Flower Essences, a natural alternative for treating physical and emotional ailments.
More than 70 years ago, different therapists around the world felt the need to understand different emotional symptoms of human beings through the healing properties of flower essences, a natural alternative available to everyone and to those who believe in medicine that comes from mother earth. Modern life has brought with it a series of emotional disorders that carry over into every plane of human life — personal, work, professional and, lastly, physical — causing illnesses that can be disabling, affecting the quality of life of those who suffer from them, as well as the mood of their family members.
Edward Bach, a pioneer in discovering the benefits of flower essences, found that flowers contain different vibrational compounds that respond positively to the emotions of people with physical ailments resulting from stress, anxiety, depression, fear, guilt, etc.
Emotional involvement in health and illness
Bach's research with flower essences resulted in the treatment of the emotions behind physical pain, yielding healing properties that he first categorized into the group of the 12 healers, referring to the 12 emotional states of human beings, later expanding his research to discover more than 30 flower remedies.
Today, thanks to Dr. Bach's dedicated development and study, he left behind the 38 Bach flower remedies as his legacy, whose common thread was to target the root of the illness — each one has keywords and properties that serve as a practical guide for those just starting out in the world of flower essences, where not every flower is suited to everyone, since there will be one flower that vibrates or resonates more with the person taking it.
The 38 Bach Flower Remedies
- Agrimony: For those who hide their suffering behind an indifferent, cheerful appearance.
- Holly: To positively transform negative emotions and feelings such as jealousy, anger, envy, resentment, aggressiveness, hatred and/or mistrust.
- Chicory: To ease the hurt and pain caused by emotional rejection, as in the case of romantic breakups, which can lead to emotional manipulation and self-pity.
- Rock Water: For people who want to be seen as an example and are too rigid and strict with themselves.
- Aspen: Helps overcome anguish and fears of unknown origin, such as fear of death.
- Larch: For people who, due to lack of self-confidence and feelings of inferiority, abandon their goals before even starting, anticipating certain failure.
- Gorse: For those who give up hope, thinking everything is in vain and that nothing can be done for them.
- Wild Oat: For people who can't decide or channel their ambitions. They have great ambition, but struggle to determine which path or occupation to pursue.
- Heather: For self-centered people interested only in their own life and what happens to them.
- Chestnut Bud: For those who always repeat the same mistakes and don't learn from experience, who have learning problems, poor memory and/or attention deficit.
- White Chestnut: For people burdened by unwanted, persistent thoughts. Helps push away excessive mental worry and repetitive thinking.
- Sweet Chestnut: For those who feel at the limit of their physical and moral endurance, so anguished they believe it's impossible to bear any more.
- Red Chestnut: For people who worry excessively about other people's problems or about what might happen to their loved ones.
- Cerato: For those who want to control their feelings and are afraid of losing control. They feel they easily lose their composure.
- Centaury: For those who don't know how to say no and overextend themselves in their desire to please.
- Cherry Plum: For those who fear losing their mind or acting against their own will.
- Clematis: For dreamy or absent-minded people, or those with excessive fantasy, who don't keep their feet on the ground.
- Star of Bethlehem: Especially indicated in cases of trauma or shock, such as grief, blows, fractures, the impact of bad news, etc. It balances, calms, normalizes, and prevents psychic or emotional blockages from developing into illness.
- Gentian: For pessimistic people who are easily discouraged by difficulties and have low tolerance for frustration.
- Beech: Useful for critical, unforgiving and intolerant people.
- Rock Rose: In cases where there seems to be no solution, in moments of high emotional tension or panic, it provides courage and confidence to get through the crisis.
- Hornbeam: For people who feel permanently tired, more from emotional than physical problems, for whom facing daily obligations becomes a real effort.
- Impatiens: For impatient, nervous, irritable and hyperactive people who are always in a hurry and hate routine.
- Honeysuckle: For nostalgic people who tend to live in the past.
- Crab Apple: Cleanses and purifies the mind and body, so it's useful when feeling shame or a sense of dirtiness and impurity, whether over real events, even minor ones, or imagined ones.
- Mimulus: To treat fears of a known origin, such as fear of illness, pain, poverty, suffering, darkness, animals or other people.
- Mustard: For depressive states and fluctuating melancholy during which it's impossible to enjoy life and what used to be motivating.
- Walnut: Its use is recommended during periods of change, since it allows one to adapt to and accept a new situation.
- Olive: Helps recovery after severe and extreme suffering. Allows one to regain spirit and strength when physical and mental reserves have been depleted (chronic fatigue).
- Elm: Useful in transient moments of depression, overload and feeling overwhelmed, caused by excess responsibility and difficulty fulfilling it satisfactorily.
- Pine: For those who feel guilty (even for others' mistakes), underestimate themselves and are never satisfied with their own efforts and results.
- Oak: For people who fight and push themselves to reach their goals, with a high level of self-demand that makes them forget the need for rest and relaxation.
- Wild Rose: For unmotivated, indifferent people, or those lacking vitality. Helps overcome apathy and resignation.
- Willow: For resentful people who feel life is unfair to them and who feel bitter.
- Scleranthus: Useful for fluctuating moods and for overcoming indecision.
- Vervain: For authoritative, energetic people who are very sure of themselves, who feel capable of changing the world and want to dominate others.
- Vine: For dominant, arrogant and inflexible people who try to impose their views and orders, becoming, if allowed, dictators.
- Water Violet: For proud, aloof people who distance themselves from others because they feel superior, or who think they have nothing valuable to receive from others.
- Rescue Remedy: For any kind of shock or acute and chronic stress, both physical and mental.
Ways to use flower essences:
The use and selection of flower essences should be done under the supervision of a flower therapist, in order to more accurately target the issue to be treated. However, when choosing a flower essence on your own, ideally a 20-milliliter bottle should contain a maximum of 5 flower essences, to focus on a single emotional theme — introducing more flowers or several emotional themes than recommended will overload the energy system, and the issue being treated won't get the expected results.
It's important to note that flower essences work cumulatively and by frequency — that is, for a set period of roughly six months, taking 4 drops, 6 times a (standard measure, may vary) day depending on the flower system, since this is how the emotional issue is worked at its root, to relieve the physical ailment from the inside.
How to take them?
There are various ways to take flower essences — one is to take the drops at the indicated frequency directly from the bottle; you can also take them diluted in water.
Essences shouldn't be taken with milk, alcoholic drinks, sugary drinks and/or hot beverages.
To learn more about flower essences and the different systems, visit www.siuesencias.com