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Resources: Aromatherapy, Essential Oils, and Flower Essences
Favorite Sayings:
- Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything. (Thich Nhat Hanh)
- The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. (Albert Einstein)
- As I see it, every day you do one of two things: build health or produce disease in yourself. (Adelle Davis)
- God sleeps in the rocks, awakens in the plants, walks in the animals and thinks in man. (Ancient Sanskrit saying)
- We still do not know One-ten thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us. (Albert Einstein)
Flower Essences
I often get asked about the difference between Essential Oils (more on these later) and Flower Essences.
Flower Essences are very subtle yet very powerful. Different flowers have been found to have different energetic healing properties. You float flowers in a carrier liquid (usually water, vinegar or brandy) which leaves that energetic healing property in the liquid. Just like with homeopathic remedies, Flower Essences are extremely gentle to the body.
They contain the vibration of the flowers. The body uses this vibration as it needs. If the body does not need the essence, it does not use it and the essence does not harm the body. Because of their gentle nature, Flower Essences can be used with animals as well as with humans. I trust the Flower Essences listed below because they have been recommended by a number of my trusted contacts, and my clients (both two-legged and four-legged) and I have experienced good results using them.
Aromatherapy and Essential Oils
Many people think of Aromatherapy as the use of plant scents for relaxation or healing purposes. The field of Aromatherapy is actually very broad. Smell is only one of the many ways in which you can introduce plants to the body. Many of these plant essences are extremely potent and can be very dangerous in certain situations. Some people and animals have allergies or toxic reactions to different plants. Since Aromatherapy is not regulated in the United States, it is wise to understand some of the complexities of this field before you buy and use products. It is extremely difficult for the untrained lay person to discern whether or not products that they are buying are pure, or have had synthetic chemicals of some sort added during extraction or in order to increase the producer's bottom line.
Because of all of this, for many years I did not use any Aromatherapy in my work with clients. A huge blessing in my life was meeting former molecular biologist Cristl Arndt. With 20 years of research experience, Cristl has spent additional years of training to become both a Registered Aromatherapist as well as a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner. Her rigorous technical background in chemistry makes her, in my mind, the Aromatherapist of Aromatherapists! Cristl's training as an Aromatherapist is with the proper use of Essential Oils.
Essential Oils are very different from Flower Essences. Essential Oils are extracted from plants via various methods like water distillation, steam distillation, pressing, solvent extraction, etc. Most of the time, a large volume of plant material is required in order to produce a small amount of an Essential Oil. Thus Essential Oils are EXTREMELY POTENT and a tiny bit goes a long LONG way.
The exact chemical properties of an Essential Oil are determined by the plants that were used to produce that Essential Oil. Many things influence each plant's specific chemical makeup. Things that influence this chemistry include: its species, the soil where it grew, altitude, weather (rain and temperature), harvest time, etc. The exact chemical makeup (its "constituents") of a plant determines its healing properties. A way of measuring the exact constituents present in an Essential Oil is through the use of Gas Chromatography (GC). According to Cristl, reputable producers of Essential Oils will be willing to provide you with a GC for any Essential Oil you are considering buying. In her Aromatherapy training ("Essential Oils 101 Class") Cristl shows you how to read a GC. The sources that I recommend for Essential Oils below are the companies that Cristl has done business with and trusts. For specific formulations for specific health situations I recommend that you contact Cristl Arndt directly for an Aromatherapy consultation.
The December/January 2006 issue of "Massage & Bodywork" magazine has a great article about essential oils: Essential Oils Simply Complex: What We Must Know. Although this is written for Massage Therapists, it has some great information and cautions for people considering using essential oils.
Another great resource is the National Association of for Holistic Aromatherapy.
Flower Essence Sources I Use:
- Green Hope Farm has a large collection of Flower Essences for humans as well as a special "Animal Wellness Collection". These are the primary Flower Essences I use with my animals.
- Perelandra Center for Nature Research also has a wide range of Flower Essences that I trust.
- Bach Flower is one of the biggies in this business. I use their Rescue Remedy often for myself, my clients, and my animals.
Essential Oils Sources I Use:
- Australasian College of Health Sciences is where Cristl went to school. Their shipping is pricey. To find their essential oils click on the "On-line Store" icon in upper right hand corner of their home page.
- Aromaland has the best shipping prices! Right now they give free shipping of orders over $45!
- Nature's Gift often has the best price on their oils.
- Abundant Health has great supporting supplies like diffusers, bottles, cases for your oils, etc.
Please note that the information on this page is provided for your convenience and reference. Florence
Gans and PathMakers, LLC cannot provide medical diagnosis, prescribe medications or perform surgery. You should
consult with your licensed medical practitioner for your medical care.
Resources: Our Changing World 
Animals Expand Your Mind! Health & Wellness
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