MINDFUL LIVING GROUP

Hawaiian Culture & Plant Medicine

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Hawaiian Culture & Plant Medicine

Mindful Living Group offers classes and workshops on Hawaiian plants by an expert on medicinal plants of the Tropics. The courses provide insight into more than 400 traditional plants of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Western cultures. Native plants play a vital role in Hawaiian culture.
For generations, Hawaiian culture has used native plants for medicinal purposes. Plants and other vegetation have been used to treat, heal, and cure various illnesses and diseases.
However, health is not just physical; it is also mental.

In Hawaiian culture, spiritual healing is as important as physical healing. The Hawaiian words "lāʻau" and "lapaʻau" mean vegetation/treatment and heal/cure. Lāʻau lapaʻau is a traditional practice of healing the mind and body using plants. It was banned in 1820 after missionaries arrived on the islands. The influx of foreigners brought strange diseases to which native Hawaiians were not immune.

These ailments ultimately contributed to the decline of the Native Hawaiian population and the inability to heal physical or mental conditions through native methods. For half a century, Native Hawaiians were prohibited from practicing physical and spiritual healing through lāʻau lapaʻau.In 1988, Congress adopted the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act, acknowledging lāʻau lapaʻau as traditional medicine.

Our Herbalist, David Leonard, LAc, is trained in Chinese herbs and Hawaiian plant medicine. He researches, lectures, and teaches on the cross-cultural use of herbs, environmental issues, traditional botanical collection practices, and practical approaches to healthcare. He offers classes and certifications in gathering wild plants for a wide range of benefits.A devoted ecologist and perpetual student of plant medicine, David has studied traditional practices with healers worldwide, including Hawaiian herbal medicines under Kahu Kawika Ka'alakea, Kaipo Kaneakua, and Na Kupuna' O Hawai'i since 1992.
David holds a master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has practical knowledge of more than 400 traditional Hawaiian, Chinese and Western plants. He is the author of "Medicine at Your Feet: Healing Plants of the Hawaiian Kingdom" and "Wild Wisdom: Listening to Heart of Nature."

Please check our calendar of events to schedule an herbalism consultation or attend an upcoming workshop.

PŌHALA ~ To Recover Consciousness/To awaken ~ Ancient Hawaiian and Mū Culture ~ Fern Medicine By Ke’oni Hanalei

Acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture