Excellence in Herbal Education

Anger is a natural emotional response to something that threatens our safety and well-being. For many people, however, anger becomes a weapon they use to try to control other people through threats and intimidation. They feel that if others don’t conform to their wishes, they have a right to be angry and irritated.

Using anger in this manner is always a sign of a lack of love and respect for the rights of others. Used in this way anger destroys relationships, drives people away and ultimately becomes a self-destructive force in a person’s life.
The Keep Cool remedy is a blend of seven flower essences that are helpful for people who are easily irritated, impatient with others and tend to lose their temper. It helps a person be more receptive to other people’s points of view and work for cooperation, rather than competition, in relationships. It promotes forgiveness of past hurts, tolerance for differences, acceptance of others, and facilitates more open and loving communication.

Here are the seven flower essences in this blend and what they do to help a person not to “lose their cool.”

Calendula

Calendula is used herbally and homeopathically to heal cuts, but as a flower essence, calendula helps people who “cut” others with their words to recognize the pain they are inflicting. It makes them less argumentative and helps them recognize when their language is inflicting hurt and pain. Calendula flower essence is a great remedy for promoting open and receptive communication instead of argument and conflict.

Snapdragon

As the name of this remedy implies, snapdragon is helpful for people who “snap” at others with a “dragon-like” temper. It’s a useful remedy for people who are verbally aggressive, abusive and hostile. It enhances emotional balance in communication, helping a person create a more lively dynamic exchange. It is also useful for a repressed or misdirected libido, where sexual energy is turned into aggression. Snapdragon can also ease tension in the jaw and be helpful for grinding of the teeth.     

Vine

Vines grow over the top of other plants, smothering them. Vine flower essence is a remedy for people who tend to smother others, using their force of will to dominate others and control them. Vine helps the tyrannical person to find greater tolerance for others and helps them learn to exercise leadership that provides service to, rather than control of, others.

Impatiens

Impatiens is a basic remedy for anger. It is helpful for people who feel impatient, angry, irritated and intolerant. It is a good remedy for overly busy people, who don’t fully engage with others and the world around them. It increases a person’s ability to be patient with others and accepting of people’s differences. It also helps a person move more with the flow of life, instead of fighting or resisting what is happening.

Willow

Willows have the ability to be flexible. When a person decides that life is unfair and that they are the helpless victims of others, they can become filled with resentment and bitterness. This causes them to become inflexible and unable to take responsibility for their own life. Willow helps people to forgive. It promotes flexibility and acceptance of life, as well as the ability to take responsibility for one’s own life

Holly

When people feel “cut off” from the love they want, they can become jealous, suspicious, envious and angry. Unfortunately, these feelings actually block a person from receiving the love they seek. Holly is a remedy that opens the heart to increase feelings of love and compassion for others. By helping a person feel and extend love to others, instead of withholding love, holly can help people discover that they receive love when they give it away.

Tiger Lily

Lilies are soft and sweet, tigers are strong and powerful. This plant combines both of these energies. It helps people who are overly competitive, aggressive and hostile to soften and realize that they don’t have to overpower others with their strength. It softens excessive “tiger” energy and helps a person work towards cooperation. It fosters relationships based on inner peace and harmony, rather than the struggle for power.

Suggested Use

Take 10 drops under the tongue three to four times daily. When struggling with angry feelings take 5-10 drops every 10-15 minutes as needed. It may be added to drinking water or baths. You can also add 10 drops to four ounces of water in a spray bottle to spray injuries or to “mist” a room to reduce feelings of anger and tension in a room during or after an argument.

Selected References
Flower Essence Repertory by Patricia Kaminski
Flower Power  by Anne McIntyre
Bach Flower Remedies Form and Functionby Julian Bernard