Resilience is the ability stand strong in the face of crisis. Resilience is overcoming obstacles and limitations. Resilience is accepting the challenge and moving forward anyway. Resilience is bouncing back with new experiences and knowledge. 

Community Resilience

As I work toward building resilience in my community, it is necessary to maintain resilience in my own spirit-mind-body. As an herbalist, first responder, street medic and public health educator, I put myself in many chaotic situations. Some of these situations were environmental disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti and assessing cancer rates due to coal waste in West Virginia. Some of these situations were political disasters such as the giant gatherings to support Water Protectors at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and many large protests across North America. 

“Herbal Resilience in Uncertain Times” is my accumulation of experience and knowledge from working in chaotic situations where I’ve often been surrounded by threats of infection and violence. These free lessons are informed by trauma and direct experience, but presented through a lens of gratitude, humility, and a bit of humor. 

I consider this a work in progress that requires conversations and problem-solving to be a solid statement on building and maintaining resilience. The class format allows participants to have conversations, ask questions, post pictures, and share documents.

I’m presenting the lessons in the context of the Five Elements because they are the building blocks for understanding traditional approaches to herbalism.

Join me, 

Leah Wolfe, herbalist