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You Are a Flower Essence for this World · Remember Why You Are Here

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And as you step deeper into whatever season of your life that you're in,
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may you remember that you are a flower essence for this world and you are
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creating ripples of change everywhere you are, everywhere you grow,
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and every time you say yes to your own becoming.
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Hello and welcome back to Remember Why You Are Here,
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a podcast for seekers and sensitives where you can relax,
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receive,
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reconnect to yourself and remember the most important thing of all -
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why you're here. Lately,
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I've just been in love with all of the spring flowers
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where I live.
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We are in a north facing cove here in the mountains of Western
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North Carolina,
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and so we have this whole parade of spring ephemerals that
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happens here starting probably in late February and then going
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through till the end of May, depending on when the canopy closes.
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And so I've just been in this love affair recently with the flowers,
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spending as much time as I can outside with them and really
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receiving their medicine. Humans have been obsessed
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with flowers forever.
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There is archeological evidence as far back as our neanderthal
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kin of human species burying their
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dead with flowers,
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of flowers being this symbol of
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life, of possibility, of openings.
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There's such a joy that comes with the spring flowers every
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year.
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It really feels like this promise of life beginning
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again, and not just the life of the earth, but our own lives.
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This sense of no matter what pattern of stuckness you've
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been in, that there is new possibility coming.
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There's new blooms on the way,
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and flowers are really just so good at showing us that.
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I've been a flower essence maker now for 15 years,
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and it was a huge part of how I began my whole journey into
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herbalism. It really started for me with discovering flower essences,
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and has remained a cornerstone in my practice all these years,
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throughout all the years that I had my apothecary,
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I had a flower essence line,
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made and sold flower essences around the world.
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And in my experiences with working with flower essences,
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of which there's been so many,
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so incredible experiences sitting with flowers,
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there's been this one message that has come through a lot for me and
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has been so profoundly helpful in my life.
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I then started sharing this messages when I was teaching,
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especially when I was teaching retreats and working with people in person,
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and I found that this message was just so helpful for everyone else
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who heard it too.
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So for this podcast today, I want to share that message with you,
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this message that can really help you reframe your understanding of yourself and
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the role that you're here to play in this world.
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So keep listening for the audio version of this beloved video called
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"You Are Flower Essence for this World."
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One of my all time favorite medicines are flower essences.
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Flower essences are the energetic imprint of a flower in bloom,
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captured in water and diluted down so that it works on our subtle,
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emotional and spiritual bodies.
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I've seen incredible shifts happen for myself and my clients through working
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with flower essences. At this point in my life,
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flower essences are my favorite medicines to be working with on a daily basis
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because I've seen firsthand just how much transformation they can bring.
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Some people might wonder,
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how do flower essences make such a big change if they're so dilute,
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if they're so small? But my answer would be,
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part of how that change is made is being so small and yet so
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impactful.
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Over the past 10 years teaching the practice of flower essences to people around
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the world, I've come to realize something pretty special,
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and this message is to let you know that you are a flower
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essence for this world. So at its most basic,
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we work with flowers in our essence-making practice because
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flowers capture the possibility of blooming.
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When a flowering plant blooms,
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it has really fulfilled its life blueprint, its highest creative potential.
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It is the penultimate expression of that plant's heart and soul.
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So when we work with flower essences ourselves,
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we are inviting that expression inside of ourselves to take root,
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grow,
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and flower. We're all here because we have gifts to bring to this world
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and flower essences, through their subtle medicines,
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help us to see those gifts,
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help us to dissolve those blocks and really bloom forth with our gifts
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without fear and with joy. When you make a flower essence,
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you are literally just taking one drop of water that this flower has sat
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in and you can create from that one drop of water,
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many different bottles of medicine.
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It's amazing what one drop can do to change the world.
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One of the things that I've seen over and over again in working with different
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people from around the world,
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is it can feel so good to come together and be in community and be
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supporting each other on these paths of finding our medicine and connecting to
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the living world.
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And then it can feel hard to go back to the communities that we live in,
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to go back to our work lives or to go back to families that don't totally
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understand what it is, what we're doing,
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or why it matters to us. So many times I've had my students say to
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me, I love being in this community and I love this information,
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but when I go back into my community at home,
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I feel like I'm too small to make a difference, and it just feels too hard.
