Chicory Flower Essence

Love Without Grip

Soften clingy patterns and feel secure inside. Give freely, receive freely, stay open.

A lot of us know this one from the inside. Someone you love mentions they need a little space, and a small warm pull tightens in your chest before you can think about it. You catch yourself walking past their door one more time than you needed to. You hear the private scoreboard in the back of your mind keeping a tally you wish you didn't keep, and you half-smile because you know it's there and you'd love to set it down.

There's a softness in that, not a verdict. Most of us learned somewhere along the way that being needed felt an awful lot like being loved, so we lean toward it. We hover a little. We give a lot and then feel the ache when the giving doesn't come back the way we hoped. None of it makes you difficult. It makes you someone who loves hard and has been carrying that love a long time.

What's underneath the holding-on

It shows up differently in every life. Maybe it's the parent who loves hard and can't quite stop checking in on the grown kid who's pulling back. Maybe it's the partner who holds their breath when the other person needs a weekend alone. Or the friendship where you're always the one who reaches out first. The thread underneath is the same, and the people who recognize themselves in it tend to feel met instead of caught.

Underneath the gripping is usually an old shortage of love. A heart that learned early that love was scarce, or came with conditions, learns to hold on. It fusses, it hovers, it gives in order to be sure of getting something back, it keeps the people it loves close enough to feel safe. It is a strategy a small version of you built in a season when the well ran low, and it has been working hard for you ever since.

Chicory works on that root. It supports the love-deprived layer underneath the holding, the part that lives deeper than effort alone tends to reach, so security can begin to rise up from inside you instead of being gathered from the people around you. As that inner well fills, the hand opens on its own. Love can be given freely, received freely, and held with an easy hand. You stop watching the road and simply enjoy the people on it.

"I noticed some unhealthy thoughts coming to the surface that I really didn't like, and then I added the Chicory essence. It's been gentle, but I see the changes, and my thoughts are taking different directions."
— Debbie

The flower itself

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is the vivid sky-blue, daisy-like wildflower you've passed a thousand times along roadsides and in waste ground, blooming where the soil is hard and thin. It drives a long, tenacious taproot deep into compacted earth and refuses to be pulled out, returning again from the root after it's cut back.

The folk names carry the same picture: "Blue Sailors" and "Watcher of the Road," for the blue blooms stationed along the verges as though waiting and watching for someone to come home. Its flowers open to the morning light and close again by midday, opening only while the warmth is on them.

A plant that roots in deeply, survives on poor ground, opens to the light, and watches the road is a fitting signature for love that grew up in lack and learned to hold on. The essence is the easing of that long watch, so devotion can rest on solid ground inside you.

"I know chicory is a 'long term' daily essence for me, from my days of using Dr. Bach remedies. I have utmost faith it is unravelling the knots from deep within."
— Carla

The shift tends to be subtle. It arrives as a redirection, the kind you only notice after it's underway.

"Few essences have made as dramatic a difference as this one. It's been hugely helpful in my key relationships. It really isn't all about me ;-) Maturation is a blessing!"
— Melanie

For Animals

Some animals carry this same holding-on. The dog who follows from room to room and whines the moment a door closes. The cat who inserts itself between its owner and anyone else in the room. A horse who nips or pushes when the handler's attention goes elsewhere. Chicory supports the need for security underneath, often rooted in early deprivation of love or safety. For the mother animal who hovers and frets over her young, it supports that same need for security underneath. Chicory helps an animal love deeply while building security from within, so devotion no longer has to be demanded endlessly from outside.

In codependent owner-and-animal pairs it works on both sides at once. As the animal relaxes its hold, the person often finds they can breathe more freely too. The release tends to be mutual. For the animal whose pattern is more about separation than attachment, Be Right Back may be the closer fit.

Living it forward

This is slow, deep work, and it's meant to be. As the grip eases, the people you love get to be themselves near you, and you get to love them without the ache of needing to hold them in place. Care flows out of you because the well is full, not because you're hoping to draw something back. That's the maturation Melanie names so warmly, and it really is a blessing.

If you came to Chicory from the Bach tradition, you may be used to gathering a shelf of single bottles and blending them yourself. You do not have to here. We have already worked Chicory into several Freedom Flowers blends for you, so you can reach for a ready-made one whenever it fits.

• Heart Healer — Chicory is one of the flowers inside it, tending the heartbreak and rejection layer with this same love-deprived root.
• Settle Down — the children's blend for restlessness and the need to feel safe, with Chicory worked in for the clinging, can't-let-go layer.

So picture yourself a few months from now. The parent who hovers, the partner who tightens at the mention of a weekend away, the friend keeping the silent tally, the one who gives and waits to be noticed. Whichever of those is most yours, notice what changes first. People usually say it is something small and ordinary. A loved one mentions they need some room, and the old clutch simply does not arrive. The reach for the phone loosens, and the scoreboard settles on its own. You realize you have been loving the same people all along, with the same whole heart, and your hands have come open around them. That is the version of you Chicory is for, and it is closer than it feels right now.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Flower essences address emotional and energetic well-being and are not a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or veterinary care. If you have a medical or mental health concern, or a concern about an animal in your care, please consult a qualified professional.

This is a 1 fl oz stock strength bottle.

All of our essences use brandy as a preservative. For more information regarding the brandy as well as alternatives, click here.