Self-control

Exploring and resolving the root of self-control
with flower essences.

Self-control is vital to living a life that brings contentment. It can make all the difference between satisfaction and regret. It can help us overcome obstacles, use discretion with our desires, and stay focused rather than be distracted by excitement or the many things that clamor for our attention.

When we are out of control, we feel that we are not capable and it undermines our sense of accomplishment or achievement. We may feel ineffectual at work or in our relationships. When we lack self-control we may find that our physical body suffers and health problems arise. We may feel morally insufficient, inferior, and judge or sabotage ourselves if we lack inner discipline.

Self-control is the faculty of conscious and deliberate action. It is the power we have to choose our own actions. It is vital to our ability to take a desire or a wish and make it active or manifest. We consciously use our personal power when we have self-control. Others can’t take it away from us and the only way it doesn’t function is if we don’t use it.

Learning & Mastering Self-control

The main flower essence for learning and mastering self-control is Activating & Honoring the Warrior Formula.

This formula helps us activate our inner archetypal warrior and access courage, resolve and focused masculine energy to conquer our inner enemies and overcome obstacles, difficulties and shortcomings, so that we can be all that we can be.

The greatest battles in life are not the ones that are fought on the battlefield of a war but in facing the daily events of our lives. The demands of our daily life require as much discipline, dedication and courage as is required of soldiers in the battlefield. When we do not recognize the courage and strength we have as we handle common life situations, we do not honor the warrior within us.

Activating & Honoring the Warrior Formula helps us establish and appreciate self-discipline. This is the essence to create the foundation to build up self-discipline, no matter where you lack it. The formula can help us recognize that the strength we need already exists within us. If we start by “just doing it”, we find that consistent focus and dedication to even the smallest effort enhances our power.

When we activate and honor our inner warrior we learn to access courage in every situation; we respect the discipline we need to conquer our inner enemies of fear, doubt, overindulgence, and negativity.

You know when your inner warrior has been activated when you find yourself standing up for what you know is right, despite the pressures and demands of others. When you take a stand for what is correct for yourself, you don’t need to rely on others to defend you. You become your own champion. When we make a commitment to honor ourselves and then stick to it, we experience the inner warrior.

Mastery Over the Five Senses

Our five senses, tasting, seeing, touching, hearing and smelling, draw us into engagement with the world. Our five senses give us information, evoke desires and entice us to do things, some of which are beneficial and some of which are not.

As children, we learn that the senses have a great power over us because they create desire. We see a chocolate bar and the desire to eat it arises. Mommy soothes your brother with a caring stroke and you want her touch as well. As we grow, we hopefully learn that desire is not always intelligent. Even though we know how wonderful a second chocolate bar could taste, it is our mind that has learned that it might not be the best for our health.

Cardinal Flower is the essence to use when a lack of self-control originates with one or more of the five senses. When the senses withdraw from the objects of desire, the mind is released from the power of the senses. Then the mind can turn within and assess in an unbiased way what is in our best interest. Self-control assumes that we are capable of refraining from acting on a desire if our mind’s assessment is that it is in our best interest. This is the essence that can help us invite our mind’s wisdom to interact with the desires that arise from our five senses so that we can make choices that are in alignment with our highest good.

This flower essence is excellent for teens or those of any age who want to learn appropriate control over sexual desires. It can help us learn to transform the energy of the desire into another form of manifestation. The energy created by sexual arousal can be expressed in the execution of artwork or channeled into sports, for instance, by conscious choice.

Cardinal Flower can be used any time you catch yourself allowing one or more of your five senses and the desires they evoke to indiscriminately control your actions.

Overindulgence and Self-neglect

There is a delicate balance between being overindulgent and neglecting the needs of your body. It requires self-control to regulate the middle ground. Hedgehog Cactus is the flower essence we use for all issues that relate to self-control and the physical body. Whether it involves eating properly, sleeping enough, getting enough exercise, this flower essence can help us take the action we know we need in these areas.

Quite often when Hedgehog Cactus is indicated, we already know what it is that we need to do to support our physical body. We may know exactly what our body needs for food or exercise, for example, but we somehow just can’t seem to put it into practice. This flower essence kick-starts the self-discipline needed to get going and make it happen.

Distracted from What is Most Important

It takes good self-control to stay on task and not be distracted by things around us. Modern life is filled with so many influences that can grab our attention. Hoptree can help us establish excellent self-control when faced with distractions.

If we are distracting ourselves by things that are not appropriate for us to be involved with, it helps us let them go so we can keep our focus where it is best utilized.

This essence is excellent for helping us stay in alignment with our purpose. Once we define our purpose, it is sometimes a challenge to stay with it. When working on projects, Hoptree can help us sort out where our focus is best applied. It helps us feel firmly guided and directed according to our purpose.

We often need to focus on other people and their needs. However, we can become so used to automatically dropping our own focus to take care of others that we may forget that sometimes it is more beneficial to refrain from doing so.

Hoptree can help us stay focused on what is most beneficial for our highest good, which sometimes means letting others fend for themselves. It is often amazing to learn that when you manage to stay focused on what is most beneficial in the present moment, others are taken care of without you.

Caught Up in Excitement

Excitement is often what fuels inspiration and is the impetus for starting a project. It can also be, however, a block to actually making something actually manifest into reality. When we are caught up in the excitement of an idea or a creative impulse, excitement can show us the magnitude of the idea’s potential. Sometimes seeing how big and magnificent something can become is actually what stops us in our tracks when it comes to making it manifest. Excitement can make something so grand that we lose the ability to see the small steps it takes to begin.

Scarlet Morning Glory helps us focus on each small step that it takes to bring something into manifestation. It supports us in having the self-control to give our full attention on the small, step by step process that is required to slowly bring an idea or creative impulse into manifestation.

This flower essence helps us harness the energy of excitement into a concentrated steadiness that stimulates us to get going and make our potential into reality.

Selecting the Most Appropriate Flower Essences

Not every flower essence mentioned above will be appropriate for every person’s specific needs. Different people have different issues around self-control. The process itself of exploring and contemplating your relationship to self-control is important. It is the foundation for successfully selecting the most beneficial flower essences. Usually, careful self-examination can clearly show you which of the above flower essences are most appropriate for the root of your issue with self-control.

Though you can use more than one flower essence together, you probably will not need to use all of the ones mentioned here. After contemplating your relationship to this issue, select the flower essences that apply for you, or use an intuitive method to select among them. (For more information on how to do this, see The Art & Technique of Using Flower Essences.) A general guideline is to use four drops at a time, four times a day, in water. However, it is fine to follow your intuition and use them as often as you like. Most people find that they tend to use them more often in the beginning and less often towards the end of the cycle. Unless otherwise indicated, a cycle is usually two to four weeks. [more]

For information on how to clearly evaluate the effects of the essences you have used, see The Art & Technique of Using Flower Essences.

List of the Flower Essences Mentioned in this Article

Activating & Honoring the Warrior Formula

learning and mastering self-control

Cardinal Flower

allowing the five senses and the desires they evoke to indiscriminately control your actions

Hedgehog Cactus

caught up in either overindulgence or self-neglect and feeling unable to act on what you know is right for your physical well-being

Hoptree

becoming distracted by a myriad of things or by others’ needs, drawing your attention away from what is most important

Scarlet Morning Glory

getting caught up in excitement that pulls your focus from where you want it