1. Establish a quiet, comfortable space
2. Gather your essences
3. How to check yourself for essences
4. Take the essences you check for and read the definitions
5. Alternate Plan B for checking
6. Make yourself a personal essence combination, if needed
7. Keep a journal of your experiences and learnings
8. Put everything away until next time!

Download the Getting Started pdf here or the super-easy version - 5 Easy Steps to Sanity pdf here.

Introduction

When you first begin working with essences, it may feel confusing and overwhelming. So many bottles! So many words! How do I decide what to take? What if I pick the wrong one?

First, take a deep breath! Check with your inner guidance at every step along the way, and be assured Nature and the essences are as committed to your well-being as you are. The essences are individual intelligences of Nature, willing to assist you at a moment's notice. I trust them implicitly, and I encourage you to do the same!

The easiest way to choose essences is to read the description of each essence you have and choose what seems most appropriate. Use this inner guidance when selecting a dosage schedule, as well, or simply take 4 drops 4 times a day for a month.

If you'd like to explore muscle testing or dowsing with a pendulum, see the links in #3, below, for some free downloads.

And always remember that essences will either help you or do nothing. If you take the "wrong" one(s), your body will simply release the energy. If you don't see a difference after a week taking an essence (or a combination of essences), go back to your essences and choose again. The more you work with them, the more attuned you will become to their guidance.

Essences work through layers of (usually) old "stuff". Each time you check yourself and take the essences that come up you are sweeping away another layer. I'm not sure we ever come to the last layer, so there's always more to discover.

The frequency of the essence itself reconnects your body's electrical system, the words help your mind focus on possible sources of the imbalance or disharmony you're experiencing, and the attention you pay to yourself whenever you work with the essences supports you emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Below is an overview of the basic steps. I suggest you follow the guidelines until they feel comfortable and familiar, then adjust them to your own style. You may even throw these steps out altogether and follow your inner guidance. The basics provide the foundation from which you build your own system, and that's as it should be.

NOTE: If you are working with essences for the first time, you're likely to check for lots of them during the first month or two. You will learn a lot about yourself as you go, so it's a great investment in your personal growth. Just know that the volume of essences will even out after this first rush of discovery.

How to select essences

1. Establish a quiet, comfortable space

Find a place where you can be alone and undisturbed, especially when you are first learning these steps. You want to be able to maintain your focus easily.

2. Gather your essences

You may already have a collection of essences or you may wish to purchase a few bottles to start with and add to your collection over time. Naturally, I recommend featherhawk essences, and there are many reputable companies out there, so explore to your heart's content and find the one(s) that resonate with you.

3. How to check yourself for essences

Start by asking if you need any essences right now. Trust your intuition, use a technique you're familiar with, or, if you want to learn muscle testing or dowsing with a pendulum, download these pdfs: "Muscle Testing," or "Pendulum Dowsing ­ the Basics".

If, when you ask if you need essences right now, you get a NO, go to step 7. If you get a YES, carry on.

Check the essences one at a time: hold a bottle in your hand or place it in your lap and ask, "will this essence support me right now?" then check. If you get a YES, set the bottle aside and continue checking your other essences, one at a time. Set all the YES bottles together in one place. Then re-check this group (hold your hand over all of them, touching each bottle, or put all of them in your lap) to make sure they are all a priority for you right now.

If you get a NO or if you just think there are too many, go through the selected bottles again one at a time and ask which ones are a priority for you now, and set them aside. (You may discover that you do need all of them, or you may narrow the list.) Then ask once again if these are the essences you are to take now, and check. Most likely, you will get a YES.

4. Take the essences you check for and read the definitions

When you have the essences you need, take one drop of each. Take them one at a time so you keep the droppers with the correct bottles.

Read the definition of each essence you have taken. You can read as you take each one, or take all of them then read the descriptions. (I usually write down the essence names as I go and make a note of any thoughts or memories that come up as I go.)

The words carry the vibration of the essence just as the essence itself does. Sometimes just reading the words will bring relief, clear an issue, or help you in some way. If you're away from your collection, this can be a good way to support yourself in the moment.

As you read the words, you will learn about the ways you relate to your environment, your family and friends, and your life experiences. This learning process offers opportunities to make changes in your life if you wish.

Sometimes you'll read a description that doesn't make any sense to you, and that's OK, too. I always trust the essences to know what they're doing, even if I don't understand what they're telling me in the moment, and I urge you to trust them, too.

