Amy Cohen reached out to me several months ago and introduced me to an area of flowers I was not familiar with: flower remedies. It’s also called plant medicine or botanical healing. At the time, I was familiar with essential oils and could speak to the life-giving effect incorporating plants into my life, so this was intriguing. Flower remedies are different than oils though, so I thought it could be fun to invite Amy to teach us a little more about this topic.

Kelly: Many in our community are in the cut-flower industry in some capacity, so our work with flowers is quite visual and focused on wellness through exposure to beauty and scents. I’m interested in talking about this other side of the plants we all love and deepening my understanding of what is possible with plants!

Amy: It was so amazing for me to think that flower remedies have such a powerful effect on our emotional/mental health and happiness. But it does make perfect sense that the earth would provide all we need right? This healing modality is well-known throughout Europe (it's used in hospitals and doctors offices), and I am sharing the extraordinary knowledge here as well. I feel so lucky that I get to spread the word on how powerful plant medicine truly is! Did you know that 25% of our medication comes from plants and flowers?

Kelly: Wow! I didn't know that, but can't say that I'm surprised. These lovely, colorful things that grow out of the ground never cease to amaze me!

Plant remedies changed your life, and you decided to give your life to researching and sharing these with the world. Give us a baseline of understanding: What are flower remedies? Is it an oil or a powder? How are they made?

Amy: Flower remedies are considered energy medicine—working on the energy field around us, our aura, although we can take them internally or use on our skin as well. They are made from plants and the energy of the sun. The sun cooks the plant in water thereby making an extract. It's a liquid extract, no scent.

Kelly: Tell us about the first time someone introduced you to flower remedies. What were you struggling with and how has this changed?

Amy: Wow, life-changing moments. I was struggling with great anxiety, had to travel to help my father who just had a heart attack and was going back and forth for five weeks. At home, at the same time, my husband and I were contemplating divorce and the school my kids were in was horrible. We needed to move out of the community we were in and had just sold our house but had not found another. So a lot was going on, and while I am a strong woman, I felt like I was losing control. I had colossal life/death decisions to make, could not sleep, and could not eat. I spent all week at the hospital and all weekend back home looking for a house and getting the kids ready for the following week. There were five doctors with different advice for my father’s life, and I felt like I was falling apart! So much so, I could not find my way back to my fathers apartment one night. I called my doctor for medication for my survival at the time, and she recommended a flower remedy blend that, although I balked at, worked immediately to bring me to a place of calm, decision-making ability and confidence to know what to do.

Kelly: Goodness, what a season you went through. What other types of conditions can be calmed through flower remedies? I’m sure there are many (even some we haven’t discovered yet), but which ones do you focus on currently?

Amy: I focus on anxiety, sadness, autism, and purpose for most of my clients—but flower remedies work on any negative feeling or state of mind you are struggling with (confidence, grief, anger, fears, behavior challenges, hearing voices, etc.) as it means you are out of balance, and plant medicine moves you back into balance almost immediately. It's precisely what we are looking for: to feel our best—happy, confident, and ultimately successful with harmony at home and for our family (and animals as well).

Kelly: You’ve traveled all over the world doing research. Could you talk about where you went and a few things you learned about plants and how they relate to wellness?

Amy: To learn from the great masters—generations of people creating the flower remedies—I have been to Australia and Portugal and will soon travel to Scotland. I have even traveled the U.S. where some specific, strong remedies are here. I use resources from all of these places. I work with, research, and use many remedies, but so far, I find those found in each of these locations are the best for people.

For instance, if you are feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, pick up Elm from Bach from your health food store or online. You will find that your stress lessens and you begin to tackle your tasks one at a time without feeling overwhelmed.

If you or your children struggle with confidence, you can pick up Larch from Bach (only Bach is sold in the U.S.) or order Five Corners from Australian Bush Flower Essences online. You will start to notice more positive thoughts, or you will hear your children speaking differently, more positively.

Kelly: How can people connect with you?

Amy: Website: strongestminds.com

Instagram: @strongestminds

Email: amycohen@strongestminds.com

Amy speaks throughout the United States on the benefits of plants on healing our emotional/mental negative state of mind and moving back to the positive. She teaches master courses on becoming a practitioner, and she creates products—sprays for wellness, romance, and animals that are sold online and wholesale to hospital shops and other retailers. She also has a best-selling book on Amazon. We use the extracts for connecting to our higher self as well, and she believes her purpose is to get this health modality out there for women and families.