Floral Acupuncture: Applying The Flower Essences of Dr. Bach to Acupuncture Sites by Deborah Craydon and Warren Bellows (published by Crossing Press) blends the centuries-old Eastern medical modalities with Bach flower essence remedies.
In many ways it succeeds in this effort, while in other ways it falls a little short of the goal.
Although therapists and practitioners who have been working with the 38 remedies found in their Bach flower essence kit may find the addition of acupuncture an obvious complementary modality to help their clients, combining the two is an interesting theory.
Acupuncture & Essences
Acupuncture has long been known to be beneficial for just about any ailment. Many people successfully use Bach flower essence remedies, a therapy which is about 75 years old, to improve their spiritual, emotional, and physical health.
The idea of Craydon and Bellows’ work is to simply apply the correct flower essence remedy to an acupuncture point via Five-Element acupuncture, so that the application of the essence is applied to the acupuncture point associated with the health concern for which the user is seeking benefit.
Collaboration & Theory
The question is: does it work to combine the two modalities into one process?
Floral Acupuncture: Applying The Flower Essences of Dr. Bach to Acupuncture Sites was researched during collaboration with an acupuncturist while Bellows tested the flower essence on the recommended acupuncture points. Since both modalities are energy medicine, it would make sense that it might well be beneficial.
But again, the question remains as to whether it really works or not. We know each therapy works using its traditional application, but do the essences work applied in this manner?
In books which recommend a new application of any form of therapy, it is important to read a number of case studies where actual clients or patients have documented a health problem of some type, and in a case such as this, had the combination therapy applied and documented the benefit received. This should be followed by therapy of actual acupuncture and therapy via traditional Bach flower essence remedies, and documentation done on benefits of both as compared to the combination treatment.
This would provide the reader with a basis to compare the benefit they might expect from the floral acupuncture therapy.
The efforts of Deborah Craydon and Warren Bellows in researching and writing Floral Acupuncture: Applying The Flower Essences of Dr. Bach to Acupuncture Sites seem sincere and that they wish to help people feel better. The text is well written and clear. I just think the testimonials of people who have been helped by the therapy and technical documentation to prove the benefits, even if there were only a small number included, would make this book much more believable.
Alternative for Those Who Dread Needles
However, if you have health problems—whether physical, spiritual or emotional—and feel that acupuncture would help you but have a dread of needles, this book could be your pathway to help.
The book is not very costly, so it is worth buying to learn how to perform the technique and perhaps do you own experimentation to find the benefits. If you are a fan of Bach flower essence remedies, this is just another way to apply the art and science of the remedies and is worth a try.
While I feel there is value in Floral Acupuncture: Applying The Flower Essences of Dr. Bach to Acupuncture Sites by Deborah Craydon and Warren Bellows and do recommend it to readers curious about this combination natural healing technique, I hope that another book will follow. I sincerely hope that those case studies will appear in a subsequent expanded book on this potentially important breakthrough.
I must put one caveat in this review: I have not used any of the techniques in Floral Acupuncture: Applying The Flower Essences of Dr. Bach to Acupuncture Sites by Deborah Craydon and Warren Bellows personally.
Those of you who have read many of my other reviews know that often I indicate techniques I have tried and found to work well or not work for me. In this case, I can not tell you whether the methods in the book work or not. It’s up to you to experiment. But curiosity is a good thing when it comes to natural health improvement. So why not give it a try and see if it helps you and your specific health concerns?
Let’s hope a subsequent volume of case studies will be forthcoming, as without it, we can only speculate whether this new treatment modality will prove its merit.
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