FEP86 Pairing Gem Elixirs & Flower Essences
Gem elixirs are having a moment, and Kathleen and Ro think you should know why. In this episode of the Flower Essence Podcast, they explore how gem elixirs work alongside flower essences to anchor energetic shifts into the body, strengthen the auric field, support heart healing, and help us stay grounded in overwhelming times.
If we don’t have an energetic boundary, if our sense of self never developed, if our field has been compromised by trauma/abuse, we don’t have a sense of self/not self. Any setting of boundary from this state is unstable, and tends to either be soft or rigid.
Flower essences help change our boundary patterns by establishing a new template for our energetic and emotional fields.
In this episode, Kathleen and Rochana chat about the polarity of boundaries and some key flower essences that can help us come into energetic balance.
FEP85 The Two Sides of Boundaries
When we hear people talking about boundaries, we’re usually hearing the idea of verbally setting a limit in a relationship – this is important, but misses the foundation.
If we don’t have an energetic boundary, if our sense of self never developed, if our field has been compromised by trauma/abuse, we don’t have a sense of self/not self. Any setting of boundary from this state is unstable, and tends to either be soft or rigid.
Flower essences help change our boundary patterns by establishing a new template for our energetic and emotional fields.
In this episode, Kathleen and Rochana chat about the polarity of boundaries and some key flower essences that can help us come into energetic balance.
FEP84 Advanced Flower Essence Healing with David Dalton
Our friend and teacher David Dalton returns to the pod to talk about his new book, Advanced Flower Essence Healing: New Frontiers in the Field of Bach Flower Remedies.
David is a pioneer in the flower essence field. He’s worked as a flower essence practitioner, producer, researcher, and teacher since the 1980s. He’s the founder of Delta Gardens Flower Essences, author of Stars of the Meadow: Medicinal Herbs as Flower Essences, and has presented at our Flower Essence Conferences.
In this episode, we explore David’s considerable contribution to the structure and development of this healing modality:
his research and how to know what a flower essence does
how past trauma affects personality development and daily life
patterns he’s seen over decades of practice
the energy transmission method he’s developed
and more
FEP83 Adoption Trauma & Healing with Charlene Briggs
Joining us to talk about the energetics of adoption trauma and healing with flower essences is Charlene Briggs of Botanical Energetics. As a Flower Essence Practitioner since 1999, Charlene specializes in working with adoptees and helps clients frame and recalibrate from the many losses associated with relinquishment, adoption, and subsequent adaption.
According to Charlene, adoption is hard on everyone. For the adoptee it’s an energetic fracture and a lifetime of recalibration. For the first mothers it’s heartbreak, for the adoptive parents it’s frustration and an unspoken debt that often comes due in 15 or 20 years when the adoptee reaches the limit of their pain.
FEP82 Flower Essences & Prayer with Heidi Smith
Kathleen and Rochana welcome Heidi Smith back to the podcast! Author of The Bloom Book – A Flower Essence Guide to Cosmic Balance, Heidi is a psychosomatic therapist, registered herbalist, and flower essence practitioner based in New York.
In this episode we dive into her latest book, The Uncommon Book of Prayer: A Guide to Co-Creating with the Universe. After unraveling and reframing the term “prayer”, we explore flower and vibrational essences that support divine connection, ritual, affirmation, and intention. Enjoy this illuminating discussion just in time for the Winter Solstice.
FEP81 The gift of soul-aligned community
Kathleen and Rochana discuss the magical and healing benefits of belonging to a safe and soul-aligned community, while acknowledging the challenges faced by empaths and those recovering from toxic community experiences.
We explore flower and gem essences for maintaining healthy discernment, grounding, and boundaries, for feeling more at ease so you can show up as who you actually are, and for feeling coherence in spaces with others.
No matter where you are in the process, the community of Nature, plants, and animals is always there for you. And if you use flower essences and yearn to talk about it with like-minded souls, stay tuned for our upcoming Soul Circle beginning in 2026.
FEP80 Windows of Plant Perception – Learning to how to read the book of nature
In this episode, Kathleen and Rochana introduce the 12 Windows of Plant Perception, a multi-dimensional approach to plant study developed by the Flower Essence Society. It’s a significant component of our Flower Essence Practitioner Training Program, and helps us to cultivate a living, holistic understanding of a plant and its healing signatures.
