The Heather Bach Flower Remedy
‘When I see the heather in full bloom it almost makes me gasp. I forget myself and can only stand and stare1’
According to Nora Weeks, Dr Bach’s Personal Assistant for a number of years, this is what a client requiring the remedy Heather had to say to Dr Bach. The great doctor realised that this flower could help those people who both disliked being alone and tended to talk a lot about themselves.
Heather Bach flower ‘types’ are seen, perhaps unfairly, as talkers who have no ‘filter’ or awareness as to how tedious their incessant talking can be for the other person who has to listen1.
‘External’ and ‘Internal’ Heather
However, there is much more to Heather than this incessant talking and ‘kidnapping’ of listeners to be hostage to all that the person in the negative Heather state wants to say about themselves. Heather actually is a very interesting and unusual remedy as it has two sides, or two different applications.
The first application of the Heather Bach Flower Remedy could be described as External Heather or Extrovert Heather and is the most commonly discussed issue when talking about this Bach Flower Remedy. The External Heather is the person we have just referred to, they just can’t stop talking about themselves and can’t see that they’re annoying everyone surrounding them.
But there is also another Heather condition which is less well understood, but equally as important.
This other condition is the Internal Heather condition, sometimes called Introverted Heather and this is the second application of the Heather Bach Flower. Here, a client is hostage to their own busy, chattering mind that goes on and on incessantly, draining them of energy. The important point to remember is that this internal mental chatter is subtly different to the outward, verbalised chatter that characterises the first Heather condition. Internal mental chatter inside our heads, stays internal. It forces us to listen to ourselves and then can cause us anxiety and mental overload, as well as eventually, mental fatigue. Maybe some of you can relate to the Internal Heather? I know I can!
Being Heard, Being Loved
But we haven’t finished, there is more again to this interesting remedy, especially for External Heather clients.
Consider these simple words: ‘The need to be heard’.
As we have seen, External Heathers find any excuse to talk about themselves, but, possibly surprisingly, the real issue is that they are feeling unheard (and possibly unloved) in the areas of their lives where it really matters, be it at work or at home. They usually aren’t aware of what they are doing and how annoying they can be, but they are unable to effectively voice what is really going on for them and, that is, feeling unheard and unloved. Maybe they’ve had a sad bereavement or break-up that they can’t talk about, but they can talk about all sorts of inconsequential things. What they are saying, almost subliminally, is ‘please listen to me, because I can’t yet verbalise something that is really important to me’.
The child who constantly interrupts his/her Mother when she is talking at her medical appointment. Or the child who keeps playing noisily with the door handle when his Mother is talking. Or worse still (a case I know of), where the child kept creating mini bonfires in the bathroom sink. Believe it or not, the child described in these three situations is not really being naughty (although the little pyromaniac definitely needed talking to, sooner rather than later!).
What is really happening is that the child is looking for some attention and, as the saying goes, ‘negative attention is better than no attention at all’.
Loneliness
So, Dr Bach was absolutely right to put clients (both adults and children), requiring Heather in the ‘lonely’ Bach Flower category.
A deeper understanding of a client can lead us to explore whether we are looking at an External Heather – I kidnap someone (to listen to me), or an Internal Heather – I kidnap myself (with a busy, chattering mind).
1. The Medical Discoveries of Dr Edward Bach; Nora Weeks, Vermillion, London 2004; pg 97
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Please Note: This post is provided for information purposes only. It does not constitute medical, psychological or other advice. If you need medical or other advice, you must contact a doctor or other suitably qualified professional.
Unless otherwise stated, images courtesy Pixabay
