Understanding Flower Essence Therapy

In the early 1930's, fifty years before any major research on stress related disorders was done, the renowned British physician and scientist, Dr. Edward Bach began to recognize that many of his patients' ills seemed to be directly related to their various negative states of mind. For example, he noted that anxiety, worrisome thoughts, even lack of self-confidence, so deplete the individual's vitality that the body loses its natural resistance and becomes vulnerable to infections and disease. Today, current research supports these findings.

"To bring oneself back into harmony, back to balance, requires the development of a more positive loving nature." Dr. Bach said. Merely treating disease does not deal with the root cause of the problem.

Bach turned to the healing plants of Nature and eventually found thirty-eight flowering plants, which were later proven to positively alleviate a wide range of mental and emotional stresses. The Bach Remedies, as they are now called, work to gently re-establish emotional and psychological equilibrium. Considered a major breakthrough, the Bach remedies have been used worldwide for over half a century with great success by a broad spectrum of health care practitioners, including doctors, chiropractors, psychologists, and other holistically minded therapists. The remedies have been remarkably effective in alleviating tension, loneliness, fear, insecurity, jealousy, shyness, poor self-image and other emotional and psychological difficulties.

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Through further research, Dr. Bach and others found the remedies to be completely safe and to require the smallest dosages to be effective. The remedies do not conflict with any other medication that a person might be taking. Each remedy contains the essence of the flower, at a vibrational dosage, preserved in brandy. All 38 remedies are recognized in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States.

In our modern times, the Flower Essence Society was established in 1980 in California. Its founder, Richard Katz, has continued and enlarged Dr. Bach's original vision. Now the flower essences, as they are known, are seen as agents for our unfoldment, assisting us in learning life's lessons through the signature of nature. Much research and meditation has been done on how the flowers resonate with our soul nature, encouraging the blossoming of our full potential. The California Flower Essence Society has now added over hundred new essences to the original 38.

Choosing from such a range of flowers requires the assistance of a practitioner who can recognize which flowers match the psychological profile of the moment. Through a process of assessment, attunement and dowsing, a bouquet of essences is chosen to assist the client. This bouquet represents the emotional challenges of the time and guides the way to resolution. During the assessment process, plenty of time is given to discuss and direct the problems at hand. The flower essences support and clarify the life lessons that we each attract on our journey toward wholeness. As emotional tangles are resolved, we experience our soul growth and actualize our potential.

A remedy is taken for a full lunar cycle and may be followed by another cycle of remedies as deeper issues emerge. Flower essences can help to heal ingrained childhood patterns that hold us back.

Flower essence therapy is an ideal adjunct to polarity therapy, especially when the bodywork brings up emotional issues that need to be addressed. The body being a metaphor for the mind will often encapsulate a difficult memory or emotion and hold on to it in the form of pain or dysfunction.

There is much well documented evidence on the effectiveness of flower essences on children who are hyperactive, dyslexic, shy and otherwise traumatised. Animals have equally benefited from flower therapy when their behaviours become troubled.

Krysia has worked with flower essence therapy since the mid-eighties, along with psycho-spiritual counselling and dreamwork. Sessions are by appointment.