Herbalista Blog

Providing Herbal Support for J-20 Defendants

Though the first 6 defendants were cleared of all charges on December 21st, there are still many more cases coming up in the New Year. The Hawthorn Community Herb Collective is collecting herbal medicine and supplements for the defendants and their support teams. Please see below for a list of current requests and mailing information.

Herbalista chose to send our support in the form of aromatic inhalers, aka sniffers.  We have found sniffers to be an extremely effective way to provide emotional support.  They are easy to carry, convenient to use, and extremely affordable and easy to make.  You can order the blank inhalers from most any essential oil supplier these days.

We chose to send 3 different sets of sniffers:

Lavender Sniffers (Lavender essential oil) – grounding, promotes calm composure, soothes anxiety, allows for full expression, also helpful for headaches and insomnia

Olbas Sniffers (Blend of Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Cajuput, Wintergreen, Juniper, and Clove) – clearing, energizing, uplifting, also helpful for headaches and sinus congestion

Solidarity Sniffers (Blend of Jasmine, Clary Sage, Benzoin, Lemon, Rose, and Patchouli) – soothing, stabilizing, nourishing, revitalizing,  earthing, trust and solidarity

To make a sniffer, you simply place a cotton wick inside the tube, place 9 drops of essential oil inside, and snap closed.  Here’s a link to another post on sniffers if you want a bit more information.

Sniffers are useful tools when dealing with a range of feelings from grief to anxiety to addiction.  One of my favorite books that we often refer to when putting together our aromatic remedies is Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit by Gabriel Mojay, a wonderful acupuncturist, aromatherapist, and teacher who travels over the pond from England to visit us here in Atlanta from time to time.

J-20 Herbal Support

[Reposted from Janet Kent via Facebook]

“On January 20, 2017, thousands of people took to the streets in Washington DC to protest the inauguration of a racist, sexist lout. Of this number, 200 were corralled into an enclosed area and arrested. These 200 include people from all walks of life: teachers, photographers, journalists, medics. They now face felony charges for attending a protest and face up to 80 years in prison.

The first group of defendants are currently going to trial. The prosecution has already admitted that they have no evidence that these individuals committed any crime. They hope to secure convictions for anyone present at the protest, regardless of evidence of wrong doing.

Now remember that the current head of the “Department of Justice” is one Jeff Sessions. The man who sought criminal convictions for civil rights activists. Who was denied a judgeship due to his history of racist comments. This man and his department are attempting to set a precedent to criminalize dissent. This is an important move towards authoritarian control. Pay attention. Go to http://defendj20resistance.org/ for updates and to lend support.

For herbalists and medicine makers, there is more you can do. The Hawthorn Community Herb Collective is collecting herbal medicine and supplements for the defendents and their support teams. As you can imagine, the defendents are extremely stressed , sleep deprived and traumatized. If you are interested in donating supplies, message me and I’ll send you a list of needs.” – Janet Kent, November 22, 2017

Current Herbal Requests

[email medicinecountyherbs@gmail.com  with questions]

Relaxing Nervines: either tincture and/or tea
Sleep support: tincture and/or tea
Bulk aromatic herbs for sachets: rose, mint, chamomile, Lavender, lemon verbena, etc.
Calming adaptogens. Tea or tincture.
Herbs for focus, clarity. Tea or tincture.
Flower essences for protection, grounding, fear.

Please label whatever you send!

Ship to:

Terra Sylva School

115 Blannahassett Island
Room #209
Marshall, NC 28753

The prosecution of these protesters has far reaching implications.  These prosecutions are unconstitutional and we are encouraged that the first 6 protesters were found not guilty.  We stand in solidarity with the the J-20 Defendants and our right to assemble and to voice dissent!

~The Herbalista Crew

Dear Friends and Lovers of Life,

After the intense struggles of 2017 and now facing what surely is a long road ahead, we must take the time to protect and sustain our core.  I, for one, am worn the f**k out.  While it’s been hard bearing witness to structural bigotry, it’s been even harder watching the left eat itself.  I’m starting to think this liberal cannibalism is a symptom of deep exhaustion, that our wells have run dry.  And I’m ready to refill.

But don’t worry, I’m not going to give you the whole “self-care for the activist” spiel, demanding you take more passionflower and load up on adaptogens.  But rather, I would offer that instead of doing more, we might do less, and take our cue from winter’s rest.

May we revive ourselves with simple solitude, find contentment in the quiet, and cultivate some good old fashioned inner peace so we can share it with others.

