Crystal Maceira – Master Herbalist

Turn Your Hands into Powerful Healing Tools

Crystal Maceira, CBP, LMT, MH
November-December 2019 • Vol 3, No 107

If you’ve read my previous articles about Bowenwork in this magazine (available in the NaturalLifeNews.com Archives), then you know that Bowenwork is a system of moves along muscle and connective tissue. It enhances the body’s innate ability to heal, creates balance, and resets the nervous system out of “stress mode.” So now, the question is: Is Bowenwork right for you?

In his booklet, Understanding the Bowen Technique, John Wilks describes Bowenwork as “a very gentle form of natural healing. In order to appreciate its subtlety and depth, the therapy really needs to be experienced.” Bowenwork differs from massage, where the therapist’s hands are on the body the whole time. Instead, the Bowenwork practitioner will apply a few moves and then let the body “receive and process” for a couple of minutes or longer, depending on the procedure being applied.

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Reduces Stress, Soothes the GI Tract, and More!

Crystal Maceira, CBP, LMT, MH
September-October 2019 • Vol 3, No 106

Licorice isn’t really a weed in Montana, but it does grow like a weed in the warm areas of Europe, some Mediterranean islands, and parts of Asia, like Turkey and Persia. Although there are many varieties of this plant, there are only two varieties of Glycyrrhiza glabra that the pharma will use.

As mentioned, in the bottomlands of Turkey, it is considered an aggressive weed. In the early 1900s, large amounts of licorice were exported as a drug in the form of a paste from Smyrna and Sokia.

I am currently growing this herb, and I can see why they say it is an aggressive weed. I started it from seed last year in my greenhouse. I decided to transplant it to one side of my greenhouse last fall, since they grow up to five feet. In the spring, it didn’t seem like it was growing, so I tilled along there to work the soil, thinking I would plant something else. To my surprise, the plant just sprang up! I ended up having eight vigorous licorice plants grow along that area.

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Common Weed with a Host of Health Benefits!

Crystal Maceira, CBP, LMT, MH
July-August 2019 • Vol 3, No 105

In the next few issues, I will be writing about weeds found abundantly here in Montana. When you learn just how healing these weeds are for the body, well, then it will become abundantly clear that these “weeds” are extremely valuable herbs.

Mullein is an herb that I see everywhere along the Canyon Ferry Dam area where I live. Its stock portrays a beautiful single stick of yellow flowers. By the time you finish reading this, you will want to grow this herb for your own use. I have used mullein for almost 30 years, as an oil and in my favorite formula, KVA (Keep Viruses Away). It’s specialty area is the respiratory system—especially the lungs; although, it also soothes and strengthens the bowels and renal system, and it has been very useful for the glands and the serous and mucous membranes. It is a great herbal painkiller and nervous soporific (induces sleep). It calms down any inflamed and irritated nerves. It has been used in many kidney formulas for that very reason. You can use the leaves, flowers, root and the fruit…in other words, the whole plant.

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from Sandra Gustafson, MHS, BSN, RN

Crystal Maceira, CBP, LMT, MH
May-June 2019 • Vol 3, No 104

Cancer is a disease that affects all societies around the globe. With all the financial, medical, and scientific resources so focused on “finding the cure for cancer” and no clear result in sight, one has to wonder if medicine is approaching this quest from the best angle. Thousands of researchers worldwide are employed in the medical/pharmaceutical industry to find and create curative treatments and drug compounds. Approximately thirty-two Nobel Laureates have received Nobel Prizes for cancer research. Billions of dollars are spent each year, and yet this disease has not been eradicated. Why not? One reason is “reductionism”—the biomedical view of trying to isolate and target specific molecular path- ways to develop curative treatments, without understanding that cancer, and cancer treatment, requires a holistic, biologic approach—not a one-system-cures-all approach.

The holistic model addresses the complexities of host/disease/ drug interactions and offers personalized therapies that boost the immune system’s ability to activate its own defense against cancer-cell replication.

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Enhancing the Body’s Physiology

Crystal Maceira, LMT, MH
January–February 2019 • Vol 3, No 102

Bowenwork has been used in Australia for over 60 years. Insurance companies there pay for treatments, because they have found that it is 80% effective for treating pain and other issues in the body. In this article, I will explain more in physiological terms of why Bowenwork effects such changes with only minimal pressure. (More information about Bowenwork can be found in my May–June 2018 article, archived at NaturalLifeNews.com.)

While I was still in the learning process, I had a client who had Parkinson’s that came to me for massage. He agreed to let me “practice” Bowenwork on him, so I could get my “hands on” training certification. He had stage 4 Parkinson’s, which made it difficult for him to get around. Besides the obvious tremors, he indicated that he didn’t sleep well, had no energy and had a significant amount of pain. Within three treatments, he was pleasantly surprised at the results. He was sleeping better, had more energy to do some projects around the house, and he was in less pain. We did a few more treatments, which increased the benefits. When he expressed his delight with his doctor, she wanted to learn more about Bowenwork.

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“Garlic Is Divine!” —Anthony Bourdain

Crystal Maceira, LMT, MH
November-December 2018 • Vol 3, No 101

The late great Anthony Bourdain once wrote, “Garlic is divine. When handled correctly, few foods can taste so many distinct ways. Please, treat your garlic with respect…” While he was referring to garlic’s culinary uses, we will see here that the same is true of its herbal and medicinal uses.

In the previous issue, we highlighted the power of Lobelia. Garlic is another one of my favorite herbs. Since the holidays are coming up and the cold and flu season is upon us, it’s garlic’s turn to shine. You may already know that garlic is a wonder food, but I’m sure you will learn more about it before this article is through. For example, did you know that China produces some 80% of the world supply of garlic?

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