FLOWER ESSENCES IN AWAKENED UNDERSTANDING

June 24, 2024

Have you felt any of the following recently?

  • Fear of inner darkness

  • Feeling responsible for others’ suffering

  • Fear of being exposed or judged

  • Feeling overstimulated & fragmented

  • Difficulty sitting with inner experience

  • Being flimsy, avoidant or full of excuses

If any of this resonates with you Awakened Understanding is for you.

Awakened Understanding gives us the courage & stability to face the things inside of us that at one time – we felt were ugly.

We awaken a new receptivity to sit with ourselves, to get curious – and watch everything transform. We feel more resilient, accepting, whole – and above all else: understanding.

Read on to discover more about the flowers in this collection ...

PURPLE WISHBONE
Activate: Self-Acceptance
Message: Reveal it out in the open.

If you’re attracted to the Purple Wishbone flower (Torenia Formosana), there is something that you avoid because it’s scary, which creates a level of obscuration or blurriness that you’re not even aware of. Or there’s something about yourself that you don’t want others to see – that you feel shy about or worried that others might judge. 

Purple Wishbone illuminates and dissolves deep, dark, subconscious fears of danger, darkness and destruction. It helps us feel at peace and removes the electric charge from subconscious fears so that we’re not held back by them.

It dredges whatever is hidden in our deepest belly and brings it up out of our throat. We can decide to share what’s inside, or we can decide not to share it; in any case, we’re able to speak our truth more freely. We’re no longer afraid to say the wrong thing. We feel safe and unafraid of exposing our deepest, darkest secrets.

We can relax and let our guard down; we no longer feel pressure. We can slow down and feel more interconnected with everything around us, no longer fearing judgment or that others have specific expectations of us. 

Ironically, sometimes the biggest judge comes from within. Wishbone liberates the 'scary' material to the surface and takes the charge out of it, so that the parts of ourselves that engage in self-judgment and self-criticism can also calm down

When we’re stricken by fear, we cannot perceive the world around us clearly. The more unafraid we are to face our fears, the more open we are to the world and others’ needs. Anger and frustration dissolve. We begin to see the underbelly of the environment around us from a more neutral angle. We have a greater capacity to listen, perceive and take in more – and we’re aware of a broader perspective.

Purple Wishbone dissolves a subtle level of confusion, obscuration and static that we didn’t even know was there. It heightens our capacity for being crystal clear and sharply perceptive of the world around us.

SHOP AWAKENED UNDERSTANDING

TAIWANESE CELOSIA
Activate: Clarity of Intent
Message: Get to the point.

If you’re attracted to the Taiwanese Celosia flower you may have recently felt distracted or that you are meandering without clear intent. You may have too many projects going at once and feel you need to organize them by priority – or clarify your ‘plan of attack’ or strategy. You may have had the sense that there are important projects on the table, but either you haven't had the strength or energy or clarity to execute them. 

Alternatively, you may have a habit of beating around the bush which can lead to muddled intentions. When you speak, it may not always be clear. When you’re not decisive, or you bend too much to the desires of others, sometimes being “nice” creates massive confusion.

One of the most important aspects of the ever-unfolding visionary process of designing your life, is to know exactly what you want  to know exactly what you want to experience. Just like the pointed arrow-like shape of the flower, Taiwanese Celosia (Celosia argentea) helps us be clear and targeted in our approach. We know what we want and are able to act immediately on it, and at a sustainable pace. 

Taiwanese Celosia helps us identify those moments or areas where we are unclear. It helps us see how we create confusion when we don’t know exactly what we want. We are more pointed and direct in how we express ourselves. We can cut to the chase and get to the point. We're clear with ourselves and others about what the priorities are. And when we know what we want and can clearly articulate it, we can create the life we want to live.

BUCKHORN CHOLLA
Activate: Nature Attunement
Message: Tune into the natural world.

If you find yourself attracted to the Buckthorn Cholla flower, you may find yourself in a mode of distraction. A sense of static may have you feeling unable to pinpoint a solution to whatever is challenging you in your inner world.

You may have felt prickly or annoyed by external circumstances or environments. You may feel a need to protect yourself from criticism or misunderstanding. You may be tied up in knots of tension, seemingly unable to relax in your current environment, propelling you to go outside or spend more time in nature for solace.

Buckthorn Cholla flower (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa) inspires us to listen to the silence within ourselves, reconnecting us to our inner wisdom. In stillness, we can see from horizon to horizon within ourselves and more comfortably sink into the awareness and understanding of the wild world within.

Along with a magnified silence within, we align more acutely with the vibrant, rich silence of the natural world around us, allowing us to absorb nourishment and fulfillment from the Earth. Our awareness is heightened; we tune into a sense of protection and support from the trees, plants, flowers and Earth consciousness. There is a sense of interconnectedness with our surroundings — in a way that cannot be found through words or verbal understanding. We slow down to appreciate the beauty and depth of what’s around us. We allow ourselves to be flooded with the essence of the natural world.

