Flower Essences for Pets and Animal Companions with Kathleen Aspenns

#62 – Have you ever considered giving flower essences to your pet? Join us for a wonderful conversation with Nature Intuitive Kathleen Aspenns on how to support our beloved animal companions with flower essences.

In this episode, Kathleen shares wisdom on specific flower essences that can support pets with various challenges such as separation anxiety. She offers insights into different ways of administering essences to animals and practical tips for how to get started with flower essences for our animal companions. She also shares how animals and their people have similar needs in working flower essences.

For nearly two decades, Kathleen has been helping her clients overcome challenges, heal from traumatic experiences, and find a greater sense of connection to themselves and to Nature. She is a Nature Intuitive and practices Flower Essence Therapy specializing in women and their beloved animal companions. Her ability to listen deeply and compassionately, and to select precisely the right flower essences, helps each client feel fully supported as she takes the next step in her journey of healing and personal evolution.

Kathleen has developed her own line of flower essences, the Flora of Asia. Many of these plants have been used for thousands of years as herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine and are available now for the first time as flower essences. In addition to working with clients and their animals, she teaches online at the School for Flower Essence Studies and co-hosts The Flower Essence Podcast.

Learn about the Canine Care: Bach Flowers for Dogs course: https://floweressencestudies.com/bach-flowers-for-dogs/

Get 20% off until September 1st with the coupon code: woof20

You can find Kathleen at: https://floweressencestudies.com
On IG: https://www.instagram.com/flower.essence.studies/
Fb: https://www.facebook.com/floweressencestudies
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lu9bZLXWQCb0sIRcE1j3g Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flower-essence-podcast/id1474309027

For more info visit Sara's website at: https://www.multidimensionalnature.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/multidimensional.nature/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saraartemisia.ms/
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/plantspiritherbalism
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@saraartemisia
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@multidimensional.nature
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/multidimensionalnature/

Learn how to communicate with plant consciousness in the free workshop on How to Learn Plant Language: https://www.learnplantlanguage.com/

Transcript

Sara Artemisia: 0:05

Welcome to the Plant Spirit Podcast on connecting with plant consciousness, and the healing wisdom of Nature. This podcast is brought to you by the plants and my deep collaborative work with them as a Plant Spirit Wisdom Teacher, Flower Essence Practitioner, Financial Coach, and Co-creator of Plant Spirit Designs. To learn how to communicate directly with plant consciousness, you can check out the free workshop at www.learnplantlanguage.com. For Nature inspired financial coaching, visit www.financialabundancecoach.com. And for herbally inspired clothing that is an ode to the plants and the people who love them, check out www.plantspiritdesigns.com. I'm your host Sara Artemisia and I'm excited to introduce our next guest to the show today. Kathleen Aspenns is a Nature Intuitive, and Flower Essence Therapy Practitioner who specializes in helping clients and their beloved animal companions. She is also a teacher at the school for flower essence studies, and co-host of The Flower Essence podcast. And she's developed her own line of flower essences, The Flora of Asia, which features many of the plants that have been worked with for thousands of years as herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and are now available as flower essences. For nearly two decades, Kathleen has been helping her clients overcome challenges, heal from traumatic experiences, and find a greater sense of connection to themselves and to Nature. So, Kathleen, thank you so much for being here.

Kathleen Aspenns: 2:01

Well, thank you for inviting me on. It's a real privilege to be here with you in this moment.

Sara Artemisia: 2:05

So great. And I'm so excited for our discussion today about working with flower essences and animals. And specifically because, of course many people are familiar with working with flower essences and humans. But I'm curious to know because you have such an extensive experience in this field. In what ways have you found working with flower essences with animals is different or similar than to humans?

Kathleen Aspenns: 2:32

I really liked this question because we're not different. We humans have a facility with language. And we have kind of bought into the idea that the words that we use have some sort of relationship to some sort of a truth. And what I find is that so often our language can confuse us and lead us off the path of truth. And I've had a lot of experience with being gaslit. And being told things that were true that were not true, that didn't feel right to me. And so I've learned to trust my body and to learn to trust my emotions more. And the animals come in with that. And so there is no difference when I'm working with an animal, whether it's a two legged or four legged, first feathers, whatever, to find out what's really going on on the inside. And I find that out by asking questions in language, of course. But what I'm looking for is like what's driving? What's going on? What feeling state is happening, that's creating a level of distress? What feeling state is going on? That's getting you to do what you're doing whether you have come up with a complicated explanation for it or not. What really is the truth is, is that you have a feeling, and you're trying to do something about that. And so animals and people, it's not different. I'm using the same repertory of essences, I'm using the same strategies of using them. Animals are simpler. They are able to let go of things much more quickly, and are less attached to their experiences, more willing to be in the moment.

