Detox Reaction to Flower Essences—Or Not?

People often ask about physical and emotional responses to their flower essence programs. Here’s an interesting correspondence on that subject:

Hi Lila!

I have a question. I’ve been taking a flower essence per your suggestion since last Thursday. I don’t know if you remember or not, but my desire was to remove the lower back pain that occurred from an injury many years ago.

I’m sure there are emotional factors that are making the pain continue at this point in time, though I can’t seem to access those emotions. In other words, I do have the memories but there is no emotional charge attached to any of them, so I’m not sure if I need to address the emotions for that reason or not.

My questions is: do the flower essences sometimes cause detoxing or the re-surfacing of old pains? Last Saturday in the wee hours of the morning, I had severe mid-thoracic pain and was concerned that I was having gall bladder/liver stones that were trying to pass (since that has come up in the past before, I assumed that was what was happening).

The next day I had discomfort every time I ate something, so I continued to assume it was the gb/liver issue. However, when I went to work on Monday, a friend mentioned that perhaps it was something triggered by the flower essence.

I was surprised because I hadn’t ever considered that possibility. I haven’t had any pains like that since Saturday night. I’m wondering if it’s indeed possible that the pains were caused by the essence releasing something.

Also, when I had the toboggan accident in ‘97, I remember that my entire spine, including my mid-thoracic, was in spasm for several days after that. The pain I had the other night also felt that way.

What do you think?

It was a delight to meet you, and thank you for all your good work!

Sue

Dear Sue,

How nice to hear from you! Thank you for writing.

Well, you’ve asked a very interesting question, and here’s an answer for you.

There could be any of several things going on. First off, some flower essence practitioners might be quick to say there’s a detox or cleansing happening, either physically or emotionally. As I explain in The Essential Flower Essence Handbook, we call this an “awareness celebration” and not a detoxing or flushing up of negative emotions. The essences make us more aware of what’s going on in our consciousness.

As a metaphor for how the essences work, I often give the example of turning on a light in a darkened room. There may be clutter in the room that we didn’t see in the dark, and yet it’s been there all along. This applies to both emotional and physical responses to the essences.

I was telling someone at lunch just today that, in contrast, the animals never, ever have these kinds of reactions. So there’s a certain way that the essences interface with the human ego, which doesn’t happen with animals who live so purely in their personalities with just the first budding hints of ego.

Now: in addition, it’s entirely possible that there was a coincidental timing in these symptoms returning for you, since you’ve felt them before. I remember years ago in Paris, a woman came for a consult and, a few days into her program, had a severe outbreak of herpes on her upper lip. While she was quick to attribute it to the flower essences, Coconut being the first in her program, I happened to notice the beginning of inflammation on her lip when she first walked in for the consult.

So these are some things to think about. What do I think was happening for you in particular? Well, I can say that there well could be a connection between your low back problems, if I’m remembering correctly, and the beginning of your marriage to a fine man yet someone who doesn’t support you, especially because both incidents took place at the same time in your life. The spine, in some cases, can be symbolic of support. That’s why I suggested topical applications as well as sublingual, to positively affect the cellular memory in your lumbar area.

In fact you might be the best person to answer your own question. Would you say that you feel a lightening or clearing in your low back area? Did the pain disappear as suddenly as it appeared? Did it enter and exit your conscious mind, and body, in a different fashion than it has in the past when you could attribute more physical causes to the times of distress?

Well, Sue, I hope I’ve answered your questions. This is certainly a fascinating, multi-faceted subject!

In the joy of the essences,

Lila