We discuss our experience with this approach and some of the “windows” explored during our in-depth study of the Chicory and Queen Anne’s Lace flower essence plants.
Learn about the objective and subjective practice of plant observation, how plant stories help cultures maintain stable information over time, and be encouraged to try it yourself!
FEP79 Bach Flowers for Relationship Patterns
In this episode, Kathleen and Rochana bring you an excerpt from their new course, Bach Flower Foundations, now open for registration at the School for Flower Essence Studies.
We share a segment from the module, Bach Flowers for Modern Life, where we springboard from Dr. Bach’s original insights on personality types to think in terms of the Bach flowers as archetypes representing personality “parts” and how they interact in relationships.
It’s a fascinating discussion highlighting some of the most “active” Bach flower archetypes and some corresponding “reactive” patterns, with examples that help us understand these personality parts better. It’s a great way to envision some of the characteristics of the Bach flowers that we cover comprehensively in the course.
Enjoy!
FEP78 Impostor Syndrome: Essences to Quiet the Inner Critic
Have you ever felt like an impostor when presenting yourself in a new job, role, or project? It’s a common obstacle when putting ourselves “out there” in the world. Perhaps you doubt your abilities or don’t feel like you have enough knowledge. Perhaps you fear making mistakes, especially if a past failure haunts you. There may even be a deep seated unworthiness at the core, keeping you from following your dreams.
In this episode Kathleen Aspenns and Rochana Felde talk about the facets of impostor syndrome and how Flower Essence Therapy can be tuned to each nuance. We explore the key flower and gem essences to support us in unconditionally accepting ourselves, centering ourselves in trust, valuing our worth, and finding the courage to take the next step.
FEP77 Finding Peace and Clarity in Chaotic Times
With all that’s going on in the world right now, many are struggling to find perspective and make sense of it all. It’s a crucial time to maintain our sense of grounding and stability, so no matter what we’re doing and what we choose to do, we’re able to do it from a place of centeredness and peace so our best selves can show up.
Kathleen and Rochana bring in ancient and powerful plant allies that have a long history of helping humans on this planet. These flower essences and gem elixirs help us cultivate resilience, perspective, and heart connections with the earth and each other to increase our light and promote peace in every step.
FEP76 Psychic Self-Defense with Gemstone & Plant Allies | Nicholas Pearson
Nicholas Pearson returns to the podcast after the release of his latest book, Crystals for Psychic Self-Defense. Starting with a grounded understanding of the sources of psychic and energetic harm, we discuss the importance of good energy hygiene including grounding, centering, and cleansing. We explore a host of techniques for protecting and shielding ourselves and our spaces with the use of physical gemstones, gemstone elixirs/waters, and flower essences. Join us for this in-depth download from our favorite author and teacher at the intersection of gemstones and plants for vibrational healing and magickal work.
FEP75 Tapping into Creativity for Vitality & Healing
Kathleen Aspenns and Rochana Felde are joined by Ruth Toledo Altschuler to embrace the energy of creativity as a lifeline that sustains us with aliveness during challenging times.
We discuss:
How flower essences and gem elixirs can be used to spark and nourish creativity whether or not we think we’re creative
How the creative process itself can be liberating and an integral part of healing because it’s connected to the vital life force within us
How using art, writing, and creative acts as therapeutic tools in conjunction with Flower Essence Therapy can be synergistic for both processes
FEP74 Drowning in Overwhelm?
In this episode Kathleen and Rochana dive into the current energy of overwhelm that so many are feeling.
We bring in our favorite tried and true flower essences and gem elixirs for not only managing the onslaught, but also strengthening our fields and building resilience. Whether the overwhelm comes from too much information, energy, emotions, sensory signals, environmental factors, or all of the above, Nature helps bring us back into balance.
FEP73 Expanding Your Understanding of the Bach Flowers
In this episode, Kathleen and Rochana welcome back our partner in the School for Flower Essence Studies, Ruth Toledo Altschuler.