Herbally yours,
~ Lorna

WINTER SOLACE

Please wait–

lay down your sword, your pen,
your tongue, your hate.

This has been a brutal year,
savage fought and etched by fear.

Let the rush of day, slow and creep,

and the low hung light,
bring you sanctioned sleep.

In this hush taste the marrow red,
a molten life, despite winter dread.

This sacred source, just yours alone

found in the still and the break
of your salty bones.

 

For the rest of this month’s newsletter, please follow this link:

http://mailchi.mp/81adecc48307/winter-solace

New uploads to the Herbalista Toolkit!
Take a little spin through the mother apotheke at Herbalista HQ; download the new template for your very own script pad; and oh so much more ????
 
The Herbalista Toolkit is filled with the tools to help you realize your herbal project!  And the Dublin Herb Bike is a perfect example of how well it can work! Many of the forms we used to build our apothecary and also for facilitating the clinics are in this Toolkit. These downloadable resources can then be customized for your needs.
Become a sustaining member and help us as we work to build community through herbalism!
 

IMG_8749

Join the Herbalista Crew!

We are now accepting apprenticeship applications for Fall of 2017.

Application Deadline – August 15th

Thank you for your interest in our work and helping us build community through herbalism! The link to the application form is at the bottom of this page.

 

APPRENTICESHIP HERBALISTA 

This apprenticeship is a blend of educational opportunity, responsibility, and hard work! We are a small operation facilitating a large number of projects.  Joining our crew will allow you to participate in the nuts ‘n bolts of grassroots community healthcare.  Please note, this is NOT an academic clinical program but an experiential opportunity.

The Herbalista Health Network, hubbed in Atlanta, provides clinical and educational services in the Atlanta area, across the country, and even across the pond.

This current apprenticeship opening is to work at the Atlanta Herbalista HQ, which is the heart of our operation.  From here we maintain the mother dispensary and facilitates all of our local programming such as the Herb Cart, the Herb Bus, the Grow a Row Program, the Herbalista Community Health Fair, and the Harriet Tubman Foot Care Clinic.

The main apprentice days of work are Monday afternoons, when we work the Harriet Tubman Foot Clinic, and Wednesday’s for the other Herbalista programming.  There can also be other events scattered throughout the year, such as teaching events or fundraisers or plant processing work, that will require additional assistance.

Due to the large amount of responsibility our apprentices manage, a strong working knowledge of herbal medicine is required.  You must have a foundation in medicine making, materia medica, and western medical herbalism.  A familiarity with TCM and/or Ayurved is also helpful.

FULL DISCLOSURE:

Dedicating yourself to free community herbal healthcare is not an easy task! Basically, it’s not always a rose-scented-cauldron-stirring kinda situation.

The hours we spend in actual clinic are minor in comparison to all of the behind the scenes work we must do to keep a project like this going! There is bottle washing.  There is schlepping. There is paperwork.  There is medicine making.  There is kit maintenance.  There is organizing… and reorganizing. There is scheduling.  There is fundraising.  And yes, there is laundry and dishes.

We are the underbelly of healthcare and we take on what others won’t or can’t.  We make the best of often shitty situations.  We navigate difficult personalities and bear witness to injustice at all levels of society.  We do a lot with a little and a little with next to nothing.  We make a difference… sometimes.  We are cultivating community day by day, planting seeds and pulling weeds (which we then turn into medicine, of course.)

We self-reflect.  We acknowledge our privilege and our trauma. We acknowledge those things in the world.  We meet people where they are at. We hold safe space.  We do our best and we make mistakes. We learn and we give it another shot.  We are works in progress.

Community herbalism inspires creativity and promotes agility.  It is empowering and humbling. It illuminates your mind, nurtures your capacity for love, but can also break your heart.  For me the important thing is that we are in this together.   We have each other and we have the plants.

We are lucky to be community herbalists indeed!

This apprenticeship requires a 1 year commitment. There is no tuition fee for this program. We have between 2 and 3 apprentices on a rolling basis.  Most apprentices join the crew after becoming involved in other aspects of our health network, either volunteering for our Herbalista Community Health Fair, the Harriet Tubman Foot Care Clinic, or joining the Herb Cart Program.

If you have passion for supporting and serving your neighbors (both people and plants), if you have a basic knowledge of herbal medicine, if you can dedicate the time to our mission, and you are ready to make a commitment to our crew, please complete the application form from the link below, and return via email to Lorna@Herbalista.org

Thank you for your commitment to building a more vital and verdant community through herbalism. Viva la Herb Bus!

