NAHA ** Was: AT Conference - In Texas or Thereabouts

April 12, 2007

Hi Rhavda,

I was gonna let this one slide but I reckon since we should be seeking

truth on this News Group .. I need to tell it like I think it is. ;-)

The subject line above begins with NAHA .. that's an idea from the old

days on various News Groups for two subjects .. this one and YL .. it

was decided that so many posts were being made on those two that it

was appropriate to tell folks in advance what the subject was so they

could delete it if they wanted to.

> Dear Butch,

> It is great to hear from you and your opinions. I am well aware of

> your views on NAHA as they have not changed in the past few years.

That is because nothing in NAHA has changed in the past few years. A

check of their web site finds that they still have all those

idealistic goals but NONE of them have been accomplished. It was and

still is a dead organization .. it does absolutely nothing for the AT

industry.

> However, if you want to change NAHA then you should become a member

> again and run for office so that changes can be made.

I don't want to change NAHA .. I just as soon see it go under snakes,

there will be no loss if that happens. I forgot about NAHA 2-3 years

ago and would never have dreamed of even mentioning that four letter

word if you had not brought it up when you were telling us why an AT

Shindig would not work if held in Texas .. and I provided clear info

on why it would work .. but your post is more about NAHA than it is

about the AT Shindig .. so I am addressing your comments on NAHA now. ;-)

I did not want to slam NAHA .. I think they do a pretty good job of

doing that to themselves .. but since the subject came up and there

are a lot of new folks on this list .. its fair to tell them why some

of us have reported negatively about NAHA.

Off NAHA for a minute .. you have said that folks won't come to Texas

during hot weather .. but Arizona is much hotter than Texas and we had

successful meetings there in the summer .. and Albuquerque was pretty

danged hot last year too. The reason for summer is because most of

the folks who attend are younger folks who have younguns .. and its

easier for them to make it when school is out. At least that is what

they said in the past when these Shindigs were planned.

Back to NAHA .. even now I don't want to talk about NAHA .. but I must

because you have brought this subject up and addressed some comments

to me. After this I hope I don't have to address it again and I can

go on with doing my thing without ever thinking about NAHA again.

NAHA has not been and is not now a transparent organization .. period!

There is no way to learn how many members they have. And as Marcia

pointed out .. at http://www.naha.org/financial_information.htm they

show only years 2000, 2001, 2002. I think this is a violation of IRS

regulations. But that might have to do with the petition to IRS ..

http://www.nahaexposed.org/ .. which was signed by a lotta folks in

this industry (131) .. many who had at one time fully supported NAHA.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?naha3666 & 101 ..

lists those names .. we didn't hide our identities.

And Kathleen is right on when she said they were nuzzling Young

Living. There was never any doubt in my mind that the YL organization

had a bunch of its folks join NAHA so they could appear to be

legitimate .. but best as I can recall NAHA had provisions for

refusing membership to organizations that practiced unsafe AT. One

time .. Jade Shutes (then president) likened Young Living's Gary Young

and Raindrop Therapy to a persecuted Galileo. Then on the Idma List

she told Lynda Sorenson that she didn't have time to read Graham's YL

files http://theguidetoaromatherapy.com/ylfiles.html since she was

more interested in reading about organic foods than AT. In context

with our criticism of the dangers of Raindrop Therapy, she once called

the bunch of us " AT extremists " and said that she had never come

across anything resembling a sensitization reaction in more than 12

years as a practicing aromatherapist. This was the President of the

organization that is supposed to be moving safe aromatherapy forward.

YL has never met the standards NAHA claims to have in their Code of

Ethics .. http://www.naha.org/ethics.htm

Back then .. NAHA was listing Young Living seminars and such on their

Calendar of Events .. one of them was this one from Stewart of YL

http://www.raindroptraining.com/programs/index.html

At .. http://naha.org/safety.htm .. there was a White Paper explaining

the dangers of Raindrop Therapy .. Kristine Barber & Janice Gagnon

Warr wrote it in November 2001 and updated May 2002. Its at this link

http://naha.org/pdf/Rain%20Drop%20Therapy.pdf .. but it took a lot of

time and pushing to get NAHA to post it. Basically, Jade did not want

to condemn Raindrop Therapy and folks wondered why.

