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Welcome to the home of the Learning Garden Monthly Subscription Series!
Our hearts are full of gratitude bringing together this beautiful offering of several monthly classes held on an ongoing basis, all accessible via your computer or smartphone! As always our programs will incorporate practical healing knowledge from our community of knowledgable teachers, and we know these teachers are more relevant than ever during these challenging times! Attend the classes you feel called to.
Monthly Automatic Subscription
Once you subscribe you will be charged $22.22 once monthly, you will have access to all of the live upcoming classes, as well as all of our amazing archived recordings, listed below! You can unsubscribe at any time below.
How It Works:
It's Easy! Check out our full schedule of incredible upcoming classes, on Thursday evenings at 6pm Eastern Standard Time. The classes will be live streamed via Zoom, so you must download that application. Check out the full schedule below. The classes can be attended live, or after each class the recording will be posted on the Bloom Class Replay page. You will receive login/ password information unique to you and your own account so you can access all of the class replays! You will have access to that page until you unsubscribe from the series. Make sure to add [email protected] to your email contacts so you receive important course updates and more.
2020-21 Class Schedule:
Enrollment is ongoing Sign Up Today!
Tuesdays & Thursdays are 6-8pm EST, Sundays 9-11am EST
Class Schedule is Subject to Change
Class Schedule is Subject to Change
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December 8
Let It Go! Releasing Trauma with Muneera Fontaine December 10 Herbal Projects to do With Kids with Rebecca Andrews December 17 Radical Self Care with Herbs with Robin Rose Bennett January 5 The Psychology of our Nature Connection with Vanessa Durrant January 7 Crafting a Dream Time Tea with Nadeja Johanna Zoller, TWH January 14 Herbal Heroines/Heroínas herbales with Yuré Calvo Santana January 17 Yoga for Creativity with Namita Kulkarni January 19 Plant Spirit Communication 101 with Catherine Feliz January 21 Race & Cultural Competence in Holistic Health: Insights for BIPOC with Dr. Deena Class January 26 Grow Your Own Herbs - 2 Part Series with Henriette den Ouden February 4 Topical Herbal Medicine - Wound and Bruise Healing, and more - Robin Rose Bennett February 7 Plantas Medicinas Portugal with Olivia Fite February 16 Winter Skin - Anatomy and Physiology and Hands On Butters and Salves with Lacey Walker February 18 RESCHEDULED-Date 4/8/2021 Ayurveda for Self Care with Anjali Sunita - Class 1 February 23 Herbal Suncatchers for KIDS! Recorded Class with Molly Meehan Brown March 4 Basic Herbal Medicine Making with Molly Meehan Brown March 9 Menopause: A Rite of Passage with Hillary Banachowski March 11 Reclaiming Sovereign Birth: Ancestral Care for Pregnancy & Birth Outside the System with Qiddist Ashé March 16 Ayurveda for Self Care with Anjali Sunita - Class 1 March 21 Slow Flow Yoga Class with Carmen Valverde March 23 “Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series with Lucretia VanDyke April 1 Plant Medicine and Movement with Lara Pacheco April 6 Starting Your Home Garden with Brandon Ruiz April 8 Ayurveda for Self Care with Anjali Sunita - Class 2 April 15 Ayurveda for Self Care with Anjali Sunita - Class 3 *Changed from 4/13* April 18 Kemetic Yoga for Beginners with Lindsay Gary April 20 Into the Herbalist's Kitchen - Class 1 Infused Vinegars & Honey with Liz Henke April 22 RETURN: Iteration & Imagination with Terican Gross April 29 “Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series with Lucretia VanDyke May 4 Growing Tropical Medicines in Northern Climates with Brandon Ruiz May 6 Grow Your Own Herbs - 2 Part Series with Henriette den Ouden May 11 Small Scale Composting 101 with Tania Hester May 16 Kemetic Yoga for Beginners with Lindsay Gary May 18 Into the Herbalist's Kitchen Class 2 Garden to Glass - Herbal Beverages with Liz Henke May 20 Responding to COVID: How to Support your Community with Herbal Medicine in Times of Crisis with Malka Roth and Violet King May 25 “Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series with Lucretia VanDyke June 1 Invasive Apothecary with Alyssa Dennis June 3 Grow Your Medicine Without Owning Land with Rosa Vissers June 10 Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Pain Management with Sade Musa June 17 Into the Herbalist's Kitchen Class 3 Edible Herbal Butters & Infused Oils with Liz Henke |
June 22
Kids Herbal Tea Time with Caroline Rose Helm June 24 “Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series with Lucretia VanDyke July 1 Friends and Foes: exploring plant toxicity with Holly Poole-Kavana July 6 Traditional Trinidadian Stories of Anansi and other Folklore with Zenovia D'Arienzo July 20 Create your own Herbarium: A library of Pressed Plants with Arvolyn R Hill July 22 Phenology for Herbalists with Lacey Walker July 27 “Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series with Lucretia VanDyke August 5 Incredible Edible!, edible flowers of different latitudes with Yuré Calvo Santana August 10 Mid Summer Garden Walk at Wild Ginger Herbal Center in Maryland with Molly Meehan Brown August 17 Mid Summer Garden Walk Part II at Wild Ginger Herbal Center in Maryland with Molly Meehan Brown August 19 Connecting with Ancestral Guidance For Personal and Collective Healing with Vanessa Radman August 26 “Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series with Lucretia VanDyke September 7 Medicinal Plants and Emotional Well-Being with Yuré Calvo Santana September 9 Cutting Sickle Cell with Yuma “Docta Yew” Bellomee September 12 The Magic and Science of Ujjayi Breath (Ocean Breath) with Namita Kulkarni September 14 Bioregional Herbalism and the Apothecary Garden with Holly Poole- Kavana September 21 Herbs, Ritual, and Sacred Ceremony with Robin Rose Bennett September 23 Business Alchemy for Herbalists & Healers with Jules Beneficio September 28 Saving Our Seeds: The Foundation of a Sustainable Food System with Bevin Cohen October 5 Seasonal Cordials with Molly Meehan Brown October 14 Caring for Desiring, Prenatal and Post Partum Bodies Class 1 with Ellenie Cruz October 21 Jam Making with Sade Musa October 26 The Sacred Herbs of Samhain with Ellen Evert Hopman November 4 Relax Relate Release! A Yoga Class with Ayesha Boykins-Koukoui November 11 Caring for Desiring, Prenatal and Postpartum Bodies Class 2 with Ellenie Cruz November 18 From Picky Eater to Food Explorer! with Melanie Yukov November 30 Herbal Bread Making Class with Lacey Walker December 2 Herbs for Dream Recall + Dream Work Part 1 with Charmaine Bee December 7 Conngees for Family Wellness: The Amazing Benefits of Grain Porridge with Geoff Edwards December 9 Caring for Desiring, Prenatal and Post Partum Bodies Class 3 with Ellenie Cruz December 14 Astrological Herbalism with Lupo Passero |
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Sign Up Today and lock in this incredibly low price!
Monthly Memberships are automatically billed Ongoing - you will be charged until you unsubscribe
$25 a month
Sign Up Today!
$25 a month - automatic subscription
This is an INCREDIBLE VALUE, our goal is to make sure that this program is affordable - remember you must have access to use Zoom on your device that has internet access. Classes are held live , if you can't make it at the class time after each class we will send out a link that will allow you to download for a limited amount of time and then you can watch at a better time for you. You will have access to recording for only as long as you continue to subscribe. That access is part of what the payment is helping to maintain.
Sign Up via the Payment Button below with any major credit or debit card. The classes are not downloadable. Remember, due to the digital nature of this content all payments are final, non-refundable and non-transferable. You will no longer have access to classes once your year is over, however we will contact you and you can sign up again to continue your access to these ongoing classes.
VERY Important: Make sure to add [email protected] to your email contact list so you are sure to receive emails with important class access information and so it does not go to your trash or spam folder. Once you subscribe we will see you in our system. As long as you saw your payment receipt you are good, no need to email to get a confirmation. At the beginning of each week we will send out an email with the course access info for that weeks classes, you will be included on that. MAKE SURE to fill out the Name and Address section above the Subscribe button with the correct name and email address you would like to receive course access info, and when you enter the webinar please use that name.
For monthly subscribers UNSUBSCRIBE INFO BELOW - save your transaction number!
$25 a month - automatic subscription
This is an INCREDIBLE VALUE, our goal is to make sure that this program is affordable - remember you must have access to use Zoom on your device that has internet access. Classes are held live , if you can't make it at the class time after each class we will send out a link that will allow you to download for a limited amount of time and then you can watch at a better time for you. You will have access to recording for only as long as you continue to subscribe. That access is part of what the payment is helping to maintain.
Sign Up via the Payment Button below with any major credit or debit card. The classes are not downloadable. Remember, due to the digital nature of this content all payments are final, non-refundable and non-transferable. You will no longer have access to classes once your year is over, however we will contact you and you can sign up again to continue your access to these ongoing classes.
VERY Important: Make sure to add [email protected] to your email contact list so you are sure to receive emails with important class access information and so it does not go to your trash or spam folder. Once you subscribe we will see you in our system. As long as you saw your payment receipt you are good, no need to email to get a confirmation. At the beginning of each week we will send out an email with the course access info for that weeks classes, you will be included on that. MAKE SURE to fill out the Name and Address section above the Subscribe button with the correct name and email address you would like to receive course access info, and when you enter the webinar please use that name.
For monthly subscribers UNSUBSCRIBE INFO BELOW - save your transaction number!
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Click Here for Wild Ginger Herbal Center's Teachers & Bios
Class Descriptions & Bloom Teacher Bios
Ayo Ngozi
Ayo is an herbalist, artist, and cultural worker committed to documenting traditional herbal practices of the African diaspora and making evidence-based herbal education accessible to all. She is a longtime instructor at Wild Ginger Herbal Center, has contributed to courses at the Herbal Academy and Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, and teaches at conferences and herbal programs in the US and abroad. Ayo is based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she owns a small herbal business, The Creative Root.
The Art of Pleasure Medicine! 3 part series
Oct 8 (2020): Smoke Medicine: Explore the basics of making incense from aromatic herbs! We’ll learn to prepare loose incense, cones, sticks, and smudge bundles, and explore some of the physical and metaphysical uses and purposes of herbs, resins and woods used in incense-making.
Nov 5: Dyeing with Plants: You can create subtle and vibrant colors with common (and not-so-common) foods, spices, and herbs! From onion skins to turmeric, cabbage to madder root, nature has what we need. Learn how to work with number of common (and not-so common) plants and modifiers on cotton and/or wool to create your own projects.
Dec 3: BitterSweet: Explore how bitterness and sweetness work together as we create a few pleasurable treats: herbal truffles, cordials, and herbal hot chocolate to carry you through the cold months or give as gifts.
Ayo is an herbalist, artist, and cultural worker committed to documenting traditional herbal practices of the African diaspora and making evidence-based herbal education accessible to all. She is a longtime instructor at Wild Ginger Herbal Center, has contributed to courses at the Herbal Academy and Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, and teaches at conferences and herbal programs in the US and abroad. Ayo is based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she owns a small herbal business, The Creative Root.
The Art of Pleasure Medicine! 3 part series
Oct 8 (2020): Smoke Medicine: Explore the basics of making incense from aromatic herbs! We’ll learn to prepare loose incense, cones, sticks, and smudge bundles, and explore some of the physical and metaphysical uses and purposes of herbs, resins and woods used in incense-making.
Nov 5: Dyeing with Plants: You can create subtle and vibrant colors with common (and not-so-common) foods, spices, and herbs! From onion skins to turmeric, cabbage to madder root, nature has what we need. Learn how to work with number of common (and not-so common) plants and modifiers on cotton and/or wool to create your own projects.
Dec 3: BitterSweet: Explore how bitterness and sweetness work together as we create a few pleasurable treats: herbal truffles, cordials, and herbal hot chocolate to carry you through the cold months or give as gifts.
Lupo Passero
Intimately connected with the plant world from an early age, Lupo has been professionally working with the plants as medicine for nearly 25 years. In 2009, after over a decade of studying and teaching herbalism in Asheville NC Lupo moved back to her home state of Connecticut, and launched Twin Star Herbal Education and Apothecary in New Milford. It is here that she continues to share her passion for the natural world. She has been invited to teach at various institutions around New England including, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Western Connecticut State University, Yale University and The Graduate Institute. Lupo’s immense love for travel has lead her to teach numerous herbal trainings and retreats throughout the country as well as Central America, Europe and the United Kingdom. She has had the privilege of studying under the tutelage of many great teachers including Himani Ellis, Rosemary Gladstar, Pam Montgomery and a host of traditional and indigenous Medicine People from across the globe. Having grown up in Newtown, Connecticut Lupo has worked extensively promoting the concept of Herbalism in Action, using herbalism to help support communities after tragedy, after closely using the wisdom of the plants to help support her community of Sandy Hook. When she is not traveling and teaching she can be found in her medicine wheel garden or traipsing through the woodland, almost always with her camera in hand.
Astrological Herbalism
Intimately connected with the plant world from an early age, Lupo has been professionally working with the plants as medicine for nearly 25 years. In 2009, after over a decade of studying and teaching herbalism in Asheville NC Lupo moved back to her home state of Connecticut, and launched Twin Star Herbal Education and Apothecary in New Milford. It is here that she continues to share her passion for the natural world. She has been invited to teach at various institutions around New England including, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Western Connecticut State University, Yale University and The Graduate Institute. Lupo’s immense love for travel has lead her to teach numerous herbal trainings and retreats throughout the country as well as Central America, Europe and the United Kingdom. She has had the privilege of studying under the tutelage of many great teachers including Himani Ellis, Rosemary Gladstar, Pam Montgomery and a host of traditional and indigenous Medicine People from across the globe. Having grown up in Newtown, Connecticut Lupo has worked extensively promoting the concept of Herbalism in Action, using herbalism to help support communities after tragedy, after closely using the wisdom of the plants to help support her community of Sandy Hook. When she is not traveling and teaching she can be found in her medicine wheel garden or traipsing through the woodland, almost always with her camera in hand.