During these times of progressive overwhelm, we believe that Nature is here for us, and we have the capacity to take in new information when we attune to the plants. In light of this, we’re excited to embark on a deep exploration of nine more Bach Flowers in our upcoming study group, which is more like an “experience group”.
We discuss the value of having a solid foundation of lineage teachings to build on — in this case, Dr. Edward Bach’s original discoveries which have been much enhanced by Julian Barnard’s lifetime contributions in this field.
Now, we as modern practitioners have further evolved the way we use and talk about the Bach flowers in our practices. Bach flowers are well combined with the concept of parts work (Internal Family Systems) and other contemporary ways of addressing emotional challenges, affirming that they’re more relevant than ever.
Bach Flowers in Contemporary Practice is our in-depth Bach flower essence study group in which we slow down to learn directly from the plants and the people who have long been using these essences with clients. You’re invited to join our upcoming iteration beginning February 20th, 2025. This is Part Three of a series, but can be taken in any order!
FEP72 Shamanic Plant Teachers and Animal Spirit Medicine with Matthew Wood
In this episode, we explore herbs, flower essences, and homeopathy through a shamanic lens with celebrated herbalist, author, and teacher Matthew Wood. He’s been a practitioner of these modalities for forty-five years and teaches at the Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism.
FEP71 Connecting to the Unseen World with Help from Flower Essences
Recorded during the liminal time of year when the veil between the worlds is thin (Halloween, Samhain, Day of the Dead), Rochana and Kathleen discuss how we connect to the unseen — plant devas, our dearly departed, ancestors, angels, and spirit guides.
Animism, a belief that spirit is alive in everything, is a basic principle of making flower essences as we view it as a co-creative activity between ourselves and the spirit of the plant.
We don’t need to turn to psychedelic plant medicines to connect with spirit beings. Flower essences can help us open to spiritual connection, practice discernment, and invoke protection on our journeys. Join us for this interesting conversation as we bring in some of our favorite plant spirit helpers.
FEP70 Getting Triggered! Strategies for Coping and Increasing Resilience
In this episode, Kathleen and Rochana navigate the nervous system responses when triggered or emotionally activated. How do we recognize when it’s happening and what are some things we can do immediately to cope? How can we work with these deeply embedded reactions that at minimum feel uncomfortable but often are painful and uncontrollable? We discuss the importance of releasing emotion from the body and using flower essences to assist in creating a safe container for this work, as we strive to increase resilience and regain equilibrium in our lives.
FEP69 Finding Your Purpose
In this episode we dive into the concept of life purpose, what that means, and how to uncover and pursue it with support from Nature and the flower essences.
We talk about the Japanese concept of Ikigai to look at the different pieces that come together to inform an overall sense of purpose, how to center ourselves, listen to our inner wisdom, and embody the guidance coming in from higher realms. We bring in essences to help with that, to give us the strength to forge ahead and permission to spark our creativity in this process.
FEP68 Calming & Soothing the Nervous System
This episode is an excerpt from an upcoming course we’re working on, Foundations in Flower Essence Therapy, which will be available from the School for Flower Essence Studies in early fall 2024.
We talk about the importance of using calming and centering essences when beginning to use essences for ourselves and others. It’s a really good first step, and sometimes all that’s needed. There are times we may want to skip over this and go right to essences that work with deeper challenges, but we’ve seen time and again the value of starting with calming and centering approaches to help the nervous system feel safer and more embodied.
The fear of being seen – an inexplicable dread around being seen publicly, in person or online, is common among practitioners of alternative healing modalities, flower essences included. Revealing our true selves — our spiritual, mystical, or intuitive selves, is a challenge for so many of us.
In her role as a business coach, Rochana noticed this and related deep-seated patterns of staying small that consistently blocked women from their business goals, and she saw it in herself as well. She noticed the difference between how visibility felt in the corporate world vs. in the healing world, and set out to explore why her nervous system was triggered so much more in the latter case. The rabbit hole she found was one that deeply resonated with her modern-day experience, past life memories, and connection to her ancestors.
In this episode, we explore where this fear comes from and why it’s persistent — we look at the roots of it as inherited transgenerational trauma stemming from centuries of patriarchy and the terror of the witch hunts. We bring in flower essences and gem elixirs as exceptional allies for the journey of becoming visible.