FLOWER POWER

If you thought flowers are only for decoration, think again. Amongst the plethora of avenues available to cure people of their illnesses, Flower Therapy has also emerged as one of the options. Flowers, and treatment? Despite skepticism growing in your mind, this therapy is increasing in popularity.

"Dr.Edward Bach of England, an allopath wondered how animals and plants stay healthy and why that comfort was not available to humans, and wandered the forests in search of an answer. He found an answer in some flowers, 38 of them to be precise, which he researched as having therapeutic values", informs Ravi Subramaniyam, Flower Therapist in Chennai. Documented in 1936 or thereabouts, this is one of the currently resurgent alternative remedies available.

"The essence of Bach Flower Therapy is to cure the mental and the emotional imbalances which manifest themselves as illnesses", says Ravi Subramaniyam. "This is now becoming popular, though slowly. People still find it difficult to believe in something simple", he adds.

"Though Flower Therapy is not for treating any disease as such, the corrections of the mental and emotional imbalances like fear, anger, resentment, depression etc. are very effectively addressed. And when these are taken care of, it leads to physical cure", informs Ravi. Physical illness, in Ravi's words, "is a reflection of the mental state of the person. The treatment basically means proper understanding of the patient, listening out with a lot of patience, analyzing the body language. Only then we prescribe remedies".

If you wondered how a bouquet of flowers could cure you, you are right. It is not the flowers per se that treat a person, but the oils or the essences extracted from the flowers that do the trick. "The essences are mixed with spirit for easy assimilation by the body, and a few drops of this mixture is added to a bottle of globules, and used orally like pills", informs Ravi of the nature of the treatment. Sometimes, even sprinkling of water mixed with the Flower Remedies can work, according to Ravi. Some of the flowers that are useful as remedies are sweet chestnut, pine etc.

There has also, of late been a lot of soul searching about the medicines and what goes into such alternative remedies, and their side effects. "These are fully natural, extracted from nature, and have absolutely no side effects. How can nature contaminate itself?" counters Ravi, adding, "after all, it is a natural way to a cure". This is also the reason why there are no regulatory issues or drug controllers breathing down the neck. "It is totally safe, and anybody with some understanding can read a good book on Flower Therapy and practice the same, at least at home. It is a very good home remedy", Ravi informs.

Getting an average of four to five patients a day, Ravi believes that this could not only be a panacea for most common illnesses, but also be a good cure for many chronic cases. Like the man with a ten year history of sciatica, being cured in a few sittings, or the college girl, who was depressed due to ragging, and saw her grades slide, scoring well in the week after she had a dose prescribed by Ravi, the success stories are slowly coming in.

It could very well be the next big thing in medicare, or it could well be a flash in the pan. But one thing is for sure – Flowers can be given a chance. Being totally safe, Ravi says, "this therapy can be supplementary as well and there is no need to stop the present line of treatment, and it does not involve and change in lifestyle". Will people give flowers a chance?