~Lorna Mauney-Brodek, Herbalista

Herbalista Apprenticeship Application

 

Herbalista Expedition 2017 is well underway! I’ve packed up my kits and hopped the pond to Europe. This first month has been filled with a series of incredible conferences and gatherings, and I am blessed to be able to share these days with lovely plants and lovely people!

My first stop was HerbFeast, an annual Irish gathering celebrating all things herbal.  We feasted on the herbal knowledge of so many incredible teachers, including Kirsten Hale, Thomas Easley, and Fred Gillam (just to name a few.) I was honored to co-facilitate a Pay-It-Forward Medicine Making Workshop with Rosemary Gladstar.  We whipped up a couple batches of Fire Cider to be distributed in the Cork and Dublin communities.

Next stop was the Radical Herbal Gathering in the hills along the Welsh and English border.  Now in its 5th year, this gathering has nurtured an incredible network of radical healthcare that has grown far beyond these Shropshire fields. Run entirely by volunteers, proceeds from the gathering go to support their Herbal Aid Fund, helping to seed out grassroots herbal and health related projects.

If you want to see a glimpse into the journey so far,  here is a link to the Herbalista Expedition 2017 album I’ve started on Facebook.

Next week I will head to Ballinlough Castle for the Body & Soul Festival, about an hour from Dublin.  There I will be leading a couple of Plant Rambles to raise funds for the newest addition to the mobile clinic scene.  Which brings me to this very special announcement!

………………………………………………………………

We are thrilled to announce that the Herb Bike will be hitting the streets of Dublin this summer!  This mobile clinic will make stops around the Dublin area, providing herbal care and holistic support to those who need it most.  This project will run hand-in-hand with Pay-it-Forward Medicine Making Workshops and with any luck will be a highly contagious way to spread the health!  With talk of a sister Herb Bike project beginning out in Cork, Ireland, I’m thinking we may just have a mobile herb clinic epidemic on our hands!

Please consider a small donation and help us put a little air in her tires and some herbs in her basket!  Please click here to make a contribution.

I want to thank everyone back in the ATL who is working so hard to keep the home fires burning.  A big shoutout to the Health Fair Crew, the Harriet Tubman Footsters, and to the Herbalista Apprentices!  The chance to travel, to study, to serve, and to teach stokes my own internal flame and I’m grateful for this opportunity.

Herbally yours,
~ Lorna

For the rest of this issue of Herbalista Happenings, please follow this link:

http://mailchi.mp/93dc53417497/herbalista-expedition-2017?e=2124d53abb

After 4 decades of service, the Open Door Community, home to the Harriet Tubman Foot Clinic, is closing its Atlanta house and relocating to Baltimore, MD.  We will greatly miss the community that grew up around the Open Door.  We will miss their leadership on important issues.  We will miss their strong opinions that spoke truth to power. We will miss their welcoming hearts that built a more loving Atlanta.

And so we found ourselves in search of a new home for our little clinic.  We were fortunate to recently receive an invitation from Mercy Church, another community center dedicated to serving our friends on the street and in prison, to begin holding foot services in their Center.  We are currently moving our supplies to their facility which is located just a couple of blocks away, and look forward to reopening the clinic in the next couple of weeks. More details to follow!

Thank you all for your support during our transition.

Bus white background

HERBALISTA HEALTH NETWORK

2016 Service Report

Building Community Through Herbalism!  

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

This past year Herbalista continued our mission of building community through herbalism by offering clinical support and educational opportunities.   We expanded our reach, offering care not only in Atlanta, but around the country and the world.

Members of  Herbalista outside the Open Door Community From L to R: Courtney, Corinne, Lorna, Chelsea, and Hannah

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

Our mobile clinics facilitated a total of 38 clinics and 10 health fairs in 2016.  We worked with hundreds of folks, providing holistic care to those who need it most.

Rain or shine, the Cart makes its rounds.

List of Clinics:

16 Herb Cart Clinics

  • Woodruff Park (5)
  • The Open Door Community (1)
  • The Big House on Ponce (10)

17 Herb Bus Clinics

  • The Big House on Ponce (10)
  • The Open Door Community (7)

5 First Aid Stations

  • The Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference First Aid Station
  • The “Jungle” Refugee Camp in Calais, France (2 trips)
  • Herbal First Aid Station at Standing Rock, South Dakota
  • The Home Sweet Home Foot Care and Wellness Station in Dublin, Ireland

10 Community Health Fairs

  • The Big House on Ponce (10)

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

The Herbalista Health Network continued to provide educational programming and facilitated 3 Plant Rambles, 3 Grow a Row Workshops, 5 Pay-It-Forward Medicine Making Workshops, 10 educational series at the Herbalista Community Health Fairs, and 2 Herb Cart Weekend Trainings.

