BACH FLOWER THERAPY

Bach Flower Therapy has now been in use for over 60 years. Starting from the investigations of one man, Dr Edward Bach, in England in the 1930's, flower therapy has now spread into popular use on a worldwide scale. Bach flower therapy brings together two very important principles in the art of human healing. The first is that the source for chronic disorders, even long term physical states, is rooted in states of disorder in the human psyche (conflicts, shocks, fears, chronic anger, jealousy, etc.).

Since life all around us demonstrates an almost limitless capacity to recover and heal, if a condition of illness (dis-ease) is not resolving then it stands to reason that something is preventing it from doing so. In the case of human emotionally conditioned states, if the psychic disturbance can be rebalanced then there must necessarily by a natural resurgence in health.

This brings us to the second principle which is essential to this particular art of healing - the Flower Therapy. Bach felt that the answer to problems of living must be found in the realm of the living. Historically and until recently, the vast majority of medicinal substances were found in the plant realm and Dr Bach felt that nature provides the best solutions to her own problems, and this includes human illness. With a background in homoeopathy and familiarity with homoeopathic "pictures" of many plants and flowers, coupled with his own delicate insight into the qualities of individual plants, Bach was able to isolate 38 flowers for essential characteristics which match what Bach held to be the full spectrum of human emotional disorders. Each of the flowers he decided on relates to a particular emotional dysfunction, whether it be fear, mistrust, despair, anger, etc. All this came to be popularly known as Bach flower therapy.

Bach flower therapy treats the "negative feelings" like anger, fear guilt, inferiority complex, lack of confidence, negative expectancy, envy, jealousy etc. by flooding the consciousness with positive feelings. In Bach flower therapy, "disturbed" feelings, moods, attitudes are taken as base for the selection of medicine. Bach found these "imbalances" in the personality as the "core element of disease". Bach flower therapy is thus all about correcting these imbalances.

Listing of flowers influencing moods