Rock Rose

Dysfunctional state of mind

Terror, "chilling" fear, panicking situations

Innate resource / positive virtue

Survival / Heroism

Positive affirmation

"I express my heroism in movement, I manifest my survivor resources through action."

Rock Rose is the Bach Flower for those who are paralysed by fear when facing an emergency.

Very often, Rock Rose is the first physiological reaction we all experience when facing a fearful and unexpected threat. In the wild, freezing at the sight of a predator is often a good strategy, since they have difficulty identifying preys that are not moving. We can say, therefore, that Survival is Rock Rose's innate resource. This strategy, however, becomes dysfunctional when it turns into an habitual behaviour adopted because in the past it helped survive a major trauma.

Rock Rose therefore invites us to develop the virtue of Heroism, which is the ability to react to life's stress and challenges in a manner commensurate with their true magnitude. While standing still in the face of a rabid dog may be a good strategy, paralysing oneself at the sight of a vehicle coming towards us is not, and neither is playing dumb in front of an examiner or an audience. In the latter case, we are not even really risking our lives in fact.

BACH FLOWERS