One of the exercises that I often use when I teach workshops is to get people to sit quietly for just ten minutes with a flower that they are drawn to when walking around the garden (or field). I ask them to sit and just observe ... observe the plant itself – it’s physical qualities, how it grows, where it has chosen to grow, how healthy it is – and then to observe their own thoughts and feelings  during this time. Some people find that drawing the plant increases the depth of interaction or writing down anything that occurs to them - this could be part of a longer exercise.

Once their ‘date’ with the plant is over, they are encouraged to share their experiences. I am constantly amazed at the healing that can occur in just this short time. Sometimes long forgotten memories come up, sometimes powerful emotions, some people fall into other- wordly daydreams, others are just astounded at the physical beauty of the flower that they had never properly appreciated before. But they all come back changed in some way, something will have shifted, something will have been learnt or remembered and that’s just with sitting quietly, with intention , for ten minutes.

Imagine what happens when you are able to take the energy of that plant inside of yourself to receive it’s wisdom , as you do with a flower essence, when you can truly get to know it over a length of time, to feel  it’s vibration flowing through you, to know that you are both part of the same story... giving and taking....learning and gaining awareness.

Plants give us so much – healing, medicine, food, clothes,energy and so much more – and yet how often do we say Thank You, how often do we acknowledge their gifts, how often do we give something back to them or notice that they are even there ?

There is more and more 'proof' of the wisdom and intelligence of the plant world – I heartily encourage you to go and sit with a flower or plant or tree you are drawn to for just ten minutes and receive it’s healing. Anyone can do it. If necessary the plant/flower can be brought to the person, or rather than sitting on the ground a chair can be used and children love doing this - their observations can be really insightful, noticing things you hadn’t and seeming wiser than their years.

Plants are our teachers - we just have to remember to turn up for class.