Melia Goodenow has dedicated 30 years to sharing the healing power of Hawaiʻi’s flowers.
Goodenow co-owns Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals, a company that offers flower essences designed to heal and energize in distinctive ways. Her mother and co-founder, Joy Johnson, is the creator of all the essence formulas.
Together, they produce all the flower essences, which are the extraction of healing energies from flower blossoms. They say these help soothe and balance emotions and aid in managing daily choices.
Johnson was a student of Morrnah Simeona, a Kahuna Lapaʻau (Hawaiian cultural practitioner specializing in traditional herbal medicine). Simeona taught her hoʻoponopono, an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and healing, and the gathering, storing and use of mana (spiritual energy).
“In all of her teachings, the key is to be in present time, which is a place we call pono – being in alignment with all things in the present,” Goodenow said. “In this state of pono is where we make our flower essences, bringing the healing energy of the flowers forward. We strive to maintain pono in all that we do.”
Recently, she collaborated with Hawaiian Airlines to make a mist with flower essences intended to release anxiety and bring a sense that everything is okay.
Goodenow has some of her products featured at the House of Mana Up, a retail experience that highlights the unique stories of Hawaiʻi’s rising entrepreneurs and the premium brands they’ve built. This partnership contributed to gaining attention from Hawaiian Airlines.
“There are a lot of challenges being a business owner on Hawaiʻi Island, especially with shipping since I don’t have a storefront,” Goodenow said. “Being an entrepreneur is about being a risk-taker, but it also means showing up. It is a courageous act to show up.”
She said it also is important not to give up, keep overhead low, do the research and reach out for help “because there is help for small businesses out there.”
With Women’s Entrepreneurship Day this week, a full list of products from women-owned businesses is featured on the House of Mana Up website, including products from Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals. Products can also be found on the Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals website and at Island Naturals stores in Hilo and Kailua-Kona.
For Goodenow, her top advice to those starting small businesses or becoming healers is to find the way to naʻau, the word for “gut feeling” but also “subconscious” and “spirit.”
“To find fulfillment, you have to trust your naʻau, your spirit. It will give you the energy to keep going,” Goodenow said. “I think my transformation would be different as well as the intuition and spirit of who I am. Always trust naʻau.”
Before the business began, and after years of meditation and learning how to communicate with nature, Goodenow and Johnson developed a process to create the essences, in which fresh flower blossoms release their subtle energies into water.
“The most important part is asking permission from the plant and waiting for the response, but also knowing how to hear what it says,” Goodenow said. “Being able to communicate with flowers and plants is the baseline of this work.
“The energy of our forests is new, raw and embracing. Our beautiful forests are attainable and welcoming. But if they say no, then we cannot pick those flowers.”
After picking the flower blossoms that don’t say no, they float them in water in the sun, which is when the energy is released into the water. After a few hours, the flowers are removed, and the solution is strained.
Next, an equal amount of brandy is added for preservation. This new mixture is placed into direct sunlight for a few more hours. After this, the solution is complete and further diluted before the final bottling. The blossoms are then returned to nature.
The effects of the flower essences can be felt by putting five to seven drops under the tongue or in a small cup of water three to four times per day. The essences also are incorporated into other Hawaiian Rainforest Naturals products, such as lotions, body mists, soaps, oils and scrubs.
“Connecting to emotions is so important to healing, and the flower essences capture the energy and life force of the flowers, which move within you when you put it under your tongue,” Goodenow said. “Our unresolved conflicts, patterns and memories are in our emotions. The situations that we can’t make pono (harmonious) stay in our energy. Those problems can continue to show up until we clean that part of our emotions.”
The nine main flower essences are:
- Lehua for knowing and expressing true feelings
- Papaya for releasing past mistakes and saying no to old choices
- Banana for taking action to get what you want
- Kīnehe for rising above challenges and bringing a fresh outlook
- Ti for clearing indecision and repetitive thinking
- Wild Azalea for looking at oneself without judgment
- Yellow Ginger for relaxing muscles, mental tensions and counteracting side effects of worrying and overthinking
- Stress Release Formula mixes lehua, kīnehe and yellow ginger to release stress
- Natural Bliss Formula mixes lehua, azalea and bamboo orchid to create an overall feeling of well-being and lightheartedness
“The role of our flower essences is to bring people’s awareness into the present moment and transform perspectives through the release of emotions caused by past experiences or by worrying about the future,” Goodenow said. “When people face the emotions they are holding in or haven’t processed, they begin to see things clearly and make better choices for their lives.”
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