Being in Balance with Bach Flowers

13/01/2026

Healthy Self 🌺 Heal Thyself? Dr Edward Bach made definitive statements about his Bach flower system and expanded on this in his little book, Heal Thyself, first published in 1931. He dedicated the book ‘to all who suffer or who are in distress’ and wrote on the first page that ‘the main reason for the failure of modern medical science is that it is dealing with results and not causes’ …. which is now 90 years ago, and is not so different today.

I think in part this has been because of decades of a systemic and social construct where patients were powerless and physicians all-powerful. My grandmother and parents would never even dream of questioning their doctor; they handed over complete responsibility for their health as soon as they walked into their doctor’s office. There was limited engagement in their own healing, not to mention the doctors who were left carrying caseloads of helpless patients.

In many ways subsequent generations brought up in this medical model have been indoctrinated with a mindset that encourages us to take the health problem to someone else who will fix it. Obviously it is really necessary when, for example, we’ve a broken limb or life-threatening illness (as I know all too well). However we are more than our physical bodies. There is the energy of our emotions that informs and influences us, day in and day out.

Whatever the health crisis that is going on, your emotions are at play. There’s the shock, fears, disbelief, denial, resignation, resentment, rage… could be anything, which also can play havoc with your thoughts — such as being hyper-vigilant or like a hamster on a wheel. There is an imperative to give our emotions due attention too.

When we are emotionally invested in addressing what ails us, in effect becoming truly engaged in our own healing process, then shifts will begin to occur. Everything is connected. We are not a mechanistic collection of disparate parts.

To heal it is necessary to create a synergy between the physical, emotional, mental and the spiritual body. The Bach flowers offer us the opportunity to find that pathway. That whatever the stage of ill-health ‘— dis-ease’ — we may be experiencing, there is a way to find peace of mind, of letting go to enable the transformation of emotions which have compromised us, quite possibly, for decades. Emotions that we have carried so deeply and are so familiar that we think ‘it's just how I am’ — instead of realising it’s an aspect of you, yet not the whole you. Instead consider that maybe your entrenched view is actually a call to interrogate, to identify what recalibration might be needed to avoid being sabotaged by poor health.

What I’ve found is that even when I think I’ve got it sorted, there’ll be another nuance, another layer that requires my attention — and if I pay heed and go into action (excuses are very seductive) I’m straight to my Bach box and creating a mix. I journal, meditate, go for long walks, reflect, notice what I notice.

Each one of us is a work in progress. With a holistic perspective and engaging in our own healing process by drawing on Dr Bach’s simple system of self-help, we can complement what the most dedicated physicians and surgeons offer us when we need their interventions.

Dr Bach’s writings can inspire some, and not others. However, the Bach flowers are simply there for everyone.🌺

What is your experience of Bach flowers with your health? Which gem of insight have discovered from Dr Bach's writings?🌺

03/09/2024

These remedies are the most amazing support system ..….here is a great read exploring some examples, which will relate to many of us at different times

Memory. There are occasions when our memory falters. Such as when there's an elusive word that remains on the tip of the tongue, or forgetting what you were going upstairs for, or after placing your child in their car seat, the pushchair is left behind as you drive away, or putting your purse in the fridge while unpacking groceries. It can happen to anyone for different reasons.

It's easy to become distracted by everything that is going on in life. Being upset by an earlier incident, or overwhelmed from juggling work and family commitments, or feeling fearful about your health or getting older, or recovering from long-term illness, or the relentless bad news in the media.... Not to mention, pregnancy, childbirth, post-natal, menopause, hearing loss, immobility, vulnerability... It's not surprising it can be challenging to stay fully in the here and now. Then there's the escape route offered by technology which becomes a double-edged sword. Remaining plugged into every phone call, music list, or podcast while out and about does not support being present. Any of this will likely exacerbate anxiety, influence thought processes, and exhaust you.

Getting back on an even keel, feeling more balanced and present, is where the Bach Flowers can be a daily support. It may lead you to deciding to let go of habits that no longer serve you (Chestnut Bud), enjoy being mindful and grounded (Clematis), reevaluating how much you take on (Elm), feeling protected from external influences (Walnut), more confident (Larch).... the list could go on...

Review your habits, thoughts and emotions, check out which Bach Flowers resonate with you, try a personalised mix and keep noticing what you notice in how you're more at ease with yourself.

How have Bach Flowers have helped you the most? 🌺

Photo of Clematis🌺

26/01/2024

The Bach Flowers, and how they can support in times of anxiety and panic.

A couple of days ago I received an email asking which Bach flower to take for panic attacks and anxiety. I’ve replied to the author, and was grateful that his question has prompted me to write more comprehensively here, as I feel it is a problem for many. There’s a huge amount of upheaval in the world and, as I’ve mentioned before, a daily drip-feed in the media of fear-engendering news. Ensuring the healthy integrity of our own being while also caring for others and getting on with life requires a robustness that at times can feel hard to sustain. However, the Bach Flowers can be an effective means of support and personal growth.

As regular readers and contributors to this page will know the remedies are not selected on the basis of clinical conditions but rather how you emotionally feel about whatever is problematic for you.

The simple answer to the panic attacks and anxiety question, from a self-help perspective, is to read up on the Fear group remedies in particular (Aspen, Cherry Plum, Mimulus, Red Chestnut, Rock Rose)* and choose whichever resonate with you the most (2 drops of the relevant remedy/s in a drink). Also to keep to hand a bottle of the crisis formula such as branded Five Flower Essence or Rescue Remedy (take 4 drops straight from the stock bottle or add same drops to a glass of water and sip until the feelings subside).