Astrological Herbalism
Muneera Fontaine
Muneera Fontaine is the owner of Peaceful Earth, Graceful Birth, a birth and womb healing practice. She has worked with wombs for over 12 years and has practiced the Womb Sauna method of steaming for the last 6. This method focuses on working with a practitioner to uncover the underlying emotional root issues behind womb imbalances
Let It Go! Releasing Trauma
This class focuses on ways to enhance your self-healing by identifying and releasing traumas held in the womb space. You will learn to read the signs of your cycle, the Symbolic meaning behind parts of the womb
Herbal allies and specific techniques to tap into self-healing. We will also review some of these techniques and then practice a Womb visualization together.
Muneera Fontaine is the owner of Peaceful Earth, Graceful Birth, a birth and womb healing practice. She has worked with wombs for over 12 years and has practiced the Womb Sauna method of steaming for the last 6. This method focuses on working with a practitioner to uncover the underlying emotional root issues behind womb imbalances
Let It Go! Releasing Trauma
This class focuses on ways to enhance your self-healing by identifying and releasing traumas held in the womb space. You will learn to read the signs of your cycle, the Symbolic meaning behind parts of the womb
Herbal allies and specific techniques to tap into self-healing. We will also review some of these techniques and then practice a Womb visualization together.
Rebecca Andrews
Rebecca has an MS in Herbalism from Maryland University of Integrative Health along with graduate degrees and studies in ecopsychology, psychology, ecofeminism, fine art, attachment parenting, homeschool education, and sustainability. Her passion is to work toward wellness on a whole-person, whole-earth level.
Herbal Projects to do With Kids
Join me to learn how to make herbal potpourris and dream pillows, create cinnamon dough ornaments, blend herbal baths, and make elderberry syrup gummies. Create holiday gifts and decorations or tuck these ideas away for a quiet day in January.
Robin Rose
Robin Rose Bennett is a story-teller, writer, and herbalist. She has been offering classes in Wisewoman Healing Ways: Herbal Medicine and EarthSpirit Teachings since 1986 - at herb conferences, festivals, clinics, medical and nursing schools, and most joyously, outside with the plants. Robin Rose shares herbal medicine with gratitude for the loving generosity of the plants and the magic, mystery, and beauty of the web of life. She is on the faculty of the New York Open Center and the Arbor-Vitae School of Traditional Herbalism, and is the author of two meditation CD’s and the books: Healing Magic- A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living and The Gift of Healing Herbs- Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life. (FB: WiseWoman Healing Ways, IG: @RobinRoseBennett, YouTube: Robin Rose Bennett - Plant Medicine and Poetry Series) For more information, visit: www.RobinRoseBennett.com.
Radical Self-Care with Herbs
We will explore how the mysterious nervous system holds the ultimate key to our health. Neurons exist virtually everywhere in our bodies and are messengers coordinating the working relationships throughout our mind, body, heart, and soul. Herbs are generous healers; garden sage, oat straw, lavender, basil, St John’s wort, and more can help address pain, nerve damage, inflammation, anxiety, depression, headaches, and more. Caring for and about yourself is an essential part of bringing healing to your community-as you take the time to care for yourself with kindness, you bring more loving kindness into our world.
Topical Herbal Medicine - Wound and Bruise Healing, and More
Learn to use common herbs from the outside in, as well as the inside out. We'll discuss a variety of first aid uses for injuries such as sprains, cuts, and impact bruises; herbs can help ease bleeding, swelling, and pain, and promote tissue healing. We'll explore fresh and dried poultices, oils and ointments, fomentations, washes and foot and body baths. We can also talk about using topical herbs for specific conditions, such as dissolving cysts and soothing skin rashes, and of beautiful ways to use topical herbs to support healing from emotional pain as well.
Herbs, Ritual, and Sacred Ceremony
Do you long to find ritual practices to help you become more centered In your authentic self, and for simple ways to be in communion with all that is sacred as you go about your life? You are not alone! Meaningful ritual is vital to our healing. In this experiential course we’ll explore essential facets of crafting your own rituals and ceremonies: developing relationship with the four elements and seven directions, creating a safe container for group work, the use of symbol and metaphor, and common medicinal, magical plants will guide us every step of the way.
Robin Rose Bennett is a story-teller, writer, and herbalist. She has been offering classes in Wisewoman Healing Ways: Herbal Medicine and EarthSpirit Teachings since 1986 - at herb conferences, festivals, clinics, medical and nursing schools, and most joyously, outside with the plants. Robin Rose shares herbal medicine with gratitude for the loving generosity of the plants and the magic, mystery, and beauty of the web of life. She is on the faculty of the New York Open Center and the Arbor-Vitae School of Traditional Herbalism, and is the author of two meditation CD’s and the books: Healing Magic- A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living and The Gift of Healing Herbs- Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life. (FB: WiseWoman Healing Ways, IG: @RobinRoseBennett, YouTube: Robin Rose Bennett - Plant Medicine and Poetry Series) For more information, visit: www.RobinRoseBennett.com.
Radical Self-Care with Herbs
We will explore how the mysterious nervous system holds the ultimate key to our health. Neurons exist virtually everywhere in our bodies and are messengers coordinating the working relationships throughout our mind, body, heart, and soul. Herbs are generous healers; garden sage, oat straw, lavender, basil, St John’s wort, and more can help address pain, nerve damage, inflammation, anxiety, depression, headaches, and more. Caring for and about yourself is an essential part of bringing healing to your community-as you take the time to care for yourself with kindness, you bring more loving kindness into our world.
Topical Herbal Medicine - Wound and Bruise Healing, and More
Learn to use common herbs from the outside in, as well as the inside out. We'll discuss a variety of first aid uses for injuries such as sprains, cuts, and impact bruises; herbs can help ease bleeding, swelling, and pain, and promote tissue healing. We'll explore fresh and dried poultices, oils and ointments, fomentations, washes and foot and body baths. We can also talk about using topical herbs for specific conditions, such as dissolving cysts and soothing skin rashes, and of beautiful ways to use topical herbs to support healing from emotional pain as well.
Herbs, Ritual, and Sacred Ceremony
Do you long to find ritual practices to help you become more centered In your authentic self, and for simple ways to be in communion with all that is sacred as you go about your life? You are not alone! Meaningful ritual is vital to our healing. In this experiential course we’ll explore essential facets of crafting your own rituals and ceremonies: developing relationship with the four elements and seven directions, creating a safe container for group work, the use of symbol and metaphor, and common medicinal, magical plants will guide us every step of the way.
Vanessa Durrant
Vanessa has been feeling the magic of nature since she can remember. She poignantly remembers being a toddler in her native land of El Salvador and picking juicy olives to eat from majestic olive trees. By the time she was 10 years old she would look outside her window late at night and still see a magical world in her yard, full of life and healing. She has embodied the nature connection throughout her life. As a practicing holistic licensed psychotherapist, Vanessa owns a successful mental health practice devoted to empowering children, parents and adults to heal from trauma and other life adversities. Incorporating Ayurveda, yoga, and reiki with the modern developmental sciences, Vanessa facilitates deep healing to awaken for those she serves.
The Psychology of our Nature Connection
Have you ever wondered why nature and plants bring you a sense of relief and healing from trauma, anxiety, and other mental health conditions? In this 2 hour workshop licensed holistic psychotherapist Vanessa breaks down the psychology behind our nature connection. Exploring the latest psychological research on neuroscience, nervous system regulation and evolutionary psychology, Vanessa will provide a solid understanding of why connection to nature and plant allies is critical and needed. You will leave this workshop with actionable steps, including meditations and knowledge of at least 4 plant allies to work with to aide your healing journey.
Vanessa has been feeling the magic of nature since she can remember. She poignantly remembers being a toddler in her native land of El Salvador and picking juicy olives to eat from majestic olive trees. By the time she was 10 years old she would look outside her window late at night and still see a magical world in her yard, full of life and healing. She has embodied the nature connection throughout her life. As a practicing holistic licensed psychotherapist, Vanessa owns a successful mental health practice devoted to empowering children, parents and adults to heal from trauma and other life adversities. Incorporating Ayurveda, yoga, and reiki with the modern developmental sciences, Vanessa facilitates deep healing to awaken for those she serves.
The Psychology of our Nature Connection
Have you ever wondered why nature and plants bring you a sense of relief and healing from trauma, anxiety, and other mental health conditions? In this 2 hour workshop licensed holistic psychotherapist Vanessa breaks down the psychology behind our nature connection. Exploring the latest psychological research on neuroscience, nervous system regulation and evolutionary psychology, Vanessa will provide a solid understanding of why connection to nature and plant allies is critical and needed. You will leave this workshop with actionable steps, including meditations and knowledge of at least 4 plant allies to work with to aide your healing journey.
Nadeja Johanna Zoller, TWH
Nadeja Johanna Zoller is a certified and practicing Traditional Western Herbalist, Flower Essence Practitioner, CranioSacral Therapist, and farmer. She is the founder of Floral Energetics herbal product line. Her herbal craft studio and in person client consultations are located in the beautiful desert town of Sedona, Arizona. Nadeja completed formal Traditional Western Herbal practitioner training at The Berkeley Herbal Center in 2014. She has lead workshops, classes, and plant walks around northern California, Arizona, and Minnesota. Nadeja is very grateful for all of the teachers she is blessed by in this life; including her family, friends, clients, elders, students, and the plants.
Crafting a Dream Time Tea
A hands on herbal class, blending a tea to sing us into the dream time and sleep. We will discuss herbs for a relaxed nervous system, herbs for lucid dreaming and breath techniques. Dreaming is an innate personal technology for transformation, celestial connection, and inner wisdom. With the herbs and techniques we discuss in class, we will blend together a tea for you to make at home with intention for deep luminescent sleep.
Nadeja Johanna Zoller is a certified and practicing Traditional Western Herbalist, Flower Essence Practitioner, CranioSacral Therapist, and farmer. She is the founder of Floral Energetics herbal product line. Her herbal craft studio and in person client consultations are located in the beautiful desert town of Sedona, Arizona. Nadeja completed formal Traditional Western Herbal practitioner training at The Berkeley Herbal Center in 2014. She has lead workshops, classes, and plant walks around northern California, Arizona, and Minnesota. Nadeja is very grateful for all of the teachers she is blessed by in this life; including her family, friends, clients, elders, students, and the plants.
Crafting a Dream Time Tea
A hands on herbal class, blending a tea to sing us into the dream time and sleep. We will discuss herbs for a relaxed nervous system, herbs for lucid dreaming and breath techniques. Dreaming is an innate personal technology for transformation, celestial connection, and inner wisdom. With the herbs and techniques we discuss in class, we will blend together a tea for you to make at home with intention for deep luminescent sleep.
Yuré Calvo Santana
As a Clinical Psychologist she has complemented her studies in this discipline with postgraduate studies in Art Therapy, Integral Balance Therapies and Clinical Herbalism (on going). For the past decade she has been researching and learning on a variety of topics inherently connected to mental health: medicinal plants; their uses and benefits on health and emotional wellbeing, work with women and teenagers from an intersectional and sensitive perspective, and the incorporation of integral therapies in her practice. She works as a private therapist, consultant (INAMU,MEP,UNICEF), facilitator for workshops and women's groups and as a mother-house maker.
Herbal Heroines/Heroínas Herbales
A wonderful class about women healers in history, in several parts of the world and the way their wisdom shaped herbalism (taught in either English or Spanish).
Incredible Edible!, Edible Flowers of Different Latitudes
This is an open invitation into the realm of flowers, ones you can eat! This mini workshop offers knowledgeable and hands-on information about beautiful flowers we can add to our diet in two different latitudes of the world.
Medicinal Plants and Emotional Well-Being
This workshop is all about the herbs and plants that make us feel better! In addition to this, learn a bit more about the ever growing wellness industry in the age of capitalism and how to make a collective stand against it!
As a Clinical Psychologist she has complemented her studies in this discipline with postgraduate studies in Art Therapy, Integral Balance Therapies and Clinical Herbalism (on going). For the past decade she has been researching and learning on a variety of topics inherently connected to mental health: medicinal plants; their uses and benefits on health and emotional wellbeing, work with women and teenagers from an intersectional and sensitive perspective, and the incorporation of integral therapies in her practice. She works as a private therapist, consultant (INAMU,MEP,UNICEF), facilitator for workshops and women's groups and as a mother-house maker.
Herbal Heroines/Heroínas Herbales
A wonderful class about women healers in history, in several parts of the world and the way their wisdom shaped herbalism (taught in either English or Spanish).
Incredible Edible!, Edible Flowers of Different Latitudes
This is an open invitation into the realm of flowers, ones you can eat! This mini workshop offers knowledgeable and hands-on information about beautiful flowers we can add to our diet in two different latitudes of the world.
Medicinal Plants and Emotional Well-Being
This workshop is all about the herbs and plants that make us feel better! In addition to this, learn a bit more about the ever growing wellness industry in the age of capitalism and how to make a collective stand against it!
Namita Kulkarni
I've been teaching Yoga for 11 years now. I'm Indian and I've lived mainly in India for over 3 decades. As a world traveler for the last 6 years, I've benefited from my exposure to various interpretations of Yoga in far-flung parts of the world, from Cuba to Vietnam. I love sharing what I've learned and guiding people through Asana as moving meditation, recognizing the power of one's own intimacy with one's breath and body. I run the popular Yoga and travel blog Radically Ever After at radicallyeverafter.com and I would love to connect with you on my IG @radicallyeverafter.
Yoga for Creativity
A workshop that explores the many ways creativity and Yoga intersect, and how both replenish and enhance each other. The energetic openness that both ask of us day after day, and the unexpectable rewards of showing up when we feel least "in the mood". The regenerative nature of both, and how we can approach the mat the way an artist approaches an easel. Not to replicate patterns in order to get somewhere, but to make our own journey to our full humanness. This workshop is great for anyone who appreciates the importance of creativity for a rich inner life. For anyone feeling a creativity block in any area of their life or if the Yoga practice has started to lose its allure, this workshop invites you into a liberatory relationship with your practice - How we can be more creative and exploratory with our practice, taking it beyond impositions of patterns and rules on the body. Yoga and creativity both require structure and flow to co-exist, too much of either structure or flow can do a disservice to our capacity to flow. How we can recognize and get closer to our unique sweet spot between structure and flow.
The Magic and Science of Ujjayi Breath (Ocean Breath)
How to connect with your breath and be intimate with it. The breath as the first intimacy. Breathing techniques of various kinds, not as impositions of breathing patterns but as invitations to experience different dimensions of the breath. Feeling the breath inside the body rather than watching it as a detached observer. The various breathing techniques that help in various situations such as high altitudes, hot/cold weather and stressful times shall be explored. The science of Ujjayi breath, its effect on the Vagus nerve (or the wandering nerve as it's known) and the parasympathetic system. How Ujjayi breath affects us on a physical, emotional and mental level.
