began to study natural medicine of all kinds …
when I discovered flower essences I knew it was it, they are so unlimited and far-reaching and so effective and fast-acting and safe and profound.  I felt like each person had more potential that was just untapped and found the flower essence to be an amazing way to tap into it

Wow.  So, some of us may be familiar with Aromatherapy and Homeopathy but this is different.  How so?

Closest to homeopathy in that they are vibrational remedies. They have no scent. They work on the body’s electrical system, using the same energetic pathways as acupuncture. It is easy for the body’s energy, or “chi” to become imbalanced due to many factors like stress, diet, constitution, pollution, etc., and so flower essences help to bring the body back into balance. When we are in balance we are naturally (like a child) full of joy, peace, calm, creativity. Some have told me on a personal experience level that flower essences work faster than homeopathy and that there is much less or none of a “healing crisis”. Homeopathy are subtle remedies made from plants, minerals, rocks, pollens and other substances. Flower essences are solar or lunar infusions of living flowers that are still in the earth, or just only recently cut. Because it is essentially a “vibrational water”, it requires less flowers than for example aromatherapy, because there are no chemical constituents of the plant left in the water. Even people who are allergic to some plants and essential oils will have no problems with flower essences. Also, it is the only natural remedy that you never have to fear about taking during pregnancy, birthing … even newborns can take flower essence elixirs. with no problem. Different from homeopathy, coffee or mints don’t affect the efficacy.

State of mind during the creation and handling of the flower essences is crucial, similar to biodynamic farming … you pay attention to the moon, the day, the time, your own state of mind when collecting them.

That’s interesting.  If the flower which the essence is derived from is not organically grown, do we have to worry about potential pesticides seeping into the infusion?

That’s a great question. I believe the answer is no. In our case, our flower essences are not certified organic because it would be far too expensive to hire a certifier to fly around with us and hike into wild areas as we often do and then do all the soil testing, etc. at each different location-crazy! In most cases we make flower essences from flowers in the wild very far from human kind, extremely unlikely to be contaminated. If you have an organic farm, then it’s a little easier to get them certified. We are very careful about which flowers we use..

So you are sourcing your own flowers from mostly wild locations and the risk of them being contaminated is nothing close to what it’s like from commercial flower growers.

Yes, exactly.

How do you know what properties a certain flower has?  Is there any scientific reference or is it more of a sixth sense?

The latter. Intuitive method or perception of the flower properties. Meditation and practice collecting refines the collector’s ability to perceive clearly. And then testing it out of course; meaning, having many people take the remedy. I never tell people what it’s for when testing, just have them take it and report back what happened during that time. Sometimes you learn even more that way too.

Ok, this may seem silly but, with the Elixirs having alcohol in the base, are they safe for children?  There won’t be any intoxication will there?

Not silly, valid concern. The amount of alcohol consumed within five drops of the elixir is the same amount the body produces after eating about a quarter of a banana. (the body produces alcohol from the natural fruit sugars). Even if a child drank the whole bottle, I doubt they would feel intoxicated.

Back to basics for a minute here; can you talk about the actual process from collecting the flowers to making the final dilution?  What would be a typical “day in the life” for this process?

Might get a little woo woo {what I call new-age-y} here, warning you. I know the day ahead of time, full moon and new moon are best, as well as eclipses. I do solitary meditation in the morning, as usual. Then as I go into it, I watch every detail of how the day goes. I observe my mental state, and everything that happens around me. Recognizing that everything is interdependent and connected in some way, there can be clues about the flower’s quality due to what is happening around you as well. I observe insects, animals, birds, winds, breezes, sunlight, and most of all my own mental state…I meditate with the flower for some time, listen on many levels and take many notes from mental level, emotional level, as well as how the flower looks, what it evokes, where it grows in relationship to other things. The actual collection may be bending the flower over into the water or cutting the flower. I never, never touch the flower or smell/sniff it pre-infusion. It takes place in the morning. The flowers soak in pure water in a crystal bowl for a certain period of time, usually several hours–the light of the sun transfers the energy from the flower. Then after it’s ready, I remove the flowers from the water. That water is then added to certified organic alcohol, to preserve the lifeforce, or energy. (if no alcohol, then dies off within a week or less even) That is the mother essence. This essence is saved. A practitioner essence is a dilution from the mother essence. Then the essences taken by you and I are made from the practitioner dilution.

I think of myself as an “open-minded cynic” – if that sounds paradoxical it’s because I am!  I know that some studies have shown compelling evidence of the positive effect of flower essence (on children with ADHD for example) and other attempts to scientifically prove any efficacy of flower essences have suggested that they are nothing more than  placebo, but I have taken observation of my own feeling while using your flower essence elixirs and believe I have been affected by them.  I think I’m way over 5 times a day with the Quiet Mind Elixir already – something about it feels very good for me.

Your reaction is quite positive–in the beginning yes–that happens! you want to bathe in it (by the way, you can put the elixir and oil into a bath if you like), sometimes with new custom flower elixirs I take them over 10 times a day.  Your body and mind knows when it needs something and will remind you. After a while, most likely 21 days or so, you will have fully integrated those energies into your system, and suddenly the bird of paradise will look boring to you and something else will look super juicy. Funny. Have you noticed anything different about how you feel yet? ; )

I believe that for sure.  Quiet Mind has actually made me much more creative and focused.   Less frazzled and overwhelmed, more able to sit down and complete my creative work.  Not exactly quiet mind but calm mind in my case.

That’s perfect..for sure it will make you more focused.

I’m fascinated by this but I’m sure I might have to extract from this for the blog-size version if it’s ok with you!

oh, of course. Most people would think I’m crazy if they read all of this. Simple is better. Over the last ten years I have really searched for the best way to educate people about it. Simple and straightforward is best. They just want to know it works. and the only way to know is to try for themselves.

Find Lotus Wei Organics at Spirit Beauty Lounge.

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