Buckthorn Cholla softens us into an understanding of what’s behind our prickliness or sense of being on pins and needles; we realize it is simply a protective mechanism regarding our own vulnerability. It teaches us that being vulnerable does not have to be a painful release exposing ourselves to others (although that may be a part of it too); it can simply be a quiet, peaceful presence with what is. We’re able to turn toward ourselves and be softly aware of what arises instead of fighting it.

Over time, we can observe synchronicities and see the inter-relationships of people and situations around us. We can explore both the warmth and beauty in ourselves, as well as what it means to have boundaries and protection.

SHOP AWAKENED UNDERSTANDING

ICELANDIC LICHEN
Activate: Impact
Message: Make your mark!

If you’re drawn to the Icelandic Lichen, you may be feeling weak, exhausted or overstimulated. You may have too much on your plate. You may be feeling too much air or fire element blowing around or burning you up – and not enough earth element to ground you.

You may feel as if it’s hard to follow through or you finish your projects crawling to the finish line. Your body may feel weak or susceptible to odd or unexplainable physical imbalances. You may find that you want to sleep, rest or nap more. You may feel fluttery, flimsy, flakey or fragile.

You might feel as if the people around you are not listening; you may feel hot-tempered or quick to anger. When things are ‘falling through the cracks’ and you’re either overwhelmed or over-exhausted, Icelandic Lichen comes to the rescue.

Icelandic Lichen (Cetraria islandica) roots us into ourselves and into the earth, so we can stabilize and be more grounded. It sinks us into what we’re here to do, and grounds us into our path. We become more tenacious. We grab the reins and take charge. We feel more alive, fresh and outstretched, while being rooted and immovable.

We’re more able to root into a place, project, path and have more clarity of purpose. We see the world in a new way, and everything feels worth fighting for. We’re more able to deliver a message with clarity and strength and our message LANDS.

We have the strength to expand our energy in a powerful way across the earth. We can truly make an impact on people – and a stronger imprint with our energy. As we strengthen ourselves, we strengthen others.

Our intentions, words, energy and actions are like an energetic nuclear bomb effect, reminding people of their rooted connection to the earth and earth as an energy source. It’s like a ‘stamp’ or a body slam that awakens the environment. Lichen helps us experience our own inner strength and know what we’re capable of.

SPIDER MILKWEED
Activate:Integration
Message: Make friends will all parts of yourself.

If you’re drawn to Spider Milkweed, you may enjoy being a nice person, and therefore, any agitations, negative thoughts, or attitudes that you would deem ‘unsavory’, might gently be shoved to the back of the closet (of your subconscious).

You may also be a person who prefers to bear difficulties alone, with a tendency to isolate – and even repress anger as a result of self-judgment. You may sidestep parts of yourself that you don’t want to see. If there is anything about yourself that you don’t like, you might just avoid it – or delete it altogether from your conscious mind.

Alternatively, it may be from a time (or times) of hardship, things you thought you were ‘over’ already. Buried little bits of stuff you tucked away for later, because maybe in the moment, it was just too much for your system – too intense to deal with it ALL.

And now that you’re in a more stable place, this flower elixir can help you lean in and liberate your old mental anguish. Sometimes we call our inner turmoil our ‘inner demons', because they’re scary, like monsters under the bed. We resist them, and they plague us.

Anger as an energy is benign. Anger expressed in actions of wild destruction or retaliation is certainly scary. If we can find these energies within ourselves, we may repress them – for fear of blowing up the whole village. However, the word ‘demon’ comes from the Greek word ‘daimon’ which means ‘spirit’, which alludes to the fact that it’s just energy. If we don’t act on our wild emotions, they just rise to the surface to be witnessed, compassionately understood, and dissolved.

Another unique aspect of Spider Milkweed is to dissolve the tendency to feel responsible for your loved ones’ happiness, feelings, experiences, or future paths. If there is any remote chance for others to fall in harm’s way or engage in poor decision making, you might find yourself in the trenches, trying to save them. You might feel you know better or want to warn or caution your loved ones who make choices different than your own. At the same time, you may fear leading people down the ‘wrong’ path, leading your loved ones astray, or to their demise.

Spider Milkweed (Asclepias Asperula) stimulates repressed thoughts & emotional patterns to come to the surface to be cleaned out!

If you have a wound and ignore it, it festers and gets worse and worse over time. What started out as a small wound becomes infected and spreads. However, if you have the fortitude to face the wound and clean it out, you create the conditions for healing.

As we allow buried remnants of emotional baggage to rise to the surface–come up, to come out–Spider Milkweed helps us make friends with all parts of ourselves. The bits of ourselves we tucked away during difficult experiences– these last little pieces that got stashed away–can finally be free to see the light of day..

This includes feeling responsible for someone else’s hardship. If we feel responsible for someone else’s past suffering, we have a tendency to either bury it and harden. Or, we may go to the opposite extreme and try to control the choices people make, because we’re afraid of holding that burden once again.

ALOE VERA FLOWER
Activate: Resilience
Message: Take a deep breath. Relax your muscles.