Sara Artemisia: 4:32

That seems really key in and I imagine that working with the essences that you may see, potentially a quicker result at times. I'm curious, do you have any stories or any experiences that you'd like to share of maybe what you've witnessed or experienced working with essences and animals? Most of the time, they do shift more quickly. Usually what I'll tell the carer is is that you'll start to see changes Within the first week or two, but I almost can't tell them that by the minute we're getting on the phone together and talking about it, the animals are already starting to change. Because I can't tell you how often they'll tell me that, as we're talking, the animal will, will pretty much always join them in the room. They're like, Oh, thank God, they're talking to Kathleen. And then by the time I make up that formula, right after we get off the call, that formula is already working in their field. So sometimes things change even before the bottle ever gets to them. I love that about plant consciousness, just working with a non localized, it's just amazing how they work like that, and specifically with the essences is just so incredibly powerful. Is there anything that comes to mind for you in this moment about maybe, perhaps a typical thing or say maybe if there's a dog or cat that has kind of like an anxious attachment style, you know, really feels a lot of anxiety when they're human is not around, and maybe some specific essences or an essence blend that you found is really supportive for that? This is such a common problem, anxiety, separation anxiety, anxiety, and animals in general, very, very common, it's as common in them as it is in us. I'm always looking for where that's coming from. And in many, if not most cases, the separation anxiety is emerging out of disrupted, gaining experience, it could have been disrupted gestation, or infancy, or a weaning experience where they were separated from their mother too soon or harshly. I feel very much at the core of a lot of these separation anxieties. And I'm always going to go to that first as far as the essences that are most appropriate. This is something that happens a lot in rescued animals. And that's a lot of my practices, people who are fostering, rescuing abandoned animals of all varieties really need the support from the flowers, because they have had tough childhoods bottom line. And the essences that I use are the same sorts of essences I would use for human. You can always start out with some of the combination formulas, animal care from FES, their Alaskan essences has an animal rescue formula, there's some off the shelf options. I really like, gosh, where do I even start because this is the biggest issue. This is one of the the major issues, I like to start with Madrone, which is one of the range of light essences from FES, which is really important for that sense of being loved. And the love that maybe we should have gotten from our mothers, we didn't quite get that. And we need to be able to tap into the Earth as a source of love. That's an important one. Mariposa lily is important for that quality of just feeling not like an orphan feeling like you are cared for. Your nervous system needs to learn to relax. And I'm saying you're because it's the same with humans as as with animals. So an animal's nervous system needs to learn to relax and to be able to feel safe, that their person will come back. And so some of these separation essences are going to be working to help restore that quality of the healthy nervous system. That was never, it was never placed in the body was always a stressful circumstance. So we develop these separation anxieties, those are just two essences to start. But it's a really big topic. It's one that I cover in my canine care course, because it's so important. Amazing. Yeah. And I love that you brought up Madrone and Mariposa lily there. I personally just feel such a sense of rooted grandmother with Madrone. There's so Madrones around where I live. And it's just incredible to feel that walking around them. And of course, Mariposa lily there for the just that Divine Mother connection and support and particularly I love what you shared about that feeling at home on Earth that that feels so important for having a regulated nervous system, regardless of the species is so important. And so in your experience, is it more effective to with animals work with flower essences in their water, in sprays? Or does it really depend on the specific animals personality or the way that they operate? This would be an id various question. It really depends on the relationship with the person has with the animal and the animals and person's preferences. I'm always trying to make it as easy as possible because what we need to do is to create a circumstance that works. Essences are not always herbs. Something that you need to be giving over a period of time. So whatever is the easiest possible way of getting essences in your critter, do that. So easiest usually is to put drops in the water, piece of cake. If there's other animals in the household who are also drinking from that bowl, not a problem, they can all get what they need, or not at all. That's usually the easiest starting place. I also really enjoy recommending using essences topically where you can put drops on your hand and then pet them on to the animal. I like to recommend you pet it top of the head kind of down the spine, you don't have to wet the skin, it's not a lotion, you're just introducing the essence into the field in the remedy state goes right into the etheric field of the animal, let's say. So I'll just head top of the spine all the way down to the tail. That's a really effective way. Plus, I get to get some essences into the person too that way. Yeah, I will get to ask about that next, just it's so interesting how with our with our animal companions, who are just so incredible, so grateful for them in this life, how there is such this interesting experience of co-regulation or attunement that we have with our animal companions. And so it's curious just how you've worked with that with essences with people of just recognizing how there's so much nonverbal communication that happens with our pets all the time. And so just how you've experienced that with working with essences. It's so funny how often the animals will be kind of trying to get our attention and to try to get us to take care of ourselves, too. I had one really fascinating case, very unusual. This was a mastiff, who the carer had called me and asked for a consult. And we've done the whole console, I'd come up with a formula that I thought made a lot of sense for him. And she called me back a couple days later saying he's just not willing to take it, like talked it through with her and like, not on a cookie, not on just don't want any part of it. Well, that is really weird. And so I said, okay, let's have you take two drops, and then put two drops on something he likes and give it to him. And then it worked. Then he was willing to take it as long as she was also taking it. And so she got in touch with me a week or two afterwards and said, Yeah, great. We're doing good. He's taking the essences and I took them, too. And the next day, I just cried and cried and cried, I had this huge emotional reaction. And I'm like, Oh, well, that's interesting. She really needed that support, to be able to clear whatever it was, she wasn't coming for her own stuff. But her dog knew she needed the help to release that from her nervous system so that she could regulate back down. So sometimes our animals are really looking out for us and really doing their very best to get our attention to get the help that we need to. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's just countless stories of people who, you know, as they're sick or dying, you know, pets will just come right up and lay right on them. Or it's just amazing how they just know, they just have this knowing. So yeah, anything else that comes to mind about how people maybe could get started with working with flower essences and animals they haven't spoken to yet?

