Flower remedies and hypnosis? It may seem strange for a hypnotherapist to use and recommend the Bach flower remedies. Yet I do believe that healing can occur on many levels, including the energetic (vibrational) level.
My belief is that therapies can be combined, hence why I often suggest hypnosis and flower remedies, along with meridian tapping and aromatherapy. And why not? I don’t subscribe to espousing that one therapy is more effective than another. It’s a case of different strokes for different folks.
I’ve been merging various therapies and Bach flower remedies since 2000. I find they work in a gentle way, and support the other methods I use to help people.
The discovery of Dr Bach’s flower remedies
Many people find flower remedies helpful for emotional issues. Bach’s ‘Rescue Remedy’ is without doubt one of the most well-known for bringing about relief after trauma. The flower remedies are made up of extracts from plants that have a positive effect for various emotional problems. Dr Edward Bach (1886 to 1936) discovered this therapeutic healing method, which he found had a restorative effect from fears, anxiety and many other emotional states. They work by releasing the negative emotional state into its opposite.
Since Dr Bach’s initial discovery of the power of flower remedies, many others have been found to be effective, including those made from plants found in the Australian outback.
How to use flower essences
Using the flower remedies can help to lessen the negative effects (noted as keywords) and bring out the higher aspect of each one. More than one flower essence can be used, but no more than five is recommended. They can be taken as four drops under the tongue, or mixed into water and sipped, about four times a day.
It does take time for the flower essences to work their magic, so be patient!
List of remedies
Here’s a list of Dr Bach’s original formulas with a brief outline for each one:
Agrimony:
For those who find arguments and conflict challenging to deal with. They will do anything to keep the peace, even if it’s detrimental to themselves. They tend to have inner torments and worries, which they hide behind a smile and sense of humour. Even their closest friends and family aren’t always privy to their woes. They can use alcohol or drugs (sometimes to excess) to numb their worries.
Keywords: Unhappiness, insomnia, anxiety, inner torment, addiction.
Higher Aspect: Ability to be open about your concerns, laugh at your problems, resolve to confront others when necessary.
Aspen:
For those with unexplained, vague fears that have no known cause. A feeling of impending doom, or something awful is about to happen, although unsure precisely what that is. A sense of being haunted by these fears and unable to reach out to others to tell them.
Keywords: Worry and fear of unknown origin.
Higher Aspect: Inner sense of safety and security, being open to new experiences.
Beech:
For those who are critical, intolerant and judgmental of others.
Keywords: Judgement, criticism, intolerant, dismissive of others.
Higher Aspect: Tolerance of others, understanding and appreciation that others may have a different way of doing things. Accepting others as they are.
Centaury:
For those who over-extend themselves in their service towards others. These are the kind, gentle souls who give more than they should to others in their desire to help others, ending up servants rather than assistants. They do more than their own fair of work, neglecting to concentrate on what’s important to them. Lack of self-value.
Keywords: Difficulty saying ‘no’, weak-willed, tiredness, lack of energy, imposed upon, passive, quiet.
Higher Aspect: Values self. The ability for self-development and increased motivation to reach their own goals.
Cerato:
For those who have insufficient confidence in themselves and so repeatedly seek guidance from others.
Keywords: Lack of confidence in their own judgement. Always seeking another’s opinion.
Higher Aspect: Confidence in own judgement and intuition about people and situations. Increased inner security. Making their decisions easily.
Cherry Plum:
For those who feel mentally and emotionally over-strained and fear of losing their minds, and the desire to take the impulsive wrong action. Worry they will break down. Feeling of rage. Fear of losing control. Desperation and extreme despair.
Keywords: Fear of losing control and of breakdown, explosive temper, tantrum, feeling afraid of yourself. Suicidal thoughts. Deep despair and worry that they are going to ‘lose it.’
Higher Aspect: Peace of mind, being in control of yourself, calmness and self-control regardless of the situation.
