floral therapy

Floral therapy is a therapeutic resource that uses derived essences, mainly from flowers that act in different physical and emotional situations (BRASIL, 2018). The use of florals within a therapeutic context aims to promote a state of harmony and balance, providing the individual with the ability to celebrate life, living it to its fullest. It stimulates the body's ability to heal itself through the balance of undesirable thoughts, helping the person to have self-control, to feel good about themselves and to enjoy what life offers them good (MONARI, 1997). Flower essences do not act due to chemical composition, but through the vibration of the plant's vital energy. They act in human biogenetic centers, which influence and treat multiple dimensions of the human being – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual (JESUS; NASCIMENTO, 2005).

Floral therapy is based on the vitalist principle, that is, it is a holistic therapeutic approach that sees the person as a whole - not in parts. Unlike Biomedicine, it does not fragment or use invasive methods to obtain results. Diseases are visible signs and symptoms of vital energy disharmony; and the integrative therapist seeks to focus his attention on the person in order to regain his vitality. In line with the integrality proposal, floral therapy can constitute an important health care practice, providing greater solvability of health services (NEVES; SELI; JUNGES, 2010).

For the World Health Organization (WHO) (1983) floral therapy contributes to self-care, being widely used in the world, through affordable and prescription-free products. In Brazil, flower essence therapy is present in the National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices in Health (PNPIC) as one of the recommended practices for the Unified Health System (SUS). Ordinance No. 702, of March 21, 2018, integrated it with traditional, complementary and integrative medicines recommended for health care and promotion, preferably in primary health care (BRASIL, 2017).

The use of flowers in health care is ancient, more than a thousand years before Christ, flowers were already used for this purpose. Australian aborigines ate flowers for their effects; Egyptians, Africans and Malays already used flowers to deal with emotional imbalances. There are records that Paracelsus, in the 1930th century, was already using flower essences to treat the emotional imbalances of his patients. But floral therapy has its origins in Edward Bach, a bacteriologist and homeopath, a BA in Medicine and Science and a degree in Public Health at the University of Cambridge, UK. In the 38s, in England, Dr. Bach systematized the knowledge of the therapeutic use of essences, based on clinical practice, ancestry and tradition of use. His discovery became known as the first system of florals, called Bach florals; composed of 1997 flower essences and the rescue remedy (MONARI, XNUMX).