Intro of Dr Edward Bach

Dr Edward Bach

The Bach flower remedies inherited its name from Dr Edward Bach (1886-1936),  who was a qualified British Allopathic doctor and bacteriologist. Later he studied homeopathy and spent his year practicing it thats when he discovered the hidden potential lies with in the flowers, which led to the invention of present day Bach Flower remedies.

As a child, he was very  intrigued by nature and her healing powers. He had a deep compassion for all who suffered. In hospitals he saw patients taking medicines but often didn’t respond well to them. This made him wonder why. He then started to observe people and found that they had different temperaments: Anxiety, Anger, hesitantations, reluctantancy etc. He did lot of research testing patients blood and stool and found most outstanding similarity in the bowel pictures; people with one group all had the same bowel climate and the same bacterial imbalance in the bowel flora .

He categorized these into 7 different bowel floras and made a very interesting discovery – he found that each of these coincide with a different temperamental group /personality type. He realised then that  there is a strong link between the “gut”, the bowel, “gut reactions” and the mental /emotional set.

Based on these findings, he formulated the “Bowel Nosodes”. These are in use even today in Homeopathic remedies. He administered these to patients hoping to uplift their whole organism and their mind by cleansing the bowel system. He then began to prescribe his nosodes solely by observing the patients personality types and temperaments.

However he was not fully satisfied with this approach. He  realised  that he was putting the cart before the horse. Because the real cause was in the mind and the body subsequently manifested that imbalance on the bowel system.

 He felt that there must be a way to heal the mental/emotional conditions directly before the problem  manifest them self on the physical level. In 1930 Bach briefly summarized the clinically derived  indication for most of the nosodes. In 1930 he stopped the research on Bowel nosodes and discovered “Bach flower remedies”.

He started experimenting with flowers as he considered them to be gentle .With the right preparation these flowers became the source of 38 Bach Flower Remedies. He concluded that these 38 remedies are enough to cover all the negative emotional traits  linked with any person.

Some of Dr. Bach Sayings

“The action of these remedies is to raise our vibrations and open up  our channels for the reception of the spiritual self, to flood our natures with the particular virtue he needs and wash out from us the fault that is causing the harm.”

“Take no notice of the disease, think only of the outlook of life of one in distress… There is no healing unless there is a change in outlook, peace of mind and inner happiness. …Cure not by attacking the disease, but by higher nature, in the presence of which disease melts away as snow in the sunshine”

How do these essences work?

The Bach Flower essences are a safe and natural method of healing. They gentely restore the balance between the mind and body by balancing out negative emotions such as fear, worry, hatred, blame etc, which interfere with the equilibrium of the being as a whole. The essence allow peace and happiness to return to the sufferer so that the body is free to heal itself.

How are Bach Essenses made ? 

The Bach Flower essences are made 100% naturally from spring water infused with wild flowers either by “sun methos” or by “boiling method”.

Sun Method

Dr Bach used this method for 20 of the remedies (for flowers which bloomin summer). The flowers are picked on a warm summer day in full sunshine. They are placed in aglass bowl with fresh spring water, taken, if possible from a sping close to the location of the flower. The bowl is placed in the sun for three to four hours. Dr Bach believed that sun with transfer the vibrations of the flower into the medium of the water, which in this way becomes energetically impregnated. Afterwards the flowers are removed from the solution and an equal portion of brandy (or ethyl alcohol) is added for prevention (Dr Bach used Brandy ). The derived solution is stored in a stock bottle.

Boiling Method

The remaining 18 remedies are prepared using this method for flowers that bloom early in the year.  The flowers and buds are picked on a fine sunny morning, put into two pints of spring water and placed over heat until the water  boils .After cooling down, the extract is filtered several times and mixed with an equal quantity of Brandy (or ethyl alcohol) as a preservative. This is a stock bottle.

Modern Systems

In todays time, new derivatives of flowers essences have come up, using flowers which are grown locally in different parts of the world. Some of the examples are

• Australian Bush Essences
• Master Flower Essences (USA)
• Flower Essence System (USA)
• Aum Himalayan Flower Essences (India)
• Findhorn Flower Essences (Scotland) etc

All of these systems use Dr Bach’s basic philosophy and methodology in appreciation of his great contribution to this system of healing. Dr Bach is recognised as the “Father of Flower Essences Therapy”.