Chestnut Bud:
For those who do not learn the lessons of the past. Tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. Regret over past mistakes. Unable to learn from other’s mistakes. Scatter-brained, inattentive, easily distracted.
Keywords: Repeating mistakes, doesn’t learn from the past, inability to evaluate situations, inattentive to what’s going on around them, distracted.
Higher Aspect: Able to process past experiences quickly and learns from them. Strong attention span. Attentive to the world around them and takes in information with ease.
Chicory:
For those who tend to over-care for others, especially children, family and friends. A tendency to correct what they perceive as wrong, enjoy looking after others. Tend to be critical and manipulative, nagging, demand others to take note of their advice. Feels hurt when others ignore their advice. Overly possessive. The need to feel needed.
Keywords: Over-protective, possessive, easily offended, manipulation, controlling of loved ones, giving to receive, smothering.
Higher Aspect: Loves others but lets them get on with their lives, loves unconditionally without expecting something in return, no need for appreciation. Caring without trying to control others.
Clematis:
For those who appear to daydream through life, live in a fantasy world, not fully awake to the reality around them, no interest in the situation around them, lives in the future rather than the present. Hope for the future rather than working to make the present good. Gives into illness rather than actively seeking to get well. Retreats into a fantasy world when life becomes complicated as a coping mechanism. Tends to be forgetful. Prone to fainting.
Keywords: Withdrawal from life, lacks concentration, daydreaming, accident-prone as not paying attention. Sleepiness.
Higher Aspect: Clarity, a clear mind, attentive, works in the present to make a better future. Feels grounded. Easily interacts with the world around them.
Crab Apple:
For those who feel unclean, impure, obsessive and tendency towards perfectionism. Fixation with details. Sense of self-loathing. Aversion to bodily functions or sex, fear of disease. Excessively tidy, obsessive over housework. Thinks there is something about them which needs to be ‘cured’ and gets frustrated that it can’t seem to be.
Keywords: Poor self-image, feels unclean, obsessive.
Higher Aspect: Able to see things in proportion, ability to concentrate on what’s essential rather than fixating on details unnecessarily. Relaxed within themselves and their surroundings. Good self-image.
Elm:
They do their best at their job, but the pressures and responsibilities associated with their work feel overwhelming. Feeling pressured can lead to stress and a feeling of being unable to cope. Exhaustion due to overwork.
Keywords: Overwhelm, overloaded, pressured, stress, unable to cope, exhaustion.
Higher Aspect: Ability to take sufficient rest, calm, feeling in control, able to prioritize and delegate tasks, ability to reach goals confidently. Concentrates on doing meaningful work.
Gentian:
For those who feel depressed from a known cause or disappointment, have a sense of pessimism and are easily discouraged, unable to cope with small delays or any hindrance to progress. Feel like giving in. A tendency to self-doubt and scepticism.
Keywords: Discouraged, depressed, pessimistic, defeatist.
Higher Aspect: Perseverance, ability to try again with a positive mindset, developing resilience, ready to take on challenges.
Gorse:
For those who feel hopelessness. No longer believes that anything can be done for them. Will undergo treatments to please others but thinks there is no hope of relieving their problem. Depression they are unable to lift.
Keywords: Hopelessness, despair, pessimistic, depressed, despondency.
Higher Aspect: Positivity, belief that things can turn out well, hopeful.
Heather:
For those who are over-concerned with themselves and feel the need to seek out the company of others to discuss their problems. Feel unhappy when alone, demand attention, talkative. Preoccupied with their problems.
Keywords: Preoccupied with problems. Egocentric thinking, attention-seeking, talkative.
Higher Aspect: Able to listen and be interested in others, empathy, sensitivity to others, respect boundaries, able to think through one’s own problems.
Holly:
For those who experience jealousy and envy, suspicion and anger. Inner suffering gives rise to resenting another’s happiness.
