In this illuminating interview with MysticMag, Sarah Frances Purchase shares her extraordinary journey from a life-altering car crash to becoming a revered Bach Flower Practitioner and spiritual healer. Delve into her captivating story of resilience, transformation, and the profound healing power of Bach Flower Essences that has touched the lives of many.
What can you tell me about yourself and your professional journey?
I think my professional journey started with a car crash. I was 20 and thought I knew everything until a bend in the road proved me wrong. The car was completely written off and I knew it was a turning point-a bus stop-that shook me awake. I completely changed direction and was drawn to nursing. I trained at University College Hospital in London and served for many years in the NHS specialising predominantly in oncology.
During my training I received a miraculous healing-another bus stop-and in 1985 I became a spiritual healer. A few years later I also met my first partner who was a healer and psychic like me and very quickly we had our first baby and another within 18 months. However, despite being blessed with 2 wonderful children, working hard for each other and the family, and having many things in common, our relationship didn’t flow as easily as we both thought it should. I’ve always had a huge personal drive and in an additional effort to be financially independent in a relationship, which wasn’t thriving, I went on to establish my own highly successful nursing and care businesses.
In my early thirties, I was headhunted by the official receiver to ‘turn around’ a 36-bedded nursing home whilst simultaneously running my business and, by that time, enjoying single motherhood. In 2000 I reached a pinnacle in my career by becoming one of only two female presidents of the Croydon Chamber of Commerce. In 2008, I met Paul on an online platform – Guardian Soulmates and we fell in love. In 2010 we got married and after selling my nursing and care businesses, Paul and I worked together running an incredibly busy and successful security business.
I’ve always been a very spiritual and caring person and whilst I incorporated this part of me into my working and everyday life, in 2020 I left the corporate world to dedicate myself full-time to helping others as a Bach Flower Practitioner, Yoga Teacher, and Healer. Through private consultations, yoga classes, meditation sessions, and spiritual development groups, I offer support and guidance for holistic wellbeing. Once a month, I volunteer as a Spiritual Healer for Macmillan Cancer Support services at Croydon University Hospital helping people suffering from the effects of Cancer.
Tell me about how you came to be a Bach Flower Practioner.
Life has a tendency to throw unexpected challenges our way, and amongst other very stressful personal and work life experiences, in my early 40’s I was faced with peri-menopause. I found myself battling hot flushes, headaches, fatigue, mood swings, mental fog, muscle aches, and an overall sense of unease.
In a state of desperation, after trying numerous herbal and alternative remedies that provided partial relief, I turned to Bach Flower Essences as a final resort. I harboured doubts about their effectiveness, as they are primarily energetic treatments for emotions, and I believed my symptoms to be purely physical. I tried Walnut and Crab Apple and these turned out to be the icing on the cake of my self-help. My hot flushes became manageable, I slept better and I was no longer looking in the mirror and thinking ‘yuck’.
More importantly, and this was the real turning point for me, I started to feel more like myself. My true self, I can’t explain to you exactly what I really mean by that except that I believe the essences help us to be more in tune with our Life Force, our Soul, our Spirit. I was hooked, and over the next few years started to try all of the essences in my everyday life. More and more I felt better, stronger, becoming more and more positive, and finally working through all those deeper emotional levels that we sometimes bury.
There are moments in life when we all find ourselves suffering from trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, loneliness, despair, anger, resentment, fear, circling uncontrollable thoughts, a sense of no direction, the list seems endless. On top of that, we’re supposed to just get on with things and muddle through which for the most part we do. Sometimes we don’t. For me, Bach Flower Essences gave me answers and a self-help tool that made me feel empowered. Motivated by my own transformation, I made the decision to train and Register as a Level 3 Practitioner (BFRP) with The Bach Center, the renowned home of Dr. Edward Bach, in order that I could help others.
What are Bach Flower Essences?
Bach Flower Essences are a vibrational remedy. They are a natural, holistic energetic blueprint of the pinnacle of the plant (and in one case water-Rock Water),which teach and enable us to use our emotional and/or mental energies in more constructive ways. The Bach Flower system comprises 38 essences, one for each ‘negative’ emotional state. I personally believe that emotions are neither negative nor positive. When we feel they aren’t helpful and encroach on our wellbeing, they are there to help us like a signpost, shining a light on an area of energy we need to use in a different way. Bach Flower Essences can help with this process.
I love the ease of the system for everyday use. You’re feeling sad-try Gentian or perhaps Gorse. You’re feeling angry or resentful-try Holly or Willow. You’re lonely-try Heather, or Impatiens, or Water Violet. You’re feeling critical, try some Beech. I’m really simplifying it, but that’s the beauty of it. It means everyone has access to it so that we can all be responsible for our own health and wellbeing. Whilst in emotional distress it can be hard to see the ‘wood for the trees’ and even harder to be honest with and see ourselves clearly. We can look at the Bach Flower system and not know which essences, or combination of essences, might help us the most. And so, occasionally we need some additional guidance from a trained experienced Practioner like myself.
How much are Bach Flower Essences for pets different from the ones for humans?
In addition to working with humans, I also recognise the emotional needs of animals and am registered with the Bach Centre as a Bach Flower Registered Animal Practitioner (BFRAP) and help many pets and their owners with their emotional needs. Animals have emotions like we do. They can feel sad and lonely, homesick and fearful and these emotions can noticeably affect their wellbeing. The Bach Flower Essences are taken in the same way as for humans and I have found that animals respond very well to them. In the UK, pet owners must get permission from a qualified vet before a Bach Flower Practioner can see them.
Can you share a few details about your Meditative Walks with Bach Flowers?
In the summer I run monthly meditative walks with Bach Flowers where people can meet some of the flowers, shrubs, and trees (and as previously mentioned, in one case, water) used to make the essences and take a more intimate look at some of the effects of them. We spend time with the energies and really get to know them using meditative and mindful techniques. I find it really helpful to see them in their natural state, to see where and how they grow or flow. It helps us to understand how they work and the energy we are attuning ourselves to.
For those who can’t make the walks, I am currently writing a blog exploring the physical and energetic properties of each of the Bach Flower Essences which can be accessed on my website. I am constantly learning about the essences, it seems to me they reveal layer after layer as we naturally evolve emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. One thing I’m certain of is that I can’t imagine my world without them.
To learn more about Sarah and her work, you can visit www.ba-wellbeing.co.uk
