The 38 flower remedies that Dr. Bach developed in the 1930s are more relevant than ever as an aid to harmonize health and emotions.
More and more people are interested in their personal fulfillment and natural treatments that help them find a better physical and mental balance without being harmful .
This is what explains why Bach’s flower therapy is still more relevant than ever despite having been developed in the thirties of the last century.
In recent years its dissemination has not stopped growing : it is enough to check that more than 150 books have been published in Spanish on the subject.
This popularity has also been reinforced by the recognition of this alternative medicine by the World Health Organization since 1993 and because these remedies are currently sold in our country in pharmacies, apart from herbalists and establishments specializing in natural products.
In Switzerland, Austria and Germany Bach flowers have been accepted by the health system for years and in Cuba since 1998 they have also been considered one more medicine of the public health system.
All this has given rise to a growing amount of scientific work , previously non-existent, which has contributed to validating its effectiveness .
Dr. Edward Bach (1886-1936) , for whom the disease was not “material in its origin but the result of a conflict between the soul and the mind”, affirmed that each one of the almost forty flowers that make up his system has an energetic pattern or vibration analogous to the vibratory pattern of a certain virtue or positive tendency of the personality.
The energy pattern of the flower, when incorporated into the body, acts by resonance and stimulates the positive trend of the personality, inducing the healing process.
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How is energy transferred?
Bach flowers, therefore, do not influence through a biochemical active ingredient , like allopathic medicines or phototherapy.
In a similar way to homeopathy, they provide energy information capable of harmonizing an unbalanced system, something like an intelligent tuning fork that would resonate and tune the subtle bodies.
Twenty of Dr. Bach’s remedies are prepared by solarization (the freshly picked flowers are exposed to the sun in a bowl of spring water for four to six hours) and another eighteen , made from bushier plants or harvested before hot season, they are obtained by boiling.
Both methods achieve a volume of liquid that is preserved in the same amount of cognac as a mother tincture.
With two drops of this tincture per 30 ml of cognac , the stock is prepared, which is the amber bottle that can be purchased in pharmacies and other establishments.
Stephan Ball , who left his job as a specialist in teaching software development to dedicate himself entirely to advising on the use of Bach flowers, now helps prepare the base tinctures with which the 38 original remedies that are distributed are made . to all the world.
He does it from the same garden where Dr. Bach did it in his last years, at the Bach Center in Mount Vernon (England) .
He explains that, although these remedies are increasingly widespread and implanted due to their proven beneficial effects, they are still controversial for science because conventional laboratory analyzes do not find more than water and brandy in flower preparations. The same thing happens with homeopathy: there are no traces left.
“We believe that some of the plant’s energy is transferred to the water , as different studies with Kirlian photography have shown,” explains Stephan Ball.
In these studies, the photographs capture how an electric current is transmitted through the liquid and reveal that each of the remedies has a different color and pattern , something that does not happen with control tests of water and alcohol without essences.
“We believe that this energy in some way links with the person’s energy and does not inhibit emotions, but enhances their positive side , increasing the person’s ability to accept them,” concludes Ball.
Ricardo Orozco , doctor, floral therapist and president of Sedibac (Society for the Study and Dissemination of Doctor Bach’s Therapy in Catalonia), defines Bach flowers as “liquid emotional intelligence”.
In the words of Dr. Orozco, “the information they catalyze helps us to be more aware . Above all, they help unearth and develop resources to improve our perceptions and actions in everyday life. At the same time, many flowers operate very directly in the field of anxiety and the stress that generates it, and offer rapid relief On the other hand, they constitute an excellent preventive therapy , since, by helping to modify certain behavior patterns and correct many distorted beliefs, thoughts and feelings, they can keep us away from most diseases , or at least they can improve them.
What flowers are used?
Doctor Bach classified flowers into seven categories or emotional states . The key to choosing the most suitable one is to recognize what it feels like.
1. FOR THOSE WHO FEEL LONELY
Heather (heather): for people who constantly claim the attention of others and who are difficult to part with. They continually talk about themselves and their problems.
Impatiens (impatience): for those who are impatient and irritable with the limitations of others. Prone to nervous tension and hyperactivity.
Water Violet (water violet): for those who like to be alone and who carry sorrow and pain in silence.
2. FOR OVERCONCERN
Vine (vine): for leading people who, although effective in emergencies, act dictatorially and dominate others.
Verlaine (verbena): For strong, enthusiastic and excitable personalities. They rarely change their minds and insist that others must convert to their creed.
Beech (beech): for critical, intolerant, irritable and fault-seeking people. They can be cynical, unfriendly, uptight and strict with others.
Chicory (chicory): for people who are possessive, controlling and excessively concerned with directing the lives of their loved ones.
Rock Water: For strict people who hold themselves back and rule their lives by rigid, unequivocal convictions about “what’s right.”
3. FOR HYPERSENSITIVITY
Holly (holly): for any negative state contrary to love: rage, jealousy, envy, bitterness, anger, violence, contempt…
Centaury: for people who are shy, kind, servile and eager to please. They attach themselves to stronger personalities who tend to exploit them.