Keywords: Jealousy, envy, suspicion, anger, resentfulness, spite.
Higher Aspect: Increases empathy for others, loving understanding of oneself and others. Ability to take others at face value.
Honeysuckle:
For those who dwell in the past. Nostalgic for what went before, such as friends or ambitions that didn’t materialize. Believes the future can never be as good as the past. Regret over missed opportunities. Lacking attention to the present.
Keywords: Nostalgia, over-attachment to memories of the past, sentimentality,
Higher Aspect: Ability to let go of the past, releasing painful memories, able to concentrate on the here and now, can put the past into perspective. Ability to move forward with life.
Hornbeam:
For those who are mentally exhausted, tired out, fatigued at the thought of the day ahead, work feels overwhelming, giving rise to a tendency to procrastinate. Dreads each new day. Doubts own ability to complete tasks.
Keywords: Mental exhaustion, fatigue, tiredness, Monday morning blues, lack of enthusiasm for tasks, bored.
Higher Aspect: Increased enthusiasm, plenty of get up and go, interest in completing tasks. Strengthens mental capacity and exuberance.
Impatiens:
For those who rush through the day, do things as speedily as possible, live on their nerves, too hasty, impatience with others who they consider ‘too slow’, tries to hurry others. Likes to work alone so they can work with the ‘hindrance’ of others. Speaks quickly and tends to be clipped and tense, can be rude to and about other people.
Keywords: Impatient, easily irritated, nervy, hasty, fidgety, accident-prone.
Higher Aspect: Able to enjoy a more relaxed pace of life, patience and understanding of others, calming (particularly where there has been trauma). A balanced life.
Larch:
For those who think they are not good enough. Consider others are more capable. Compare themselves unfavourably with others, who doubt they can succeed in life and therefore do not attempt to achieve success. They believe they will fail. Lack of self-confidence. Lacks initiative due to self-doubt.
Keywords: Inferiority complex, lack of confidence, easily discouraged, expects to fail.
Higher Aspect: Self-confidence, ability to take risks, resilience, self-value, respect for one’s own skills and talents. Vigour in pursuing success.
Mimulus:
For those who have a fear of known things, worry over illness, pain and accidents, fear of poverty, scared of the dark and of being alone. Afraid of heights. Worry about future misfortune. Everyday concerns. Tend to blush easily. Shy and timid. Lack of courage. Social anxiety. Tend to keep their fears and worries to themselves for fear of ridicule.
Keywords: Lacks courage, shy, timid, fears and phobias, shame.
Higher Aspect: Courageous, brave, daring, able to face fears, sees things with clarity.
Mustard:
For those who suffer deep gloom and depression of unknown cause, even when life is going well. A dark cloud that suddenly descends over a person and can just lift of its own accord, but comes and goes for no known reason. Feelings of isolation and seclusion.
Keywords: Depression, doom and gloom, isolated,
Higher Aspect: Brightness, clear thinking, joy, cheerfulness.
Oak:
For those who have a misplaced and excessive sense of duty. Goes past the point when they should stop. Never wants to give up and take time off. Lacks a sense of internal boundaries. Too ready to help others.
Keywords: Overly dutiful, overworking, takes on too much responsibility, workaholic, over-achiever, exhaustion.
Higher Aspect: Self-care, ability to restore self, rest and recuperation, ability to use time economically and effectively.
Olive:
For those who feel burdened and utterly exhausted, their batteries are completely empty from overwork or over-thinking. Mental and physical suffering.
Keywords: Complete mental and physical exhaustion, weighed down, tiredness and weakness after illness, fatigue due to overwork, lethargy,
Higher Aspect: Charges one’s batteries, vitality, vivacity, regaining strength, joie de vivre.
Pine:
For those who blame themselves, experience guilty feelings, always feel they should have done better, self-critical, shame and self-blame. Sense of wrong-doing for no cause.
Keywords: Guilt, shame, sorry, unworthiness, undeserving, crippling perfectionism.
