It's Spring! Flower helps relieving our stress.

The beautiful spring in Korea offers many places for us to watch and smell flowers. We would like to introduce an interesting study which conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Cram and published by Flower Essence Society in 1999.

Flower essences reduce stress reaction
to intense environmental stimulus

All subjects were monitored using standard qEEG (19 site) montage, along with bilateral surface EMG measurements at six sites. The sEMG sites were located at the frontal, C2 (mastoid to mastoid), Cervical (C4 paraspinal), Thoracic (T6 Paraspinal), Lumbar (T12 paraspinal) and Sacral (L1 Paraspinal) areas. Note: EEG (electroencephalograph) measures the electrical activity of the brain, while EMG (electromyography) measures electrical activity in the muscles.
A ten minute study was conducted on each subject, consisting of the following conditions: A three (3) minute baseline; a one (1) minute period in which the subject was administered either a sublingual flower essence or placebo preparation; a three (3) minute period to observe the physiological response to the essence or placebo; a three (3) minutes period where the subject was exposed to high-intensity photic stimulation from fluorescent lights; and a three (3) minute post stimulation / recovery period.
The major finding of the study was the substantial attenuation by the two flower essence formulas on frontal lobe activation seen during and following intense photic stimulation.
The frontal lobes of the brain is where our "executive" function take place. It is the location where we interpret, plan, decide and direct things. It is also the location where our emotions are interpreted and regulated. When an emotion is generated by the limbic system of the brain, it is sent to the frontal lobes to evaluate the degree of threat and to plan a strategy to deal with it. For example, if one had seen a bear while walking in the woods, the limbic system would signal fear, and the frontal lobes would evaluate the level of threat, survey the options available and decide whether to throw rocks at the bear, climb a tree or run. A physiological fight or flight activation takes place during this appraisal process. The frontal lobes orchestrate the arousal.

In conclusion, this study systematically assessed the effect of two flower essences on intense environmental stimulation. Using a scientifically based placebo control group design, the two flower essences were found to reduce physiological activation and stress on the human organism. This physiological homeostasis may be evidence of the ability of the flower essences to strengthen emotional equilibrium and equanimity in the face of stresses environmental impacts, thus reducing the typical "fight or flight" stress response.

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