I’ll be the first to admit that Flower Essences are something that a person really needs an open mind as well as an open heart before one can embark on this journey. Otherwise, the gradual shift that occurs from regular use will often be overlooked. I feel that there has to be a willingness to invest oneself in order to give the essence a chance to synergistically work with your body’s stagnant energy to achieve the full potential of the essence at hand.
How do essences work?
This is something I honestly don’t know too much about, as there are not many studies that have been or can be done on a topic like this. The way that I understand it, is that our bodies have Kundalini energy that either flows freely or becomes stagnant or blocked. When this energy becomes blocked at various chakras within the body, you will feel limitations in your overall being. You might feel a lack of purpose, listless, or are apprehensive to speak your mind, for example. These could be ongoing problems or are issues that have seemed to come out of nowhere.
**This post contains both affiliate & non-affiliated links; I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you use the links I provide. Read my full disclosure here**💞✨
The specific brand of flower essences that I’ll be reviewing today and in an ongoing series is Pacific Northwest Flower Essences, which is the sister company to my already beloved Earthwise Beauty 🌿. Flower essences are created from the stems & flowers of various plants using the Bach method that Ava describes on her site pnwessences.com and the idea is that each flower has a particular energy source that affects us in different ways. The world is made up of living, breathing plants that possess certain traits or characteristics due to the way they thrive and are cultivated. These characteristics are infused into an essence and if we ingest or apply an essence topically, they have the ability to redistribute stagnant energy in our bodies, which ultimately creates subtle (and not-so-subtle) shifts that enable us to feel more balanced, overall.
I know that it sounds a bit far fetched, to say the least! But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I found my way to Pacific Northwest Essences for a reason. Prior to really looking further into Ava’s skincare line, Earthwise Beauty, I felt how strongly my connection to the earth affected me on many different levels during and after my pregnancy. I noticed more and more about the little things around me and how the smell of the leaves, the feel of the grass under my feet, or literally stopping to smell all sorts of flowers along the way that I’ve overlooked time and time again before. It’s so hard to convey in words what I mean by all this, but I feel that at certain major crossroads in our lives, we become more in tune with our surroundings and internal perceptions and how these intermingle to create our world view. During these periods, we can choose to ignore the signs or we can make the choice to open ourselves to a new world view outside of our normal conception.
It honestly doesn’t get any more “alternative” than this form of medicine 😅, which means there isn’t a whole lot of science to back up these claims and most of what is reported is anecdotal, which may make a lot of people shy away from the idea of flower essences and not be willing to give it a chance. I, for one, have dabbled briefly in flower essences. I tried the most well known Bach brand that’s found at most health food stores, but I never gave it enough of a chance to see if it would really produce an outcome. I was young and in college and grad school at the time. Then, I tried the most well-known flower essence brand in the green living realm, Lotus Wei, and although I was enamored by their beautiful website and the overall concept, I tried a handful of their blends with me essentially 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ shrugging my shoulders and saying, “maybe I felt a little different during that course, buuut I’m really not too sure…..”. Nothing that ever was enough to make me feel the results were more than a placebo effect. So, I didn’t write it off completely, I just didn’t continue to buy from Lotus Wei as I didn’t feel compelled to. Then, I found my way to Earthwise Beauty (see my two EWB blog posts: Brand Spotlight and Black Locust) and developed a trusting relationship with the owner of Earthwise Beauty, Ava, who started her own line of flower essences. I quietly perused her site for a while before I purchased her option to do a custom blend based on my individual concerns and needs at the time. I was in a very dark place, emotionally, at this time (June 2018). I purchased the custom blend with email consultation and I remember crying the entire time I wrote my description of what I was feeling & experiencing. A lot of my negative feelings had to do with the fact that my 1.5 year old son was experiencing severe delays in development after a very rough start in life. My son inherited my congenital eye condition, which is incredibly rare, and doctors/specialists had no idea how to handle it. I felt completely alone, hopeless and lost. I also felt an incredible amount of guilt about passing on my eye condition to my son, knowing how difficult his life will be based on my own experiences, feeling as if I somehow did this to him. I placed my order, did the consultation over a couple of days, and received my order very soon after! Ava made my custom blend and surprised me with a custom blend she made for my son 💙! I opened up the package and cried some more (these were now tears of immense gratitude 😊).