Then NAHA caught a lotta Hell for not taking a stand on Raindrop

Therapy so they came out with a watered down statement that sorta said

it was not really safe .. but when I click now I see its no longer

there .. http://www.naha.org/RDTstatement.htm .. but an even more

watered down version is there .. http://www.naha.org/rdt_statement.htm

NAHA's Mission Statement is at http://www.naha.org/naha.htm .. I

defied Jade to show me where they had accomplished any portion of that

mission or moved forward on their so-called vision. What we have on

that statement is a lotta Humma-Humma .. and it is slick enough to get

a few new members to join now and then .. one time .. rarely do they

continue to be members.

As for spreading the AT word .. there is lots of room for a conflict

of interests when the President attends lots of conferences at NAHA

expense and the President also has an AT/EO business .. where does the

line need to be drawn? Long ago on Idma .. to Jade Shutes .. I

recommended that NAHA have a full time professional President who was

a LEADER .. not an Aromatherapy Practitioner.

> The reason that I joined NAHA years ago was to help make a difference.

> I don't believe that I have been able to do much on a national level

> since I don't care for the politics of many of the upper people

involved

> but I can make a difference on my local level by trying to bring people

> together who love aromatherapy and want to talk about it.

You joined for good reasons but Regional Directors have always groused

about the lack of support from the Headquarters. NAHA has a hard time

filling positions with volunteers now because folks became fed up with

lack of support from the Headquarters.

At .. http://www.naha.org/volunteer.htm .. we see that 27 States and

Puerto Rico have no District or Regional Director. And in some cases

the same person covers more than one area. According to this link ..

http://www.naha.org/director_requirements.htm .. it reads, " NAHA is

seeking Directors for the following STATES: AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, HI,

NH, IA, ID, KY, KS, LA, ME, MI, MS, MT, NE, ND, NV, OH, PR, SD, TN,

VA, W.VA, VT, WY. "

And there is a new statement on the site .. I wonder what the future

will bring .. that statement is, " NAHA DOES NOT – (At this Time) Sell

Essential Oils or Aromatherapy products. " I would think that this

would not change since they are supposed to be a non-profit organization.

> I do not agree with everything that NAHA does or says

I would bet that its closer to you not agreeing with ANYTHING NAHA

does or says. ;-)

> but I can take a stand to try and change things rather that complain

about

> the problems and do nothing.

That statement sounds like it came out of a NAHA Manual on how to

reply to those who criticize us. We have all read Jade's words many

times when she said the same thing .. its been said for at least ten

years.

Again .. I don't want to change NAHA .. I don't even want to think

about NAHA. It is not possible to change it anyway .. it needs to go

under snakes and a new organization needs to come on line that will

profit from all the mistakes NAHA made.

And I don't criticize anyone who wants to join or serve as a Regional .. or even as the President. I just don't think it is the

type of organization I want to pay big bucks to be a member of.

> By the way I spoke at a NAHA conference several years ago and my way as

> well as my hotel and food was not paid for by NAHA.

Then you were too easy. ;-) I made a written agreement with them and

they agreed .. though Jade protested. My agreement was with the ones

honchoing the AT Conference Naomi .. who at that time I think was

Atlantic District Director .. I guess she quit because I don't see her

name on there now .. and Doug Rasmusson. And they agreed to give me a

free demonstration table. There was no way I would go there for free

because they were charging .. if the conference was not designed to

make a profit then I would have been happy to speak for free.

Its a norm for conferences to pay expenses of speakers .. when Martin

and I spoke at the one in Toronto in 1999 we had all expenses covered

and as far as I know NAHA has paid others such expenses in the past ..

Marcia will know because she was a member of the Board of something

like that years ago.

> Your experience with them paying your way must have been several years

> before.

It was the conference held in North Carolina .. I reckon it was 2001

or maybe 2002 .. might have even been later .. I don't remember the

exact time but I am sure some folks here attended the function and a

lot of them on this list will recall when I posted to the list

explaining why I was canceling as a speaker.

> Are you also aware that Aromatics In Action is another aromatherapy

> organization started as a result of the NAHA politics? I joined them

> because they are young and vibrant and need to be supported if they are

> going to make a difference in our community. Last fall they had a

> conference planned but it didn't make because they did not have the

people

> needed nor the support and money needed.

I was not aware .. I tried to Dogpile them and I found this one ..

http://www.alliance-aromatherapists.org/ .. which appears to have very

reasonable membership fees.

> Money, contrary to what you are talking about does make a difference for

> people who want to attend. Not everyone is you or Martin Watt.