Plant Ramble in Kirkwood Forest on August 28, 2016. Atlanta, Ga

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

Herbalista began to offer services abroad with Lorna traveling to Europe to both teach and serve.   In the summer of 2016, Lorna spent two months in Ireland, England, and France.

She taught the Herbalista model of community health care at both the HerbFeast Conference in Ireland and the Radical Herbalism Gathering in England.

Radical Herbalism Gathering 2016. Shropshire, UK.

Lorna also made 2 trips to the “Jungle” Refugee Camp in Calais, France, offering holistic foot care at an integrative First Aid Station in the heart of the camp.

Refugee First Aid and Foot Care Support Station. Calais, France. June 8, 2016

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

Back in the States, Herbalista again facilitated the First Aid Station at the Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference.  This gathering is the largest herbal conference in the United States, with over 1200 women and children in attendance.  Our first aid station is an integrative clinic, staffed by both herbalists and EMT’s.

Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference First Aid Station Crew. Lake Eden, NC. October 16, 2016.

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

In November of 2016, The Herb Bus drove out to the Standing Rock Reservation to offer relief work at the Oceti Sakowin Herbal First Aid Station.  Due to religious and social observances, they had a strong no alcohol policy and we were able to bring lots of non-alcoholic remedies, such as glycerites, capsules, and vinegar extracts to share at the clinic.

Standing Rock Wellness Area. Oceti Sakowin Camp, South Dakota. November 18, 2016.

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PMIn December, Lorna traveled back to Europe to continue assisting in the development of community herbal programming.

She taught an foot care workshop in London to the Herbalists without Borders UK Chapter.

Herbalists without Borders UK Foot Care Workshop London, England December 2016

We also began planting the seeds for a new community initiative in Dublin.  On December 18th, we staged HerbShare Dublin: a Pay-It-Forward Medicine Making Workshop to prepare supportive remedies to distribute to the Homeless in Dublin to help them get through the winter months.

Medicines made at the Pay-It-Forward Medicine Making Workshop. December 18, 2016. Dublin, Ireland.

The night before our workshop, a campaign called “Home Sweet Home” to end homelessness was initiated by local housing activists and artists.  They set up  a new shelter in the Apollo House to provide a safe place for those who had been sleeping rough on the streets for the holiday season.  Lorna helped form the wellness committee which established rotating practitioners offering massage, physical therapy, herbal support, and foot care for both residents and volunteer staff.  We were able to distribute much of our medicine via the Home Sweet Home Campaign!

Foot Care Station at the Apollo House. December 22, 2016. Dublin, Ireland

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

We felt so fortunate for all of the inspiring people we met along our journey this past year!  Here are a few of the great folks who dedicate their lives to building a more compassionate and caring world!

Sister Mary who offers a free foot care clinic for the homeless at the Capuchin Day Shelter in Dublin, Ireland.
All of the health care workers and activists at Standing Rock!
Nurse Cecilia Ibeabuchi of St. Francis House, who provides foot care as a part of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program.
Maggie O’Keeffe, Herbalista and Housing Justice Activist at a Resource Station outside of the GPO in Dublin, Ireland.

Screen Shot 2013-05-13 at 8.00.20 PM

Thanks to all of our supporters, sponsors, and volunteers who make this work possible!

We look forward to building a healthier future together!

~The Herbalista Crew

 

The Open Door

For the past 10 years, I have spent most Wednesday’s at the Open Door Community, be it an early morning Herb Bus Clinic in the back parking lot or staying late for the Harriet Tubman Foot Clinic, as we care for the feet of our friends on the street. These offerings were only a small part of what the Open Door has shared with Atlanta these many years. They also provide free women’s and conventional medical clinics. They host educational and radically inspirational events. They serve meals and facilitate showers. They stand up for our rights. They aren’t afraid to speak truth to power. They are willing to be arrested in defense the most vulnerable. They walk a path of loving devotion and I have been so blessed by their guidance and companionship all these years.

Now after 40 years of service, the community has made the difficult decision to close the Open Door. Please follow this link to read the letter they published in their most recent edition of Hospitality.

http://opendoorcommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/May-June2016-web.pdf

 

IMG_2612The Open Door hosted all three of Herbalista’s free clinics (the Herb Cart, the Herb Bus, and the Harriet Tubman Foot Clinic) and so this is a great loss to not only Atlanta, but to the Herbalista Health Network.

