‘Surround yourself with people who give you energy.’ – Dr. Tererai Trent

 

I love this quote from Dr. Trent. It’s often said in self-help teachings that there are people in our lives who give us energy, and there are those who suck that energy right out of us. I certainly try to surround myself with more of the former, but it’s not just people who pour energy into my life.

 

Flowers as energy

 

I believe that the beauty of flowers is a direct reflection of our inner beauty as spiritual beings having a human experience. This beauty derives from one source––the pure light source energy that is eternal life. Flowers hold power to make us feel good, positive energy because they are the essence of it. I believe they are the closest tangible living things to what we can see from our origins as living beings, all having derived from one source of energy. They have the power to take us from dark to light if we allow it. 

 

For me, the interconnectedness of all living things can be best felt through arranging flowers. The more I play, the less separate I feel, until there is no them or I––only oneness. But what do we need to be connected to? We must connect with ourselves, our loved ones, those in our community, and most importantly––nature.

 

We need to bring flowers and plants into our living spaces, even more so if we don’t have gardens to access on a daily basis. 

Their importance proven

 

A study by the Department of Horticulture at Kansas State University showed that ornamental indoor plants in hospital rooms significantly enhanced the health outcomes of patients recovering from surgery. They found that patients in rooms with flowers and plants had notably lower ratings of pain and anxiety compared with patients in the control room.

 

Jeannette Haviland-Jones Ph.D, Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University is quoted as saying, ‘Science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well-being.’ 

 

So naturally staying connected with flowers and plants helps us to stay connected with the universal source of life ‘chi’ energy that we so desire and need. Flowers hold that positive energy!

 

In fact, flowers are so essential to our survival that NASA has been experimenting with growing them on Mars since 2000. In their paper, Mars Greenhouse Experiment Module: An Experiment to Grow Flowers on Mars, NASA researchers stated that ‘These plants would be the first organisms from Earth to grow, live and die on another world. They would be true biological pioneers, an important step for life from Earth as it begins its expansion beyond the planet of origin.’

 

Artist Claude Monet deeply understood the immense power of flowers. His friend Antonin Proust was quoted saying of Monet, ‘All it took to restore his good spirits was the sight of a flower. Monet would exclaim, “I’d like to paint them all.”’

 

Staying connected

It’s clear that there is something almost spiritual about this connection we as humans have with nature, especially flowers. It’s why we feel so disconnected when we can’t leave home for periods of time (remember Covid?) and why people suggest going outside and touching the grass when you’ve been cooped up too long. When thinking about how to stay connected, we need to look at all facets of ourselves, feeding the body, mind and soul.

 

While the body and mind can be nourished with rest, nutritious food, exercise, fresh air, sunshine, positivity and knowledge, the soul needs something a little different.

 

The soul is fed by connections with other people, spending time with animals, being out in nature and enjoying the beauty of it. The soul is fed with flowers.

 

This whole concept of the connection between the positive energy of flowers and the feeding of our souls was a key part of my book, Feed Your Soul With Flowers. If this connection is something that fascinates you, I really encourage you to get your hands on a copy. Not only will it nourish your soul as you read, but it will also provide you with the building blocks for a future of sustained soul nourishment.

If you have any questions about this topic, I’d love to speak with you about it. You can get in touch here.