Bach Flower Alchemy for Authors

A member of my Bach Flower Alchemy membership community asked a question during our Office Hours session today about whether there were essences she could use to support herself through the process of writing and publishing a book. 

The answer, of course, was Hell Yeah!

We had a great chat about it on the call, and since I happen to know a number of people currently bringing a book into the world, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts here for any others who might be interested!

Note: if you’re completely new to Bach Flowers, go ahead and do a search online. There’s loads of basic info available there. My process uses them as a technology for development of consciousness and personal growth. 

Here are 7 of the 38 Bach Flower essences that came straight to mind:

1. CERATO would mostly relate to the content of your writing. Cerato is about “authority”, and if you never noticed before, the word “author” is right in there. Being an author requires taking authority for yourself, it’s not something you can outsource. You have to be able to own what you know and stand behind it, even if nobody else stands with you. It’s easy to confuse marketing issues (like polling your readers) with the creative process; we can end up saying what people want to hear instead of what we came here to say. Cerato helps you be certain about your message so you can say what you actually mean, instead of watering it down to make it more palatable.

2. CLEMATIS would be particularly helpful if you’re a creative who finds yourself constantly drifting off, thinking about other things or losing yourself on Pinterest when you’re supposed to be working. It’s great for when you need to rein in your beautiful, wandering, creative mind to just get some boring grunt work accomplished.

3. ELM is typically used for “overwhelm”, something authors know a thing or two about. From my perspective, Elm is about the true meaning of overwhelm - it’s less about the sheer volume of tasks you may be facing, and more about a loss of ability to prioritize them. Overwhelm is the despair of everything coming at you all at once, it all feels equally urgent. Elm helps re-establish an order of events: start with this, then do that. It helps you find order in the chaos, and to let go of perfectionist tendencies that can keep you locked into one task for too long. Elm helps you bend time and get a month’s worth of work done in 3 days - you know how to do that - you’ve done it before.

4. It doesn’t matter if the computer ate your homework or your publisher wants major substantive changes, shit happens and you won’t fix the problem by arguing with reality about the way things are. That’s what Shadow likes to do, playing sad songs on the radio station of your mind with lyrics like “all that work down the drain” or “now I have to start all over”.  GENTIAN is for coping with setbacks, for restoring your momentum. Gentian keeps you in “flow” - it might even help get you into a “flow state”. 

5. HORNBEAM is generally used to combat that Monday morning feeling - when you’re dragging your feet to get started but once you make yourself sit down, you tend to actually hit your word count. In my understanding, there’s a strong connection between the mitochondria in our cells and the frequency of integrity. The mitochondria are exquisitely sensitive to the vibration of intention - in fact, the job they do in the body is translating intention into vitality. If you want your body to produce the energy you need to do something, you have to be in bioelectric alignment - in “integrity”. That means you should pay attention to how you feel about what you’re writing. When you can’t summon the energy to write, it can be a sign that you’ve drifted away from what you set out to say. Hornbeam can help you find the thread and get back on course.

6. You might think that people who write books consider themselves experts, but you’d be surprised. Many authors secretly struggle with imposter syndrome. LARCH is the flower essence for people who are seen by others as being very capable but fail to see it themselves. What’s going on when someone is actually good at what they do but  never feel like they’ve got what it takes?  According to my understanding, they don’t lack capacity, they lack internal permission to “go for it” - for that next level of success, accomplishment or even notoriety. Becoming a published author, selling movie rights, or, (God forbid), becoming a household name can all be triggering again at different levels. Larch gives you permission to desire what you don’t yet dare to declare.

7. MUSTARD is brilliant for writer’s block. It’s traditionally used for “depression of spirits without known cause”, but I take that to mean anything that blocks the light from getting through. Say, the previous chapters came easily but now you’re stuck. Whether it feels like numbness, dullness or even desperation, Mustard helps lift the veil and reconnect you with your creative muse.

Of course, there are many other issues that could affect your book-writing activities like perfectionism, sensitivity to criticism, trying too hard to get your point across, feeling superior to your readers or being influenced by other experts in your field - those would be outside the scope of this short article, but there’s a Bach Flower essence for all of them, and more.

Unlike herbal tinctures and essential oils, Bach Flower essences have no “active ingredients”. They are purely vibrational medicines and are available over the counter at holistic retailers and online. 

Feel free to check out my public group at facebook.com/groups/bachfloweralchemy. If you’d like personal guidance and a custom blend, hit me up at tracy@tracypoizner.com.