If you've ever experienced anxiety, perhaps you can to relate to the place a reader was coming from recently when she asked me this question. "When I looked up anxiety in the dictionary, they said it was a synonym for care. What's going on with that?"
When you care for someone, isn't that supposed to be a good thing? And isn't anxiety, most of the time, rather undesirable? So what's the deal anyway?
Perhaps you're familiar with Dr. Edward Bach, who developed the Bach Flower Essences back in the 1930's. Dr. Bach was known as a "sensitive." He had the ability to feel energy. One of the first things he noticed, upon becoming a doctor, was that a lot of his patients with similar illnesses also had similar personalities. This was a big clue!
Dr. Bach began to reason that if he could help his patients correct the natural imbalances in their personalities, perhaps their health would improve. He was one of the real pioneers in the field we know today as energy medicine.
Each of us, as living beings, has our own set of unique vibrations. Dr. Bach was able to perceive differences in the vibrations of people with particular energy imbalances. In addition, he was also able to perceive vibrations of the "opposing virtue" in plants. His form of practice was to bring together each major type of personality or energy imbalance and the vibration of its opposing virtue, thus bringing the person back to balance and health.
Bach Flower Essences and Anxiety
One of the real geniuses of the Bach Flower Essences is their arrangement into categories. Understanding the origin of a particular undesired feeling can go a long way toward correcting it, and Dr. Bach really shines in this department. There are two main categories with remedies to help resolve the imbalances of anxiety.
First is in the area of "Overcare for others' welfare." Individual remedies aside, the category itself tells us a lot. When a person cares too much, imbalance occurs. Of the remedies in this category, the indications for use range from...
perfectionistic in their expectations for others (they are just trying to help the loved one avoid embarrassing mistakes) to
over-zealous (they've found this great gadget and you've just gotta have one) to
bossy (they're gonna make you do it if it kills them ... and you) to
easily offended, possessive, and clingy (they just wanna be loved and they give too much, hoping you will give even more back) to
perfectionistic in their expectations for themselves (they think they're being "very good;" in reality, they're self-centered and way too hard on themselves).
While it may be difficult for a person to see the self in the short indications as they're listed, placing them in the context of overcare for others softens the blow a little. Dr. Bach was gentle and compassionate in addition to being quite insightful.
The remedies themselves all represent a positive vibration. Chickory, the remedy that fits an anxiety profile best and fourth on our list above, is indicated for people who may feel great inner loneliness; lacking in self-love and real purpose. It supports developing a secure base of abundance and selflessness, and the quality of maternal and fraternal selfless love. Doesn't that feel better? Can you get that selfless love just might be an antidote for anxiety? Pretty good, isn't he?
The truth is, though, that any of the remedies listed under this category could be effective as an antidote for anxiety, depending upon its cause in the individual.
The second area that bears upon a person with anxiety is "Oversensitivity to the influences and ideas of others." Like the "Overcare" category, any of the remedies in this group could easily fit for a person experiencing anxiety. The clearest match, though, is the remedy Centaury.
The indication for use of Centaury describes a person who consistently places the needs of others ahead of their own, not out of true choice, but because they want to please. This makes the person easy to manipulate and exploit, and they often run amok in their own lives as a result.
After all, we are each born with a native instinct for self-preservation. When the compulsion to please others exceeds a person's self-preservation instinct, wouldn't that be a pretty clear cause for anxiety? It's an impossible dilemma! Centaury brings to the table the qualities of discrimination, self-realization, willpower, and strength. All of which does sound preferable!
Anxiety and care ... quite literally
There is, of course, another use of the word "care" in the dictionary. As an example, a person might say that they "care" about keeping their job. Naturally, if they care a lot about keeping their job, the person could become anxious. Personally, I tend to think that this is an example of overcare (or possibly fear, a further category of the Bach Essences), which throws us right back into Dr. Bach's remedies. But I certainly hold space for other opinions.
The bottom line is that balance rules the day. If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Bach, his little book Heal Thyself is a quick and easy read.
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