I can speak for me but not for Martin .. though I know that he is not

rolling in dough .. FAR from it in fact. And I think what you are

talking about is the AT Shindig we are going to have in Texas. If

that is it .. then I'm not sure what money you are talking about .. or

whether having it in the Fall (as you have recommended twice) would

make a difference is someone was living on a tight budget. There

should be no cost to the one we hold in Texas .. with proper planning

that can easily become the case.

> I am coming in on the tail end of this thread due to bouncing my

> messages for the past week so if there are other conferences or

> organizations out there, please share the information with me. Thanks.

None that I want to go to .. maybe others have input on this.

> Maybe you might even think about putting together a conference where you

> are going to be living. I am sure that it would be a great success

for all

> involved.

Since 1995 I have tried to get folks to come to Turkey for a

conference. How else could those who are in business gonna be able to

visit this place and have it be a tax write off. ;-) Where I am

going to be living is still unknown .. either Tennessee or Arkansas

but having a conference there now is not in my plans. Having one in

Texas is.

> I am glad that you have your opinions and I am glad that I have my

> opinions. We both have our opinions based on our past history with

NAHA and

> other organizations or rather lack of organizations because people often

> chose to complain from afar and help tear apart an organization that

could

> be rebuilt if those people wanted to really make a difference and change

> things.

I didn't want to express my opinions on NAHA .. I am still getting

over the writer's cramps I developed from years ago .. back then it

was like an everyday thing because Jade or Mynou was coming on line

each day with more Bovine Excrement than folks could handle. Later,

Mynou (who had been the most loyal and blind supporter of the

organization) saw the light and turned on them like a Pit Bull.

As for complaining from afar .. I laid out a heck of a lot of valid

and logical recommendations (both on line and off) to Jade on how the

organization could be saved and save face .. I sent her a 10 + page

fax even .. she had objections to all of them. I am an experienced

administrator .. and a successful leader .. but I can't force change

on those who resist it and NAHA could not adapt my recommendations

because it would have upset their little apple cart of corruption and

it would have exposed their total inefficiency.

As for me giving time to honcho such an organization .. even if I were

eligible I wouldn't have the time or desire .. if I had the time I

would give it to far more worthy causes .. and there would be a lot of

desire if the cause was a worthy one.

I said " if I was eligible " because I am not. First, I haven't lived

in the USA since 1988 .. so that was enough unto itself to block any

attempt to run for office. But more than that was/is the requirement

that to be eligible to run for office one must have been a member for

2 years .. and membership is not inexpensive.

Professional Member Inside/Outside the USA .. $125/$155

Business Member Inside/Outside the USA ...... $155/$180

Donor Member Inside/Outside the USA ......... $250/$300

Why would I want to pay that much money and then wait two years for a

chance to change the organization? I began as a Donor Member .. used

to advertise in the Journal and such .. but that was before I became

aware of some of the corrupt shenanigans they were pulling.

> Isn't it great that we live in a country where we can express

> differences of opinion without problems?

Of course .. I spent 30 years in uniform to help ensure that we could

do such a thing. ;-) And your son will soon be doing likewise .. as

I have said many times before .. I salute him and all like him.

> I'm glad that you are back at full blast. I look forward to your emails.

Thank you ma'am .. and I won't comment on NAHA again .. if you don't. ;-)

> They are always so insightful and interesting.

Thanks .. appreciate your comments for sure. :-)

> Take care and have a great week! I look forward to seeing you at the

> next aromatherapy conference in Austin.

Same here .. but it might be held in San Antonio .. or maybe in Cut &

Shoot. ;-)

> Regards,

> Rhavda

> Mother of a future Marine Air Pilot who will graduate from the US

> Naval Academy on May 25, 2007. Semper Fi

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

April 12, 2007

Just a side note.

I have permanent disfigurement in the form of brown liver looking spots on

my nose and forehead which really embarrasses me.

It was because the YL rep stuck the bottle to my nose, the brown spot is

where the citrus oil touched it and then I wiped it as it began to burn and

touched my forehead.

I would need cosmetic surgery to remove these, they are permanent.

This done by the person training all in Aus the raindrop etc.

Bah humbug.

LOL

-

" Butch Owen " <butchbsi

Thursday, April 12, 2007 1:13 PM

NAHA ** Was: AT Conference - In Texas or

Thereabouts