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Flower Therapy: What is it?
Flowers have a really high vibrational energy.
It’s what makes us feel so good when we’re around them, and it’s why I love incorporating flowers and arranging into my meditation practice. What I refer to as flower therapy in my courses and books is actually referring to the act of meditation while flower arranging. The high vibrational energy from the flowers and the single-minded task of arranging are the perfect catalysts for a bit of downtime for your busy mind.
Flowers themselves give us a sense of variety; they can make a room feel fresh, new and different with little to no cost. The physical and emotional benefits they provide us are immeasurable. It also has a flow-on effect––the more we include them in our environment, the better we feel and the more inspired and creative we become!
I’ve personally worked through a lot of my own trauma with the assistance of this type of meditation, which is why I’m so passionate about sharing it with other flower lovers.
What does it look like?
Flower therapy is a blend of meditation and flower arranging. It is about unleashing inner creativity, connection with nature and connection with oneself through the art of flower arranging. The positive energy of flowers is literally food for our souls.
The practice of arranging flowers can be the catalyst for breaking the vibrational match between your past and present reality. Our vibrational match is what we are attracting through our thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and feelings link us to situations in the present and future. If we are holding onto old negative feelings of the past, we are carrying them into our future. This negative energy keeps us in a cycle of the same experiences that we don’t want to be in. Flowers can help us remove it and cut the flow of negative energy.
How do we achieve this?
When we allow ourselves to become vulnerable within an open and inclusive environment, we are releasing creativity from within. Meditation is a wonderful way to centre ourselves in order to become open and allow creativity to flow. Flow is a wonderful state where time does not exist; the focus is solely on the present task or activity with no care or wonder of anything else. A state of flow is when you are operating from the heart, not the head. There is no judgement, no concern and no stress––just bliss and being as one. For me, when I am at one with nature, there becomes no separation between me and the flowers.
What is the effect on the body?
Flower arranging can shift our nervous systems from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state. A sympathetic nervous system response puts our bodies into a flight-or-fight stress state, whereas a parasympathetic response is a resting state which can be created through flower arranging––deactivating our stress levels. One reason the parasympathetic response occurs when flower arranging is because we are focused and centred on the one task at hand and not overthinking or worrying about the future. The focus is solely on the flowers. But I believe there is more to it than that.
I believe it’s the power of the flowers themselves. It is the positive energy they exude that connects and combines with our energy field that can help us to come to a place of peace and centredness.
If you feel open to it, I’d love to take you through a meditation that can not only help you achieve a peaceful, relaxed state before you start with your flowers, but anytime you need to slow things right down.
The Well Heart Guided Meditation by Yvette Timmins
I encourage you to close your eyes for this meditation, as I can promise the experience will be a more powerful one if you do. But if you cannot completely let go right now that’s totally fine. Allow the flowers to absorb your emotions, good or bad––they will absorb them.
This exercise is one of my favourites for alleviating anxious feelings:
Step 1: Close your eyes
Step 2: Place one hand on your heart
Step 3: Place your other hand on your forehead slightly to the right side
Step 4: Focus on taking your breath from your heart to your head
Step 5: Continue the process. You may at some point feel the need to take one big deep breath––this symbolises the head and heart connection
An extension of the above practice is to visualise the heart as a flower full of petals. Watch as the petals unfurl on each breath, and as they do, new petals appear. As new petals appear, some start to fall and detach from the ever-expanding bloom. The detachment of the petals can symbolise the removal of emotions, thoughts and feelings that no longer serve you. It could also symbolise the attachment to possessions or expectations of others. The ever-expanding, overflowing petals may symbolise the outpouring of self-love that is within and available to share with others. It is a self-sustaining, effortless source of love and light ready to tap into.
The entire practice of flower therapy is what my book, Feed Your Soul With Flowers, is based on. If you’d like to read more about flower therapy, you can grab your copy here.
