I can now wholeheartedly recommend Spirit-in-Nature flower essences.

I went to a workshop hosted by their creator last night and it was greeaaat. I didn't really expect to learn much about the essences themselves, as I've been an enthusiastic user of similar products for almost five years, and I was sort of expecting to hate the teacher, but a friend of mine had it at her bookstore so I mostly went to be supportive of my friend.

I had been told Lila Devi, founder of the S-in-N company, was very intuitive, but I didn't realize she would be as perceptive as she is. A great lady, who has an energy I found to be pure, centered and pleasant. The workshop (two hours) did cover some old ground for me personally, but I was happy (and relieved) to find that Lila shares my perspective on two controversial topics related to flower essence therapy. One, she feels, as I do, that taking a flower essence which kicks off a healing crisis...isn't good, and it might be better to stop that essence in that case. Two, she cautions against aggressive use of essences on animal companions ("don't traumatize the animals.") I really appreciated that.

One of the best parts of the night, aside from my strong sense that everyone at that workshop was "supposed" to be there, was when Lila told us what she thought our "theme essences" were. According to Lila, a theme essence is the flower essence that best represents our life energy overall, the one we may wish to use when we "don't feel like ourselves." (For those in the know, she said she decided on our essences based mostly on the muscle testing technique, but her intuition was a factor as well.)

I truly didn't expect to get anything out of that part of the class, because I don't think anyone is better at picking essences for me than I am, but all week I had been getting intuitive hits that Orange essence might be useful to me. Lila's take on what my theme essence is? Orange. And this is the amazing part: Though I did have a kind of "ah-ha" moment when she told me that, I also had a "hmmm, maybe not" mental reaction, which I thought I covered pretty well (for the sake of politeness.) So I was shocked when she immediately said, "Yeah, I thought at first that Orange couldn't be quite right for you, either, but then I tested again and got Orange again. And I think that is your theme essence because I get that though you have had a lot of tough tests in this life cycle and some long-term challenges to work out, you've reached the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel now and you still have hope." (Orange is the essence for maintaining enthusiasm and hope.)

Gotta tell you folks, not one in a hundred intuitives (or full-on psychics, for that matter) will see any of that about me. Most see only the psychological damage left by my emotionally painful life experiences and assume my outlook is fundamentally negative and pessimistic. Only rarely does anyone pick up on the positive side of my personality, which does allow me to see potential for hope in even desolate situations. Also, after class, I felt compelled to mention to Lila that in the one aura photo I have of myself, my aura is, in fact, orange. Hee.

Cheat sheet of the fun stuff I learned from the class:

Pear essence is supposedly the all-purpose "rescue essence" from this line. Lila's pamphlet mentions that Pear is also a good starter essence because it can enhance sensitivity to other ones.

Cherry is the "court case essence," which enhances self-validation. Good for finding your personal footing in legal matters or other complex situations.

Date is the "bully's essence." 'Nuff said.

Coconut is the "going to the dentist essence." Good for fortifying one's emotional reserves. I thought that sounded crazy until I, um, tried it. I'm on it right now and it did help me stabilize emotionally, which is really saying something considering the level of instability I'm dealing with.

I also appreciate that Spirit-in-Nature essences are reasonably priced. Cheaper than all other essences of the same size that I use (1 Fl. oz.) Finally, my experience of the essences generally is that they are much more subtle and gentle in their effect than those in the Bach's line or my personal favorite line, Flower Essence Services.

So if you're interested in trying out these essences, I say go for it. And if you have the opportunity to take a class from Lila, definitely go for it. One of the more interesting people I've met this decade.

Date; if someone is a bully? Or to keep the bullies away?

Thanks for sharing that, BlueIris. Do they have a website? (I can google.)

Or for someone thinking about succumbing to the tendency to bully.

Yes, they have a website:

http://www.spirit-in-nature.com/

I love this. I especially like the recommendation to use one at a time. I had a Bach consultation years ago, and was suggested no fewer than a five remedy combination. That gets a bit complicated and expensive, and intuitively I feel, less advantageous (no proof).

It's great to see you so enthusiastic about it, BI. :) I really need to take the time to look into this type of thing. I always want to, but I never get around to it. Now may be the perfect time.

doing the therapy, not the client/patient. Blackberry promotes analytical clarity.

Peach is the "mothering essence." For people who didn't get adequate nurturing.

"sort of expecting to hate the teacher"-- LOL. Sorry, that made me laugh.

Life sometimes seems as if it is all about either exceeding expectations, or not meeting expectations. That is probably a good reason to drop the expectations, and just experience.

This sounds like a wonderful conference. I am getting that you need to stay plugged into the group of people that you were with, and even possibly go to another conference or two if the opportunity presents itself.

the group who attended than the products we were discussing.

It's called "The Uncomplicator." Which it is. Very good for helping one's brain untangle its circuitous thoughts and petty worries.

... my coach works with Bach Flower essences and they seem to work well with me. I am very interested in these, though. The website offers the full handbook explaining the essences and what's good for what so I'm going to dig into that and see what jumps out at me.

I suspect I'll have more questions as I read through it. A friend of mine has a very (VERY) bullying husband and I'm intrigued with the Date essence.

Thanks again! I'm excited to do some research!!

Congrats on having found/been guided to what best serves you. I myself absolutely cherry and to a lesser degree, coconut. :) Much-needed...I take St. John's Wort powder every morning, as well.

I have a question... The Bach remedies have an extremely strong alcohol base. Some have a glycerin base. Do these have any alcohol at all? Those in recovery need to know. Thanks! :hi:

Appears they are alcohol-based.

:cry:

Edit: The site also says "Prepared by a simple method using sunlight, pure spring water, and the blossoms themselves..." so who knows. I'm awaiting a reply from them on this question, and will post for any who are interested.

"They are in a 4/1 ratio of spring water/brandy. Our experience shows that glycerine doesn’t have the ability to keep “science projects” from growing in the formula.

If the brandy is prohibitive, a Dosage Bottle can be made from the Stock Concentrate, will no brandy added."

I look forward to trying their product. Thank you Blue Iris.

After reading through the online handbook, I chose two that spoke to me: Grape (Love and devotion; ability to love unconditionally; death of a loved one; separation or divorce; to live a full life without waiting for others to love you) and Raspberry (Kindness; compassion to forgive yourself and others; to dispel grudges; for a sympathetic nature; for over-sensitivity and for lashing out).

It will be interesting to see how these work with my energetic makeup. Ordered online and they got here pretty fast - just put two drops in my water now.

Thanks again, BlueIris!

I was just thinking the other day how cost-efficient they are, too. Always a bonus.

For those who find RR to be effective but too heavy on the system, like me, this is a great alternative.

I'm going to a 2 day (FREE! can you believe it?) workshop on animal essences (recommended by my coach: www.animalessence.com)and I am so looking forward to learning more about these essences.

(Here's the info on the workshops - mine is in Charlottesville VA: http://www.animalessence.com/workshops.html)

I can't wait. I promise to bring back info from the workshop that might be of interest to the group.