Hello friends,
Spring has arrived, and everywhere we look, nature is stirring with growth and renewal. As the days lengthen and the sun’s vitality returns, fresh green shoots emerge, birdsong fills the air, and a quiet sense of aliveness awakens within us. There is a feeling of movement and possibility all around.
In this spring newsletter, we explore the healing power of artistic practice through the eyes of an art educator, share simple seasonal crafts for the home, and offer gentle homecare ideas for navigating allergies. You’ll also find a beautiful video inviting us into a deeper relationship with the living world, along with a feature on bringing the principles of art and nature into the public school classroom.
We hope these offerings inspire you to welcome the season’s energy of renewal into your home, your work, and your community.
Warmly,
The FHC Team
In this edition:
Opening Poem: When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver
Healing through Art
by Ken Smith
Flower Pressing
Amanda Jacobs-Bissonette
Health in Action:
Community School for Creative Education
Additional Resources
An Effective Holistic Medical Approach to Allergies
By Dr. Carmen Hering and Dr. Steven M Johnson
Supportive Home Care for Seasonal Allergies
Chamomile Steam Inhalation
Campfire Stories: Keeper of the Yarrow
Suggested Reading
Anthroposophy in Everyday Life: The Four Temperaments
Rudolf Steiner
Upcoming Events
Webinar:
Health and Hygiene & The Four Temperaments
Workshop:
The Children of Our Times: Attention, Anxiety and Connection
Special Offer For Waldorf Communities
Opening Poem: When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come into the world to do this,
to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”
Healing through Art
by Ken Smith
After ten days of intensive work in April 2025, the Healing Through Art students finally gathered, mounted, and hung all their drawings and paintings and set up their sculptures. Three years of study were brought together for an exhibition coinciding with their graduation. Two BACWTT rooms were filled with their artistic efforts, struggles, discoveries, and successes.
It was an impressive body of work; however, despite the richness and beauty of the exhibition, you might miss its deeper value if you were unaware that each piece on display was the result of a therapeutic exercise and the students’ own learning and therapeutic journey. Each piece held the potential to be used in support of someone in need healing.
A Reflection on Light, Darkness, Creativity and Healing
by Amanda Jacobs-Bissonette
It’s easy to become lost in the appearances of a dying world. Like Saint Anthony beset by demons, I feel the monstrosities of the modern landscape–greed, violence, attack, subjugation, and isolation, among others—pressing in on my consciousness, attempting to hold me firm in the grip of suffering. I just turned 48. Biographically speaking, I am as deep into the material world as I imagine I will ever be in this lifetime. I behold layers and layers of matter, and the visible world is filled with thoughts formed by the past.
Health in Action:
Community School for Creative Education
In the heart of Oakland, California, a unique educational vision is flourishing. The Community School for Creative Education (CSCE) isn’t just a place of learning; it is a “Full Service Community School” where the arts, culture, and academic rigor intersect to support the whole child.
Additional Resources
An Effective Holistic Medical Approach to Allergies
By Dr. Carmen Hering and Dr. Steven M Johnson
While conventional medicine emphasizes symptom management and allergen avoidance, anthroposophic medicine offers a broader, developmentally oriented perspective. This approach seeks not only to treat but to prevent allergies by supporting the child’s immune development and resilience. Allergy prevention and successful treatment are possible when the human being is considered as a whole and the body’s natural processes of healing are respected and supported.
Supportive Home Care for Seasonal Allergies
As spring blooms and pollen counts rise, many people find themselves battling the misery of seasonal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis. This article explores the common causes and symptoms, while offering practical, supportive home care strategies to ease discomfort naturally. From saline rinses and herbal teas to reducing allergen exposure and nourishing the immune system, these gentle approaches can help you navigate allergy season with greater comfort and resilience.
Chamomile Steam Inhalation
Chamomile steam inhalation offers a simple, time-tested home remedy for relieving sinus congestion, blocked nasal passages, and upper respiratory discomfort. The gentle warmth and anti-inflammatory properties of chamomile help moisten the mucous membranes, dissolve mucus, reduce swelling, and ease associated headaches while providing a calming, germicidal effect. This soothing head steam bath is easy to prepare at home and can bring quick relief during colds, allergies, or sinus issues—making it a valuable supportive measure in natural self-care.
Campfire Stories presents: Keeper of the Yarrow – Full Documentary
FHC is pleased to share another documentary from the “Campfire Stories” initiative, titled Keeper of the Yarrow. This 20-minute film offers a beautiful portrait of Angelina, a gardener and herbalist in Sweden who has maintained a lifelong, deep-rooted belonging to the natural world. From her work at a Biodynamic kindergarten to her ancestral plant knowledge, Angelina’s story is a reminder of the bonds we can maintain with the living world. We hope this film serves as an inspiration to reconnect with your own surroundings and explore what it means to feel truly “at home” in nature.
Additional Reading
Anthroposophy in Everyday Life: The Four Temperaments
“The Four Temperaments” (Berlin, Mar. 4, 1909) show us how the union of hereditary factors and our own inner spiritual nature shape our psychology. The guide here is the ancient classifications of the four temperaments: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic. Renewed understanding of these qualities allows us to develop a truly modern spiritual psychology, which forms the basis of all real inner development.
Upcoming Webinar
Health and Hygiene & The Four Temperaments
by the founders of True Botanica
May 7, 2026 @ 4:30 pm PDT / 7:30 pm EDT
The temperament of a human being reveals the interaction between the physical and the spiritual characteristics of that individual. Understanding the Temperament of a person allows choosing which therapeutic modalities or lifestyle interventions would be best for helping an adult or a child in a particular situation.
Rudolf Steiner has considered the topic of the temperaments to be so important that he returned to this subject throughout his life. We will present specific characteristics of each temperament and discuss, among others, new remedies that may help to balance each of the four principal temperaments.
Upcoming Workshop
The Children of Our Times: Attention, Anxiety and Connection
by Laurie Schmiesing, RN
Wednesdays, April 29 & May 6 6:30- 8 pm Central (Live Zoom)
What do our children need in our times? This is an important question for all adults to consider. Anthroposophy gives us a deep understanding into human development.
Special Offer For Waldorf Communities
Empowering Teachers and Parents
to Nurture Healthy & Resilient Children
At the Foundation for Health Creation, we believe that healthy children thrive in healthy communities. Our mission is to empower teachers and parents with practical, holistic tools to foster well-being through wholesome nutrition, holistic approaches to learning, healthy environments, emotional resilience, and meaningful family and community connections.
Embrace a Path of Well-Being
Raising and teaching young children today can feel daunting…are you:
● Struggling with conflicting health advice for your children or students?
● Concerned about rising stress and anxiety in young people?
● Seeking practical, holistic strategies to support well-being?
The Foundation for Health Creation offers guidance from compassionate health experts who understand your challenges. Access our free curated resources below to empower yourself with clear solutions for nurturing healthy and resilient children.
Have you received our new brochure?
Are you receiving our Email Newsletters?
Sign-up below! We promise to protect your privacy and will not share your information with any 3rd parties.