Catherine Feliz
Catherine Feliz (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, medicine person, writer, archivist, and full spectrum doula born and raised in NYC (occupied Lenape territory). Their medicine path is indebted to their mother, grandmother, and ancestral spirits whom have shared their wisdoms intimately tied with the sacred landscape and histories of the Bahoruco mountains of Kiskeya Ayiti. Catherine’s identities as a queer, first-generation, bi-lingual, intuitive, Afro-Latinx inform their everyday magical practice of bridging different worlds together with the support of plant allies. Abuela Taught Me, a pop up botanica co-founded with Cleopatra Tatabele, is born out of the ethic that love is revolutionary when in action. Catherine is also a founding member of Homecoming, a QTBIPOC radical care collective.
Plant Spirit Communication 101
All life on earth is sentient. Every plant has a unique essence that traditional healers communicate with to create powerful medicines. Come and learn to develop your intuitive gifts while connecting to the spirit of plants from the comfort of your own home!
Catherine Feliz (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, medicine person, writer, archivist, and full spectrum doula born and raised in NYC (occupied Lenape territory). Their medicine path is indebted to their mother, grandmother, and ancestral spirits whom have shared their wisdoms intimately tied with the sacred landscape and histories of the Bahoruco mountains of Kiskeya Ayiti. Catherine’s identities as a queer, first-generation, bi-lingual, intuitive, Afro-Latinx inform their everyday magical practice of bridging different worlds together with the support of plant allies. Abuela Taught Me, a pop up botanica co-founded with Cleopatra Tatabele, is born out of the ethic that love is revolutionary when in action. Catherine is also a founding member of Homecoming, a QTBIPOC radical care collective.
Plant Spirit Communication 101
All life on earth is sentient. Every plant has a unique essence that traditional healers communicate with to create powerful medicines. Come and learn to develop your intuitive gifts while connecting to the spirit of plants from the comfort of your own home!
Dr. Deena Class
I'm an eclectic explorer, having lived, worked and studied in seven countries on four continents. I've been studying and practicing herbalism and herbal body care since 1997. I've always been interested in health and my MA and Ph.D are interdisciplinary with a focus on global health. I'm especially interested in the social psychological aspects of health: the why and how of it all. These days, I work in large part as a health communications researcher, seeing myself as something of a mediator between organizations and their patients, helping them understand the why of communicating effectively about health. A background in trauma counseling and mediation leads me ever back to a helping role and inspires my love of teaching on just about any topic (sewing, plants/herbalism, qualitative research, health communications, etc.). It all fits together.
Race & Cultural Competence in Holistic Health: Insights for BIPOC
During the summer 2020, I conducted a study about Race & Cultural Competence in Holistic Health. Having noticed issues as a POC myself, and also being a qualitative health researcher, I felt that we all needed a good, hard look at the current state of affairs. I conducted qualitative interviews with 20 herbalists and other holistic health practitioners of varying races and ethnicities. While one study certainly won't provide all the answers, I would love to share the insights I've gained from these interviews and my background research, specifically with a BIPOC readership in mind. So much of the conversation is centered on White folks (and I will also be publishing an article in Herb Mentor in November 2020 geared more towards their readership), and I would love to also be able to share insights and, hopefully, a few nuggets of wisdom with my BIPOC herbalist/healer community.
Getting Started with a Plantcestor Garden
So many of us (BIPOC, White, Other) are craving connection to both the Earth and our Ancestors. Often, in herbal education, we may hear our cultures past tensified (e.g.: The Egyptians used...The Native Americans used to...). Eventually, particularly for those with enslaved ancestors or who have lost connections to their homelands after diaspora, we may feel afraid to embrace our own heritage and roots; as if we're not "X enough" or we don't have the "right" to these connections. Connecting with our Plantcestors can be such a therapeutic and healing way to reconnect with our Ancestral roots and work towards healing our own identities. I'll use examples from my own journey as an Egyptian-American woman, but will provide tips and insight into the process for anyone to follow (how to determine which Plantcestors will grow and thrive in your current location, which ones to start with, how to figure out if plants you already grow are Plantcestors, growing in pots/small spaces or in garden beds, etc.).
Violet King and Malka Roth
Violet King is a farmer and herbalist in DC/MD who is passionate about growing medicinal herbs and teaching community based herbalism classes. She has been farming and growing herbs for the past 6 years and she currently manages a farm in NE DC.
Malka Roth is an organizer, educator and herbalist based in the DMV. She loves introducing young people to plant medicine and was working as a garden educator for 3+ years in DC public high schools. She believes in joy as a crucial part of our movement towards liberation.
Responding to COVID: How to Support your Community with Herbal Medicine in Times of Crisis
In the summer of 2020 herbalist/growers Malka Roth and Violet King created the Herbal Mutual Aid Apothecary as a response to COVID-19. What started as a little passion project has grown to incorporate plants from 10+ different growers, weekly socially distant product making events, a product line focused on lung and nervous system health, collaborations with DC-based BIPOC organizers and a number of pop up events for DC residents. Since the summer they have distributed over 500 items for free! Join them as they share lessons learned and offer support for starting herbal mutual aid projects in your own communities.
Violet King is a farmer and herbalist in DC/MD who is passionate about growing medicinal herbs and teaching community based herbalism classes. She has been farming and growing herbs for the past 6 years and she currently manages a farm in NE DC.
Malka Roth is an organizer, educator and herbalist based in the DMV. She loves introducing young people to plant medicine and was working as a garden educator for 3+ years in DC public high schools. She believes in joy as a crucial part of our movement towards liberation.
Responding to COVID: How to Support your Community with Herbal Medicine in Times of Crisis
In the summer of 2020 herbalist/growers Malka Roth and Violet King created the Herbal Mutual Aid Apothecary as a response to COVID-19. What started as a little passion project has grown to incorporate plants from 10+ different growers, weekly socially distant product making events, a product line focused on lung and nervous system health, collaborations with DC-based BIPOC organizers and a number of pop up events for DC residents. Since the summer they have distributed over 500 items for free! Join them as they share lessons learned and offer support for starting herbal mutual aid projects in your own communities.
Henriette den Ouden
Henriette and her partner Chris own Habanera Farm, Maryland's first herbal tea farm. Henriette has 15 years experience in growing herbs. She started with limited knowledge and now loves to share what she learned growing commercially and growing on a small scale. Henriette also works for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where she manages the demonstration herb garden. Henriette loves teaching and trying different growing methods to harvest the best medicinal plants. She has a degree in herbal medicine from Maryland University of Integrative Health.
Grow Your Own Herbs 2 Part Series
Class 1: Get inspired and get ready to grow! Stop dreaming about your herb garden, get started! Winter is decision making time: what to grow, and how to grow? We will talk about designing your garden or balcony for optimal growing and harvest. Then we help you make decisions on what to grow. The largest part of the class is focused on ‘how’. Practical guidelines for starting seeds, things you need like soil, pots, may be heating, light, dark. The actual how to plant and care for seeds. What can go wrong and how do I prevent this. Or do I buy plants? We talk about timing, and end with giving insights in planting the plants and caring. Great class for starters and repeat growers. Second class in May:
Class 2: Focusses on the growing and prepares for harvesting. You got your seeds for direct seeding, you got your seedlings you planted earlier, and now what? Taped from Henriette’s farm you will see pot, container and bed preparation. We will talk about soil choice for container growing and improvements for your garden. What needs sun, what needs shade, how do I give shade, and what is my watering solution? Then we go one step in the future, how do I take care of my herbs, what can destroy or damage them, and when do I harvest? This class gives you the confidence to grow, to be independent from others and have what you need. And if you missed the winter class, there is still time to start from seeds or young plants!
Henriette and her partner Chris own Habanera Farm, Maryland's first herbal tea farm. Henriette has 15 years experience in growing herbs. She started with limited knowledge and now loves to share what she learned growing commercially and growing on a small scale. Henriette also works for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where she manages the demonstration herb garden. Henriette loves teaching and trying different growing methods to harvest the best medicinal plants. She has a degree in herbal medicine from Maryland University of Integrative Health.
Grow Your Own Herbs 2 Part Series
Class 1: Get inspired and get ready to grow! Stop dreaming about your herb garden, get started! Winter is decision making time: what to grow, and how to grow? We will talk about designing your garden or balcony for optimal growing and harvest. Then we help you make decisions on what to grow. The largest part of the class is focused on ‘how’. Practical guidelines for starting seeds, things you need like soil, pots, may be heating, light, dark. The actual how to plant and care for seeds. What can go wrong and how do I prevent this. Or do I buy plants? We talk about timing, and end with giving insights in planting the plants and caring. Great class for starters and repeat growers. Second class in May:
Class 2: Focusses on the growing and prepares for harvesting. You got your seeds for direct seeding, you got your seedlings you planted earlier, and now what? Taped from Henriette’s farm you will see pot, container and bed preparation. We will talk about soil choice for container growing and improvements for your garden. What needs sun, what needs shade, how do I give shade, and what is my watering solution? Then we go one step in the future, how do I take care of my herbs, what can destroy or damage them, and when do I harvest? This class gives you the confidence to grow, to be independent from others and have what you need. And if you missed the winter class, there is still time to start from seeds or young plants!
Olivia Fite
Olivia Fite (she/her) is a herbalist momma living in Portugal. She is the founder of Oherbals, an apothecary and teaching space in Baltimore, MD. Olivia is overjoyed to be a forever student of medicinal plants!
Plantas Medicinas Portugal
Living in a new land is always an exciting learning experience for those of us obsessed with medicinal plants. What is it like to build relationships with plants and plant people in a place you don't call home? This workshop is a personal journey. Join me in the journey of discovering some Iberian medicinals that you may have never noticed in your own surroundings.
Olivia Fite (she/her) is a herbalist momma living in Portugal. She is the founder of Oherbals, an apothecary and teaching space in Baltimore, MD. Olivia is overjoyed to be a forever student of medicinal plants!
Plantas Medicinas Portugal
Living in a new land is always an exciting learning experience for those of us obsessed with medicinal plants. What is it like to build relationships with plants and plant people in a place you don't call home? This workshop is a personal journey. Join me in the journey of discovering some Iberian medicinals that you may have never noticed in your own surroundings.
Ayesha Boykins-Koukoui
200hr+ certified yoga instructor teaching & practicing for the past 9 years. During that time I’ve completed several workshops on various styles of yoga.
The Major Arcana: A Tarot Intro
Introducing the basics of how to understand, work with & connect to the Major Arcana in Tarot.
Relax Relate Release!
Restorative yoga class with guided meditation & breath work. All levels & abilities.
200hr+ certified yoga instructor teaching & practicing for the past 9 years. During that time I’ve completed several workshops on various styles of yoga.
The Major Arcana: A Tarot Intro
Introducing the basics of how to understand, work with & connect to the Major Arcana in Tarot.
Relax Relate Release!
Restorative yoga class with guided meditation & breath work. All levels & abilities.
Lacey Walker and Janelle Rollins
Lacey Walker is an herbalist, teacher and farmer with Fox Haven Learning Center.
Janelle Rollins is a community herbalist in Frederick with a passion for skincare. Her business Deeply Rooted has sprung out of her years of creating skincare and health remedies for friends and family.
Fermentation, Colonization, Reclamation - A Discussion
This class will be a container in which to co-create a discussion about fermentation and the ways in which it has been used as a weapon of colonization as well as resistance to colonization. A space to discuss the word 'colonization' as it relates or does not relate to the practice of fermentation. And a space for reclamation - of fermentation ways that bring strength to colonized peoples as well as of harms and history that can be reclaimed and taken responsibility for as colonial settler peoples.
Herbal Bread Making Class
in this 2 hour class we'll learn the process of sourdough bread making with an herbal twist by infusing herbal broths and stocks into doughs. Folding, shaping, baking and sourdough feeding will all be discussed and shown in real time on camera. You can even bake along if you like!
Winter Skin - Anatomy and Physiology and Hands On Butters and Salves
Join Lacey Walker and Janelle Rollins for a look into the layers of the skin. What is our skin made up of? How can we best protect it, replenish it and penetrate past it? We'll look at considerations for oils and lipid barrier disruptors to make salves designed for specific purposes. Using that A&P knowledge we'll demonstrate a penetrating muscle salve and a moisture locking body butter.
Lacey Walker is an herbalist, teacher and farmer with Fox Haven Learning Center.
Janelle Rollins is a community herbalist in Frederick with a passion for skincare. Her business Deeply Rooted has sprung out of her years of creating skincare and health remedies for friends and family.
Fermentation, Colonization, Reclamation - A Discussion
This class will be a container in which to co-create a discussion about fermentation and the ways in which it has been used as a weapon of colonization as well as resistance to colonization. A space to discuss the word 'colonization' as it relates or does not relate to the practice of fermentation. And a space for reclamation - of fermentation ways that bring strength to colonized peoples as well as of harms and history that can be reclaimed and taken responsibility for as colonial settler peoples.
Herbal Bread Making Class
in this 2 hour class we'll learn the process of sourdough bread making with an herbal twist by infusing herbal broths and stocks into doughs. Folding, shaping, baking and sourdough feeding will all be discussed and shown in real time on camera. You can even bake along if you like!
Winter Skin - Anatomy and Physiology and Hands On Butters and Salves
Join Lacey Walker and Janelle Rollins for a look into the layers of the skin. What is our skin made up of? How can we best protect it, replenish it and penetrate past it? We'll look at considerations for oils and lipid barrier disruptors to make salves designed for specific purposes. Using that A&P knowledge we'll demonstrate a penetrating muscle salve and a moisture locking body butter.