Kathleen Aspenns: 13:29

I'm gonna come back to this thing that you said the animals just know. And they do. They are connected to the intuitive sense of knowing this deep gut level or heart level or whatever area we're putting that they know that there's something in these bottles that feels right, just as they know that if they're feeling kind of funky, they'll go outside and they'll take a bite of herb. Or they'll go in, they'll lay underneath a tree, they know that Nature has this ability to help them regulate. And so the same thing happens with these little bottles, just these little bottles. And I really recommend for people, if you've got an essence or a few essences that you think might be helpful for your pet is just literally present the bottle. Don't open it. You don't have to do anything. You just show it to them. And what I find is you'll have to kind of figure out what your animals tell is, but most of the time with dogs, they'll put their nose up to it and they'll start sniffing it and kind of looking at you and like"yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the one". They're not smelling anything. What they're doing is they're taking in the energy of the bottle of what's in that bottle. And then what they'll do is if it's not a fit, usually they'll just like turn their heads away, and "nah", that's not it. So it's really easy. They really do know what they need, and they don't. They're not making it complicated. They don't need to look at what's on the label they don't need. They're just like that. Give me that, please. That's, that's all I need. And then you could just open it up and you could put a few drops in their water or just put a little on your hand and pet it on and they'll just be so grateful.

Sara Artemisia: 15:18

Yeah, I love that you brought that up, too, because it's just so interesting. It's been interesting to me for a very long time, about how humans we often have this perception that we are taking in information primarily through the mind. And there are so many other gateways and doors of perception that pets are definitely already tuned into. And that is absolutely available for us to tune into as well. And I love how working with the essences helps us reawaken, and remember how to connect with these other ways of knowing it's just so incredibly powerful. Taking them it just starts peeling these layers of stuff off, helps us just release all of these impediments to the flow of our well-being of who we are of our expression of all of this, these shoulds in these feelings that didn't have a chance to process. There's so much lifeforce being held inside of us that's being compressed by all this unprocessed stuff, taking essences, for animals, and for us, helps us just release a lot of that. And there's just so much life that can be accessed when we can. Yeah, it's amazing. And so how did you get started with flower essences?

Kathleen Aspenns: 16:42

This was a fun story. I would totally say that 100% Flower Essences saved my life. There is no two ways around it. I was born into a fundamentalist doomsday cult. And the level of trauma and internal damage that I experienced from that childhood, left me with a sense that I was completely broken, worthless, I had no ability to set a boundary, because I was just told to do just obey and do what I'm told. Women had very little value beyond their ability to cook clean and shut the hell up. And to feel to restore myself to a functional state has been a lifelong process. But my first really big experience with flower essences was taking Pine. Because I had years later, I had this sense of guilt and shame. I thought, because I had made mistakes. Because through my complete lack of belief of my own worth, I, I felt like it was dirty and broken. And there was I had no value. And I just carried this layer of shame along with me everywhere I went, and it could be accessed at a moment's notice, I could be triggered into a shame spiral in a moment's notice. And I finally realized in my 30s, in my early 30s, I think that this was really unhealthy. And I needed to do something about it. And I talked to my friends, and they had this, they're so sweet. And they're like, "Honey, you just need to forgive yourself". I'm like, "What a great idea". I wish I thought of that. How do you do that?

