Flower Remedies: A Beginners Guide to Healing With Flowers
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In recent years, more and more people have chosen to treat themselves according to the method devised in the thirties by the English doctor Edward Bach, which consists in treating ailments using flowers as a remedy. In this post you will find answers to the most common questions. This manual is a clear guide that will allow you to easily identify the problem that afflicts you and to choose the most suitable flower to solve it.
Table of Contents
The enthusiasm that has arisen for this new healing technique, called phytotherapy, can be explained both by the growing dissatisfaction with the solutions proposed by classical medicine, often considered too impersonal, and by the surprising results that the treatment with flowers has managed to achieve over time.
The World Health Organization itself, in 1983, included Bach flowers among the recommended natural methods, recognizing this curative system with scientific validity in all respects.
An attitude of the mind, a situation of the organism: this method of treatment is based on these common elements. Nothing prevents you from prescribing flower remedies for yourself: by reading below, you can learn to identify your situation and choose the right remedy.
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Treating the patient, not the disease
“You don’t have to consider the disease. Just think about what the sick person’s attitude towards life is “: so wrote Edward Bach in his book Healing with Flowers.
In fact, it is often the attitude of the mind that changes the balance of the organism: hence the disease appears. Bach realised that people with the same disease responded differently to the same type of treatment and that each individual has a personal and unique response. Not only: people with certain character peculiarities react in the same way to therapy, whilst others, with different natures, need different treatments, even if they have the same disorder.
Bach began to carefully observe his patients, becoming more and more convinced that, in defining a cure, it is essential to take into account their personality. He thus came to divide the various underlying attitudes of his patients into 7 groups, starting to prescribe medicines based on the person’s belonging to one of these groups and to observe the reactions. The first results further convinced him that his intuitions were correct.
Later, when he discovered the healing powers of flowers, he decided to classify the plants according to their ability to correct the underlying attitudes he had described. And it is precisely in this order that we present the 38 Bach flower remedies.
The 38 Bach Flower Remedies
- Agrimony
- Aspen
- Beech
- Centaury
- Cerato
- Cherry Plum
- Chestnut Bud
- Chicory
- Clematis
- Crab Apple
- Elm
- Gentian
- Gorse
- Heather
- Holly
- Honeysuckle
- Hornbeam
- Impatiens
- Larch
- Mimulus
- Mustard
- Oak
- Olive
- Pine
- Red Chestnut
- Rock Rose
- Rock Water
- Scleranthus
- Star of Bethlehem
- Sweet Chestnut
- Vervain
- Vine
- Walnut
- Water Violet
- White Chestnut
- Wild Oat
- Wild Rose
- Willow
*Rescue Remedy is a combination of 5 flowers, which is used for emergency situations.
The life force of the plant is concentrated in the flower
The choice of flowers as a remedy for the treatment of diseases did not happen by chance. In his own medical practice, Bach had long wanted to use herbs, in which he had always had a deep interest.
One day, in September 1928, during a walk in Wales he picked two flowers, Impatiens and Mimulus. He thought that the flowers, the part of the plant richest in vital principles, could be useful in the therapies with his patients. He abandoned everything, to retire to the countryside with the aim of devoting himself to the study of the therapeutic properties of the flowers.
He decided to deal only with non-poisonous wild plants, carefully examining both their characteristics and the environment in which they grow. He then tried to establish a resemblance between the qualities of the flower and those of the people to whom he intended the care. For example, the flower Impatiens: as soon as it is touched it launches its seeds like small bullets. For this, Bach chose it as a remedy for people ready to react to the slightest provocation of the environment.
Transforming Negative Energies
Bach flowers have been called “medicines that vibrate”. Scientists have shown, in fact, that even the most compact matter is made up of vibrations. According to some scholars, Bach flowers are effective because they modify the energy state (vibrations) of the sick person: they transform the negative experiences that cause the disease into positive emotions, which restore well-being.
Flower remedies have proved extremely effective in overcoming all those ailments for which classical medicine uses psychotropic drugs for: depression, obsession, unmotivated fears, anxieties… Flower remedies are not only recommended for all diseases, but also in case of psychological trauma.
Seeing a Therapist
Flower care, also called flower therapy, is practised by doctors, herbalists, naturopaths or other therapists who have followed specialised courses. The therapist usually asks the patient many questions about their type of attitude towards life and their physical situation. Often no further visits are necessary; sometimes the chosen remedy gets its effect and helps to find a solution.
How they are taken
Unless otherwise indicated, 4 drops are taken 4 times a day, usually at regular intervals between meals. The first administration should be done as soon as you wake up and the last one before going to bed. The drops are placed under the tongue and held for a few seconds. They can also be diluted in a liquid: water, tea, juice or herbal tea.
What if we choose the wrong flower?
There are no contraindications to the use of Bach flowers, even if the treatment lasts for long periods. But what if you take the wrong remedy? If we were to take a “wrong” flower, there are no consequences. It would be as if a musician were trying to get in tune with another and not succeed: the instruments certainly do not get damaged, the right music is simply not produced. The wrong remedy will not produce beneficial effects: it cannot make the person feel in harmony with self, but it does not cause any harm either. Another remedy will have to be found.
Profiles: Characteristics and Remedies
Within the basic attitudes identified by Edward Bach, the so-called profiles, very different character types are outlined. By combining the most suitable flower, you can find a quick, effective, sweet and safe remedy that guarantees a state of psycho-physical well-being. Click the links below to read more about the different profiles and to find the best flower remedies to treat them:
- Flower Remedies: for Insecurity, Sense of Uselessness & Uncertainty
- Flower Remedies: for Individualism & a Tendency to Self-Centeredness
- Flower Remedies: for Hypersensitivity & Extreme Feelings
- Flower Remedies: for Fear, Anxiety & Continuous Worries
- Flower Remedies: for Difficult Relationships with Ourselves and Others
- Flower Remedies: for a Fatigued & Apathetic Life
- Flower Remedies: for Anguish, Discouragement & Despair
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