While the Bach system is really simple, we are much less straightforward. We are each a soup of thoughts and feelings, attitudes and beliefs that we carry with us day to day, year to year. For the majority of us there will be a catalogue of unsettling events, to a greater or lesser degree, that we have accumulated over the decades. The choices we made, the shocks, the upheavals, the losses, the worries that stirred up emotions and yet were left unaddressed. We get busy getting on with the daily demands of life and swallow the wounds. These can buried to the point that we could almost forget they are there. That is until they surge into our awareness whether through a health issue or in realising we are not coping like we had previously. Perhaps leaving your home to go to work becomes an issue, or unable to sleep, or attending meetings, or becoming obsessive about daily tasks, or feeling alarmed by world events. Or having high levels of anxious thoughts where you feel that physically you can’t catch your breath.

This is when it can be really useful to see a Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner (BFRP) — a global list is on the Bach Centre site. Talk to someone who will listen to you, asking you open questions without delving into your storied past, yet help you be attentive to your feelings. Not the feelings of last week or last month but focusing on the feelings you have now, today. Through this process your practitioner will help you identify the specific Bach Flowers that resonate with your emotions so that your personalised mix is the right match. Your practitioner will also teach you about the flowers, and through that enable you to continue onward with self-help when you feel ready.

* The following chart gives an overview of the 38🌺

How have Bach flowers helped you get through upheaval? 🌺

31/12/2023

08/11/2023

There are some wonderful books out there on the Bach Flower remedies, written by registered Bach Practitioners and Trainers . This a a great opportunity to meet two of the most “Bach qualified and experienced” trainers and authors to get to know more about these books and connect with others who share a love and passion for these amazing flower remedies.
To Register email
[email protected]
🌿🍁🌺🌷🌾

If you are free this Saturday 11th why not join Nicola Hanefeld and myself at 15:30 UK time for the penultimate Book Club meeting. DM me or see link in comments to sign up.
We’ll be discussing my book and you’ll be able to comment/ask questions and also spend time in small groups helping you connect to the worldwide Bach Flower community. 🌺

26/05/2023

This is a wonderful description of how Aspen can support that underlying anxiety that doesn’t seem to have a label or a name 🌿🎋

Beneath the canopy of the huge Aspen tree in the garden. Leaves seem to shiver even with no apparent breeze. This one of the 38 Bach flowers is for those of you who have a heightened sensitivity to any changes in your environment. You feel an anxiety at the edge of your awareness yet cannot ascertain why — perhaps you experience an internal fluttering, or tingling skin. You might keep these anxieties to yourself because they are unspecified however it does not make them insignificant — it’s about finding ways to manage your finely tuned antenna and to experience the advantages of what can be an intuitive sensitivity without feeling compromised. Aspen will help you do that. It is one of the Bach flowers which Dr Bach assigned to the group for Fear. The others are Cherry Plum: fear of losing control; Mimulus: known fears; Red Chestnut: fear for loved ones; Rock Rose: panic — so if you have any fears, there are Bach flowers that can help you soothe and transform those feelings.

17/04/2023

The Bach Flower remedy system has many options that will gently “build you up” to becoming the best version of yourself 🌻

Imposter syndrome is where you doubt your own ability, undermine your own accomplishments, and believe that you're not really capable of doing your job, despite evidence to the contrary. You live in fear of being found out. It's an issue that is quite frequently raised by clients and students. It's as if we learn to breathe in a fear of failure to dampen any sense of achievement.

Learning to trust your lived experience rather than the internal narrative that diminishes you is important to your well-being. And if that narrative is fed by those around you who may project their own inadequacies or insecurities onto you, then is it time to look through a new lens on knowing who you are and where your place is on this earth?

Therapy can be helpful to unpack what is at the core of your imposter syndrome however we don't always need to rehash the story. It's enough to know we wrote the script about imposter syndrome and built the case of evidence to support its 'validity'.

A little example: whenever I'd say to my parents I was thinking of doing something they would say in a doubtful voice "oh, do you think you can?' It was a steady drip feed. So when something would then occur where I would be left wanting (e.g. stuck up a very high tree), I had a piece of evidence that told me that they were right to doubt my ability and therefore I must too. And over the years, I'd build the case. So, it doesn't have to be the big emotional stuff that creates the sense of inadequacy that can develop into imposter syndrome, it can be smaller things too.

If, despite evidence to the contrary, you tell yourself that you expect failure and won't succeed, and there is a fear of being found out, then Larch and Mimulus would be a good match for those feelings. If you hide your vulnerability behind a mask of bonhomie, then Agrimony is the Bach flower to reach for. If you're always seeking confirmation from others, then Cerato. If you're caught in the past revisiting every experience you've ever had to that "proves" it to you, try Honeysuckle. If your fear borders on panic, Rock Rose. If you keep pushing yourself too hard (as if the hounds of imposter syndrome are nipping at your heels), then consider Rock Water, Oak or Vine. There are 38 Bach flowers to choose from...

With a bespoke mix of remedies you'll be supported in gaining clarity of perspective, enabling you to embrace your talents and accomplishments and to step into the light of who you truly are.🌺

What are your experiences of Larch or Mimulus? 🌺

11/02/2023

There is a lot to be said for “living in the present moment” ……the Bach Flower remedy White Chestnut will help with an overactive mind, that can go round and round in circles, without arriving at a solution…..it could be ‘To Do” lists you keep going over and over, or a recent conversation with someone that you are replaying continually, or a disagreement with someone that keeps on igniting anger or resentfulness…..White Chestnut will calm and settle the mind down to a point where you can return to the present and live in the moment where your life is actually happening and where solutions are created 🌹🌻