Highlighting the Simplicity and the Uniqueness of Bach Flower Therapy
Before Dr. Edward Bach achieved to elaborate the 38 essences known as the "Bach Flower Essences" he was a successful bacteriologist and homeopathic physician. Dr. Edward Bach strongly felt a connection with Samuel Hahnemann, Hippocrates, Paracelsus, and shared their view and belief that "there are no diseases, only sick people."
It sounds a very simple statement but we all know about the complexity that resides in the uniqueness of each individual, and for this reason, a comprehensive approach is needed when we need to adequately make a use of the Bach Flower Remedies and apply the right remedies for a specific healing purposes to a different and unique individuals.
One could say that the Bach Flower Remedies rank among of the most successful of the subtle methods of healing similar to the classical homeopathy of Samuel Hahnemann, the anthroposophical medicine and the spagyric medicine, simply because they do not act directly via the physical bod but at a more subtle level (subtle body system) that indirectly influence the human energy system, and in consequence, they can affect the physical body at the same time.
Despite this understanding of the subtle dimensions, we can say that even today is very difficult to categorize the Bach Flower System, but making an attempt to extract the simplicity of its healing approach, we can ask ourselves the following question to try to come up with some basic answers or ideas that summarize its healing approach:
What differentiates the Bach Flower System from other subtle healing systems in the West?
- Simplicity as a basic principle. The concept "simplicity" is related to fundamental principles such as unity, perfection and harmony. Everybody is attracted, not necessarily consciously, to the simple things in life. To grasp the unity and simplicity that lie behind our complex world is very necessary to not only have objectivity and perceptiveness but also a fundamental readiness to see oneself as part of a whole, the part that in the final instance is governed by a simple, holistic, and creative principle.
- The criteria for the choice of plants. Dr. Bach made use of the plants with "high vibrations."
- A new form of diagnosis. Instead of concentrating on the physical symptoms, the Bach Flower System relies on "disharmonies" or negative human behavior patterns, similar to but more comprehensive than homeopathic methods.
- A broader spectrum of conceptualization: Dr. Bach's approach is based on a frame of reference that rises above the boundaries of a single human personality and extends into spiritual dimensions.
- The method of production. Dr. Bach's natural means of production (we could call this "simple method") differs from all other methods known to Western medicine. The methods he developed were the "sun method" and the "boiling method." These two methods release the healing energy of the flowers from their material form, allowing in this way their energy to bind to the water as a carrier substance. This method produces a more stable energetic pattern than those found in homeopathic remedies.
- A harmless effect. Their harmless effects make the Bach Flower Remedies a risk-free system to use in self-healing and therefore available to far more people than other subtle healing systems. Dr. Bach's vision was that the Flower Essences would someday find their way into the medicine chest of every household. The personality traits and emotional states that were described by Dr. Bach are archetypal behavior patterns of human nature (they aren't symptoms of illness).
- A gentle and self-regulating effect. Bach Flower Essences work at a subtle level and its impulses are not directly seen or observed. They communicate information through specific high vibrations that stimulate our emotional and mental self-healing forces. They produce no side effects and the method itself is compatible with all other forms of therapy and healing modalities.
- The main therapeutic goal is to "heal thyself." The main point of healing thyself is that the call is upon each person to take responsibility for his or her own life. Dr. Bach in this way, stretched the idea that all human beings hold within themselves whatever they need for their own healing.
"The remedies to be described are beneficent in action, and cause no aggravation nor reaction for their effect is to uplift."
- Dr. Edward Bach, 1930.