Sara Artemisia: 18:51

I don't know. It's not in my head. I know, I know better. I know that it's not true. I've done a lot of work. I understand that, you know, victim of my experience. I was a kid. But it was still in my body was in my cells. It was in my experience. How do you get rid of that? And so I thought about these flower essences might be helpful because I've been using them with my animals for quite a long time. Never thought about myself. Like so many of us animal people, and I started taking Pine. And I cannot tell you the release. It was two weeks later, and it was like, it's like you don't wanna you poke the place that hurts. You want to see if it still hurts. And I would just think about it. Normally that would provoke a huge thing. Oh my god, it's gone. It's gone. Pine absolutely is such a game changer. Completely helped me alleviate that big chunk of shame that I walked around with for most of my life. That is so powerful. Yeah, just incredible. And to recognize how for generations, even the transgenerational health patterns are passed down transgenerationally. And so many people will just, throughout history have just gone through their entire lives like Matt actually ever shifting these kinds of patterns of embedded trauma and just how incredibly supportive flower essences are for shifting that in a gentle way, which I just love that about the essences, how they support doing shifting the trauma in a gentle way that we can integrate in the body in real time, which is just amazing. I just love that. And thank you, and just the courage that it took for you to do that. So thank you so much for sharing that story that's just incredibly powerful. And I imagine is so supportive and informing your work in helping people and animals heal from states of trauma. Yeah, I can hold space for whatever has happened. Because I've been a lot of those places. And I know that from the inside, and also how to get out. I know that a path that can help the essences can. And I like how you said in a gentle way. Because I really believe that the gentle way is the only way. We Western minded folks, well, maybe not the folks listening in here today, maybe not you maybe not me. But most Westerners were like, powerful is better, right? You know, we want the extra strength version of whatever it is. And yet, when you're dealing with a wounded child, when you're dealing with a deep, deep wounding to a very young and vulnerable part of yourself, power is an inappropriate solution. We need a hug, we need kindness, we need warmth, and acceptance and love. And Nature can provide that for us, in a way that are wounded by people selves, can accept. Sometimes another human is, is scary. And I know what that's like to a trusting people has been a big struggle, because people weren't to be trusted. But Nature can be trusted. And I really like being a middle person to be able to listen and hear and go, Ah, I know an ally who can help you walk back to a good place. And this is Sunflower, this is Wild Rose. To be able to provide somebody a touch point, to a way back home to their body. It's such a gift. Yeah, I mean, I'm tearing up just a little bit hearing you say that because that is truly what I feel that the plants and the essences do, is they they provide this bridges touch point, like you said, to just come back to this state of wholeness that can be so challenging at times to figure out how to, to navigate to come back to and just how amazing it is that there's this entire realm of beings we call the plants who support us in doing that it's amazing. There are older brothers and sisters here on Earth, they have been here for far longer than we and they know how to do this life thing. And they know how to adapt and be resilient, and how to ground and how to cooperate and how to be in community. All of these things that we need help with. They look at us and I'm like Yeah, yeah. Come on little little brother, little sister. I'll help you. I'm here for you. Yeah, absolutely. So tell us Kathleen, how can people find out more about you and your work?

Kathleen Aspenns: 24:11

You can find out I teach online at floweressencestudies.com. And if you're interested in learning about using flower essences, specifically with your dog, I have a course called canine care. And in it I'll give you all the information about using the Bach flowers and all the individual Bach flowers with dogs. And then also I have a little bonus section in there. Just sit essentially, I tried to make something like a consultation like what I do for people who have rescued animals. I open up but a little bit more. But yeah, that's where I teach it at flower essence studies. And we have a lot of different courses that are for people who are interested in learning about flower essences and are becoming a practitioner which is pretty awesome. And then of course I do offer consultations and work with people one on one and their animals at you can find me, email me at hello@kathleenaspenns.com and that'll get me there. And then also, Flora of Asia has got information as well.

Sara Artemisia: 25:08

So great. And having taken some of your classes I can just personally vouch and say, they're absolutely amazing. So check them out anyone who's listening who feels inclined at all to learn more about essences. It's just absolutely incredible. So.

Kathleen Aspenns: 25:20

Yeah.

Sara Artemisia: 25:21

Well, Kathleen, thank you so much for joining us today. Just so wonderful to connect. And thank you for being here.

Kathleen Aspenns: 25:28

Well, thank you so much for having me on. It's always fun to spend time in your presence. Once again, you've been on The Flower Essence Podcast and we've really enjoyed your company. And so I'm really delighted to be here and to be sharing a little bit about helping Nature help us both animal and human, come back to ourselves.

Sara Artemisia: 25:51

And thanks so much for listening and joining us today on the Plant Spirit Podcast. I hope you enjoyed it and please follow to subscribe, leave a review and look forward to seeing you on the next episode.