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And to them and to you, I say this:
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you are a flower essence for this world. Wherever you live right now,
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whether it's an environment where there's a lot of people who are on board with
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something like flower essences or you live in a community where someone would
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look at you like you're nuts if you even brought it up,
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know that your presence in that community is the thing that is shifting
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everything on a very subtle level. When we make flower essences,
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we're literally just floating that bloom in pure water.
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Just that flower being in water changes the chemical structure of the
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water. You, who you are, your unique medicine,
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the things you're passionate about, the things you hold close to your heart,
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although it may not be understood always by the people around you,
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know that that heart energy is literally changing the
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environment that you're moving through. In fact,
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I think the earth is asking a lot of us to go into environments that feel
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harder or that feel harsher because the earth is asking us to bring
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medicine to those places. Even though it might not feel that way sometimes,
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you are medicine for your community.
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You are like a flower essence dropped into the well,
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and whether or not the people that you're around realize it,
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you are helping them to open up to what's inside of them that they have
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kept under lock and key. Just like a flower essence,
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your presence is what is helping them to dissolve the blocks that
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have stood in the way of their happiness, their blooming,
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and the fulfillment of their life blueprint. The amazing thing is you don't
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have to explain anything.
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You don't have to get people on board with what you're passionate about.
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All you have to do is act like a flower essence,
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be yourself.
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Think about how one flower can grow up in the midst of a city park,
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and it can change its environment just by being itself and be
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willing to bloom. So you in your community, wherever you are in the world,
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have the ability to shift your environment and shift the hearts of those
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who are in your sphere just by being brave enough to bloom,
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by being brave enough to be who you are and care about what you care about,
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being honest about what moves you. And when someone asks you to share,
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being willing to share that too. When I take my flower essences in the morning,
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sometimes I just put one drop in a glass of water that I'll drink for the rest
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of the day.
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So no matter where you are in life or how much you feel like you've done or
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haven't done yet, know that that one drop of who you are, that essence,
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is literally changing the fabric of reality around you,
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and you don't need to do anything except be yourself.
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Wow, that message never fails to help me no matter where I am in my
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life. That reframe,
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that understanding from the earth and from the flowers,
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has helped me so immensely over the years to remember who I am,
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to remember that what I'm doing is valuable, is important,
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and that I'm already really fulfilling my mission on this planet just by saying
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yes to the continuation of my own unfoldment. So if you find
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yourself listening to this message and feel curious about flower essences
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specifically, how to make your own flower essences,
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I thought I would share with you here a part two follow-up,
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which is a guide to making your own flower essences.
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This is one of the things that I love the most to help people with,
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to teach people about, because it's actually so simple,
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and when I first started making flower essences,
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there was really very few sources out there talking about how to do
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it. And it's one of the most creative,
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individualized processes that I see in the herbalism world.
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It's just the magic that you bring as an individual to making your own flower
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essences is incredible. You can make flower essences out of any
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flower. If a flower is highly toxic,
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I would recommend staying away from that just because with
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that,
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you really need to make sure absolutely what you're doing with the dilution
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process. But outside of flowers that are overtly toxic,
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which is something you can easily look up for your region,
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you can make a flower essence from any flower.
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So it doesn't have to be a flower that is something that's part of a material
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medica. It doesn't have to be a flower that is edible.
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All flowers hold energy of healing that help us
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unblock our potential,
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that help us see ourselves as the flower essences that we are for this world.
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So if you are curious about making your own flower essences this spring or
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whatever season you're in, keep listening for that tutorial.
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The elements that you need to make flower essences are simple.
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You'll just need a bowl of water, scissors, sunlight,
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intention, and your flower.
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When we make a flower essence,
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we work with a flower that's blooming and growing right now.
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So not necessarily a cut flower,
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but one that's growing around you. The first step to making your flower essence
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is to decide on an essence.
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And I often find that a particular flower is really attracting me,
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is really igniting my curiosity.
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That's always the flower to go with first. Number two is to gather
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together your bowl, the highest quality water you can find,
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a pair of scissors, and to go out to your flower. Once there,
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we get to step number three and the most important step in my opinion,
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and that's to ask permission:
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to sit with this flower and ask this flower permission to harvest its
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blooms in this medicine.This is a really important moment of making a
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heart to heart connection with this plant.
