Chrysalis Healing Foundation

13/12/2025

Each one of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness. Most of the activity in society is subconsciously designed to quell the voice crying in the wilderness within you. The mystic Thomas a Kempis said that when you go out into the world, you return having lost some of yourself. Until you learn to inhabit your aloneness, the lonely distraction and noise of society will seduce you into false belonging, with which you will only become empty and weary. When you face your aloneness, something begins to happen. Gradually, the sense of bleakness changes into a sense of true belonging. This is a slow and open-ended transition but it is utterly vital in order to come into rhythm with your own individuality. In a sense this is the endless task of finding your true home within your life. It is not narcissistic, for as soon as you rest in the house of your own heart, doors and windows begin to open outwards to the world. No longer on the run from your aloneness, your connections with others become real and creative. You no longer need to covertly scrape affirmation from others or from projects outside yourself. This is slow work; it takes years to bring your mind home.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the book, Eternal Echoes
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

County Clare Cottage, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

22/11/2025

Many different strands of your past experience begin to weave together until gradually the new direction announces itself. Its voice is sure with the inevitability of the truth. When your life-decisions emerge in this way from the matrix of your experience, they warrant your trust and commitment. When you can choose in this way, you move gracefully within the deeper rhythm of your soul. The geography of your destiny is always clearer to the eye of your soul than to the intentions and needs of your surface mind.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his book, Eternal Echoes.
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Landing at Shannon, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

13/11/2025

Did you know that today is World Kindness Day? How will kindness influence your day?

In the Bach flower system, the remedy which is most immediately indicative of kindness is Centaury. Dr Bach described one Centaury client: ‘owing to his kind, gentle, willing nature, he was apt to be imposed upon by others’ — which can be the challenge for Centaury types in knowing when and how to say ‘no’ in a way that is not hurtful. They are sensitive souls who can quietly struggle at times.

In his little book The Twelve Healers & Other Remedies (available as a free download from the Bach Centre), Dr Bach explains Centaury as:

‘Kind, quiet, gentle people who are over anxious to serve others. They overtax their strengt in their endeavours. Their wish so grows upon them that they become more servants than willing helpers. Their good nature leads them to do more than their own share of work, and in so doing they may neglect their own particular mission in life.’

As an exercise in learning more of Centaury, observe the behaviours within your own relationships and in those around you. For example, a parent and child, a couple, colleagues at work, service providers etc — is the Centaury personality type being a door-mat to a stronger personality? And which Bach flowers might that be?

We can all do with being more kind. To others, and to self. In these uncertain times, unconditional kindness will surely help us all in raising the vibration that the world needs.

Notice the kindnesses in your day today.Are they Centaury or another Bach flower?🌺

❤️

12/11/2025

“We have much to discover, but we must not be afraid of the task.”

Although Mimulus will grow on damp, marshy ground it is more commonly seen where the water flows swift and clear. When sitting by the plant, preparing an essence, the most striking perception is often the noise: the sound of water as it streams over rocks. The water must be crystal clear for Mimulus to grow happily.

These two things, sound and the purity of water, combine to show the first aspect of the Mimulus essence. In his earliest description, Bach spoke of Mimulus types as having ‘a marked desire for quietness, aversion to talking and to being questioned’. Later he mentioned ‘fear of…crowds, of noise, of talking of being alone’. This has been extended to indicate a generally nervous disposition and a desire for tranquillity. Mimulus people are hypersensitive to their environment, and avoid conflict. Their delicacy and sensitivity lead them to shy away from the rough and tumble of life. We might picture a child covering its ears and running away from fireworks, seeking protection. They are delicate flowers we might say. Yet here we have a plant which lives in mountain streams, often overhanging the water, on the edge of rocks, or tumbling down a rock face. Perhaps it is driven to the edge.

As much as anything it is this fact that Mimulus lives dangerously which speaks of the inner nature of the plant. Other plants, with less of a firm hold on life, might be swept away by the flooding stream in winter. Other plants choose to live securely in the hedge or shelter safely at the edge of a wood; not Mimulus. It can be found clinging, precariously to a ledge in the water-shoot of a mill wheel, where the driving force of the millstream pours constantly across its roots, splashing the stems and flowers. The roaring of the cascade ever present.”

Extract from Form & Function by Julian Barnard

https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/the-language-of-plants/mimulus/

23/10/2025

Peeling the layers. We can never know precisely what may be hidden in the layers of emotions that we’ve spent decades covering up as a defence mechanism or coping strategy to deal with situations and relationships that have left their mark. With the Bach flowers, you don’t need to go digging for those imprints. You simply listen to how you feel right now, in this present moment. Willow resentment? Heather neediness? Holly spite? Or any of the other Bach flowers….

Unhealed emotions can, as time goes on, become embodied and contribute to destabilising our health. If after difficult times you have a tendency to just push on with things, rather than allowing yourself the quality of time and attention you need to holistically heal, you may be surprised by what is still with you. In my own experiences of deeply embedded ‘flower states’ I’ve discovered some (including Sweet Chestnut) when coming around after surgical intervention — which is an extreme way to discover them. Not recommended! However, certainly a catalyst to become more tuned in to the wake-up calls when there is a lot going on in life, and adjusting and taking the flower mix as required.

