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?🌺
