Najma Essences are safe for anyone to take, even children and pregnant women, though we don't recommend giving them to children under 2 years.
You can take Najma Essences alongside regular medicine - our products are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or specialist. If you have any persistent physical symptoms you should always consult a qualified physician.
We suggest that you take the medicines one at a time, rather than creating the 'cocktail' doses that are more typical of other flower essence systems, such as the Bach Flower Remedies.
There are no dose-related symptoms, or side-effects, associated with the use of our Essences, though you may experience an emotional release such as crying or unusual dreams after taking them.

Choosing your Najma Essence:

Logical method: Just read through the profiles of the Essences, and choose the one you think most clearly fits the problems you are facing in your internal life at the moment. You need to decide what is the uppermost problem, because we recommend you take only one Najma Essence at a time.

Intuitive method: Meditate or pray before reading through the descriptions and choose the one you feel most drawn to, even if it doesn't seem to logically fit your own current profile. Allow your mind to wander through the descriptions and if something catches your eye, or moves your heart in some way, don't ignore it - this is your intuition functioning! Or perhaps there is an Essence here made from a plant or a place that you've always felt drawn to, or loved?

Dowsing: You can use a pendulum to help you choose the Essence which is right for you. For more information on dowsing see the British Society of Dowsers website, www.britishdowsers.org.

Applied Kinesiology or muscle testing: This is a good way to check your intuitive choice of Essence, or to validate the number of drops and the particular repetition that's right for you. You need to find a practitioner locally who can help you, or take a short course in this fascinating technique. For more information about muscle testing see: www.appliedkinesiology.com

Chakra method: If you are interested in the Chakras, the centres of energy in the subtle body, then you can choose from among the Energy Essences according to their related chakra, which is listed in the description. You can also use the colour of the flowers in the Flower Essences to help you choose a flower suitable for the problem you are working on and its chakra correspondence.

Taking your Najma Essence

We usually advise people to take 4 to 6 drops of the chosen Essence in a glass of water, once or twice a day, and sip it slowly, holding it in the mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. However, if you have an intuitive feeling to take it in a different way, or less frequently, then follow that!
We really don't recommend that you take our Essences directly from the bottle, as you risk contaminating the pipette with bacteria from your mouth.
You may feel you need to take the Essence for anything from only a couple of doses up to twice a day for 2 or 3 weeks. It's up to you ~ but if it's not helping, don't keep taking it... go back to the descriptions and make another choice, or ask a friend to help you, they may have a different perspective. If you don't tolerate the alcohol used to preserve the Essences, please feel free to experiment with other ways of taking them than by mouth.

Here are some you can try:

*Put 2 drops of the Essence in a spritzer or spray bottle, along with some water; spray it into the air a couple of times, and walk through the spray.
*Dissolve 2 drops in a glass of water, apply a little of the mixture to any part of your body where you would put perfume, or where the blood is close to the surface. Or, if using a chakra-based system, apply it approximately over the area of that chakra.
*Place a few drops of the concentrated or diluted Essence in the palm of one hand, rub your palms together, and pass your hands around your body, about 3 or 4 centimetres from the surface.

Because Flower and Energy Essences work on the subtle bodies, or the energy system of the individual, they are not a physical medicine, so it doesn't matter whether you actually ingest them or not. Using any of these methods will ensure that the healing energy of the Essence can do its work.

However, if you just want to reduce the amount of alcohol, but still take the Essence by mouth, then just:
*Put the drops into a glass of hot water, and allow it to stand for five minutes, so the alcohol can evaporate, before drinking it.