Children respond very quickly to flower essences and within two days, I saw a shift in Gavin. I started giving him two drops 3x a day for a total of 6 drops. Recently, I’ve lowered it to 2 drops 2x a day because I’m giving him two different blends and still see results! Prior to the inclusion of the flower essences, my son was very difficult overall: cranky, and couldn’t handle sensory stimulation (ie: grass, sand, food textures, loud noises, groups of people, etc). He would scream if I tried to show him anything or do any “parent-led activity”, including using hand over hand to show him how to use his own toys. He didn’t show much affection at all, displayed very little affect, didn’t like to be touched or held, and couldn’t sit still for books or much of anything. After two days of taking the flower essences 3x a day, he was able to be outside in our backyard on the grass without losing his mind. 🙌🙌🙌 This is HUGE for a child with Sensory aversions. Children who simply grow out of these aversions don’t just grow out of them in two days, so I know without a doubt, it was the flower essences taking effect. A week into it, he was sitting in my lap to read age appropriate books (the same books I had been trying to get him to even look at for months and months!) and was no longer pushing me away when I hugged him.
I remember the one question that was asked during his 4 hour Early Intervention assessment: Does your child “melt” into your lap when you hold him? It’s a simple enough question and I had the hardest time answering it. I saw the looks on the evaluators’ faces change when I couldn’t answer this simple question about my child. All I could remember was my son trying to push off from me when I would try to hold him or sit him in my lap (he would only sit in my lap if he was sick or uncomfortable in an environment he wasn’t used to). He literally became more affectionate and I don’t think it was because he wasn’t an affectionate child to begin with and it wasn’t because he was autistic (which is what the assessors & his developmental pediatrician automatically assumed), I think it was because physical touch was overwhelming to him. The flower essences helped unblock his stagnant energy that was preventing him from being comfortable with the world around him. We have to feel a sense of general comfort in order to accept any form of affection, as a child or as an adult!
Over the past 2.5 months, I’ve watched my son become comfortable being in the world for the first time in his life. He’s calmer, less cranky, less difficult, allows me to sit and teach him things/play, and he’s just… happier! Watching this steady transition has been almost magical…truly. My son was born without the ability to open his eyes and was virtually blind for the first 8 months of his life. No doctor would openly discuss what this means for the development of a child. All they did was confine my son to a series of milestones that he needed to get to, regardless of his history, without help, guidance, or assistance of any kind and when he struggled, they assumed he must be on the spectrum and they wrote him off. I had to fight, advocate for him and lose my mind in the process to get him help. He was placed into a strict ABA program for children who are believed to be on the Autism spectrum when he finally started Early Intervention.
I had to replace his first assigned developmental instructor who wanted to confine him to a high chair in order to force him to sit still. Once he began working with a different, much better developmental instructor, by 3 months after he started Early Intervention & 5 months after he started his custom flower essence blend, my son was taken out of the ABA program because each and every red flag had been taken down once he learned how to let other people teach him, play with him, and be close to him. Now, he’s the most affectionate boy his developmental instructor & physical therapist work with and they tell me how much of a true joy it is to work with my son! He gives hugs and kisses and is a big snuggle bug, with a sweet soul, and lots and lots of laughter & smiles! With that said, I am in no way saying that Gavin, my son, is the pillar of perfection, and there are still lots of things that we’re working on, BUT I found immense hope and I can’t ever express the amount of relief I feel when I watch my son be comfortable exploring the great, big world around him.
My Custom Blend:
My custom blend took a bit longer to notice effects because adults have years and years of stagnant energy & blockages, so it can take quite a while to feel the same shift I described in my son’s case. BUT, I’m very happy to report that a note-worthy shift did indeed occur. Within a few weeks to a month, I felt definitively lighter and this was the first thing I noticed. I was carrying around so much negativity, it felt like I was walking through life bound in chains. Everything felt like a collasal effort. I kept feeling as though I just wanted to go under the covers and never come out. But, the thing about being a mom is that no matter how much you may feel this way, you have to keep moving. So, that’s what I did. I kept moving each day until suddenly, I started feeling as though I was actually moving forward, towards something…. Something with possibilities and potential.