When you take your drops on a regular basis, they will gently do their work in helping you to resolve your current imbalances and reveal the next layer. And so you progress, learning about yourself, recognising what you need to heal, let go of, reconcile, forgive, love….

None of us are the finished masterpiece, we are each a work in progress, layer by layer, emotion by emotion until, as Dr Bach said, the soul and personality are in harmony and all is joy and peace, happiness and health.

What layers have been revealed to you on your healing journey? 🌺

10/10/2025

20/09/2025

Where have you noticed any of these Bach flower emotions on display?

After the previous post on Rock Water, here's a little review of the other 4 Bach Flowers that are also in the same group: Over-care for the Welfare of Others. When we initially look at the harsher qualities of ...

Beech: Intolerant, critical
Chicory: Manipulative, possessive
Rock Water: Self-denial, perfectionist
Vervain: Zealous, opinionated
Vine: Controlling, forceful ...
..then it can feel quite contrary to the notion of over-care that Dr Bach applied to these remedies. In my book, I summarised this group as:

"When something or someone matters to us a great deal, it can fuel a drive and determination that has the potential to seem intimidating to those who experience the world differently. There are rarely half-measures in the motivation influence, inform or inspire, and yet this output can be tainted by our own unmet needs where we demonstrate our care of others by being too controlling.

The five remedies in this group highlight how we can smooth out our rough edges, and through emotional wisdom learn the nuances of the ebb and flow of life. You can discover compassion for yourself and for the people in your life. With a renewed lightness of being you can respect their story, accept your own, and discover new ways on how the journey could be shared."

In peeling the layers to your lived experience, you find that:

Beech: Tolerance, compassion
Chicory: Loving, generous
Rock Water: Flexible, accepting
Vervain: Broadminded, inspiring
Vine: Wise leadership

How have any of these Bach flowers helped you? 🌺

07/09/2025

The spirit of a time is an incredibly subtle, yet hugely powerful force. And it is comprised of the mentality and spirit of all individuals together. Therefore, the way you look at things is not simply a private matter. Your outlook actually and concretely affects what goes on. When you give in to helplessness, you collude with despair and add to it. When you take back your power and choose to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of renewal and encouragement in the world. In this way, even in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent of transformation in a broken, darkened world. There is a huge force field that opens when intention focuses and directs itself toward transformation.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from his books, Benedictus (Europe) / To Bless the Space Between Us (US)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Sunrise, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

03/09/2025

We might well envy Dr Bach’s freedom to wander in nature communing with plants and discovering their language of healing.

Life today makes it hard to slow down and find peace. Noise and technology make their way into every nook and cranny of solitude and peace.

Perhaps this lack of true peace is why society is becoming less patient and why tolerance for different views can be so hard to come by.

And perhaps this makes Impatiens increasingly important as an essence for our times.

Impatiens brings peace and gentleness, which is quite in contrast to its behaviour.

Impatiens grows at tremendous speed. Over the space of a couple of months the early germinating seedlings will go from a few millimetres to 6 feet or more. This is a plant focused on taking action for itself and not being deeply rooted in the ground. The explosive growth will shade out other plants as Impatiens races to flower.

As the seed heads form, tension builds up until the slightest touch causes them to explode shooting seeds out far from the parent plant.

The balance to all of this can be seen in the way the flowers hang in delicate balance on the stem. The message of the pale mauve flowers selected to make the essence is to have a little more patience and awareness of the needs of others.

Impatiens is an essence of patience and compassion, understanding that there is space for all if we just come back home to ourselves.

https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/the-language-of-plants/impatiens/

31/05/2025

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.

May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from 'A Morning Offering' found in his books,
To Bless the Space Between Us (US) / Benedictus (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

22/05/2025

If we set everybody and everything around us at liberty, we find that in return we are richer in love and possessions than ever we were before, for that love that gives freedom is the great love that binds the closer. [Bach]

This is the message of Vine essence.

Vine types are extremely competent, focused and decisive. Whilst this makes them dependable in some situations, it can lead to rather rigid views and an intolerance of alternative approaches. They believe their way is the right way, the only way.

In more extreme cases this resistance to alternatives and inflexibility can lead to bullying behaviour.

Vines have been cultivated for wine for millennia and the sight of regimented rows of is one we can all recognise.

Wild vines, on the other hand, have a fluid and free form. They ramble and explore.

This is the message of the essence – let go of the need for control and live life. There is a softening of the heart that comes with Vine essence which is so necessary to be present with the fullness of life.

Julian Barnard shares more of the lessons of Vine in this video on the Bach Educational Resource.

https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/the-language-of-plants/vine/

01/05/2025

“We must gain our freedom absolutely and completely, so that all we do, our every action – nay even our every thought – derives its origin in ourselves, thus enabling us to live and give freely of our own accord, and of our own accord alone” Bach from Collected Writings

Walnut has often been used in new or challenging situations, a trustworthy companion on journeys to new places or when just unsettled. It is perhaps especially useful in the turbulent wake of the global dynamics at this time.

It has a clear role in helping us to settle and calm but its purpose runs deeper still. Walnut is an invitation to come back to yourself.

When all around you is on shifting sands, there is one constant that Walnut asks you to cling to.

Yourself.

Walnut will help you to be true to yourself and to stay on course with your personal mission in life.

When you feel disconnected from your truth, Walnut will guide you back home.

https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/the-language-of-plants/walnut/