by Sara Seitzman of Finding Quintessence and Batiah Botanicals
I first started my friendship with flower essences when working at a metaphysical bookstore in Portland. At the time I was just discovering what being a highly sensitive person truly meant, and that unlike what society leads you to believe, being sensitive is a gift. Ever since I can remember, I have been a sensitive person. I could feel when someone was upset, hurt, embarrassed, angry, left out or nervous. I could feel their emotions as if they were my own and would obsess over it until it went away. As a child, I had developed creative ways to sort of “tune out” when emotions were too hard or confusing to digest. As I grew older I wasn’t able to tune it out as much and as a result, anxiety and worry became a very normal part of my life.
When you’re an empath and you’re absorbing a lot of emotion from those around you, it can become confusing, overwhelming and exhausting. It’s hard to differentiate your own emotions from the ones you’re picking up on. After much research, trial and error, I have found that flower essences can be very helpful for empathic souls. Red Chestnut, White Chestnut and Pink Yarrow are my go to essences whenever things get a little too overwhelming.
Red Chestnut
Red Chestnut is wonderful for those who feel fear or worry for the well-being of others, especially those you love. When I am around loved ones who are struggling with chronic pain or depression, my heart feels heavy and I worry constantly about their well-being. It often zaps my energy and makes it hard to get through the day.
White Chestnut
White Chestnut works for repetitive thoughts or mental arguments that distract us from concentrating on the present moment. It’s great for people who worry often and feel that their thoughts circle round and round in their head. Chronic worry is exhausting and can make you feel a bit crazy too. I find this happens with empaths when they are trying to digest a lot or their boundaries are weak.
Pink Yarrow
Pink Yarrow is perfect for empaths because it helps to support appropriate emotional boundaries. Empaths who are struggling with establishing boundaries or find themselves too involved in someone else’s energy field, will find Pink Yarrow to be a beautiful ally. It creates a loving awareness of others within a field of self-contained consciousness. This allows the empath to still give their love and support without sacrificing their energetic boundaries.
What I love about flower essences is that they work solely on an emotional level. If a flower essence is not right for you in that moment, it may not have an effect. If it is right for you the results may be sudden and obvious, or they may occur subtly over a period of a few weeks.
Sometimes a flower essence will bring light to things that you didn’t notice before, or create life experiences to help you process your emotions deeper. They teach us to be self aware and to truly listen to what our emotions are telling us. Flower essences allow us to invite plant spirits into our everyday lives and truly connect with them on an energetic level. I feel plant and nature spirits can offer so much support and guidance to us as human beings.
For more information about Flower Essence Therapy, I recommend checking out www.fesflowers.com or check out the Flower Essence Repertory book which is a great comprehensive guide to flower essences.
Sara is an aspiring healer, with a deep interest in holistic therapy and plant medicine. She is the creator of Finding Quintessence, a blog dedicated to offering insight and resources to those who are interested in bringing balance to their mind, body and soul. She is currently studying clinical aromatherapy and enjoys creating natural body care products for her etsy shop Batiah Botanicals. In her free time she loves live music, road trips and movie nights.