This was about a month of taking my custom blend every few hours, 3 drops at a time, starting first thing in the morning and ending with a final dose before bed at night. My anxiety was still there, but it was more manageable. I also had more patience with my son on his difficult days or during meal time (our most dreaded time of day with his picky eating-keep your eyes peeled for a flower essence post on that next!). I was motivated to exercise and take care of myself in other ways, as well, which was a big part of my previous unraveling. I finished my custom blend and moved on to try single blends, a gemstone blend, and more pre-mixed blends for various purposes available on Ava’s site.
Conclusive Thoughts & Product Options:
I wanted to start by sharing my initial experience with Ava’s custom blends. I’m going to follow up with a Flower Essence series with shorter, individual posts for each blend I’ve tried and what my thoughts & experiences are with each one, in particular. All I can say right now (to avoid making this post longer than it already is!) is that out of all the supplements, CBD, recreational self-medicating, and prescribed medicine I’ve taken over the years, I can honestly say that Flower Essences have yielded the strongest positive effects for me with ZERO side effects!
I’m not trying to convey that flower essences will be the solution to all of your problems because, unfortunately, nothing is that easy! However, I wholeheartedly feel that my life and my son’s life has forever been enhanced by flower essences and when they are used as part of a well-rounded Wellness plan, they hold an insurmountable level of promise. 🙌✨🌺
Product Options:
Flower Essences are infused into a base of brandy, which means there is an alcohol content of 22% in each bottle. Ava offers the option to use glycerin instead of alcohol, which only has trace amounts of alcohol in the entire bottle. If you aren’t comfortable with any form of alcohol content, Ava has the option of purchasing an Aura Mist, which is sprayed several times a day over one’s head. This is always an option for children or if you’d like to include more than one essence and don’t want to exceed a certain amount of drops per day for your child and/or yourself.
Coupon Code!
Pricing:
1/2oz bottle $20
1 oz bottle $36
Aura Mist: $44
Custom blend consultation: various pricing, the email consultation option I did is $40. Coupon code Clarity15 saves you 15 percent off one order! I highly recommend perusing Ava’s site, which has a plethora of information and detailed accounts of how each blend can help a particular need or goal. You can purchase Pacific Northwest Essences using my direct link, which really helps me to create more content for you if you find my reviews helpful 🙏, HERE. You can also use the code Honored if you’ve already used Clarity15 to save 15% until the end of today, March 17th!
As a side note, I just received news that Pacific Northwest Essences received the following honors: 🙌✨
“Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Award Finalist, Best Flower Essence Product category for Strength in Hardship Essence Blend. Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Award, Editor’s Choice category for Aura Shield Aura Mist.Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Award, Editor’s Choice category for Grow with Confidence Aura Mist.
Beauty Shortlist Wellbeing Award, Editor’s Choice category for Voice of Courage Essence Blend.”
If you ever doubt the power that nature provides, look no further than flower essences for evidence! My own custom blend has also been a positive experience, although the progression has been slower to unfold in me than it has in my young son, but nonetheless powerful in ways less easy to put in words. A shift occurs when taking flower essences and that’s the best way I can describe it. A shift that leads us to a place we’re meant to be; physically, mentally, and emotionally. I’m so glad I found my way to Ava, whom I trust with my heart and soul to create a truly unique, quality product that will open new doors in one’s life. 🙏✨
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out my other reviews in my Flower Essence series!
Spring Meadow Aura Mist Review for Stress & Anxiety
https://completenaturalclarity.com/2019/09/30/spring-meadow-aura-mist-flower-essence-blend-for-stress-anxiety-relief/
Sun Infusion Flower Essence Review for Depression, SAD, & Low Mood
https://completenaturalclarity.com/2019/08/25/sun-infusion-flower-essence-review-for-depression-pacific-northwest-essences/
Grow With Confidence Flower Essence Blend Review
https://completenaturalclarity.com/2019/06/22/grow-with-confidence-flower-essence-blend-review-from-pacific-northwest-essences/
Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any other way. I hope you’re having a beautiful day!
Love & Light, 💖✨
Julie
