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Back in the early 20th century, an English medical practitioner, Dr Edward Bach, realised the shortcomings of his profession, in which many of the treatments offered were either not very effective or caused the patient as much distress as, if not more than, their original ailment. So he dedicated his life to finding a method of treatment that would be safe, gentle, and effective. He intuitively felt that the answer lay in using non-toxic plants that grow naturally in the wild. He decided to float flowers in a bowl of pure spring water and leave them in the sun for a few hours. Then he discarded all plant material, retaining only the energized water.

Thus originated the flower essence therapy. In contrast to aromatherapy essential oils, with which they are so often confused, flower essences are perfectly odourless. Unlike the various other natural, plant-based remedies that most of us are familiar with, flower essences contain no physical plant material. They are an energy medicine and have no biochemically active ingredients at all. This therapy treats the mental/emotional state of the patient and unblocks the natural healing potential in the body, healing the person at the physical level. Concerns that you could become sick by taking a flower essence of a poisonous plant are simply not an issue.

In the decades since Dr Bach’s discovery, many people have made their own range of flower essences and many of them have pioneered new uses for flower essences. The basic principles, however, have remained much the same, although sometimes the essence is energised by placing pure water next to a plant, rather than floating plant material directly in the water. Though the healing power of flowers was first discovered by Dr Bach in 1930 (he discovered 38 flower remedies), Dr Malti Khaitan has taken the courageous step of introducing the flower cure therapy in a more simple way in India so that everyone can benefit from it. She has introduced 63 flower remedies in her professional life as a healer.

For actual use, flower essences are traditionally made in dropper bottles, often with brandy, especially if the mixture is to last more than a couple of weeks. If you sniff a bottle of flower essences expecting the wonderful scent of geranium or jasmine, all you will usually smell is brandy!

How do flower essences work?
Mother nature always has something more to offer than what meets the eye. Thus, flowers not only impart beauty to life but also enhance its quality by doing away with mental and emotional distress.

To use flower essences, you only need to take a few drops at a time. That’s how effective they are! And, unlike homoeopathy, their healing power is not diminished if they are taken together with food or drinks, or even tea or coffee. Flower essences don’t interfere or cause reactions with conventional medication either. This therapy works directly at all levels of our systems—spiritual, mental, and emotional, as well as directly at the individual cellular level.

Flower therapy takes into consideration the fact that every patient with a physical disease also has various emotional and mental disturbances, such as anxiety, terror, grief, self-pity, and hopelessness. The breakthrough is that the treatment of their mental or emotional state resolves these issues, which would further unblock the natural healing potential of the body. Thus, the body would then be able to do its own work in healing the person at the physical level.

For some people, flower essence therapy can work in quite a subtle way. You may take regular doses of a remedy and feel that nothing much is happening. Usually, there is no sudden observable shift or dramatic change. However, after a week or so, you cast your thoughts back and realise that today you are coping with your everyday life in a way, which wasn’t happening a week or so ago. For others, the results can be instantaneous and even dramatic. One young child we treated recently reported that when he took his first flower essence dose, everything ‘went still’ inside him. The feelings of panic and distress disappeared and calm descended. Flower essence therapy is an effective way of ‘burning up’ lots of unresolved problems in one quick ‘fire’. Rest assured that flower essences will never cause a bad reaction in which a patient’s condition worsens.

Flower essence therapy works best when you really want to change because not everyone suffering really wants to let go of the thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that are causing them suffering. If you are not ready or willing to let go, the treatment will be less likely to succeed. Moreover, you can’t force others to heal or secretly give them essences and expect the treatment to succeed.