5. Alternate Plan B for checking

After you have some experience with holding each bottle or putting it in your lap, you may find you can just put one or all of them in front of you, look at the one you want to check, and maintain your focus well enough to do your checking. You know yourself well enough to know if this will work for you. Once you're comfortable with your checking method this will make the process quicker.

You may also find it easier or more convenient to simply take a drop of each essence as it comes up, then either read the description as you go, or write down the names of the essences and read the descriptions when you're finished checking. Make the process comfortable for yourself so you'll be consistent in working with them.

6. Make yourself a personal essence combination, if needed

Ask if you need a personal essence combination. If your answer is NO, go to step 7. If your answer is YES, check all of your essences like you did in step 3 and follow the suggestions below. Your combination will include 1 to 6 essences, as a general rule. They may be essences you've already taken, or they may be others from your collection. Trust yourself and the essences in this process.

Next, ask how long you need to take your combination. If it's just a day or two, you might take the drops directly from the original bottles. If it's a week or more, make yourself a personal combination.

How to make a personal combination

Put one teaspoon of Brandy, Vodka, or vinegar (distilled white or apple cider) into your 1/2 oz or 1 oz dropper bottle as a stabilizer, then fill with spring, filtered or distilled water. Leave a bit of room in the bottle to add drops of the essences you selected. If you don't want to add alcohol or vinegar to your combination, fill the bottle with water and keep your combination in the refrigerator.

Add 4 drops of each essence to your dropper bottle and success* it several times to be sure the combination is thoroughly mixed. If you prefer, you can check to see how many drops of each essence goes into your personal combination.

*Succuss is a term traditionally applied to homeopathy. A homeopathic remedy bottle is struck against a surface a specific number of times to potentize it between dilutions. In one definition I came across it's described as 'shaking hard to insure bubbling'.

Since you're not making a homeopathic remedy, the term is more loosely used here. It involves tapping the container sharply against your palm a few times. If you don't want to tap it on your palm, get a folded towel or a pot holder, put it on a table or counter, and bang the flat bottom of the container firmly on the padded surface a few times. (You're not beating the bejeebers out of it at risk of breaking the bottle, just be firm!)

Succussing oxygenates, potentizes, activates, and structures the combination, imprinting the frequency into the water. I tap the bottle on my palm a few times before taking a dose, as well, to keep it activated. There is no magic number of taps. Whatever "a few" means to you, that's the right number.

Then check how many drops you are to take per dose. Ask, "Do I take 1 drop per dose?" check, "2?" check, "3?" check, etc. When you get a Yes, that's the number of drops per dose. (Another checking result you my get is Yes at each check, then No when you've passed the correct number. For example, Do I take 1 drop per dose? ­ yes. 2 drops? ­ yes. 3 drops? ­ yes. 4 drops? ­ no. Take 3 drops per dose.)

Now check the number of times you need to take the dose each day using the same process you used to determine the dosage, above. When you get a Yes, that's how many times you take the dose each day.

And last, check how many days you are to take the combination. I usually check first by week (1 week? 2 weeks? 3 weeks?). If I get yes for 2 weeks and no for 3 weeks, I switch to days, beginning with 14 days, then 15, 16, 17, etc., until I get a Yes.

The best times to take your combination are when you first get up and before going to bed. If you need to take your combination more than 1 or 2 times a day, check to find the best times, or take additional doses at your convenience.

Remember to write down your results in your journal or on a sticky label that you can put on the bottle. If you are checking others in your household for essences, too, be sure to include a name on the label along with the dosage schedule so everybody takes their own essences.

7. Keep a journal of your experiences and learnings

You might wish to keep a record of your daily checking and any thoughts or experiences you have as you work with the essences. You will learn a lot about yourself by tracking the essences you need, reading their definitions, and observing how your life changes through their use.

8. Put everything away until next time!

It's helpful to keep all your supplies (essences, empty dropper bottles, water, stabilizer) and your journal together in one place for easy accessibility.

©2014 All rights reserved.
Contact Nanci for permission to reproduce any or all of this document in any media.

The information in this web site is for educational purposes only. It has not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Consult your health care professional if you have any questions.

© 1999-2015 by Nanci Wesling. All text and images on this site are protected by Copyright law. No text or images may be copied, altered, reused or modified without written permission from the owner of this site.