The HWB WINTER 2019 NEWSLETTER is now live!

Every issue our newsletter editor, Miriah, takes information, stories, events and ideas from all of our global members and assembles it all into one amazing newsletter.

In this issue:
HWB Trauma Informed Learning Weekend Recap
The Healing Circle, By Gigi Stafne
Meet our Newest Coordinators/Volunteers
​HWB Vision & Values in Action, By Denise & Finn
2018 Recap, by Denise Cusack
Welcome New Chapters!
Beat the Winter Blues with Flower Essences, by Miriah Meiers
Cinnamon - Superfood of Spices, By Miriah Meiers
Recipe for Immune-Boosting Bitters

News and Updates from HWB Chapters and Projects including HWB Northern Lights, HWB Kenya Rammah Group, HWB Uganda, HWB Richmond, HWB DC, HWB Western NY, HWB VT, HWB SE Queensland Australia, HWB Trillium Center, the VRHC, and more!
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Grab a nice hot cup of chai, sit down in front of the fire, and have a read!

Herbalists Without Borders International sponsors People's Clinics globally, with locations and services being offered in many countries throughout the world. The HWB Iowa Chapter, based in Cedar Rapids and led by Donna Bass, Chapter Coordinator, is currently the only HWB chapter located in Iowa. Promoting the establishment and growth of additional chapters is very important to making this beneficial opportunity available to more communities and their members.

All community members are welcome and are invited to monthly People's Clinics in Cedar Rapids via publicly-posted flyers, social media event pages, personal invitations from family/friends/co-workers, and promotions/referrals through local businesses that advertise wellness programs.

People's Clinic is targeted to reach and help everyone in the community, but especially those who are uninsured, underinsured, and cannot afford necessary interim services outside of their regular appointments with medical/healthcare providers. No one is turned away from People's Clinic for inability to pay.  Donation-based services are provided to all, at no/low cost to participants.

Services offered at Cedar Rapids People's Clinics currently include herbal consultation, referrals to community resources, licensed massage therapy (chair massage/hand massage), essential oil aromatherapy, energy work, Reiki, modern shamanic practices, sound therapies (singing bowls, drum/rattle), spiritual guidance, and more. Participants are invited to experience one, or as many services as they have time to complete.

HWB headquarters (or “The Mothership” as the Iowa Chapter lovingly refers to it), will often provide donations of natural body products and herbal supplements which are given (free) to clinic participants and community members in need.
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These 5 women in Iowa volunteer many gifts; a variety of services, products, wisdom, and loving presence, holding space and promoting transformation of mind, body, and spirit. Everyone who attends People's Clinic in Cedar Rapids is not only treated with dignity and respect, all are given unconditional LOVE from each practitioner, and offered support to face whatever life changes they may be encountering. HWB Iowa Chapter members are proud of the connection, emotion, and energy they are sharing with the Cedar Rapids community and its’ members.

Donna Bass - Master Herbalist, Cosmetologist, Founder HWB Iowa Chapter
Donna Bass, Founder of the HWB Iowa Chapter, earned a Master’s degree in Herbalism, and is a licensed cosmetologist. Donna completes review of intake paperwork with participating community members, provides herbal consultations, as well as offering suggestions/recommendations for resources and services. Donna is passionate about helping those who are underserved in the community, especially those diagnosed with PTSD, who are experiencing homelessness, and people needing resources. Donna loves educating people and indulging them with her unique line of herbal body products, salon, and spa services. She currently works in Brunettes on Center Point Rd. NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. You can schedule services or a consultation with Donna by contacting Brunettes at 319-393-1817.
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Rebekah “Bex” Hurn – Licensed Massage Therapist
Rebekah provides licensed massage therapy and other bodywork within Studio 128, inside the Cherry Building, in Cedar Rapids, IA. She describes herself as “a massage therapist that incorporates different modalities into a treatment. Anything from essential oils to energy work to sound bowls can be used…” Rebekah likes creating balance, a safe and sacred space for healing, and enjoys working on the root cause of pain and discomfort. She has generously donated the sacred space in her studio each month, allowing HWB Peoples’ Clinic volunteer practitioners a space to work within, so that the community may be invited to receive low/no cost alternative services.
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Jennifer Davis-Bachmann - Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki II Practitioner
Jennifer Davis-Bachmann is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki II Practitioner. She offers chair massage, hand massage, stretching, and aromatherapy services at Peoples’ Clinic in Cedar Rapids each month. Jen provides licensed massage therapy and Reiki sessions in Marion, IA and Cedar Rapids area. Jen serves anyone in need of relief from chronic pain, or who just wants to experience relaxation, de-stressing, and rebalancing. You can schedule by contacting her at 319-551-0862 or sending her a message through the Echo of My Heart Healing and Massage Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/echoofmyheart/
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Paula Hinzman-Mitchell – Herbalist, Usui Reiki Master/Teacher, Shamanic Practitioner
Paula is a practitioner of Modern Core Shamanism and provides Reiki and shamanic energy work during Peoples’ Clinic each month. She also provides shamanic energywork and reiki sessions at ReAlive in Marion, Iowa by appointment and at selected events. Paula works with anyone who wants to connect with their own spiritual path, their own sacred stories, and their innate healing potential. You can schedule by contacting her at 319-360-5972 or sending her a message through the Sacred Fire, LLC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SacredFireLLC/
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Valarie Kimm – Usui Reiki Master/Teacher, Shamanic Practitioner, ACI Practitioner, Owner of SWEAT Hot Yoga & Sacred Dance Studio
Valarie provides modern shamanic healing and energywork services, classes, workshops, and events through Spirit Sparrow Sacred Services & Guidance (online/distance & in person throughout Iowa). She is also the owner of SWEAT Hot Yoga & Sacred Dance Studio, opening February 2019 in Cedar Rapids (Hiawatha), Iowa. You can schedule services or register for classes by contacting her at 319-241-1980, call/visit SWEAT during normal business hours, or send her a message through the Spirit Sparrow Sacred Services and Guidance Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/1SpiritSparrow/
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To find a Chapter near you, visit our Find a Chapter page;
www.hwbglobal.org/find-a-chapter.html
To become a member of HWB or to renew your membership, visit;
www.hwbglobal.org/member-benefits.html

