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BACH FLOWER REMEDIES "Bach Flower Remedies" by Stefan Ball, Consultant at the Dr. Edward Bach Centre The 38 Bach flower remedies are medicines for the emotions: simple, natural preparations that are used to treat everyday emotional states such as worry, anxiety and lack of concentration. They were discovered in the 1930’s by Dr. Edward Bach, a bacteriologist, pathologist and homoeopath whose career took him from University College Hospital to the London Homoeopathic Hospital and a successful Harley Street practice. Bach was convinced that the only path to true health was to treat the individual personality, rather than concentrating on the physical symptoms of disease. He found that specially-prepared plants could resolve emotional imbalances, and that well-balanced people then got better physically because their bodies were free to heal themselves. By the time he died in 1936 Dr. Bach had discovered 38 remedies, a complete system that could be combined to treat every possible emotional state. The remedies include:
When using Bach flower remedies it is essential to ignore any physical symptoms or disease. Instead the remedies are selected according to the personality of the person being treated. For example, a kind gentle person who found it hard to say ‘no’ to other people would be given Centaury, while someone who always tries to hide his worries by making a joke of them would need Agrimony. Both might be suffering from the same physical symptoms, such as insomnia and frequent colds, but the remedies would be different for each person. The effect of the remedies is to transform negative thoughts and behaviour into positive ones. They do not alter people’s personalities or promise instant spiritual fulfilment – instead they bring us gently back to ourselves so that we can go on learning from our lives. There are two main ways to take the Bach remedies. One is to put two drops of each selected remedy into a glass of water and sip from this at least four times a day or until the problem has passed. Alternatively the two drops can be put into a clean empty 30ml dropper bottle which is then topped up with mineral water. From this bottle - known as a treatment bottle - four drops are taken four times a day. Kept in the ‘fridge and used regularly a treatment bottle will last up to three weeks. The treatment bottle dose is the minimum needed for the remedies to work effectively. You can take them more frequently for moments of crisis, because they are completely safe: it is impossible to overdose on them or become addicted or build up tolerance. And Bach flower remedies do not affect the actions of other medicines or therapies, nor are they affected by them. This and the fact that they are free of side effects free makes them an ideal complement to other courses of treatment. The most famous remedy is an emergency combination, sold under various trade names, the best-known being Rescue® Remedy. This is a mix of five remedies - Rock Rose for terror, Clematis for light-headedness, Impatiens for agitation, Cherry Plum for loss of self-control and Star of Bethlehem for shock. Dr. Bach selected these five remedies because he felt there would be at least something in the mix that would help anyone going through a crisis. To take this emergency mix put four drops in a glass of water and sip as required. If there is no water available, you can put the drops straight on the tongue or rub them on the pulse points. Common uses for Rescue® Remedy include calming down the victims of accidents and combating pre-operation nerves. Many midwives use them to help mothers through labour. About the Author: |