Bach's Flower Remedies
he Bach Flower Remedies consist of flower-based formulas for the treatment of various emotional problems. A homeopathic medicine, the flower essences heal the root cause of mental and emotional stress, and, as one would expect, emotionally based physical problems are alleviated as well.
History of the Healing Form
British scientist and highly regarded physician Edward Bach, who practiced internal medicine in London in the 1930s, recognized that many of his patients showed psychological and emotional symptoms such as fear, depression, boredom or worry before they developed physical illnesses. Dr. Bach gave up a lucrative practice and moved to the countryside to study the relationship between disease and state of mind. Following Hippocrates, Bach looked to nature for remedies.
Flowers, as part of the botanical family, have been used medicinally in various cultures for thousands of years. The aboriginal peoples of Australia, traditional Asian healing arts, and native peoples of North America have all used —and still use—flowers as medicine. Bach noted that when he drank the dew from flowers that had been in the sun each flower gave him a distinctly different emotional feeling. He began treating patients with flower essences and noted the changes. With many trial-and-error experiments he eventually developed 38 treatments plus a combination of five flowers for times of physical or emotional crisis, Rescue Remedy.
The Bach Center in England has continued the study and document the effectiveness of the flower remedies for over 60 years now. A few studies have been double-blind (where neither the subject/patient nor the researcher know whether the patient is using the medicine or a placebo). The flower essences have been widely used in Europe since the 1930s; their sale as a homeopathic medicine was permitted in the US in 1981.
Choosing a Remedy
There is often more than one remedy for any particular problem, but studies have shown more than four at a time is less effective. If you do not hit upon the best one, the worst the remedy can do to you is nothing--like all homeopathic remedies the wrong one will not help but neither will it harm you. Bach remedies can be used by people of any age, including children, and since their introduction to the U.S. the Rescue Remedy, a combination of essences for stress, has become widely used by veterinarians for its calmative effect on stressed pet patients.
The choice of whether to use Flower Essences and which one/s to use is primarily up to the individual. Physicians of many specialties in Europe have recommended these to their patients for decades. In the US chiropractors and naturopaths have more experience using the flower remedies. The Edward Bach Center and Foundation certifies practitioners who use the original remedies developed by Dr. Bach (and many more have been developed for life's emotional traumas in the late 20th century), but there is no formal licensing program. One producer, Ellon USA, offers consumers a free Self-Help Questionnaire. Self-diagnosis information generally will be available at the health-food store wherever the flower essences are sold.
A partial list of remedies and the conditions they alleviate: For Uncertainty
Cerato--for doubting one's ability to make decisions
Gorse--for feelings of despair, hopelessness, and futility
Hornbeam--fatigue and tiredness often due to boredom or procrastination
Scleranthus--for the inability to choose between alternatives, uncertainty, shifting moods
Wild Oat--for uncertainty over one's direction in life
For Insufficient Interest in Present Circumstances
Clematis--dreaming of the future without being anchored in the present, indifference
Chestnut bud--failure to learn from the lessons of present life
Honeysuckle--nostalgic, homesickness, inability to let go of the past
Mustard--sudden deep gloom that arises for no apparent reason
Olive--mental and physical exhaustion and sapped vitality
White Chestnut--unwanted thoughts and mental arguments that interfere with concentration and the ability to do things
For Fear
Cherry Plum--an inclination to uncontrollable rages and impulses, fear of losing control, self-destructive habits
Red Chestnut--overly magnified fears related to the welfare of loved ones
Aspen--vague fears and anxieties of unknown origin or a sense of foreboding
For Loneliness
Heather--self-centeredness; over talkativeness, inability to listen, dread of being alone
Impatiens--impatience with others' slowness, hastiness
Water Violet--preferring to be alone, being aloof or reserved
For Over sensitivity to Influences and Ideas
Agrimony--for helping to convey one's feelings and worries and to cope with arguments, quarrels, and confrontations. (Often those who would be aided by agrimony abuse drugs or alcohol to cope with life's complications.)
Centaury--for submissiveness, tendency to be taken advantage of, difficulty saying no and neglecting one's own interests
Holly--for envy, resentment, suspicion, revenge, and hatred
Walnut--for stabilizing emotions during life transitions, such as adolescence and menopause, for breaking past links and adjusting to new beginnings
For Despondency and Despair
Elm--feeling overextended, overwhelmed with responsibilities
Larch--self-doubt, feelings of inferiority, fear of failure and unwillingness to try
Oak--despondency when exhaustion or illness gets in the way of duty (for normally strong people who typically never give up under duress); workaholism and neglect of self and family
Pine--feeling self-reproach, guilt, dissatisfaction with one's self
Star of Bethlehem--for emptiness and loss that occurs when a loved one dies or moves away; for the after-effects of any shock
Sweet Chestnut--when everything has been tried and there's no resolution in sight
For Over concern with Others
Beech--for desiring perfection and easily finding fault with others, arrogance, intolerance, judgmental of self/others
Chicory--for being possessive of others, demanding, and self-pitying, selfishness, desire for even negative attention; for needing others to conform to one's ideals
Vervain--for restraint and relaxation in the well-meaning and overly enthusiastic, fanaticism, outrage at injustice
Vine--for containing the autocratic, dictatorial, and ruthless, desire for power
When to Use Flower Essences
In reviewing the emotional states that the flower essences alleviate, it is easy to identify, with some humor or compassion hopefully, individuals we know--including ourselves at times-- who would benefit from the Bach Flower Remedies. Whether we want to treat an emotional condition or just let it pass depends on how it is impacting our capacity to conduct our lives and its impact on our relationships.
How much time it will take to have an effect varies with each individual, and the effect may be subtle, depending upon the nature of the condition. Experts say most people solve the problem they're treating within one to three weeks. Flower remedies work to restore balance to the system. As the body makes its natural correction, the need and usefulness of the remedy is reduced. With this self-correction, gradually reduce the frequency of the remedy until you stop taking it altogether.
Experiences
The positive effect of Rescue Remedy in keeping body and soul together during times of serious stress—making international moves on short notice-- has been effective in a matter of hours in my experience. WMB
