Using flower essences to recover from any type of shock, distress, or upheaval
trauma
- a deeply distressing or disturbing experience
- emotional shock following a stressful event or a physical injury
- physical injury
When we experience any type of trauma, it is imperative to have support. Reaching out to friends, family, professionals, and spiritual support persons is vital to recovery. You can also find help from nature. By adding flower essences to your support system, you can more quickly and effectively understand your feelings and find your spiritual center, where meaning can be restored to your life.
Recovering from trauma requires patience. It takes as long as it takes to process the situation and then reclaim trust, strength in vulnerability, and a feeling of safety. For some situations it can take years. Other times it may only take a day or a few hours to reestablish yourself. Whether the trauma you experienced was recent or from years past, it is possible to recover from its effects.
Being in the Moment
The one essence that can be used consistently for calming and helping you deal with shock and intense situations is the Crisis-Desert Emergency Formula. We have used and researched this formula since 1984 with outstanding results. Countless people have reported that this essence has helped them remain centered and in-the-moment. When you are in the moment, you can take one more breath, then just one more breath. Even if the trauma is from years earlier, Crisis – Desert Emergency Formula can help you remain present as old feelings arise to be processed.
Change in Reality
Trauma causes your normal reality to be challenged, and you may find yourself disillusioned, fearful, and confused. Attachment to what used to be is not helpful when you are faced with a shocking new circumstance. Sacred Datura is an exceptional flower essence that helps you let go of attachments to your former reality and open the doors of perception to a new, more expanded experience of being.
Following are other flower essences we have found effective in working with recovery from traumatic events. For more in-depth information on each flower essence, please see, The Alchemy of the Desert – Second Edition.
Anger
- Crown of Thorns – projection of your anger onto others
- Mala Mujer – fear of your anger
- Compass Barrel Cactus – holding on to anger and resentment, unable to let it go
Anxiety
- Crisis – Desert Emergency Formula and Sonoran Rainbow Cactus (used together) – anxiousness accompanied by thoughts of impending challenges and difficulties
- Bougainvillea – agitation or nervousness, especially accompanied by shallow breathing or a spastic diaphragm
Dissociation
- Coral Bean – spaced out, loss of will or concentration, especially if you have experienced trauma or dangerous situations in the past
Emotions
- Melon Loco – emotional over-zealousness, over-reactive emotionally
- Violet Curls – emotional overwhelm; feeling that too many feelings are arising all at once
- Emotional Awareness Formula – inability to recognize what you are feeling
- Star Evening Primrose – feeling emotionally controlled by a situation or person
- Buffalo Gourd – emotional swings, instability
Fear
- Scorpion Weed and Thurber’s Gilia (used together) – any type of fear
- Thurber’s Gilia – fears that keep you frozen or inactive and unable to help yourself
- Scorpion Weed – fear of a certain person or group, or of things outside you
- Pink Pond Lily – fear concerning your safety or the safety of others
- Purple Mat – fear of rejection by others
Flashbacks
- Crisis – Desert Emergency Formula, Cellular Joy Formula, and Rainbow Cactus (used together) – reliving the feelings from a previous traumatic experience
Giving Up
- Saguaro Cactus – feeling like you can’t go on, that you want to give up
Grief
- Hackberry – not wanting to feel grief; resurfacing of old grief
- Wolfberry – unable to move through your grief and find spiritual understanding or transpersonal meaning
Guilt
- Evening Star – feeling guilty and helpless because you couldn’t, or can’t, do anything about the situation
- Red Root – feelings of guilt, including survivor guilt; worrying about unresolved issues with those involved; feeling that you somehow deserved the actions against you
Hopelessness
- Queen of the Night Cactus – feeling a victim of the frailty of life
Isolation
- Desert Sumac – isolating yourself from family and friends
Memory
- Sacred Datura and Fairy Duster (used together) – temporary memory loss from the resurfacing of old, stressful traumas
Mood
- Mala Mujer – moodiness and irritability
Overwhelm
- Fairy Duster – overwhelmed by too much input; nervous system overwhelm
- Wolfberry – overwhelmed by changes happening within you that you can’t understand
- Woven Spine Pineapple Cactus – overwhelmed by too much going on; unable to regenerate or recover
Presence
- Crisis – Desert Emergency Formula – unable to be present and in the moment
Reality Change
- Sacred Datura – attached to your former reality and unable to embrace a different experience of being
Shock
- Crisis – Desert Emergency Formula – numbness, disbelief, feeling out of your body, dissociated, or ungrounded
- Zephyr Lily – processing and releasing any type of old or new shock or trauma
Spiritual Meaning
- Saguaro Cactus – unable to find spiritual meaning in a traumatic event
Survival
- Mexican Star – feeling that to survive you must have a certain person or thing
- Organ Pipe Cactus – feeling unable to handle your daily needs after a traumatic experience
Trust
- Syrian Rue – trusting yourself to know whom to trust
Vulnerability
- Spineless Prickly Pear Cactus – feeling vulnerable or powerless
Worry
- Sonoran Rainbow Cactus – expecting things to go wrong and be difficult