Flower Essences
The Stuff of Fairy Tales?

Flower essences concocted from freshly picked, sun-soaked blossoms may seem the stuff of fairy tales, but they just might help you live happily ever after. These essences work to ease our emotional state. After using them, people often find that they're less stressed, more adept at coping with their problems, and better able to move forward in their lives.

Flower remedies are specially prepared essences, containing the healing energy of plants. They are prescribed according to a patient's emotional disposition, as ascertained by the therapist, doctor, or patients themselves. Flower remedies are more homeopathic than herbal in the way they work, effecting energy levels rather than chemical balances. They have been described as "liquid energy." The theory is that they encapsulate the flowers' healing energy, and are said to deal with and overcome negative emotions, and so relieve blockages in the flow of human energy that can cause illness. Like homeopathy, flower essence therapy involves ingesting a substance that is physically dilute but energetically active.

This system originated in the 1920s when British physician and bacteriologist, Dr. Edward Bach (1886–1936), noticed that patients with physical complaints often seemed to be suffering from anxiety or some kind of negative emotion. He concluded that assessing a patient's emotional disposition and prescribing an appropriate flower essence could treat the physical illness. Bach was a qualified medical doctor, but he also practiced homeopathy.

As a result of his own serious illness in 1917, Bach began a search for a new and simple system of medicine that would treat the whole person. In 1930, he gave up his flourishing practice on Harley Street at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital and moved to the countryside to devote his life to this research. It is known that at this point, he ceased to dispense the mixture of homeopathy and allopathic medicine that he had been using. Instead, he began investigating the healing properties of plant essences and discovered that he possessed an "intuition" for judging the properties of each flower. Accordingly, he developed the system of treatment that bears his name, and is also the foundation for all other flower-remedy systems. Each of the 38 most commonly formulated flower essences, called Bach Flower Remedies , deals with a specific emotion.

Originally, Bach collected the dew from chosen flowers by hand to provide his patients with the required remedy. This became impractical when his treatment became so popular that production could not keep up with demand. He then set about finding a way to manufacture the remedies, and found that floating the freshly picked petals on the surface of spring water in a glass bowl and leaving them in strong sunlight for three hours produced the desired effect. Therapists explain that the water is "potentized" by the essence of the flowers. For more woody specimens, the procedure is to boil them in a sterilized pan of water for 30 minutes. These two methods produce "mother tinctures" and the same two methods devised by Bach are still used today.

Online Bach Flower Therapy Consultation : Purge Negative emotions
We offer online consultation for correcting emotional imbalance based on the principles of Bach Flower Therapy and recommend a customized essence program for eliminating Unwanted Thoughts and Negative emotions from the Personality.

The Bach Center does not encourage research to "prove" that the remedies work, preferring that people find out for themselves. They strive to keep the use of the Bach remedies as simple as possible, and to this end they do not keep case records. Bach warned before he died that others would try to change his work and make it more complicated. He was determined to keep it simple so that anyone could use it, and that is why he limited the system to only 38 remedies. The Center points out that many who have used Bach's research as a starting point have added other remedies to the list, even some that Bach himself rejected.

The thinking behind flower essences stems from the idea that the mind and body are linked. In an interview with Better Nutrition, David Vennells, author of the newly-released Bach Flower Remedies for Beginners (Llewellyn Publications, 2001), explained that flower remedies are a safe and gentle practice. Flower essences can be used by anyone. They are generally prescribed according to our personality type or the prevailing state of mind during a particular illness.

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Dr. Bach discovered the technique to harness the healing energy contained within certain plants and trees. He explained how flower essences work: "All living things possess life force energy. In the East this is sometimes called chi or prana. It is a subtle type of life-giving energy. Some plants and trees carry a particular type of life-force energy which can have a healing effect on the body and mind. Flower essences capture and hold this healing life-force energy until it is needed."

To help treat an illness, the appropriate flower remedy is prescribed by looking at mental and emotional symptoms, rather than physical ones. Flower essences help patients regain good health or manage difficulties with a more positive attitude. However, you don't need to be sick to reap the benefits of flower essences. They can just make life more meaningful. Although we may generally feel physically and mentally okay, we might also occasionally feel something is missing from our life, some meaning or purpose. This subtle feeling is a gentle wake-up call.

Bach remedies and flower essences are not difficult to understand. They are considered suitable for self-administration. The only difficulty may be in finding the correct remedy, as it can sometimes be tricky to pinpoint an individual's emotional disposition. They are even safe for babies, children, and animals. An important aspect of treatment with flower remedies is if you feel instinctively that you need a particular remedy, you are encouraged to act on that instinct. However, it’s advisable not to continue a particular remedy once you feel you no longer need it. Also, try a different one if you feel that progress is not being made.

There are numerous flower remedies available, including Bach’s Rescue Remedy, which contains five Bach remedies: clematis for faintness or drowsiness; star of Bethlehem for shock; rock rose for fear or terror; impatiens for irritation and frustration and cherry plum for mental pressure. A few drops of any remedy can be added to your beverage. Pure mineral water works best as a carrier, however filtered water, tap water and even juice may be used. The remedies can also be taken directly on the tongue, rubbed into the skin or placed in a bath.

The best advice for the beginner is to buy a good book and do a little research. Don't be put off by the range of remedies available. Diagnosis is so simple and there is never a problem with choosing the wrong remedy as none have harmful side effects. If you decide your diagnosis might be wrong, just try another remedy. If you are uncomfortable diagnosing yourself, try visiting a qualified flower therapist, who usually can be recommended by your local health food store.

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