If you find yourself attracted to the Aloe Vera flower, you may find that life suddenly has a new intensity to it – similar to when you stay in the hot sun too long and your skin starts to burn. You may see more accidents happening around you. You might hear gunshots at night in your urban neighborhood. You may hear of people suffering in new, odd and unexpected ways. You may hear family and friends grumbling or getting riled up more often.

You may feel unusually stimulated by what’s happening around you or within you. You may be swept up by the intensity or you may be just observing it arise around you. You may find you need more quiet time alone. You may crave breaks to just sit and do nothing other than relax and breathe.

There’s a chance you’re storing tension in your jaw and feel overly sensitive to noise, light or the environment around you. You may find yourself wanting things to be a different way and repressing it.

The Aloe Vera flower (Aloe vera var. chinensis) helps us stay cool, calm and collected in times of distress. Rather than get sucked into wild unpredictability and anger, it helps us ride the waves of intensity with a sense of neutrality and being an observer rather than getting pulled into drama.

As a method to arrive at cool-calm-collected, Aloe Vera draws any stuck or latent irritation up to the surface so we can release it. Tension or annoyance we thought had disappeared long ago comes out to be fully cleared from our system.

As a result, when something irritates us in our daily lives, we find it easier to express what’s behind the irritation, rather than repress it. Aloe Vera helps us express ourselves in a more controlled fashion, like letting the fizz out of a carbonated drink slowly. It facilitates a healthy expression of energy so as to avoid repression. It dissolves our hard exterior and moves the energy. Aloe relaxes jaw tension – it eases the habit of gritting or grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw.

Aloe inspires gratitude, serenity and being happy with the way things are. In times of stress or strain, we’re more resilient.

SHOP AWAKENED UNDERSTANDING

GOLDEN MONKEYFLOWER
Activate: Courage
Message: Fear is an illusion.

If you’re drawn to the Golden Monkeyflower, you may have felt immobilized for some reason. Whether it’s an unusual bout of lying in bed motionless, or not being able to make a move on something, it indicates a hesitation or a lack of moving into action based on fear. You may be engaging in 'what if' scenarios in your mind and imagining the worst possible outcome (as if preparing for the worst fortifies you, when in fact, it disempowers you).

Rather than visualizing and expecting the best, lately you may have a habit of projecting an imminent terrible fate. Alternatively, you may at times be shy or hold back your expression. You may at times be lacking in confidence and self-worth, or feel that ‘everyone else out there is better or more important’, or merits more attention and care than you do.

You may not see yourself as a worrier, yet if you pay attention to your recent mental stream of thoughts, you may notice that you are running worst case scenarios and worrying about the little things, secretly preparing for the worst or 'making mountains out of mole hills'. Furthermore, the anticipation of the 'worst' is actually worse than the actual reality of the situation. When this happens, your mental ruminations prevent your pure enjoyment of the present moment.

Alternatively, you may not feel a deep sense of your value and power. You may feel subject to fluctuations in confidence depending on your surroundings – or attention or love you're given – from external sources.

Golden Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) magnifies confidence and ease. It helps us enjoy the sensory pleasures of the present moment, because we can dissolve, drop or work with the fear of the unknown. At the very least, we can let fear be present without gaining access to all of our mental and emotional energy. Rather than fixating on details, we can expand into spacious awareness and lessen the grip on the things that terrorize us internally.

As we put more space between ourselves and our fears, we begin to see the illusion of our fears. We’re more able to maintain a calm equipoise & steadiness. We can make space for the fear to exist but don’t have to let it control our reality. Alternatively, we may be able to speak our deepest fears to a loved one. As we express them, they lose steam. They dissolve and seem much more insignificant or even surreal or untrue.

Golden Monkeyflower gives our solar plexus a boost of confidence and an infusion of self-worth. We can show up in the world as empowered beings & inspired leaders. Rather than keeping quiet and being shy or hesitant, we can move into a new layer of courage within ourselves.

PINK LOTUS + YARROW

These are two flower elixirs that we feel are so important, we put them in every formula we make! We infuse blend with Pink Lotus (wisdom + insights) and Yarrow (re-energize after being on cell phone/computer). Pink Lotus is also a "catalyst flower essence," strengthening and boosting the synergistic effects of every blend.

    Awakened Understanding encourages:

    • Resilience & contentment 

    • Fearless vulnerability 

    • Integration into wholeness

    • Nourishment by nature 

    • Protection, boundaries, strength

    • Total acceptance 

    • Clarity of intent 

    SHOP AWAKENED UNDERSTANDING

    IN ESSENCE

    MAGNIFIES: Integration into wholeness; Nourishment by nature; Protection, boundaries, strength

    DISSOLVES: Fear of inner darkness; Feeling responsible for others' suffering; Fear of being exposed or judged

    COLLECTION STORY

    For this blend, we hand-collected flowers from Taiwan, Arizona, Iceland, Korea & British Columbia to make this blend possible.

    Love + flower petals,