~By Miriah Meiers
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The Dakota Access Pipeline has been in service for eighteen months now, beginning in June 2017. It was two years ago this past October that Native American Tribes tried to block its construction near their reservation lands in South Central North Dakota. This became a large protest that escalated into an almost war-like event between the Native Tribes and Morton County Authorities. Many arrests were made on October 22, 2016.

The Dakota Pipeline was built to carry crude oil from Stanley, North Dakota (My hometown) to Pakota, Illinois, in order to increase its exportation to other lands. It crosses 50 counties in four states. It is owned by various companies and merges of these same companies.

This became a mainstream story worldwide capturing the protesting of the construction of this pipeline by various interests and throughout social media. The protestors referred to themselves as Water Protectors and consisted of mostly indigenous Native Americans from various tribes, but specifically the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux, as it was threatening their land.  As this protest stirred up more recognition, even celebrities were calling themselves Water Protectors, as were anyone else in support for the cause.

The protesting started after the initial route was redirected from being 10 miles Northeast of Bismarck, ND to further south near the Standing Rock Reservation, regardless of the Tribes Council Members concerns about water sources and sacred land being disrupted by the oil pipeline. The pipeline runs under the Missouri River.

This was also a very high tension time with a heated presidential election happening in congruence with this historical protest and was directly affected by it. After months of protests by thousands of indigenous and environmental activists, the Obama Administration denied a key permit for the DAPL. A few months later, Trump became president and reversed Obama’s decision and approved construction on the pipeline. This was one of Trump’s first actions as a President, to ensure an increase of domestic energy production. This distressed Native people in the United States and Canada, not only the destruction of land and water, but that the decisions were made discounting indigenous rights.

Today, the pipeline transfers crude oil from the Bakken oil basin of North Dakota at a rate of over 500,000 barrels per day. The Dakota Access Pipeline is not the only pipeline in this area, hundreds if not more are underground, sometimes several per field. The state will most likely run out of pipeline capacity next year, and Energy Transfer recently announced its plans to expand its Dakota Access pipeline, in order to transport more oil.

About Miriah: Adventure seeker, snowboarder, mountain climber, river rat, yogi, surfer wannabe, outdoor enthusiast. Writer, artist, activist, green medicine cratswoman, wondering explorer.

I became a member and volunteer of Herbalists Without Borders in 2012 as the Healing Arts Project Coordinator, while living in Denver, Colorado.  In 2014, I began constructing the quarterly newsletters and have served as the editor since and love it. The early newsletters were constructed while I lived remotely from Northern California; off-the-grid, on the move, and usually without internet access! I currently reside in Telluride, Colorado.

I’m striving to connect more with other Herbalists Without Borders globally on my travels and be an advocate writer on behalf of our non-profit, and freelance writer for other common causes. I truly support the humanitarian work of Herbalists Without Borders. I believe in humanity, and the moon and the stars. I’m passionate about protecting the Earth’s medicine and the rights to have access to it.