ARTICLE: Flower Power

October 2009 Newsletter

If someone had asked me 15 years ago if I thought aflower essence could work I would have said, "Of course not, how could it?" The concept was abit esoteric to me. Back then, things had to be scientifically proven for me to believe in them. I have used herbal remedies for years so I decided that these flower blends may have validity and purpose. I challenged myself to stay open minded and agreed to explore them further. My experience with flower essences was a crash course in having faith in the flowers that can heal us and our animals.

The most common and well known of the essences is Rescue Remedy Today, you can walk into health food stores and pharmacies alike and find Rescue on the shelf. It should be in everyone's home, car and barn.

Dr. Edward Bach originally created Rescue Remedy in the early 1930s. Dr. Bach, a renowned surgeon in the U.K., had become disillusioned with traditional medicine. He realized that he was trying to cure illness after illness without getting to the root core of most of the diseases: the emotional root. If the underlying emotions are not addressed the repressed feelings will sprout disease after disease. This led him to the countryside where he studied plants and created his original 38 flower essences. Today there are literally thousands of flower essences to choose from. They can be made from vegetables, cactus, and trees grown from any region.

It is still not clearly defined how flower essences work. I have decided that this is irrelevant because they are benign and cannot hurt the beings that are using them. Flower essences and homeopathics are the only elements that will never drug test and are not contra-indicated in any medical protocol. Because they are so safe they can be used with any animal at any age. The essences are liquids that are easily given to the animals in the water. They have virtually no taste or smell, unlike aromatherapy, which they are often confused with. Aromatherapy works on the sense of smell. The flower essences work on avibrational resonance within the animal's energetic body, more along the lines of acupuncture and homeopathy.

As a horse owner and multi animal caretaker I have found that the uses for flower essences are literally endless. They have great purpose as training aids for young horses or ones that have come to you with baggage. There is no kinder gift you can give to an abandoned abused animal than to help them wash away their past experiences and be able to look through their past to afuture that has potential for them. Flower essences help to bridge the communication gap between human and animal perspectives. Flower essences can help a fearful animal by giving them confidence to face new situations without bracing and being defiant to protect themselves. Awater puddle does not have to be a scary thing to them. I have seen countless spooky animals jump frightful fences without looking back or enter terrifying trailers without hesitation. A nervous horse no longer needs to be consumed with fret and worry. The easier we make it on the animals, the easier we make it upon ourselves to work with them.

I have seen countless success stories with essences. The only time flower essences fail is if we guess wrong as to what the root cause of the issue is. If we think the problem is fear based and use a remedy geared towards allaying fear, and it turns out the issue is anger, the fear remedy will not work. I ask everyone to have patience. Take your time defining the problems you are trying to address and get clear on what the root causes may be. I have also learned that essences are not animal specific, but issue specific. All types of animals have benefited from flower essences, from ferrets, to llamas, to bulls, to birds and even fish.

It was all the years of experiences and countless success stories that set me on the path to provide our animals with flower essence blends that would help ease their journey and create a deeper, happier bond with their rider, trainer and handler. I will never tire of hearing the stories from people who call my office raving about how flower essences have changed their lives. There is great joy in knowing you can be instrumental in helping your animals have ahappier and therefore healthier life! An affectionate phrase I stumbled onto that defines flower essences, is Behavior Modification In A Bottle.