Anjali Sunita
HI, I'm Anjali Sunita. I’m the founder of Village Life Wellness . I create environments for individual and community health, peace, and wholeness. Through the ancient systems of yoga and Ayurveda, I work with humans who want to engage with the natural world as a means to improving quality of life. I want to empower you to express yourself without shame or apology—in the body you have today. No cookie cutter diets and fads, we uncover the natural wisdom of your body, mind, and heart. For me, yoga and ayurveda have been an integrated healing journey which not only rid me of chronic eczema and anxiety, but taught me to love the process of nourishing myself and to root out deeper seated toxic emotional stories, thereby improving relationships with myself and others. I always say ayurveda is the greatest anti-depressant! As a biracial Desi womxn, I study ayurveda with the intent to decolonize myself and learn my pre-colonial roots. Ayurveda is true mindfulness in practice; it teaches us to engage all of our senses in each moment! I have learned how to find healing with every day substances in the kitchen, bathroom, and garden -- and I want to share ways for you to do the same. I give thanks to my primary teachers Dr. Vasant Lad (The Ayurvedic Institute) and Dr. Rajesh Kalvadia (Charaka Ayurveda in Jaipur).
Ayurveda for Self Care- 3 Part Series
If you have noticed that your body is stagnant and mind moving a million miles an hour you may be seeking a sense of unification: a yoga of sorts, a kind of union that takes place not only on a yoga mat or high on a mountain top but right in your home living space. That has always been the gift yoga’s sister science, Ayurveda, the wisdom of life and longevity, which takes place in action in our bathrooms, our bedrooms, kitchens, gardens, and relationships, exactly where we are right now. Ayurveda (आयुवेद’) is one of the oldest natural healing systems in the planet, with roots on the Indian subcontinent and South Asia. A sister science to yoga, it is both a preventative and healing medical science, which helps each individual move toward a state of total balance. In this course, we will learn basics of 3 doshas (body/mind constitutions), how to balance doshas and seasonal change through food, ayurvedic concept of health and disease, how to assess your digestive type and capacity, how to make some common ayurvedic staple foods, medicinal uses for common household spices, breathing exercises (pranayama) and yoga asana techniques by season, self care techniques for our nervous systems, and more. Broaden view of practice, into every aspect of daily life.
HI, I'm Anjali Sunita. I’m the founder of Village Life Wellness . I create environments for individual and community health, peace, and wholeness. Through the ancient systems of yoga and Ayurveda, I work with humans who want to engage with the natural world as a means to improving quality of life. I want to empower you to express yourself without shame or apology—in the body you have today. No cookie cutter diets and fads, we uncover the natural wisdom of your body, mind, and heart. For me, yoga and ayurveda have been an integrated healing journey which not only rid me of chronic eczema and anxiety, but taught me to love the process of nourishing myself and to root out deeper seated toxic emotional stories, thereby improving relationships with myself and others. I always say ayurveda is the greatest anti-depressant! As a biracial Desi womxn, I study ayurveda with the intent to decolonize myself and learn my pre-colonial roots. Ayurveda is true mindfulness in practice; it teaches us to engage all of our senses in each moment! I have learned how to find healing with every day substances in the kitchen, bathroom, and garden -- and I want to share ways for you to do the same. I give thanks to my primary teachers Dr. Vasant Lad (The Ayurvedic Institute) and Dr. Rajesh Kalvadia (Charaka Ayurveda in Jaipur).
Ayurveda for Self Care- 3 Part Series
If you have noticed that your body is stagnant and mind moving a million miles an hour you may be seeking a sense of unification: a yoga of sorts, a kind of union that takes place not only on a yoga mat or high on a mountain top but right in your home living space. That has always been the gift yoga’s sister science, Ayurveda, the wisdom of life and longevity, which takes place in action in our bathrooms, our bedrooms, kitchens, gardens, and relationships, exactly where we are right now. Ayurveda (आयुवेद’) is one of the oldest natural healing systems in the planet, with roots on the Indian subcontinent and South Asia. A sister science to yoga, it is both a preventative and healing medical science, which helps each individual move toward a state of total balance. In this course, we will learn basics of 3 doshas (body/mind constitutions), how to balance doshas and seasonal change through food, ayurvedic concept of health and disease, how to assess your digestive type and capacity, how to make some common ayurvedic staple foods, medicinal uses for common household spices, breathing exercises (pranayama) and yoga asana techniques by season, self care techniques for our nervous systems, and more. Broaden view of practice, into every aspect of daily life.
Hillary Banachowski
Hillary Banachowski is a passionate plant loving grower, teacher and medicine maker who owns Sacred Roots , a medicinal herb farm in Shepherdstown, WV. She has been walking and living the plant path: teaching, learning, and practicing for over a decade. Hillary is dedicated to empowering women and helping people to discover and strengthen their connection with the land.
Menopause: A Rite of Passage
Menopause is a major life transition/initiation...why is no one talking about it ? This intensive will be an in depth exploration of all aspects of the journey: both the emotional and physical challenges as well as the perks, how menopause affects relationships, our changing bodies, worldwide views regarding menopause , ways to honor yourself and the transition , and herbal allies we can turn to for support. There will be time for sharing as well.
Hillary Banachowski is a passionate plant loving grower, teacher and medicine maker who owns Sacred Roots , a medicinal herb farm in Shepherdstown, WV. She has been walking and living the plant path: teaching, learning, and practicing for over a decade. Hillary is dedicated to empowering women and helping people to discover and strengthen their connection with the land.
Menopause: A Rite of Passage
Menopause is a major life transition/initiation...why is no one talking about it ? This intensive will be an in depth exploration of all aspects of the journey: both the emotional and physical challenges as well as the perks, how menopause affects relationships, our changing bodies, worldwide views regarding menopause , ways to honor yourself and the transition , and herbal allies we can turn to for support. There will be time for sharing as well.
Qiddist Ashé
Qiddist (she/they) is a womb healing coach, radical birth keeper, and clinical herbalist for reproductive health. She is the co-founder of Ashé Living, where she supports people from menstruation to menopause in reclaiming authority over their health and learning to radically care for their physical, emotional and spiritual womb. Qiddist is committed to the interweaving of ancestral work and womb health sciences with the work of liberation, and seeks to create more opportunities for Black and Indigenous people of color and queer and trans folx to remember and reclaim their own lineages of healing power.
Reclaiming Sovereign Birth: Ancestral Care for Pregnancy & Birth Outside the System
The failures of the maternal health system in the U.S. are clear: 1 in 3 births are cesareans, and Black birthers are 3 times more likely to die of childbirth-related complications than their white counterparts. For these and many other reasons, a growing number of people are choosing to reclaim their authority and birth outside of the medical system entirely. But what does this truly mean? Whether you call it free birth, unassisted birth, or just birth, in this workshop we'll unpack the narratives we've been taught, and explore the true hormonal physiology of birth. We'll redefine "prenatal care," and discuss the plants, practices and people we need to support those who choose to walk this path of birthing in power. We will discuss: 1. simple practices to protect the unfolding of birth 2. herbs & rituals to redefine prenatal care 3. reclaiming postpartum traditions 4. navigating risks and complications
Qiddist (she/they) is a womb healing coach, radical birth keeper, and clinical herbalist for reproductive health. She is the co-founder of Ashé Living, where she supports people from menstruation to menopause in reclaiming authority over their health and learning to radically care for their physical, emotional and spiritual womb. Qiddist is committed to the interweaving of ancestral work and womb health sciences with the work of liberation, and seeks to create more opportunities for Black and Indigenous people of color and queer and trans folx to remember and reclaim their own lineages of healing power.
Reclaiming Sovereign Birth: Ancestral Care for Pregnancy & Birth Outside the System
The failures of the maternal health system in the U.S. are clear: 1 in 3 births are cesareans, and Black birthers are 3 times more likely to die of childbirth-related complications than their white counterparts. For these and many other reasons, a growing number of people are choosing to reclaim their authority and birth outside of the medical system entirely. But what does this truly mean? Whether you call it free birth, unassisted birth, or just birth, in this workshop we'll unpack the narratives we've been taught, and explore the true hormonal physiology of birth. We'll redefine "prenatal care," and discuss the plants, practices and people we need to support those who choose to walk this path of birthing in power. We will discuss: 1. simple practices to protect the unfolding of birth 2. herbs & rituals to redefine prenatal care 3. reclaiming postpartum traditions 4. navigating risks and complications
Carmen Valverde
I have been teaching yoga for over 14 years, it is my absolute passion. I own my own studio and right now I am teaching most of my classes online through zoom. I also have dedicated many years to Thai Massage Therapy and also Sound Therapy which I currently include in my lessons. I live in Costa Rica, most of my community is local but also there’s a big expat group of women that have lovingly become part of our family.
Slow Flow Yoga Class
This practice involves yoga sequences and therapeutic poses for all levels. We go slow and deep paying extreme attention to the breath. It will also include meditation, pranayama and guided relaxation at the end of the class.
I have been teaching yoga for over 14 years, it is my absolute passion. I own my own studio and right now I am teaching most of my classes online through zoom. I also have dedicated many years to Thai Massage Therapy and also Sound Therapy which I currently include in my lessons. I live in Costa Rica, most of my community is local but also there’s a big expat group of women that have lovingly become part of our family.
Slow Flow Yoga Class
This practice involves yoga sequences and therapeutic poses for all levels. We go slow and deep paying extreme attention to the breath. It will also include meditation, pranayama and guided relaxation at the end of the class.
Lucretia VanDyke
With a journey that began as a little girl mixing herbs, clays, & muds on her grandparents’ farm, Lucretia VanDyke has been in the industry for over 20 years. A Holistic Educator, Speaker, Herbalist, Sacred Sexologist ,Ceremonialist,Spiritual Light Coach, Intuitive Energetic & Reiki Practitioner, Diviner, & world traveler with over 3000 hours of training. She has studied with some of the greats minds of our time and indigenous healers. Lucretia been a holistic esthetician & practitioner for over a decade focusing on integrating indigenous healing rituals, plant spirit medicine, and meditation into your modern day practice. Lucretia brings her vivacious spirit and message of self love in her work to inspire others to embrace their unique beauty and purpose. Her work with herbs and sacred practices honors Women's Wholeness Medicine, grief work, sexual trauma, ancestor connection, womb healing ,self empowerment, food alchemy,& holistic skin care.
"Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series
In this 7 work shop series learn rituals of self-healing through honoring the mind, body, and spirit. journey through the power centers (chakras) Explore meditation, energy work, specific herbs, herbal based skin care, food, and more. in this workshop we will discuss grief, ancestor work, mojo, yoni maintenance (including "yoni yoga"), energetic womb healing , and more. You will understand how pleasure plays an important role charging our energy. "We create ceremony to call on our own sacred power, talk to our ancestors, and rebuild ourselves." Come find the rhythm of your own soul!
With a journey that began as a little girl mixing herbs, clays, & muds on her grandparents’ farm, Lucretia VanDyke has been in the industry for over 20 years. A Holistic Educator, Speaker, Herbalist, Sacred Sexologist ,Ceremonialist,Spiritual Light Coach, Intuitive Energetic & Reiki Practitioner, Diviner, & world traveler with over 3000 hours of training. She has studied with some of the greats minds of our time and indigenous healers. Lucretia been a holistic esthetician & practitioner for over a decade focusing on integrating indigenous healing rituals, plant spirit medicine, and meditation into your modern day practice. Lucretia brings her vivacious spirit and message of self love in her work to inspire others to embrace their unique beauty and purpose. Her work with herbs and sacred practices honors Women's Wholeness Medicine, grief work, sexual trauma, ancestor connection, womb healing ,self empowerment, food alchemy,& holistic skin care.
"Revolutionary Self Love” Workshop Series
In this 7 work shop series learn rituals of self-healing through honoring the mind, body, and spirit. journey through the power centers (chakras) Explore meditation, energy work, specific herbs, herbal based skin care, food, and more. in this workshop we will discuss grief, ancestor work, mojo, yoni maintenance (including "yoni yoga"), energetic womb healing , and more. You will understand how pleasure plays an important role charging our energy. "We create ceremony to call on our own sacred power, talk to our ancestors, and rebuild ourselves." Come find the rhythm of your own soul!
Lara Pacheco
Lara Pacheco is a Taíno, Boricua Latinx mamita that believes our collective liberation is accessed through decolonizing ourselves by weaving into the web of ancestral medicine. lara directly works through this realm with plants, fungi, music and dance. lara's work is inspired by their own journey of healing from a traumatic childhood of abuse and illness. lara had constantly found herself fascinated by the loose threads of traditional knowledge throughout the world from the privilege of travel and encounters from their grandmother, 'Tata' that lived with them. lara wanted to be an active participant in the preservation and propagation of traditional knowledge, the knowledge of the plants and the earth. As a Latinx, they also wanted to be a part of the accumulated awareness that her ancestors had gained in relation to illness and herbal medicine. lara's grandmother knew plants in Boriken (Puerto Rico) that could help heal, but somewhere that information has shifted in the tides of colonialism and patriarchy, and so they've been working to access it again and make that especially available to those most oppressed.
Plant Medicine and Movement
Join Lara Pacheco of Atabey Medicine for an evening of gentle qi gong movements while we connect with seasonally aligned plant medicine. Two plants will be shared the week of in preparation. We'll go over a few repeated qi gong movements in the hope that you may continue to bring this practice into your every day life.
Lara Pacheco is a Taíno, Boricua Latinx mamita that believes our collective liberation is accessed through decolonizing ourselves by weaving into the web of ancestral medicine. lara directly works through this realm with plants, fungi, music and dance. lara's work is inspired by their own journey of healing from a traumatic childhood of abuse and illness. lara had constantly found herself fascinated by the loose threads of traditional knowledge throughout the world from the privilege of travel and encounters from their grandmother, 'Tata' that lived with them. lara wanted to be an active participant in the preservation and propagation of traditional knowledge, the knowledge of the plants and the earth. As a Latinx, they also wanted to be a part of the accumulated awareness that her ancestors had gained in relation to illness and herbal medicine. lara's grandmother knew plants in Boriken (Puerto Rico) that could help heal, but somewhere that information has shifted in the tides of colonialism and patriarchy, and so they've been working to access it again and make that especially available to those most oppressed.
Plant Medicine and Movement
Join Lara Pacheco of Atabey Medicine for an evening of gentle qi gong movements while we connect with seasonally aligned plant medicine. Two plants will be shared the week of in preparation. We'll go over a few repeated qi gong movements in the hope that you may continue to bring this practice into your every day life.
Brandon Ruiz
Brandon Ruiz is a Community Herbalist and Urban Farmer in Charlotte NC. He directs the CLT Herbal Accessibility Project and works with communities of color to reconnect them with their ancestral plants through gardens and medicine making.
Starting Your Home Garden
In this workshop we’ll be talking about the basics of starting a home garden for your medicinal and edible needs, all the while considering low-cost and efficient resources in doing so. We’ll walk through the steps and considerations to starting your garden, from space and supplies to climate and seeds.
Growing Tropical Medicines in Northern Climates
In this workshop we’ll talk about growing tropical foods and medicines in northern climates, the personal connection that is made through communities growing plants from their homelands and the future of growing these crops as staples in our communities. We’ll talk about some specific plants and personal experience in their cultivation and care.
Brandon Ruiz is a Community Herbalist and Urban Farmer in Charlotte NC. He directs the CLT Herbal Accessibility Project and works with communities of color to reconnect them with their ancestral plants through gardens and medicine making.
Starting Your Home Garden
In this workshop we’ll be talking about the basics of starting a home garden for your medicinal and edible needs, all the while considering low-cost and efficient resources in doing so. We’ll walk through the steps and considerations to starting your garden, from space and supplies to climate and seeds.
Growing Tropical Medicines in Northern Climates
In this workshop we’ll talk about growing tropical foods and medicines in northern climates, the personal connection that is made through communities growing plants from their homelands and the future of growing these crops as staples in our communities. We’ll talk about some specific plants and personal experience in their cultivation and care.
Lindsay Gary
Lindsay Gary, M.P.A., M.A. is a professor-scholar, multidisciplinary artivist, and social entrepreneur whose mission is to inform, connect, and empower the African Diaspora. She achieves this mission through her scholarship, art, and social entrepreneurship.
Kemetic Yoga for Beginners
Kemetic Yoga is based on the ancient African principles of Kemet (Egypt). This series will teach Kemetic yoga to beginners who would like to learn more about this form of yoga. This series will be designed to facilitate healing through the practice.
Lindsay Gary, M.P.A., M.A. is a professor-scholar, multidisciplinary artivist, and social entrepreneur whose mission is to inform, connect, and empower the African Diaspora. She achieves this mission through her scholarship, art, and social entrepreneurship.
Kemetic Yoga for Beginners
Kemetic Yoga is based on the ancient African principles of Kemet (Egypt). This series will teach Kemetic yoga to beginners who would like to learn more about this form of yoga. This series will be designed to facilitate healing through the practice.
Liz Henke
Liz is an herbalist medicine-maker, and artisan. She currently resides in Charlottesville, VA with her husband, two children, and her lovable pup. Liz has a passion for plants, as well as crafting and creating. She enjoys finding ways of honoring the sacred in her daily life and sharing that love with her community.
Into the Herbalist's Kitchen
Class 1 Infused Vinegars & Honey- Herbal ingredients are key in delighting the palette, and inspiring culinary creativity. The artful blending of herbs and spices with one another in honeys or vinegars are a wonderful way to not only preserve your herbs, but use them to enhance your food. Class 2 Garden to Glass- The world of herbal beverages is vast. Whether you are wanting a new, and flavorful way to enjoy getting herbs into your diet, or are looking to wow your friends & family with charming cocktails at your next get together, the Garden to Glass- Herbal Beverages workshop is designed to inspire, and give you the foundation, and confidence to craft cocktails, mix mocktails, slurp switchels, and blend bitters. Join Liz Henke of Dreamseed Apothecary in this full-flavored odyssey into herbal beverages. Class 3 Herbal Butters & Infused Oils From breads to salads, pasta to kale chips, and everything in between, infused oils and herbal butters can enhance favors and add something fun and interesting to just about any meal. (Class 4) Salts, Sugars, & Seasonings- Come delight in the spices of life with Liz as she shares herbal seasonings, salts and sugars. Discover how to use herbs to craft delicious culinary flavors that compliment and enhance both dishes and beverages.
Liz is an herbalist medicine-maker, and artisan. She currently resides in Charlottesville, VA with her husband, two children, and her lovable pup. Liz has a passion for plants, as well as crafting and creating. She enjoys finding ways of honoring the sacred in her daily life and sharing that love with her community.
Into the Herbalist's Kitchen
Class 1 Infused Vinegars & Honey- Herbal ingredients are key in delighting the palette, and inspiring culinary creativity. The artful blending of herbs and spices with one another in honeys or vinegars are a wonderful way to not only preserve your herbs, but use them to enhance your food. Class 2 Garden to Glass- The world of herbal beverages is vast. Whether you are wanting a new, and flavorful way to enjoy getting herbs into your diet, or are looking to wow your friends & family with charming cocktails at your next get together, the Garden to Glass- Herbal Beverages workshop is designed to inspire, and give you the foundation, and confidence to craft cocktails, mix mocktails, slurp switchels, and blend bitters. Join Liz Henke of Dreamseed Apothecary in this full-flavored odyssey into herbal beverages. Class 3 Herbal Butters & Infused Oils From breads to salads, pasta to kale chips, and everything in between, infused oils and herbal butters can enhance favors and add something fun and interesting to just about any meal. (Class 4) Salts, Sugars, & Seasonings- Come delight in the spices of life with Liz as she shares herbal seasonings, salts and sugars. Discover how to use herbs to craft delicious culinary flavors that compliment and enhance both dishes and beverages.
Terican Gross
Terican explores concepts of citizenship and freedom through the lens of the Diaspora experience. She is active in her communities around themes of migration and memory, Black farmers and food sovereignty, displacement, historical reclamation, environment, healing traditions and ritual. Terican is a builder, embracing an intergenerational framework. She believes that the blessed wisdom of our Ancestors on the land and water is essential to healing and building resilient community. Terican brings to her work a strong healing justice lens, along with facilitation and deep visioning experience. She is a strategic listener, thinker, and storyteller. Terican is a photographer, and crafter of spoken word and sacred medicine. She appreciates railroads, Black-owned farms, exploring, Black theatre, prayer and poetry; spirituals, blues and other folkloric music and dance that hold the stories of our people; history, and portals--to past, present and future. Honeysuckle is one of her favorite herbs, because it holds memories of time and space throughout the Diaspora.
RETURN: Iteration & Imagination
Our Ancestors have been here before. They know this place. During times of great upheaval and unearthing, how can we learn from their wisdom-stories in order to help us shape this iteration of the world, and to stake our claim on freedom? Let’s imagine together, weaving code and conjure; reclamation, root medicine, and railroads; spirituals, seed saving and self-determination; poetry and prose; mourning and memory. What lessons can we learn in order to craft our own tools of resilience, ritual, and re-imagining? Black/Afro-descendant people have accessed these powerful and sacred portals throughout our existence--past, present and future. This workshop is a tribute to the lineage of the people who could fly.
Terican explores concepts of citizenship and freedom through the lens of the Diaspora experience. She is active in her communities around themes of migration and memory, Black farmers and food sovereignty, displacement, historical reclamation, environment, healing traditions and ritual. Terican is a builder, embracing an intergenerational framework. She believes that the blessed wisdom of our Ancestors on the land and water is essential to healing and building resilient community. Terican brings to her work a strong healing justice lens, along with facilitation and deep visioning experience. She is a strategic listener, thinker, and storyteller. Terican is a photographer, and crafter of spoken word and sacred medicine. She appreciates railroads, Black-owned farms, exploring, Black theatre, prayer and poetry; spirituals, blues and other folkloric music and dance that hold the stories of our people; history, and portals--to past, present and future. Honeysuckle is one of her favorite herbs, because it holds memories of time and space throughout the Diaspora.
RETURN: Iteration & Imagination
Our Ancestors have been here before. They know this place. During times of great upheaval and unearthing, how can we learn from their wisdom-stories in order to help us shape this iteration of the world, and to stake our claim on freedom? Let’s imagine together, weaving code and conjure; reclamation, root medicine, and railroads; spirituals, seed saving and self-determination; poetry and prose; mourning and memory. What lessons can we learn in order to craft our own tools of resilience, ritual, and re-imagining? Black/Afro-descendant people have accessed these powerful and sacred portals throughout our existence--past, present and future. This workshop is a tribute to the lineage of the people who could fly.
Tania Hester
My name is Tania “Nia” Hester. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am originally from Washington, DC and am currently finishing up my B.A Religion, Culture, and Public Life. I have combined my study of religion with agriculture. I have been fortunate enough to work and visit farms rooted in spiritual practices. I have been a “landless,” famer for about three years. I have worked on urban and rural farms, and my dream is to one day have the financial access to manage my own farm rooted in addressing food apartheid and climate change. Want to learn how to grow food in small and large, spaces, I am your girl!
Small Scale Composting 101
Millions of pounds of food waste end up in landfills every year. People have the perception that food waste has to be handled at waste facilities, however food waste can be handled at home with very few items. Vermi(worm) composting is an easy, efficient way to compost at home. Whether you live in a small studio apartment or a single-family home, at home composting is for you. I will briefly go over different types of at home compost methods, however this class will focus on:
- How to make a worm bin on a budget
- How to maintain it and what food items you can put in a worm bin
- How to harvest compost
- How to use the wonderful at home organic fertilizer you have made.
- Bonus I will show you how to repurpose food items that cannot be composted in a worm bin.
My name is Tania “Nia” Hester. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am originally from Washington, DC and am currently finishing up my B.A Religion, Culture, and Public Life. I have combined my study of religion with agriculture. I have been fortunate enough to work and visit farms rooted in spiritual practices. I have been a “landless,” famer for about three years. I have worked on urban and rural farms, and my dream is to one day have the financial access to manage my own farm rooted in addressing food apartheid and climate change. Want to learn how to grow food in small and large, spaces, I am your girl!
Small Scale Composting 101
Millions of pounds of food waste end up in landfills every year. People have the perception that food waste has to be handled at waste facilities, however food waste can be handled at home with very few items. Vermi(worm) composting is an easy, efficient way to compost at home. Whether you live in a small studio apartment or a single-family home, at home composting is for you. I will briefly go over different types of at home compost methods, however this class will focus on:
- How to make a worm bin on a budget
- How to maintain it and what food items you can put in a worm bin
- How to harvest compost
- How to use the wonderful at home organic fertilizer you have made.
- Bonus I will show you how to repurpose food items that cannot be composted in a worm bin.
Alyssa Dennis
Alyssa Dennis is a trained clinical herbalist and nutrition specialist practicing in Baltimore, MD and is a graduate of Arbor Vitae School of Traditional Herbalism in NYC. She is the founder of Eclipta Herbal and specializes in Women's Health and Lyme's disease. Her background as an artist together with her herbal training has been the cultivation of the Invasive Apothecary Project which decodes popular notions of invasive species by deconstructing the intolerant militaristic language to describe invasive species, their larger ecological potentials, the contemporary & historical human relationships to the land and the use of invasive species as food & medicine. The ultimate goal of this reexamination is to reveal parts of seemingly invisible aspects of climate change and environmental injustice.
Invasive Apothecary
The Invasive Apothecary is a project that deconstructs popular notions, of invasive species (“useless”, “alien”, “nasty” or “noxious”) by reexamining: 1. their larger ecological role 2. the contemporary & historical human relationships to the land 3. and the use of invasive species as food & medicine. Why not harvest our way toward biodiversity? This project sits at the intersection of resource sustainably and ecological literacy, which recognizes that we are experiencing unprecedented health and environmental crises due to the degradation of our sacred relationship with the land. This work turns the mirror on ourselves by reflecting how negligent human decision making is the predominant “invasion” while asserting that non-hierarchical, reciprocal re-engagement with nature is the solution. Nearly every plant labeled “invasive” by government and non-governmental organizations has been utilized for centuries as viable food and medicine. So why do we spend millions of taxpayer dollars every year on negative campaign rhetoric and harmful eradication methods that include poisoning of a fundamentally changed ecosystem in the name of false and unscientific “purity”? We are severely compromising environmental literacy, ecosystem resiliency and our ancestral soil microbiome. Instead, why not support a symbiotic relationship by herbalists and crafts people, who have their ears to the ground and the skills to utilize this abundance; a collaboration that would not only save taxpayer dollars but help us evolve beyond the commonly held perspective that these species are mere “biological pollution.” Acknowledging the intelligence of nature is our forgotten heritage. We can no longer discredit nor deface indigenous teachings. Nature does not thrive inside the over-simplified, colonially imposed binaries of “good” and “bad.” It’s time we truly start receiving the messages from these intelligent plants to begin healing our relationship with the land and with those who endured the invasion of 1492.
Alyssa Dennis is a trained clinical herbalist and nutrition specialist practicing in Baltimore, MD and is a graduate of Arbor Vitae School of Traditional Herbalism in NYC. She is the founder of Eclipta Herbal and specializes in Women's Health and Lyme's disease. Her background as an artist together with her herbal training has been the cultivation of the Invasive Apothecary Project which decodes popular notions of invasive species by deconstructing the intolerant militaristic language to describe invasive species, their larger ecological potentials, the contemporary & historical human relationships to the land and the use of invasive species as food & medicine. The ultimate goal of this reexamination is to reveal parts of seemingly invisible aspects of climate change and environmental injustice.
Invasive Apothecary
The Invasive Apothecary is a project that deconstructs popular notions, of invasive species (“useless”, “alien”, “nasty” or “noxious”) by reexamining: 1. their larger ecological role 2. the contemporary & historical human relationships to the land 3. and the use of invasive species as food & medicine. Why not harvest our way toward biodiversity? This project sits at the intersection of resource sustainably and ecological literacy, which recognizes that we are experiencing unprecedented health and environmental crises due to the degradation of our sacred relationship with the land. This work turns the mirror on ourselves by reflecting how negligent human decision making is the predominant “invasion” while asserting that non-hierarchical, reciprocal re-engagement with nature is the solution. Nearly every plant labeled “invasive” by government and non-governmental organizations has been utilized for centuries as viable food and medicine. So why do we spend millions of taxpayer dollars every year on negative campaign rhetoric and harmful eradication methods that include poisoning of a fundamentally changed ecosystem in the name of false and unscientific “purity”? We are severely compromising environmental literacy, ecosystem resiliency and our ancestral soil microbiome. Instead, why not support a symbiotic relationship by herbalists and crafts people, who have their ears to the ground and the skills to utilize this abundance; a collaboration that would not only save taxpayer dollars but help us evolve beyond the commonly held perspective that these species are mere “biological pollution.” Acknowledging the intelligence of nature is our forgotten heritage. We can no longer discredit nor deface indigenous teachings. Nature does not thrive inside the over-simplified, colonially imposed binaries of “good” and “bad.” It’s time we truly start receiving the messages from these intelligent plants to begin healing our relationship with the land and with those who endured the invasion of 1492.
Rosa Vissers
Rosa Vissers (she/her) is a mother, movement artist, herbalist, and nonprofit leader living in Seattle on occupied Duwamish land. She grew up in The Netherlands and fondly remembers making potions out of flowers and lake water as a child. Throughout her life she has tended plants in parking strips, gardens large and small, and windowsills. Although she has formally studied permaculture, organic gardening, and herbalism for a decade, the plants continue to be her most important teachers. As a nonprofit leader, Rosa most recently served as Executive Director of Yoga Behind Bars and continues to offer trainings in Trauma-Informed Yoga and resiliency-based movement practices. She is also a dance artist with an international performance career spanning 20 years. She occasionally still performs on a stage, but most of her dancing takes place in her living room with her toddler.
Grow Your Medicine (without owning land)
Tending plants is a lovely way to connect more deeply with yourself and the plants’ medicine. It’s also increasingly important to cultivate healing plants near our homes, as overharvesting wild plant populations has placed many of these precious allies at the risk of extinction. In this workshop we start with the basics. We’ll cover some of the safest, most versatile, and easy-to-grow plants to help you begin your own (small) apothecary garden. We’ll go over how to grow these plants, their most common uses, and when and how to harvest them. AND we’ll get creative with where to grow our little healing gardens: fire escapes, balconies, parking strips, or a little plot in a community garden.
Sade Musa
Sade is a folk herbalist, scholar, and activist. She founded Roots of Resistance, a project aiming to reconnect the African diaspora with their ancestral healing practices, and address health injustices impacting marginalized communities. You can learn more about her work by following her on Facebook or Instagram (@rootsofresistance).
Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Pain Management
This workshop is for those looking to reduce reliance on pharmaceutical pain medications or need help mitigating their side effects. Join us for a discussion of herbal allies, foods, and bodywork tools to add to, or replace, your current pain management practices. Participants will learn how to make a topical treatment for pain relief.
Sade is a folk herbalist, scholar, and activist. She founded Roots of Resistance, a project aiming to reconnect the African diaspora with their ancestral healing practices, and address health injustices impacting marginalized communities. You can learn more about her work by following her on Facebook or Instagram (@rootsofresistance).
Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Pain Management
This workshop is for those looking to reduce reliance on pharmaceutical pain medications or need help mitigating their side effects. Join us for a discussion of herbal allies, foods, and bodywork tools to add to, or replace, your current pain management practices. Participants will learn how to make a topical treatment for pain relief.
Caroline Rose Helm
A grower, maker, creator, food lover and outdoor adventurer, Caroline is a lifelong learner whose interests continue to evolve; inspired by community and creativity. Caroline has worked as an herbal intern at Fox Haven Farm and Learning center in frederick MD, as well recently completing Wild Ginger Herbal Apprenticeship program Year 1 at Wild Ginger Community Herbal Center.
Kids Herbal Tea Time
Set the table (or garden!) for a fun exploration into the world of herbal tistanes. We will create simple herbal tea blends to enjoy with kids. Explore different tastes while learning basic herbal properties of some common and/or foraged herbs. We will create an herbal honey and an herbal treat to accompany this kid friendly tea time, while embracing experimentation and creativity.
A grower, maker, creator, food lover and outdoor adventurer, Caroline is a lifelong learner whose interests continue to evolve; inspired by community and creativity. Caroline has worked as an herbal intern at Fox Haven Farm and Learning center in frederick MD, as well recently completing Wild Ginger Herbal Apprenticeship program Year 1 at Wild Ginger Community Herbal Center.
Kids Herbal Tea Time
Set the table (or garden!) for a fun exploration into the world of herbal tistanes. We will create simple herbal tea blends to enjoy with kids. Explore different tastes while learning basic herbal properties of some common and/or foraged herbs. We will create an herbal honey and an herbal treat to accompany this kid friendly tea time, while embracing experimentation and creativity.
Holly Poole-Kavana
Holly Poole-Kavana practices as a clinical herbalist, grower, and medicine-maker in Washington DC, where her priority is connecting people to local plants. She holds a BS in botany from Cornell University and studied with several experienced herbalists before starting a clinical practice in 2011. Her business, Little Red Bird Botanicals, has offered an herbal CSA since 2010. Holly also works as a midwife's assistant in the DC metro area.
Friends and Foes: Exploring Plant Toxicity
Holly Poole-Kavana practices as a clinical herbalist, grower, and medicine-maker in Washington DC, where her priority is connecting people to local plants. She holds a BS in botany from Cornell University and studied with several experienced herbalists before starting a clinical practice in 2011. Her business, Little Red Bird Botanicals, has offered an herbal CSA since 2010. Holly also works as a midwife's assistant in the DC metro area.
Friends and Foes: Exploring Plant Toxicity
Zenovia D'Arienzo
A Trinidad and Tobago Native, Zenovia is a mother of two, a teenaged young woman and her young son, her most prized treasures. She was born on the Isle of Trinidad but migrated and raised in New Jersey from the ages of 8 to 12 along with her mother, step father, sister and then later a step- brother. Due to an unfortunate event and yet willingly due to being homesick she left the U.S to complete her studies in Trinidad. During the last of her teenage years after high school graduation she relocated again to the U.S and spent her time between NJ and Queens NY. Zenovia is an avid writer of poetry and short stories as well as a vivid story teller, she cites admiration for the likes of Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, the illustrious Dr. Eintou Pearl Springer, who, gave her, her love for retelling an re-reading Anansi stories, along with a few other authors. Zenovia works for a local school district as a Teaching Assistant whilst wearing many many other hats. She is currently pursuing her Teaching degree while carrying on as the matriach of her family. Zenovia is a creative soul in every aspect of the word.
Traditional Trinidadian Stories of Anansi and other Folklore
A story God's journey from the continent of Africa to the shores of sweet T&T. Come join in on the adventures of Anansi Spider and other folk God's of Trinidad and Tobago as they navigate through treacherous times using their wit and skills.
A Trinidad and Tobago Native, Zenovia is a mother of two, a teenaged young woman and her young son, her most prized treasures. She was born on the Isle of Trinidad but migrated and raised in New Jersey from the ages of 8 to 12 along with her mother, step father, sister and then later a step- brother. Due to an unfortunate event and yet willingly due to being homesick she left the U.S to complete her studies in Trinidad. During the last of her teenage years after high school graduation she relocated again to the U.S and spent her time between NJ and Queens NY. Zenovia is an avid writer of poetry and short stories as well as a vivid story teller, she cites admiration for the likes of Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, the illustrious Dr. Eintou Pearl Springer, who, gave her, her love for retelling an re-reading Anansi stories, along with a few other authors. Zenovia works for a local school district as a Teaching Assistant whilst wearing many many other hats. She is currently pursuing her Teaching degree while carrying on as the matriach of her family. Zenovia is a creative soul in every aspect of the word.
Traditional Trinidadian Stories of Anansi and other Folklore
A story God's journey from the continent of Africa to the shores of sweet T&T. Come join in on the adventures of Anansi Spider and other folk God's of Trinidad and Tobago as they navigate through treacherous times using their wit and skills.
Photo Cred: Naima Green
Arvolyn R Hill
Arvolyn is an Herbalist and Educator currently based in Harlem, NY. She was raised in Kent, Connecticut on the border of the Housatonic River and the Schaghticoke reservation. Arvolyn is passionate about her work as Coordinator of Family Programs at the Children's Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens. Arvolyn has an online apothecary and shop called Gold Feather where she sells handmade items including Herbal Tinctures, Face Masks and Pressed Flower Phone Cases.
Create your own Herbarium: A library of Pressed Plants
Learn to start your own Herbarium. An Herbarium is a library of pressed plants. Used for research, art and preservation of the flora around you. Pressing plants can be as simple as pressing flowers between paper in a book to sewing fruits onto paper for preservation. In this workshop we will learn about the different ways to press plants of all shapes and sizes and the tools to start your own herbarium at home.
Arvolyn is an Herbalist and Educator currently based in Harlem, NY. She was raised in Kent, Connecticut on the border of the Housatonic River and the Schaghticoke reservation. Arvolyn is passionate about her work as Coordinator of Family Programs at the Children's Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens. Arvolyn has an online apothecary and shop called Gold Feather where she sells handmade items including Herbal Tinctures, Face Masks and Pressed Flower Phone Cases.
Create your own Herbarium: A library of Pressed Plants
Learn to start your own Herbarium. An Herbarium is a library of pressed plants. Used for research, art and preservation of the flora around you. Pressing plants can be as simple as pressing flowers between paper in a book to sewing fruits onto paper for preservation. In this workshop we will learn about the different ways to press plants of all shapes and sizes and the tools to start your own herbarium at home.
Saphan Pickett
Meet Saphan Pickett, founder of Royal Reset, Plant-Based Nutrition Educator, Organic Farmer, CDC Certified Lifestyle Coach, & Herbalist, and Certified Personal Fitness Chef. Farming is therapy & food is medicine! She brings the community a place to learn & party while healing issues like trauma, diabetes, & stress by enjoying herb infused plant based creations for the whole family.
Traditional African Farming - A Return to Regeneration
Let's regenerate our soil as we regenerate our Soul. We will discuss ancient African farming techniques brought to the modern age that ensure a superior nutritional value and reconnect the modern human to the spirit of the land. We will also explore common and uncommon vegetables & herbs that celebrate their native origins on the continent of Africa.
Meet Saphan Pickett, founder of Royal Reset, Plant-Based Nutrition Educator, Organic Farmer, CDC Certified Lifestyle Coach, & Herbalist, and Certified Personal Fitness Chef. Farming is therapy & food is medicine! She brings the community a place to learn & party while healing issues like trauma, diabetes, & stress by enjoying herb infused plant based creations for the whole family.
Traditional African Farming - A Return to Regeneration
Let's regenerate our soil as we regenerate our Soul. We will discuss ancient African farming techniques brought to the modern age that ensure a superior nutritional value and reconnect the modern human to the spirit of the land. We will also explore common and uncommon vegetables & herbs that celebrate their native origins on the continent of Africa.
Vanessa Radman
Vanessa Radman is a first generation queer femme herbalist, full spectrum doula, sex educator and writer dedicated to collective liberation. She has been working with plants as remedies since 2008. She supports those navigating the relationship between belonging, personal healing and the healing of our communities, ancestors and the living earth. Her trauma-informed, intersectional feminist approach acknowledges the innate wisdom of each person’s journey and is grounded by her training in Western, Energetic, and traditional folk herbalism, flower essences, spirit medicine, ritual and navigating the wild knowing of the heart. Vanessa has studied herbalism with Juliet Blankespoor (Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine) and Lupo Passero (Twin Star Herbs), Karyn Sanders and Sarah Holmes (Blue Otter School) as well as plant spirit healing with Pam Montgomery, Southern Italian folk healing with Gail Faith Edwards and ancestral lineage healing with Dr. Daniel Foor. Her ancestors are most recently from Ireland, Sicily and the Dalmatian coast (Croatia). She is grateful to live and love on Yelamu Ohlone land.
Connecting with Ancestral Guidance For Personal and Collective Healing
Connecting with Ancestral Guidance For Personal and Collective Healing In these complicated and potent times, how do we align with our hearts, shed unnecessary baggage and cultivate resilience for moving into a new paradigm of existence? What if there was a way to heal both personal intergenerational trauma and cultural toxins while fully embodying your unique gifts? Everyone has ancestors that are kind, loving, wise and willing to connect. Cultivating this relationship is a learnable skill that can resource our lives and act as a gateway for tremendous personal, family, cultural and planetary healing. This method of ancestral lineage healing is based on the teachings of Dr. Daniel Foor. It takes a non-dogmatic approach and is grounded in an anti-oppression, earth honoring/animist framework. This intro workshop will be experiential, with time at the end for (optional) sharing and Q&A. Who is this for: *anyone curious to know more about how to connect with their ancestors (including those who may or may not know where their people are from) Those who have had difficult experiences of family, are adopted and/or from non-traditional family structures are all warmly encouraged to attend. In this workshop together we will explore: *What is meant by ‘ancestral healing’ (and what that means for those who did not grow up in a culture that venerates the ancestors) *What are the potential benefits of engaging in healthy ways with our ancestors *How to connect with supportive, loving ancestors in a safe, embodied way *How they can resource you in these changing times and beyond *How we can be in healthy, sacred reciprocity with them
Vanessa Radman is a first generation queer femme herbalist, full spectrum doula, sex educator and writer dedicated to collective liberation. She has been working with plants as remedies since 2008. She supports those navigating the relationship between belonging, personal healing and the healing of our communities, ancestors and the living earth. Her trauma-informed, intersectional feminist approach acknowledges the innate wisdom of each person’s journey and is grounded by her training in Western, Energetic, and traditional folk herbalism, flower essences, spirit medicine, ritual and navigating the wild knowing of the heart. Vanessa has studied herbalism with Juliet Blankespoor (Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine) and Lupo Passero (Twin Star Herbs), Karyn Sanders and Sarah Holmes (Blue Otter School) as well as plant spirit healing with Pam Montgomery, Southern Italian folk healing with Gail Faith Edwards and ancestral lineage healing with Dr. Daniel Foor. Her ancestors are most recently from Ireland, Sicily and the Dalmatian coast (Croatia). She is grateful to live and love on Yelamu Ohlone land.
Connecting with Ancestral Guidance For Personal and Collective Healing
Connecting with Ancestral Guidance For Personal and Collective Healing In these complicated and potent times, how do we align with our hearts, shed unnecessary baggage and cultivate resilience for moving into a new paradigm of existence? What if there was a way to heal both personal intergenerational trauma and cultural toxins while fully embodying your unique gifts? Everyone has ancestors that are kind, loving, wise and willing to connect. Cultivating this relationship is a learnable skill that can resource our lives and act as a gateway for tremendous personal, family, cultural and planetary healing. This method of ancestral lineage healing is based on the teachings of Dr. Daniel Foor. It takes a non-dogmatic approach and is grounded in an anti-oppression, earth honoring/animist framework. This intro workshop will be experiential, with time at the end for (optional) sharing and Q&A. Who is this for: *anyone curious to know more about how to connect with their ancestors (including those who may or may not know where their people are from) Those who have had difficult experiences of family, are adopted and/or from non-traditional family structures are all warmly encouraged to attend. In this workshop together we will explore: *What is meant by ‘ancestral healing’ (and what that means for those who did not grow up in a culture that venerates the ancestors) *What are the potential benefits of engaging in healthy ways with our ancestors *How to connect with supportive, loving ancestors in a safe, embodied way *How they can resource you in these changing times and beyond *How we can be in healthy, sacred reciprocity with them
Teri "Cricket" Heinichen Owens, RN, BSN, MS
Ms. Teri Owens RN, BSN, MS, began her career as an RN in 1987. She graduated from Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University of Chicago and spent the next 25 years working as an ICU/ER nurse in and around the Chicago area. She began studying herbal healing arts in 1995 and has a Masters' Equivalent Degree in Herbal and Chinese Medicine. Teri is currently available for herbal consults and teaches herbal learning and wellness classes to all ages. Subjects include health, nutrition and wellness, hands-on cooking and medicine making, medicinal and edible weed walks, and herbal first aid. She teaches in the home, at area schools, local nature centers and in the field. She is the founder of EcoKids, a kids' learning program focusing on herbal fact and lore, medicine making, and Earth ecology. She is one of the founders of the Midwest Herb Fest and currently travels with her husband, alchemist, astrologer, and author, Tim Wilkerson, in their groovy blue bus, Rhonda.
Stealth Health: Kitchen Herbs to Promote Wellness
Did you know that simply by putting oregano on your pizza or black pepper on your scrambled eggs you are adding herbs to your daily life? The foods and culinary spices that we consume can have a big impact on our overall level of health. Join us for this informative workshop as we explore the historical, traditional, and modern day medicinal uses of common kitchen herbs. Find out what you are already doing to enhance your health and learn new ways to add herbs to your everyday life.
Ms. Teri Owens RN, BSN, MS, began her career as an RN in 1987. She graduated from Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University of Chicago and spent the next 25 years working as an ICU/ER nurse in and around the Chicago area. She began studying herbal healing arts in 1995 and has a Masters' Equivalent Degree in Herbal and Chinese Medicine. Teri is currently available for herbal consults and teaches herbal learning and wellness classes to all ages. Subjects include health, nutrition and wellness, hands-on cooking and medicine making, medicinal and edible weed walks, and herbal first aid. She teaches in the home, at area schools, local nature centers and in the field. She is the founder of EcoKids, a kids' learning program focusing on herbal fact and lore, medicine making, and Earth ecology. She is one of the founders of the Midwest Herb Fest and currently travels with her husband, alchemist, astrologer, and author, Tim Wilkerson, in their groovy blue bus, Rhonda.
Stealth Health: Kitchen Herbs to Promote Wellness
Did you know that simply by putting oregano on your pizza or black pepper on your scrambled eggs you are adding herbs to your daily life? The foods and culinary spices that we consume can have a big impact on our overall level of health. Join us for this informative workshop as we explore the historical, traditional, and modern day medicinal uses of common kitchen herbs. Find out what you are already doing to enhance your health and learn new ways to add herbs to your everyday life.
Yuma "Dr. Yew" Bellomee
Yuma "Dr. Yew" Bellomee is a Certified Holistic Health Consultant, herbalist, wellness advocate/educator, and musical artist, who has been featured in numerous radio programs, natural hair, health & beauty expos, magazine articles, and community and school programs as a speaker and workshop facilitator on wholistic wellness. He is also the founder of Yew-360 Wholistic Health & Wellness, LLC, and a member of the African Wholistic Health Association (AWHA), and the Collective Health Initiative (CHI) in Washington, DC.
Cutting Sickle Cell
This workshop facilitated by Yuma "Docta Yew" Bellomee will look at lifestyle practices and herbs that can help to reduce the complications from sickle cell disease.
Yuma "Dr. Yew" Bellomee is a Certified Holistic Health Consultant, herbalist, wellness advocate/educator, and musical artist, who has been featured in numerous radio programs, natural hair, health & beauty expos, magazine articles, and community and school programs as a speaker and workshop facilitator on wholistic wellness. He is also the founder of Yew-360 Wholistic Health & Wellness, LLC, and a member of the African Wholistic Health Association (AWHA), and the Collective Health Initiative (CHI) in Washington, DC.
Cutting Sickle Cell
This workshop facilitated by Yuma "Docta Yew" Bellomee will look at lifestyle practices and herbs that can help to reduce the complications from sickle cell disease.
Jules Beneficio
Jules Benefico is a Western Clinical Herbalist with a passion to help others uncover the mysteries of their soul and heal naturally. Utilizing nutrition, medical herbalism, and self care tools she has a practice working with clients to help facilitate healing from the core. Jules focuses on allyship, forgiveness, gratitude, shadow work, pleasure, and solidarity as tools to aid her herbal work. She believes that herbal first aid is an important form of activism and that herbal medicine is an accessible earth based healthcare system that digs deep to get to the root of ailments not cover up symptoms. Jules also has a handcrafted herbal skincare & aromatherapy line for self-love, intention setting, and nourishment Called Opal Elements Cosmic Apothecary and a new project called Boss Witch Botanicals where she supports herbalists and healers blossom their businesses. She studies alchemy, activism, astrology, and herbalism and integrates these magickal practices into her life, consultations, and workshops.
Business Alchemy for Herbalists & Healers
Join Jules Benefico, Boss Witch and Western Herbalist to learn the elements of business success & brand alchemy. This class is designed specifically for herbalists and wellness practitioners who have a passion for the healing arts but may not be sure how to get started or reach their business goals. In this class Jules will share rituals, herbs, & astrology insights on how to blossom your business into the vision you always dreamed of! We will explore the magical approach to financial abundance, marketing, social media, business planning, and more. You will leave this class with a toolkit of practices for personal and professional growth.
Jules Benefico is a Western Clinical Herbalist with a passion to help others uncover the mysteries of their soul and heal naturally. Utilizing nutrition, medical herbalism, and self care tools she has a practice working with clients to help facilitate healing from the core. Jules focuses on allyship, forgiveness, gratitude, shadow work, pleasure, and solidarity as tools to aid her herbal work. She believes that herbal first aid is an important form of activism and that herbal medicine is an accessible earth based healthcare system that digs deep to get to the root of ailments not cover up symptoms. Jules also has a handcrafted herbal skincare & aromatherapy line for self-love, intention setting, and nourishment Called Opal Elements Cosmic Apothecary and a new project called Boss Witch Botanicals where she supports herbalists and healers blossom their businesses. She studies alchemy, activism, astrology, and herbalism and integrates these magickal practices into her life, consultations, and workshops.
Business Alchemy for Herbalists & Healers
Join Jules Benefico, Boss Witch and Western Herbalist to learn the elements of business success & brand alchemy. This class is designed specifically for herbalists and wellness practitioners who have a passion for the healing arts but may not be sure how to get started or reach their business goals. In this class Jules will share rituals, herbs, & astrology insights on how to blossom your business into the vision you always dreamed of! We will explore the magical approach to financial abundance, marketing, social media, business planning, and more. You will leave this class with a toolkit of practices for personal and professional growth.
Bevin Cohen
Bevin Cohen is an author, herbalist, gardener, seed saver, educator, and owner of Small House Farm in Michigan. Cohen offers workshops and lectures across the country on the benefits of living closer to the land through seeds, herbs, and locally grown food, and he has published numerous works on these topics, including the bestselling Saving Our Seeds and his highly anticipated new book, The Artisan Herbalist (New Society ’21). He serves on the board of the International Herb Association and the advisory council for the Community Seed Network. Learn more about Cohen’s work on his website www.smallhousefarm.com
Saving Our Seeds: The Foundation of a Sustainable Food System
Join author and seed farmer Bevin Cohen for this fun and informative virtual workshop! Cohen will explain the importance of saving our garden seeds, sharing their stories, and giving the gift of seed to others. See how easy and rewarding it can be for gardeners and youth to collect and save seeds to create their own local seed bank. Learn the basics of this traditional skill and start saving seeds from your own gardens!
Bevin Cohen is an author, herbalist, gardener, seed saver, educator, and owner of Small House Farm in Michigan. Cohen offers workshops and lectures across the country on the benefits of living closer to the land through seeds, herbs, and locally grown food, and he has published numerous works on these topics, including the bestselling Saving Our Seeds and his highly anticipated new book, The Artisan Herbalist (New Society ’21). He serves on the board of the International Herb Association and the advisory council for the Community Seed Network. Learn more about Cohen’s work on his website www.smallhousefarm.com
Saving Our Seeds: The Foundation of a Sustainable Food System
Join author and seed farmer Bevin Cohen for this fun and informative virtual workshop! Cohen will explain the importance of saving our garden seeds, sharing their stories, and giving the gift of seed to others. See how easy and rewarding it can be for gardeners and youth to collect and save seeds to create their own local seed bank. Learn the basics of this traditional skill and start saving seeds from your own gardens!
Ellenie Marie Cruz
Educator, Poet, Student Midwife, Doula, Asc3nding Herbalist, Reiki Master, Food Literacy Educator, Artist, Designer and Founder of Ac3nsion Art LLC- Ellenie Marie Cruz uses her given and learned talents to promote the art of ancestral practices to heal self, family and community. Motivated by social justice, she has shifted from being a high school English teacher to a free agent and entrepreneur promoting radical change through holistic wellness, self-care and community building.. Ellenie serves and impacts her community through birthwork work and Atabey School of Cultural Healing by offering courses and care that centers Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. She is the SOUL Organizer of the NOLA Herb Gathering, and author of the poetry book Saturn Return I: Glimpses of the past. Ellenie teaches with the Samara School of Community Herbalism and Wild Ginger Herbal Center and travels to teach and lecture on the subjects of radical full spectrum birth work, herbalism, community care, and more in small intimate group spaces and larger conferences.
Caring for Desiring, Prenatal and Postpartum Bodies
In this 3 series workshop we will examine and REDEFINE Fertility and how we approach people who desire to be pregnant, are currently pregnant and our postpartum. This class is taught to encourage community members to take an active roll supporting birthers and those who desire to become pregnant. We also encourage the people who desire to become pregnant to be well informed about what is happening to their bodies and how to care for it!
Educator, Poet, Student Midwife, Doula, Asc3nding Herbalist, Reiki Master, Food Literacy Educator, Artist, Designer and Founder of Ac3nsion Art LLC- Ellenie Marie Cruz uses her given and learned talents to promote the art of ancestral practices to heal self, family and community. Motivated by social justice, she has shifted from being a high school English teacher to a free agent and entrepreneur promoting radical change through holistic wellness, self-care and community building.. Ellenie serves and impacts her community through birthwork work and Atabey School of Cultural Healing by offering courses and care that centers Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. She is the SOUL Organizer of the NOLA Herb Gathering, and author of the poetry book Saturn Return I: Glimpses of the past. Ellenie teaches with the Samara School of Community Herbalism and Wild Ginger Herbal Center and travels to teach and lecture on the subjects of radical full spectrum birth work, herbalism, community care, and more in small intimate group spaces and larger conferences.
Caring for Desiring, Prenatal and Postpartum Bodies
In this 3 series workshop we will examine and REDEFINE Fertility and how we approach people who desire to be pregnant, are currently pregnant and our postpartum. This class is taught to encourage community members to take an active roll supporting birthers and those who desire to become pregnant. We also encourage the people who desire to become pregnant to be well informed about what is happening to their bodies and how to care for it!
Lindsay Tauscher
Lindsay Tauscher (HTCP, CYT) is a trauma-informed healer and coach in Washington, DC. By weaving together her expertise in trauma recovery, energy healing, yoga, and flower essences, she helps women, femmes & nonbinary folks become more resilient, sovereign, and self-trusting. She believes that it is each of our birthright to live a self-directed life of our own creation, one that enables us to thrive in healthy, interdependent relationships, both with other humans and the natural world. For the past eight years, she has supported hundreds of clients and nearly a thousand students in doing just that.
Grounding Through Energetic Self-Care
In times of crisis, it’s natural to be thrown off our center by both personal and collective anxiety, stress, and fear. Having effective practices to ground ourselves is more important now than ever. Since our emotional, mental, and physical states are also reflected in our energy fields, learning to caretake our energy body can help us ground and protect ourselves, regulate our nervous systems, process difficult emotions (including trauma), and enhance our sense of overall wellbeing. This experiential workshop will offer a foundational understanding of subtle body energetics and will introduce simple, accessible techniques for maintaining energetic health and hygiene. Participants will experience firsthand how working with subtle energy can support the mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing of ourselves and others.
Lindsay Tauscher (HTCP, CYT) is a trauma-informed healer and coach in Washington, DC. By weaving together her expertise in trauma recovery, energy healing, yoga, and flower essences, she helps women, femmes & nonbinary folks become more resilient, sovereign, and self-trusting. She believes that it is each of our birthright to live a self-directed life of our own creation, one that enables us to thrive in healthy, interdependent relationships, both with other humans and the natural world. For the past eight years, she has supported hundreds of clients and nearly a thousand students in doing just that.
Grounding Through Energetic Self-Care
In times of crisis, it’s natural to be thrown off our center by both personal and collective anxiety, stress, and fear. Having effective practices to ground ourselves is more important now than ever. Since our emotional, mental, and physical states are also reflected in our energy fields, learning to caretake our energy body can help us ground and protect ourselves, regulate our nervous systems, process difficult emotions (including trauma), and enhance our sense of overall wellbeing. This experiential workshop will offer a foundational understanding of subtle body energetics and will introduce simple, accessible techniques for maintaining energetic health and hygiene. Participants will experience firsthand how working with subtle energy can support the mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing of ourselves and others.
