In July 2012 I traveled to Nevada City, California to attend professional Flower Essence training with the Flower Essence Society (FES). Over five wonderful and intense days Patricia Kaminski and Richard Katz led the international group of practitioners in a thorough exploration of the use of flower essences in practice. The essences discussed were the Bach Flower Remedies and the FES range of essences, although the process itself is flexible and applicable for work with any flower essences. Drawing on their thirty five years of experience, Patricia and Richard have developed a clear, flexible and rich framework for working with the essences that provides a way to understanding the work and it's broad potential in greater depth.
The way the course was presented gave participants food for thought, the option of drawing on the framework and ideas, but thankfully with acknowledgment that there are many ways of working and without any trace of dogma.
The training took place in the FES gardens, Terra Flora, starting each morning with walking and talking about many of the plants which are used to prepare the flower essences. This included beds of Echinacea, brightest red Zinnia, tall groups of Mugwort and swathes of yellow petalled Black Eyed Susan among others. I was surprised to see how small the Scarlet Monkeyflower was, and how heavy the strings of Love Lies Bleeding are.
After lunch each day lessons were held in the garden in the shade of large trees, which was the best place to be in the heat of the day. Simply being in these gardens was wonderful. Not only are the gardens beautiful, but there was a perceptible vibrancy which added to the experience. From the group of 38 practitioners on the course I am still in touch with five, and it's great to be able to stay connected and share knowledge and experience.
Wonderful and stimulating as it was, the five day course was just the beginning. Through the next 18 months there were assignments to work on, and then detailed case studies. This work provided the opportunity to reflect deeply on Flower Essence therapy, to apply the framework of ideas methodically and to write formally about the process and about my understanding of my clients progress.
Was it a coincidence that I was going through great emotional growth (with all the attendant 'growing pains') myself during this time? Maybe, maybe not, but the depth of the process I went through myself has certainly contributed to my deeper understanding of working with flower essences and how best to guide and support my clients through their own process.
The way the course was presented gave participants food for thought, the option of drawing on the framework and ideas, but thankfully with acknowledgment that there are many ways of working and without any trace of dogma.
The training took place in the FES gardens, Terra Flora, starting each morning with walking and talking about many of the plants which are used to prepare the flower essences. This included beds of Echinacea, brightest red Zinnia, tall groups of Mugwort and swathes of yellow petalled Black Eyed Susan among others. I was surprised to see how small the Scarlet Monkeyflower was, and how heavy the strings of Love Lies Bleeding are.
After lunch each day lessons were held in the garden in the shade of large trees, which was the best place to be in the heat of the day. Simply being in these gardens was wonderful. Not only are the gardens beautiful, but there was a perceptible vibrancy which added to the experience. From the group of 38 practitioners on the course I am still in touch with five, and it's great to be able to stay connected and share knowledge and experience.
Wonderful and stimulating as it was, the five day course was just the beginning. Through the next 18 months there were assignments to work on, and then detailed case studies. This work provided the opportunity to reflect deeply on Flower Essence therapy, to apply the framework of ideas methodically and to write formally about the process and about my understanding of my clients progress.
Was it a coincidence that I was going through great emotional growth (with all the attendant 'growing pains') myself during this time? Maybe, maybe not, but the depth of the process I went through myself has certainly contributed to my deeper understanding of working with flower essences and how best to guide and support my clients through their own process.
Sitting with the whole group on the first evening of the course, with the sun starting to go down, the light turning golden, these Zinnia, which are vivid enough normally, were glowing intensely. The Zinnia Flower Essence helps us to shift from over-seriousness, dullness and lack of humour to greater playfulness and joyfulness.
Black Eyed Susan - as a Flower Essence, helps us to acknowledge and integrate traumatic or painful emotional content through gently bringing it to awareness.
Beds of Echinacea and Golden Yarrow. Echinacea flower essence helps us to retain or reclaim a strong sense of self even when we feel shattered by traumatic or devastating situations. Golden Yarrow essence helps sensitive people to experience a stronger sense of protection for their sensitivity, allowing them to remain open to others and socially involved.
Evening light through tall pines. This picture only partly captures the effect of the warmth of the light and the soft warmth of the evening. From memory, these particular trees are Ponderosa Pines, a different variety from the Pinus Sylvestris used to prepare the Bach flower Pine Essence. Pine flower essence is used a lot in practice as it helps us gain perspective when we are feeling self critical or struggling with guilty feelings. It allowing us to move back towards self acceptance and freedom from inappropriate guilt.
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