Higher Aspect: Self-appreciation, valuing oneself and one’s efforts, happy in your own skin.
Red Chestnut:
For those who are overly anxious about others, care more for others than themselves. Afraid something will happen to your loved ones. Self-sacrificing.
Keywords: Over-concern, worry for others, fear for others, over-protectiveness,
Higher Aspect: Appropriate care for others, allows others freedom, provides proper security for others. Able to concentrate on oneself.
Rock Rose:
For those who are frozen with fear, feel terror and panic-stricken, trembling.
Keywords: Immobilized with fear, terror, nightmares, sudden emergency, panic, deep anxiety.
Higher Aspect: Relaxed, able to put things into perspective, can calmly handle the situation.
Rock Water:
For those who deny themselves the joys of life because they feel duty-bound to work. They are the taskmasters of themselves. They are far too strict and set far too high standards, to the point of self-martyrdom. Excessive perfectionism. They consider that others should follow their example.
Keywords: Self-sacrificing, extreme perfectionism, overly strict, repression, overwork.
Higher Aspect: Lenient towards yourself and others, able to enjoy the good things in life.
Sclearanthus:
For those who find it challenging to make a choice between two things, vacillating between the two. Generally quiet, indecisive, uncertain. A tendency towards mood swings.
Keywords: Indecision, uncertainty, dizziness, hesitancy, imbalance.
Higher Aspect: Ability to make a choice and trust in it. Mood swings decrease and inner balance increases. Able to make decisions easily.
Star of Bethlehem:
For those who suffer great distress, physical, mental or emotional shock, the sudden loss of a loved one, aftershock following an accident. Unable to recover or to seek consolation.
Keywords: Post-traumatic stress, shock, unprocessed grief or trauma, past abuse or mistreatment.
Higher Aspect: Ability to release the after-effects of shocking news or trauma, softens blocked and frozen emotions to enable them to release and let go. Able to speak about problems and work through them.
Sweet Chestnut:
For those who are at the end of their tether. Feel in the pit of despair and who simply feel they have to give in to their feelings. When life feels that it has nothing left to offer but deep sadness and more of the same. Feeling destroyed by life.
Keywords: Extreme despondency, at breaking point, mental anguish, at the limits of one’s endurance. Intense sorrow.
Higher Aspect: Regains hope and faith in the outcome, able to accept support from others. Gain clarity about your situation. Ready to feel back in control and in the flow of life’s events.
Vervain:
For those who have a fixed mindset. They stubbornly hold onto fixed ideas and principles. Always think they are right and rarely change their minds Tend to preach their ideas to others with a view to ‘converting’ others to their way of thinking. Strength in their convictions. The intrusive ‘do-gooder.’ Tend to struggle on through illness.
Keywords: Over-enthusiastic, highly-strung, strong-minded, hyper-active, fanatical thinking pattern. Poor sleep.
Higher Aspect: Able to relax and let go of the need to be ‘right’ and convert others to your way of thinking. Open communication with others.
Vine:
For those who are overly confident of their own ability and tend to want others to do things their way. Capable and talented but a tendency to be inflexible, can be bullying or aggressive. Tend to want to dominate others, know-it-all who puts others down.
Keywords: Domineering, aggressive, bullying, capable. Power-hungry. Too direct. Insensitive.
Higher Aspect: Fair leadership, understanding of the opinion of others, lenient authority.
Walnut:
For those who although wanting to achieve specific goals in life. They have a tendency to be waylaid by the strong influence of others. In periods of significant change. Interrupted work pattern. Doubts surrounding making a new start.
Keywords: Change, puberty, menopause, moving on, letting go of the past, protection from negative energy from others.
Higher Aspect: Adjustment to change, ability to move on, breaking old habits, determination to reach goals.
