There’s a moment that happens, just before I make a flower essence, when everything feels still. The sun is rising, the bees are waking, and a bloom—fresh, dew-kissed, alive with spirit—catches my eye. I pause, breathe, and ask for permission. Sometimes, the answer is yes. Other times, I’m told to wait.
That pause is the heart of flower essence making.
It’s not about the scent or the color or what a flower can do for us. It’s about relationship. It’s about listening.
Here on Kaua‘i, my garden grows heavy with blossoms—pua kenikeni, plumeria, pikake, pakalana. These aren’t native to Hawai‘i, but they’ve become part of our home, woven into lei, memories, and morning walks. Each flower carries a feeling. A teaching. And when captured in spring water, under the light of the sun, that teaching becomes medicine.
This is the practice of flower essence making—simple, subtle, and soul-nourishing.
Let me walk you through how I create them from our garden, and how you might begin to do the same.
🌸 What Is a Flower Essence?
A flower essence is a vibrational remedy. It doesn’t contain the physical parts of a plant, like a tea or a tincture would. It doesn’t smell like the flower, like an essential oil does. Instead, it captures the energetic imprint of a flower—its presence, its message, its frequency—by placing the bloom in spring water and letting it infuse in sunlight.
The result is subtle, yet powerful. You won’t feel flower essences hit your system like caffeine or melatonin. They move like water over stone—gently shaping the emotional and energetic terrain over time. You may notice clarity where there was confusion. Love where there was judgement. Courage where fear used to live.
In indigenous traditions around the world, plants have always been seen as teachers, not just tools. Flower essences invite us back into that kind of relationship.
🌿 The Role of Intention and Ceremony
In my practice, I don’t harvest anything without a prayer and a conversation. Flower essence making is more than a recipe—it’s a ceremony of presence.
Before I pick a flower, I sit with it. I notice its stage of life. Is it open? Vibrant? Facing the sun? Then I place my hands near the plant and ask, quietly, if it’s the right time. I speak a few words— in the language of the heart—and offer gratitude. If I get a subtle “yes” (a feeling, a knowing, a warmth), I proceed. If not, I wait.
This isn’t just tradition—it’s energetic hygiene. Plants are sensitive. The clearer and more loving your energy, the cleaner and more potent the essence.
✨ How to Make a Flower Essence: Step-by-Step
Making a flower essence doesn’t require fancy tools—just presence and respect. Here’s how I do it in our garden:
1. Choose the Flower
Select a flower that’s at its peak bloom—vibrant, healthy, and untouched by pests. Pick one that calls to you emotionally. Each flower carries its own spirit and emotional message.
2. Gather with Intention
Approach the plant calmly. Sit or kneel beside it. Offer a prayer or intention. Thank the flower for its guidance. When ready, use clean hands or snips to gently harvest the bloom. Avoid touching the petals too much, and do not let the flower touch the ground.
3. Prepare Your Bowl
Use a clear glass bowl filled with pure spring water or rainwater. Set it in a sunny, peaceful place—ideally outdoors in your garden. Float the flower(s) on the surface of the water.
4. Infuse with Sunlight
Let the bowl sit in the sun for 2–4 hours. This is when the flower’s vibrational signature moves into the water. I often sit nearby, journal, or meditate, listening for messages the flower may want to share.
5. Strain and Preserve
Remove the flowers from the water and give them back to the base of their plant. Pour the essence into a clean amber glass bottle, filling it halfway. Top the bottle with brandy or vodka (or local honey or apple cider vinegar if you prefer alcohol-free). This is your mother essence.
6. Make a Stock Bottle (Optional)
To use the essence more practically, you can create a stock bottle: Fill a 1 oz dropper bottle with half spring water and half brandy, and add a few drops of your mother essence. This is what you’ll take internally.
💐 The Flowers We Use: Energetic Messages
Each flower has a feeling—a message it brings when you’re open to it. Here are a few I use in our essences and sprays:
Plumeria
Message: Surrender, softness, and letting go of striving.
Plumeria invites you to exhale. To stop holding so tight. Its presence is sweet, dreamy, and soothing for frayed nerves and overextended hearts.
Pikake
Message: Confidence, clarity, and self-recognition.
Pikake (jasmine) holds the energy of the feminine rising. It’s elegant, proud, and deeply rooted. Use this essence when you’re stepping into visibility or reclaiming your worth.
Pakalana
Message: Innocence, safety, and receptivity.
This night-blooming vine has a scent that wraps around you like a grandmother’s hug. Pakalana helps dissolve protective layers that are no longer needed. It says, “You’re safe to be soft.”
Pua Kenikeni
Message: Heart-opening, generosity, and presence.
Pua kenikeni opens the heart gently, helping you return to joy. It supports forgiveness, tenderness, and the sweet act of giving and receiving love.
These meanings come not just from folklore but from listening—sitting with each flower, asking what it wants to share, and noticing what shifts in myself and others when we use the essence.
🌀 How to Use Flower Essences
Once you’ve made or chosen a flower essence, here are some gentle ways to bring it into your daily rhythm:
1. Under the Tongue
Add 2–4 drops directly under the tongue, 2–4 times a day. This is the most direct method, especially when working through emotional states.
2. In Water or Tea
Add a few drops to your drinking water or your morning tea. Let the flower spirit be a quiet companion through the day.
3. In the Bath
Add 7–10 drops to a warm bath to create a spiritual soak. Light candles. Breathe deep. Let yourself be held.
4. In Parenting and Family Rituals
I use flower essences with my children often—placing a drop on their crown, adding it to their bath, or misting their pillows at night. It’s a way to support their emotions without needing them to explain everything. For me, it’s also a gentle re-centering tool for those moments when parenting feels overwhelming.
🌺 A Healing Practice Rooted in Place
While flower essences originated in Europe and gained popularity through the work of people like Dr. Bach, I believe the practice is universal. Every culture has honored the spirit of plants. Here in Hawai‘i, we work with la‘au lapa‘au—plant medicine—but also with intention, ceremony, and relationship. That’s what makes an essence potent.
When I make flower essences, I see it as la‘au kahea—prayerful medicine. Not about extraction. About invitation. About listening to what the plant wants to offer, not what we demand of it.
Even if the flowers I use aren’t native, I treat them as guests who’ve become family. They have rooted into our soil and our hearts. They’ve woven themselves into our lives through lei-making, storytelling, and garden walks with the kids.
Making essences from these flowers helps me stay connected—to the land and to the quiet inner space where healing begins.
🌿 Final Reflections: Medicine in the Listening
When people ask me what flower essences are for, I usually answer with a feeling. They’re for the in-between moments. The heartaches we don’t know how to name. The parts of us that don’t need fixing—just witnessing.
They’re for the part of you that’s already whole.
This practice has slowed me down. It’s taught me to approach plants the way I want to be approached—with gentleness, curiosity, and care. With deep respect. And it’s deepened my understanding of healing—not as a destination, but as a relationship.
When you make flower essences from your own garden, you're not just crafting a remedy. You’re weaving a thread between yourself and the land. You’re saying: I see you. I honor you. I want to carry your message with integrity.
And the plants? They respond. Not always with words, but always with presence.
Want to try one of our flower essences?
We offer small-batch aromatherapy sprays and vibrational mists made from flowers grown here in our Kaua‘i garden. Each one is handcrafted with prayer, intention, and aloha.
👉🏽 Browse Flower Essences
👉🏽 Read More Plant Stories on the Blog
With deep breath,
Megan + ʻOhi ʻOhi