Tag: Bach flower Vervain

Bach flower remedies for writers

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment

The Bach flower remedies are intended for self-help at times of emotional imbalance or life stress. Although their mode of action is not understood, and sceptics claim that they are ‘only’ placebos, they have gained world-wide popularity since being discovered in the 1930s by a British doctor, Edward Bach. There are 38 individual flower essences in the system, five of which are included in the well-known Rescue Remedy for use in crisis.

Having trained as a Bach flower practitioner myself, and run a client practice for several years, I have been impressed with how well most people respond to this safe and pleasant form of therapy. I have written a number of posts about them on my other WordPress blog, and a short ebook on Smashwords. Fuller information can be found on the Bach Centre website.

Four (fictional) case vignettes illustrating how these remedies might be helpful for writers are presented below. These are of course just simplistic examples; each writer has a unique personality and circumstances and is subject to the same challenges in life as anyone else. Remedies should always be selected on an individual basis according to the person’s current state of mind.

‘Lyn’ is a housewife and mother and freelance journalist who works from home. She is very efficient, but has difficulty in finding time and space for writing amid the demands and distractions of domestic life. Walnut to help her focus on her work despite what is happening around her; Centaury to be able to say ‘no’ when family members make unreasonable requests; and Elm to relieve her sense of being overburdened with responsibility.

‘Peter’ is determined to publish an influential book about improving healthcare for disadvantaged groups. After getting home from his full-time job he spends several hours writing and gets to bed very late, but his mind is so active that he cannot get to sleep. He is also feeling despondent and frustrated after having early drafts rejected by several agents. Vervain to help him relax and to moderate his over-enthusiasm for good causes; White Chestnut to calm his repetitive thoughts; Impatiens to curb his hastiness in submitting manuscripts before they are finished; and Gentian for his disappointment.

‘Sandra’ dreams of becoming a famous author, and has lots of different ideas for novels, but has not actually done much writing and often feels tired and unmotivated when she sits down at her desk to make a start. Clematis for becoming more grounded and putting ideas into practice; Hornbeam for the ‘Monday morning feeling’.

‘Matt’ has spent ten years on his first novel, making continually revisions but never quite feeling satisfied that it is good enough. Besides having doubts about the quality of his writing, he feels anxious about having his work read by other people, and about various aspects of publication and marketing. Larch to boost his confidence in his abilities; Mimulus for his shyness and understandable fears; and Rock Water for his perfectionist nature.

I would be interested in comments from anyone who has used the Bach flower remedies to assist with their writing, or any other creative process.

 

 

 

 

Balance, Bach flowers, and holistic healing

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

Dictionaries define the word ‘balance’ in terms of equilibrium, calmness, and equal distribution – concepts which are key to happiness and healing.

It is often said that the Bach flower remedies work by restoring balance to the personality and emotions. In other words, they help to convert an unduly negative state of mind into its more positive counterpart. The first two remedies discovered by Dr Bach provide clear illustrations of this: Mimulus to promote courage instead of fear, and the aptly-named Impatiens to promote patience for those with an impatient nature. Some more detailed examples:

 Beech: people in the negative Beech state can be critical, intolerant, judgemental and arrogant. The remedy helps them to realise their positive potential of feeling a sense of compassion and unity with others.

Centaury: those in the negative Centaury state find it hard to say ‘no’, and are so anxious to please that they continually let themselves be imposed upon, to their own detriment. In the positive state, though still willing to be of service, they can also fulfil their own needs and follow their own path.

Gorse: the negative state is one of hopelessness and despair, such as is often felt by those who suffer from a chronic illness from which they see no prospect of recovery. The positive potential is a sense of faith and hope, the willingness to try new treatments and the ability to find some positive aspects in the experience of adversity.

Balance is a key concept in relation to holistic healing for medical conditions. Besides emotional balance, this includes balance with regard to lifestyle, and to decisions about the management of illness. However, some people approach it in a quite unbalanced way. For example they may refuse a highly effective orthodox treatment because of their idealogical commitment to ‘natural’ therapies. I gave a few other examples in my book Persons not Diseases. To quote:

‘Some enthusiasts lose their sense of balance by going to extremes which do more harm than good, for example following strict diets which lead to emaciation, nutritional deficiencies or eating disorders; taking excellent care of their physical bodies, but continuing to live with the stress caused by an unhappy marriage or work situation; meditating for many hours each day but not taking any exercise or brushing their teeth properly; spending their life savings on some new ‘miracle therapy’ which has not been properly tested; or becoming so obsessed with health-related issues that they neglect other domains of life relating to work and leisure, home and garden, finances, relationships with family and friends, and spirituality.’

The Bach remedy Vervain can be helpful in curbing the over-enthusiasm of people like this, who are often highly strung, fanatical over-achievers determined to convert others to their own fixed principles and ideas. In the positive Vervain state, while still idealistic and energetic, they are more flexible and relaxed, and can appreciate Dr Bach’s statement that ‘It is by being rather than doing that great things are accomplished’.  

My virtual book tour and other writing ventures

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment

This is a busy time in my writing career. Doing a ‘virtual book tour’, using the power of the internet to promote Focus on Healing: Holistic Self-help for Medical Illness to readers outside New Zealand, has been a new and exciting experience.

Virtual book tours have not replaced live talks and book signing events as a way for authors to market their work, but they do enable outreach to a worldwide audience through websites, blogs and media outlets, all from a home computer at reasonable cost. To sample what is involved, please click on the links for my online interview and printed chapter excerpt, recorded chapter excerpt and ezine articles; and to buy the book through my website click here.

I recently edited the wartime memoir of my late uncle, a Spitfire pilot. This book is now at proof-checking stage and will soon be published in the UK. Also this month my next self-help book, about life path and life purpose, is being considered for a local manuscript award and I will probably self-publish this one, so am studying the options. More news on both books will follow in future posts.

These editing and marketing activities have left little time for new writing, but I am keen to try my hand at fiction in the future, and have already made a start on a romantic suspense novel set here in Devonport.

All this activity is very positive, but involves rather too much ‘multitasking’ – even with the best time management skills it’s sometimes impossible to avoid everything happening at once!  So I sometimes feel over-stimulated, stressed by the number of things to deal with, or impatient to get them finished. There are Bach flower remedies to balance all these states of mind: Vervain for over-enthusiasm, Elm for ‘overwhelm’, Impatiens  for impatience.