While the Herb Bus and the Herb Cart will continue to service our other stations around town, the Foot Clinic will need to find a new home beginning in 2017. We will keep you posted as we adjust to these changes and rest assured, that as they say at the Open Door, “We gonna do the best we can ’til we can’t.”

Herbally yours,
~Lorna

Featured Image by Michael Alexander

This summer I will spend several weeks traveling through Ireland, England, and France.  Each year I try to take extended tours so I can expand my understanding of the world and of the different trends in healthcare. This might be what you could call my version of continuing education.

27-29 May, HerbFeast (Cork, Ireland)
30 May, Herbalista Workshop (Cork, Ireland)
1 June, Herb Patch installation (Dublin, Ireland)
1 June, St. Anne’s Physic Garden (Dublin, Ireland)
2-5 June, Radical Herbalism Gathering (Shrewsbury, England)
6-10 June, Refugee Support Foot Care Clinic (Calais, France)
17-19 June, Body & Soul Festival (Ballinlough Castle, Ireland)
2-7 July, Refugee Support First Aid and Foot Care Clinic (Calais, France)

Update June 7th:

Just finished my 2nd day working at First Aid Station in the refugee camp in Calais, France. There is much need, and I am glad to be able to offer foot care and comfort here. I will try and prepare information to share with those who are interested in making this journey.

Update July 7th:

Today was my last day working at the refugee camp in Calais. My feelings are jumping all over the place and I imagine that my relatively easy bus ride back across the channel to England will only compound it. Many of the men whom I treated were from Afghanistan and knowing how much US policy has impacted their lives and the lives of their families weighs heavily on me. For what little difference it makes in the larger picture, I am glad to have had the chance to offer them at least some comfort and care.

Update July 11th:

I’m back in Dublin and preparing for tomorrow’s journey home to the ATL. It’s hard to describe the growing pains this journey has triggered and I imagine the lessons from this trip will continue to reveal themselves over time. I am so grateful for the many compassionate, thoughtful, and straight up incredible folks that I met along the way. When I feel disoriented by the events that crash upon us each day, by the violence and the injustices that can feel so senseless, it is a blessing to encounter these bright lights to walk alongside. Thank you. x

Update July 11th: I'm back in Dublin and preparing for tomorrow's journey home to the ATL. Going through some photos...

Posted by Lorna Mauney-Brodek on Tuesday, May 31, 2016

‘Practice of Medicine’– This little phrase dictates our ability to access health care in a big way. The ‘practice of medicine,’ as currently defined by state law and enforced through subsequent federal rulings, creates a detrimental monopoly within our health care system. (Monopoly defined: the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service; this lack of competition can result in higher prices and inferior products or services.)

I feel this insult on multiple levels. As an herbalist, I must operate on the fringes since caring for my community is, by definition, a crime. As a patient, my options are diminished and the care that remains is more costly.  As a person, I am offended by the privilege and perspective of some crushing the vitality and views of many.

Oh the nuances to pick and considerations to weigh.  Oh the statutes to read and legal precedent to examine. Oh how my head hurts and will I get in trouble for using Skullcap?

At the bottom of this rant is the link to an article by Michael Cohen that I found useful.  May it play a part in helping us better understand, take apart, and ultimately transform this medical clusterf#$k.

“The current regulatory scheme, embodied in state ‘practice of medicine’ statutes and related case law, reflects an outmoded view of health care, in which the physician is the sole purveyor and guardian of health…To shift from an exclusively medical paradigm to a framework that includes touch and other forms of holistic healing does not mean that the insights, discoveries, and therapeutic devices of modern medicine will be discarded or diminished. Nor does the movement from medicine to healing mean returning to the Dark Ages or succumbing to quackery. Rather, rethinking the paradigm means freeing the law from conceptual and historical limitations, and opening to embrace a broader set of possibilities for the journey into health.” 

Mr. Cohen doesn’t just offer a critique of current regulation, but shares ideas for moving forward. And while I’m not an advocate of additional licensure as an option, I do appreciate his view of legislatively redefining the ‘practice of medicine’ so that healing isn’t restricted to the pinhole through which the American Medical Association sees the world. “On a legislative level, medical practice acts must be amended to define ‘practicing medicine’ in terms specific to the medical profession, rather than in global, functional terms derived from historical notions of physician dominance.” 

Word up Mr. Cohen!

Full article here:

http://www.camlawblog.com/articles/faqs/laws-governing-holistic-healing-some-basics/

1 2 3 4 … 10