Emotional healing process

The Emotional Healing Process, or Ladder of Emotional Healing, is well known. Simply, it is expressed as follows:

Accept
Acknowledge
Forgive:

  1. The other person
  2. The event
  3. Yourself

Release
Move On

The Ladder (or perhaps snake) of Emotional Healing applies to every single event you ever experience. Every event has a mental component, an emotional component and a physical component. Getting up in the morning, going to work/school/shopping, even going to the bathroom has an emotional component.

Fortunately the 'healing' of most events is automatic in minor cases. Imagine having to forgive yourself every time you went to the toilet! Work/school/shops could be more of an effort. If you have queued in a supermarket on a busy Saturday you'll know that you have at least to forgive the event and release the trauma from your mind!

When we come to the big challenges, the emotional healing is more difficult. Losing a loved one, divorce, moving house and changing jobs are all counted as major life events which cause stress and make serious illness more likely. Perhaps it is not so much the nature of the event but our ability to deal with its emotional component that makes major illness more likely at these times. Knowing the Ladder of Healing is a help in itself.

Flower essences accelerate and ease the journey through the process of healing the emotions, to the point where they could almost be called 'The Lazy Person's Tools for Healing'. Certainly many people have benefited from the help they give in these circumstances, myself amongst them.

Flower essences, as catalysts for change, work with us to transform us. By treating the whole person rather than just individual symptoms an important overview appears. Flower remedies bring to our awareness aspects of disharmony within us. They support us energetically whilst we use the Ladder of Emotional Healing to process and gently release the imbalance. From this process we gain insight into our own natures. We use these insights to gain knowledge and experience on life's journey. These insights help us take responsibility for ourselves, our actions and our state of mind.

In the Bach system, Star of Bethlehem would help with the initial shock of acceptance. For the next stages you might use Walnut and Mustard, with perhaps Pine, Gentian or Gorse as well. Forgiveness is vital, for any resentment held within your body tends to weaken the immune system and the Inner Healer. Willow is an important remedy at this point. This list is not exhaustive of all the remedies from the Bach system for use in the Emotional Healing Process, nor does it do justice to the many essences from other systems, which are of equal value to help us through the trials of life.

So much for what flower essences can do. But how do they work scientifically ?