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And when you receive permission from a flower,
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that flower is opening the gateway for all of its healing to be translated into
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your medicine. You're going to listen for this nod of
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ascent, and this might come in through a sound, maybe the wind moving through,
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or a bee landing on the flower. Wherever you're at,
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just really sink into your meditative practice and open to whatever answer is
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there. You might hear no, and if that's the case,
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graciously accept that and move on. Most of the time. However,
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if I've been getting a message to work with a specific essence,
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the answer will be yes. At this point in time, I often like to give a gift,
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something that is important or precious to me,
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just as a way to show this flower and this plant being that I'm here to be in
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relationship. Step number four is to take your scissors and harvest that
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flower directly into your bowl of water. Now,
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I want to make a note here about scarcity. Some flowers,
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particularly if they're wildflowers, are endangered.
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So it's important to do your research and make sure that this isn't an at-risk
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species. If it's abundant flower, say garden flour or a weed,
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then you don't need to worry about it. You can choose one flower,
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a whole flower head or several flowers,
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taking into account the diversity and the amount of flowers in your
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general area. As always,
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ask permission with each bloom and get that feeling of yes before you clip them.
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Step number five is to set your essence out underneath the sunlight.
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There's a special kind of alchemy that happens between the sun, the water,
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and the bloom.
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I like to let my essence sit for about three to six hours in the full
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sun. That said,
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I've also made essences on cloudy days or under the moon.
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No matter where we are and what time we're in on this planet,
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the sunlight's always coming into our atmosphere,
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whether it's through the moon or through the far suns of stars.
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Either way, I want you to follow your intuition,
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knowing that the traditional practice is full sunlight,
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for a time span of three to six hours. Step number six,
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when you feel your essence is done,
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you're going to take it inside and siphon off that water from the bloom.
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I like to use a small coffee filter or cheesecloth to get any
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particulates out,
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and you're going to siphon that water into a jar or a bottle and preserve it.
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You can either preserve it with 50% alcohol,
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so you'd fill up the jar halfway with your mother essence water and halfway with
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alcohol, brandy is traditional,
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or you can do 50% essence water and 50% apple
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cider vinegar if you're avoiding alcohol. Your apple cider vinegar and water
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mixture should last at least several months if kept in the fridge.
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Your alcohol and water mixture can last indefinitely.
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This is your mother essence,
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and you can take your essence directly from that bottle. Step number
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seven, if you choose to, would be to create a stock bottle.
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A stock bottle is made by simply taking one to seven drops of your mother
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essence and putting in a separate bottle.
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You would then fill that bottle with half water and half preservative of your
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choice,
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apple cider vinegar or alcohol. What you find in stores
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often is stock bottles,
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and part of the philosophy behind this is the more highly dilute the
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essences, the smaller it is, the deeper it can go into our deep, deep,
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deep places that are in need of healing.
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The philosophy behind taking a stock bottle is similar to homeopathics.
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When we dilute down our essence one extra step,
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we're actually making this medicine slightly smaller and therefore more
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readily available and received to both our emotional and spiritual
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bodies. So get out there this spring and try making your own flower
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essences.
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It is one of my favorite rituals and practices throughout the growing
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season.
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So now you have everything you need to make your own flower essence,
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and if you do, I would love to hear about it.
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You can leave me a voice message over on my website at
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asiasuler.com/remember,
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and it is one of the brightest spots of my day when I get a voice message
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from all of you. So I'd love to hear about how the process went,
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maybe what flower you made an essence from,
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and if this way of working with plants is exciting for you,
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if you want to go deeper,
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if you're ready to really step into a new era of working with the plants for
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healing,
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of trusting and knowing that your intuition has the ability to guide you
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into having a really vibrant, powerful healing relationships with plants.
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Then I have a in-depth program that I've run now for almost a decade called
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Intuitive Plant Medicine,
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where we go really deep into flower essences creation,
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practice, plant dreamwork, channeling with plants,
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ancestral plant work, on the body medicine,
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land healing. And that course is going to be on sale in just a few
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weeks. And the sale is actually going to be bigger than any sale I've ever,
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ever, ever done before.
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So if you've been eyeing this course or it sounds interesting to you,
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definitely stay tuned for that. And as you step deeper into whatever season of
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your life that you're in,
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may you remember that you are a flower essence for this world and you are
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creating ripples of change everywhere you are, everywhere you grow,
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and every time you say yes to your own becoming.
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And you are creating those ripples of change every
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time you simply remember why you're here.