Agrimony (agrimony): for those who give a happy and uncomplaining image but hide a great discomfort and inner concern. The procession goes inside.
Walnut (walnut): for times of change. It helps break up the old and sets the pattern for the new.
4. FOR UNCERTAINTY
Hornbeam (blade): for states of exhaustion, with fatigue and feeling of not being able to cope with the tasks of the day.
Gorse (gorse): for chronic depression, resignation and loss of will to improve situations.
Gentian (gentian): for melancholy, skepticism, disappointment and negativity that feeds a sense of failure.
Sclerantus (Sclerantus): for changeable, indecisive people, with alternating moods.
Wild Oat (wild oats): for vital and professional uncertainty.
Cerato (ceratostigma): for weak-willed people who doubt their own qualities and judgments. They seek the opinion of others out of self-doubt.
5. FOR DISCOURAGEMENT OR DESPAIR
Larch (larch): for people without self-confidence and with feelings of inferiority, who expect failure and think that they will never achieve their goals.
Oak: It is the remedy for those who never stop trying what they set out to do, for those who never give up, and whose extreme demands on themselves make them feel exhausted.
Crab Apple (wild apple): it is the cleansing remedy. It applies to both physical and psychological problems: acne, feelings of not being pure enough, physical complexes…
Star of Bethlehem (hen’s milk): for states of shock and grief. For those people who need comfort or relief due to accidents or traumas of any kind.
Willow (willow): for those who suffer any small adversity with bitterness and resentment blaming others and feeling mistreated.
Elm (elm): for people who bear a great responsibility and who reach a point where they fear that they will not be able to cope with everything, feeling overwhelmed.
Pine (Scots Pine): Remedy for self-reproach and guilt. The person accuses himself by taking responsibility for situations that are not caused by him.
Sweet Chestnut (sweet chestnut): It is the flower of the “dark night of the soul”. For anguished, desperate people with thoughts of annihilation.
6. WHEN THERE IS NO INTEREST IN THE PRESENT
- Olive (olive tree): remedy for when we are physically and mentally exhausted. Applicable after prolonged illnesses, accompaniment of patients…
- White Chestnut (horse chestnut): to deal with circular thoughts, without resolution, that come to mind again and again and exhaust the person.
Wild Rose (wild rose): for resignation, apathy and lack of interest, spark or vitality. - Honeysuckle (honeysuckle): for people who live on their memories and who idealize the past.
- Chestnut Bud: for those who do not learn from experience and repeat the same mistakes. They are usually careless and inattentive.
Clematis (clematis): for dreamers, absent, indifferent to everything and lacking in concentration and vitality. - Mustard (mustard): for deep depression or sadness for no apparent reason.
7. FOR THE VARIOUS FEARS
- Mimulus (mimulus): for tangible fears and of known origin, but often unrevealed.
Red Chestnut (red chestnut): for people who worry excessively about the evils of the world. They anticipate problems and imagine the worst. - Cherry Plum (cerasifera): for despair, loss of control, uncontrollable impulses, nervous breakdowns, suicidal ideas and obsessive fears.
- Rock Rose (rock water): for emergency, sudden illness or accident and great fears. Also for when life seems hopeless.
- Aspen (aspen): for fears for no apparent reason, sudden apprehension, fear of an invisible force, dreams…
FLOWERS OR HOMEOPATHY?
- Both flower and homeopathic remedies are practically devoid of molecules derived from the original substance, which is why they do not develop toxic side effects .
- In both cases , its potency depends more on the repetition and frequency of administration than on the dose ingested.
- However, there are some differences between the two systems: homeopathic remedies are prepared from animal, vegetable and mineral substances, while floral remedies are made only with flowers.
- Homeopathic remedies are prepared by successive dilutions, dynamizations and potentiation that make the effects different; its healing principle is based on causing a reaction similar to that of the disease in a healthy person.
- They are preparations that are usually prescribed by the homeopathic doctor to address a specific health problem , even if it has a notable emotional component.
ARE BACH FLOWERS EFFECTIVE IN CHILDREN?
What homeopathy and Bach flowers do coincide in is their special effectiveness in animals, plants and children , a fact that through abundant clinical experience has allowed them to stop being labeled as placebos.
It is believed that they work better in children than in adults because their feelings are still very raw .
Some Bach flowers are useful for common childhood problems , such as tantrums, night terrors or states of excitement:
Shy children with little self-confidence: Mimulus and Larch.
Moved children , with a tendency to hyperactivity: Impatiens and Vervain.
Very dreamy and imaginative children : Clematis. To help them focus and learn.
Dominant children: Vine. To positively channel the character of the little ones who always want to dominate others.
Tantrums: Cherry Plum.
Nightmares and Night Terrors: Rock Rose and Aspen.
Changes: Walnut. To cope with the changes when their teeth come in, when they start school, if they have to sleep alone, etc.
Toilet training: Cherry Plum. To prevent them from wetting the bed at night.
Shocks: Star of Bethlehem. For traumas, blows, burns, accidents, separation from parents, death of a family member…