Water Violet:
For those who isolate themselves from others, crave solitude. Keep themselves to themselves, quiet and unobtrusive, gifted or talented in some way. Can appear condescending of others. Do not enjoy physical familiarity, such as hugs. Live too much in their heads, cut off from their feelings.
Keywords: Aloof, proud, loneliness, anti-social, private, stand-offish, live and let live.
Higher Aspect: More open to communicating with others, more relaxed about one’s vulnerability, sense of connection to your social circle. Increased empathy for others.
White Chestnut:
For those who are unable to prevent thoughts and ideas from repetitively circling in their minds, repeating arguments mentally, especially when bored. Mental torture that stops one from being able to get on with the daily tasks. Insomnia. Constant worrying interferes with mental clarity and leads to exhaustion.
Keywords: Cluttered thinking, repeated mental arguments, unwanted thoughts, interrupted sleep.
Higher Aspect: Calm mind, clarity in thinking, ordered thoughts, mind at rest and able to recuperate. Release of negative thinking patterns.
Wild Oat:
For those who want to achieve greatness in life but are uncertain what path to follow. Scattered goals lead to a sense of dissatisfaction with life. Feeling at a crossroads unsure what direction to take. No particular calling in life comes immediately to mind. Difficulty in making important decisions.
Keywords: Drifting from one project to the next, uncertainty, indecisiveness, lack of clarity in life. No sense of direction.
Higher Aspect: Ability to determine one’s true calling, able to visualize the path ahead and stick to it.
Wild Rose:
For those who simply accept their lot in life, they trudge along uncomplaining, resignation and lack of ambition to achieve anything. Inability to make positive changes. Emotionally empty.
Keywords: Lack of motivation, no ambition, apathy, resignation, submissive, absence of interest in life
Higher Aspect: Spark of enthusiasm for life, motivation, courage and ability to try new things.
Willow:
For those who have felt the slings and arrows of adversity and experienced misfortune. Embittered by the past and all they have gone through. Withdrawal for previously enjoyed interests and hobbies.
Keywords: Self-pity, victim mentality, blame mentality, complaining nature, bitterness, resentment against others for whom things appear to come easily, suppressed anger.
Higher Aspect: Good humour, ability to forgive and forget, accept responsibility for making positive changes, ‘if it’s to be, it’s up to me,’ taking what happened in the past and moving on.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about flower remedies. Which one is the remedy that most resonates with you? See below for further resources, such as books and kits, that you’ll find interesting!
Did you like this blog? Share it with your friends!
And there’s more…
Do you have a secret desire to write a book? Then everything you need to know about writing a book is right here - click on the link: 40 Days To A Finished Book!
Want to create big change in your life and have yourself some freedom from the daily 9 to 5 grind? Click on the link: Learn how to step into your best life by gaining the skills that you need!
To find out more about flower remedies, I recommend the following:
The Encyclopedia of Bach Flower Therapy is a great book that details the individual essences and their properties in great detail. It’s a storehouse of information and uses and is essential reading to take your knowledge of flower remedies to a higher level. Buy this book! Click on the link below: The Encyclopedia of Bach Flower Therapy:
If you fancy treating yourself to the entire range – especially useful if you’re a therapist – this is a fantastic gift to yourself. A brilliant birth or Christmas present idea! Buy this now! Click on the link below: Bach Original Flower Remedy Wooden Box Set, (38 x 20 ml)
Flower essence therapy can also be given to animals, and this book is a handy guide on how to use them with beloved pets: Bach Flower Remedies for Animals – Gregory Vlamis and Helen Graham - Click on the link to discover more - https://amzn.to/2QbJQHn
Take a look at another of my blogs – click on the link: Can Switchwords Change Your Life? (ruthybaker.com)
Did you like this blog? You know, sharing is caring, right? So please share it with your friends!
To be updated with my latest blogs, books and courses – please fill in the contact form - Click on the Menu and then click Contact - I’ll be thrilled to hear from you!
© Ruthy Baker 2020