Ellen Evert Hopman
Ellen Evert Hopman is the author of a number of books and has been a teacher of Herbalism since 1983 and of Druidism since 1990. She is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and has presented on Druidism, herbal lore, tree lore, Paganism and magic at conferences, festivals, and events in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and in the United States. She has participated in numerous radio and television programs including National Public Radio's "Vox Pop" and the Gary Null show in New York. She presented a weekly "herb report" for WRSI radio out of Greenfield, MA for over a year and was a featured subject in a documentary about Druids; A&E Television's; "The Unexplained" (Secret Societies, The Druids and the Knights Templars original air date 4 March 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2IxNJGe03U ). She is a Master Herbalist and a lay Homeopath who holds an M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling. She is the Archdruid of Tribe of the Oak www.tribeoftheoak.com and a founding member of The Order of the White Oak (Ord Na Darach Gile) and its former Co-Chief, a Bard of the Gorsedd of Caer Abiri, and a Druidess of the Druid Clan of Dana. She was Vice President of The Henge of Keltria, an international Druid Fellowship, for nine years and has been at times a member of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF). She is a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages. Visit her bookstore and blog at www.elleneverthopman.com
The Sacred Herbs of Samhain (Halloween)
An overview of some of the herbs and trees of the Samhain Fire Festival, including their magical, medicinal and spiritual aspects. Communication with the dead, protection, purification and entering the Fairy Realm are made possible by the wise use of these traditional plants. The basics will be covered; for a complete understanding of dosages, preparation methods and cautions please consult Ellen’s books, especially “The Sacred Herbs of Samhain – Plants to Contact the Spirits of the Dead”, “A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year”, A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine”, “Tree Medicine Tree Magic” and “Secret Medicines from Your Garden – plants for healing, spirituality and magic”.
Ellen Evert Hopman is the author of a number of books and has been a teacher of Herbalism since 1983 and of Druidism since 1990. She is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and has presented on Druidism, herbal lore, tree lore, Paganism and magic at conferences, festivals, and events in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and in the United States. She has participated in numerous radio and television programs including National Public Radio's "Vox Pop" and the Gary Null show in New York. She presented a weekly "herb report" for WRSI radio out of Greenfield, MA for over a year and was a featured subject in a documentary about Druids; A&E Television's; "The Unexplained" (Secret Societies, The Druids and the Knights Templars original air date 4 March 1999 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2IxNJGe03U ). She is a Master Herbalist and a lay Homeopath who holds an M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling. She is the Archdruid of Tribe of the Oak www.tribeoftheoak.com and a founding member of The Order of the White Oak (Ord Na Darach Gile) and its former Co-Chief, a Bard of the Gorsedd of Caer Abiri, and a Druidess of the Druid Clan of Dana. She was Vice President of The Henge of Keltria, an international Druid Fellowship, for nine years and has been at times a member of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF). She is a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages. Visit her bookstore and blog at www.elleneverthopman.com
The Sacred Herbs of Samhain (Halloween)
An overview of some of the herbs and trees of the Samhain Fire Festival, including their magical, medicinal and spiritual aspects. Communication with the dead, protection, purification and entering the Fairy Realm are made possible by the wise use of these traditional plants. The basics will be covered; for a complete understanding of dosages, preparation methods and cautions please consult Ellen’s books, especially “The Sacred Herbs of Samhain – Plants to Contact the Spirits of the Dead”, “A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year”, A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine”, “Tree Medicine Tree Magic” and “Secret Medicines from Your Garden – plants for healing, spirituality and magic”.
Charmaine Bee
Memory and ancestral lineage pay a vital role in my herbalism work. I often think back to my grandmother, Lucretia Bee and her home in South Carolina that was filled with so many things that I could just sit and stare at all day - like the big pecan tree in front yard and a red well pump in her backyard - the image of that pump has stayed with me and whenever I think of and have dreams about the land my grandmother once owned the red well pump handle is there. I learned to process and interpret my dreams while growing up in South Carolina and this was pivotal to the development of listening to my intuition. The process of intuitively listening and supporting others in hearing their intuition is [deeply grounded in my memories on that land and incorporated into the creation of my teas and tinctures. In 2009 Gullah Girl Tea was born with the mission to create small batch healing tea blends that honored my Gullah Heritage. After starting Gullah Girl Tea I studied medicinal and spiritual herbalism in the Sacred Vibes Apothecary apprenticeship program with Karen Rose, it was important for me to study with a teacher who emphasized the spirituality of plant energy. Within my studies I learned how to make tinctures! I loved the process and began to make tincture formulas alongside my tea blends, to support my emotional healing, dream work and depression. I began to share them with friends and people who loved my tea. It is my absolute joy and pleasure to share my line of tinctures with you and to support you in your journey in whatever way that I can!
Herbs for dream recall + dream work
The intention of this workshop is to use the energy of collective space to reflect on how we relate to our dream world. Together we will ask questions such as: What does it mean to dream? Do we want to remember our dreams or are there parts of our dreams/ messages within them that we are ready to release? In addition to dialogue this will be a space to learn herbs that support in dream work such as: damiana, lavender, rosemary, hibiscus, cinnamon, chamomile and mugwort. This workshop came out of the WXPT (School for the Movement of the Technicolor People) project by dancer and choreographer taisha pagget. taisha created a space where questions of what does queer black and poc choreography look like, and rethinking what movement and a dance school looks like. Joy Anderson and I were brought together as company members within this space and developed a Spell casting/ uncasting + dream interpretation workshop where we addressed how modes of oppression impact our spell casting on ourselves and our ability to cast spells in the world. We looked at the ways in which POC lineages of magic making have been negatively stigmatized and how to realign with our power via movement, conversation and herbs. Now more than ever is a moment to assess how systems of oppression impact the worlds in which we dream and for us to reach into our dream worlds for guidance, comfort and release. We will move, dance and draw together. Through movement, gratitude practice, meditation and conversations about dream symbolism and how we perceive the dream world - the intention of the workshop is to create a space where accessing the dream world and releasing through the dream world feels safe, accessible, possible, and nourishing. During our time together we will discuss our personal/ familial/ family( blood and chosen) relationships to dreaming: do we remember our dreams, what in the waking world shows up in our dreams as a result of how we are embodied? We will walk through local herbs and how they support us in doing our dream work, dance, listen to our voices( through an exercise based in audio recording). We will end the workshop with creating dream portals ( maps) that will support us in zooming further into one dream that you choose to work with, using our collective energy and the support of plant medicine we will create the means to go deeper into particular aspects of that dream and/ or release a message that one has sufficiently learned/ graduated from. Memory and ancestral lineage pay a vital role in my herbalism work. My apothecary Bee’s Well Apothecary focuses on herbal medicinal formulas that support people in - working within the dream realm through lucid dreaming and dream recall, accessing personal power and their voice through solar plexus and throat chakra support, easing anxiety and supporting a multi faceted approach to depression treatment. In 2009 Gullah Girl Tea was born with the mission to create small batch healing tea blends that honored my Gullah Heritage. After starting Gullah Girl Tea I studied medicinal and spiritual herbalism in the Sacred Vibes Apothecary apprenticeship program with Karen Rose, it was important for me to study with a teacher who emphasized the spirituality of plant energy. Over the last five years I have been facilitating workshops on spell casting and un-casting and the use of herbs in dream interpretation and lucid dream work. I have co facilitated spell casting and uncasting/ dream interpration workshops with Joy Anderson in spaces such as Human Resources LA, LACE, The Main Museum and UCLA. I look forward to sharing in community with you.
Memory and ancestral lineage pay a vital role in my herbalism work. I often think back to my grandmother, Lucretia Bee and her home in South Carolina that was filled with so many things that I could just sit and stare at all day - like the big pecan tree in front yard and a red well pump in her backyard - the image of that pump has stayed with me and whenever I think of and have dreams about the land my grandmother once owned the red well pump handle is there. I learned to process and interpret my dreams while growing up in South Carolina and this was pivotal to the development of listening to my intuition. The process of intuitively listening and supporting others in hearing their intuition is [deeply grounded in my memories on that land and incorporated into the creation of my teas and tinctures. In 2009 Gullah Girl Tea was born with the mission to create small batch healing tea blends that honored my Gullah Heritage. After starting Gullah Girl Tea I studied medicinal and spiritual herbalism in the Sacred Vibes Apothecary apprenticeship program with Karen Rose, it was important for me to study with a teacher who emphasized the spirituality of plant energy. Within my studies I learned how to make tinctures! I loved the process and began to make tincture formulas alongside my tea blends, to support my emotional healing, dream work and depression. I began to share them with friends and people who loved my tea. It is my absolute joy and pleasure to share my line of tinctures with you and to support you in your journey in whatever way that I can!
Herbs for dream recall + dream work
The intention of this workshop is to use the energy of collective space to reflect on how we relate to our dream world. Together we will ask questions such as: What does it mean to dream? Do we want to remember our dreams or are there parts of our dreams/ messages within them that we are ready to release? In addition to dialogue this will be a space to learn herbs that support in dream work such as: damiana, lavender, rosemary, hibiscus, cinnamon, chamomile and mugwort. This workshop came out of the WXPT (School for the Movement of the Technicolor People) project by dancer and choreographer taisha pagget. taisha created a space where questions of what does queer black and poc choreography look like, and rethinking what movement and a dance school looks like. Joy Anderson and I were brought together as company members within this space and developed a Spell casting/ uncasting + dream interpretation workshop where we addressed how modes of oppression impact our spell casting on ourselves and our ability to cast spells in the world. We looked at the ways in which POC lineages of magic making have been negatively stigmatized and how to realign with our power via movement, conversation and herbs. Now more than ever is a moment to assess how systems of oppression impact the worlds in which we dream and for us to reach into our dream worlds for guidance, comfort and release. We will move, dance and draw together. Through movement, gratitude practice, meditation and conversations about dream symbolism and how we perceive the dream world - the intention of the workshop is to create a space where accessing the dream world and releasing through the dream world feels safe, accessible, possible, and nourishing. During our time together we will discuss our personal/ familial/ family( blood and chosen) relationships to dreaming: do we remember our dreams, what in the waking world shows up in our dreams as a result of how we are embodied? We will walk through local herbs and how they support us in doing our dream work, dance, listen to our voices( through an exercise based in audio recording). We will end the workshop with creating dream portals ( maps) that will support us in zooming further into one dream that you choose to work with, using our collective energy and the support of plant medicine we will create the means to go deeper into particular aspects of that dream and/ or release a message that one has sufficiently learned/ graduated from. Memory and ancestral lineage pay a vital role in my herbalism work. My apothecary Bee’s Well Apothecary focuses on herbal medicinal formulas that support people in - working within the dream realm through lucid dreaming and dream recall, accessing personal power and their voice through solar plexus and throat chakra support, easing anxiety and supporting a multi faceted approach to depression treatment. In 2009 Gullah Girl Tea was born with the mission to create small batch healing tea blends that honored my Gullah Heritage. After starting Gullah Girl Tea I studied medicinal and spiritual herbalism in the Sacred Vibes Apothecary apprenticeship program with Karen Rose, it was important for me to study with a teacher who emphasized the spirituality of plant energy. Over the last five years I have been facilitating workshops on spell casting and un-casting and the use of herbs in dream interpretation and lucid dream work. I have co facilitated spell casting and uncasting/ dream interpration workshops with Joy Anderson in spaces such as Human Resources LA, LACE, The Main Museum and UCLA. I look forward to sharing in community with you.
Katrina Weakland
Katrina has been collecting experiences about people, places, and their connection to plants since 2014. She started her food systems journey taking an alternative spring break with Sarvodaya USA Hearth Treks to the jungles of Costa Rica learning about sustainability and the impacts of large scale agriculture on the environment and the health of communities. After college, Katrina took a position with a small e-commerce business, Seed-balls.com in Claysburg, PA, where she expanded her knowledge in native wildflower botany, pollinators, environmental education, and e-commerce business logistics. Katrina developed an education program with seed balls, a soil matrix, and wildflower/vegetable seeds, as a tool for teachers and communities to teach about plant botany and our conscious role of being stewards of the land. Seeking new life experiences, Katrina took some time off to travel and eventually moved on to take on two service years, 2017-2019, with Pennsylvania Mountain Service Corps (PMSC), a local initiative of AmeriCorps in Centre and Blair Counties. She dove deep in the work of community food systems working closely with Penn State’s Sustainable Community Food Systems Program and Penn State Altoona’s Community Based Studies Program. Katrina spent time during the busy farm season helping interns with farm tasks, lead tours for classes and community organizations, coordinate and run volunteer events. During the off season, she spent time in classrooms, academic conferences, and community meetings learning, sharing, and teaching about the interdisciplinary work within the food system to help connect and build healthier communities. She continued her work with Penn State’s branch campus, Penn State Altoona to help expand the sustainable food system program reach. Katrina built her network of community relationships to help lead and facilitate conversations in her hometown to identify gaps of opportunity to build bridges to more healthy, resilient communities through food. In December 2018, Katrina helped bring together nearly 50 food system representatives from across the state to participate in ISU Extension and Outreach, Community Food System Workshop and Certification Training. Katrina completed ISU Local Food Leader Training Certification program in March 2019. Food systems play a crucial role in the health of our communities. Katrina is continuing her food systems work by joining a diverse group of passionate food system thinkers and doers to form the grassroots organization, Allegheny Food Connection in the Fall of 2019. Recently, Katrina was nominated and picked to be a part of the Blair County Farm to Early Child Education(ECE) Advisory Board- lead by The Food Trust, a Philly based non- profit to help facilitate and implement Farm to ECE programing in Blair County
Rooting for Community Food Systems
How to be a local food leader in your community. Katrina will share her experiences of how she has been connecting the dots in her local community food system; addressing how food access impacts community health.
Katrina has been collecting experiences about people, places, and their connection to plants since 2014. She started her food systems journey taking an alternative spring break with Sarvodaya USA Hearth Treks to the jungles of Costa Rica learning about sustainability and the impacts of large scale agriculture on the environment and the health of communities. After college, Katrina took a position with a small e-commerce business, Seed-balls.com in Claysburg, PA, where she expanded her knowledge in native wildflower botany, pollinators, environmental education, and e-commerce business logistics. Katrina developed an education program with seed balls, a soil matrix, and wildflower/vegetable seeds, as a tool for teachers and communities to teach about plant botany and our conscious role of being stewards of the land. Seeking new life experiences, Katrina took some time off to travel and eventually moved on to take on two service years, 2017-2019, with Pennsylvania Mountain Service Corps (PMSC), a local initiative of AmeriCorps in Centre and Blair Counties. She dove deep in the work of community food systems working closely with Penn State’s Sustainable Community Food Systems Program and Penn State Altoona’s Community Based Studies Program. Katrina spent time during the busy farm season helping interns with farm tasks, lead tours for classes and community organizations, coordinate and run volunteer events. During the off season, she spent time in classrooms, academic conferences, and community meetings learning, sharing, and teaching about the interdisciplinary work within the food system to help connect and build healthier communities. She continued her work with Penn State’s branch campus, Penn State Altoona to help expand the sustainable food system program reach. Katrina built her network of community relationships to help lead and facilitate conversations in her hometown to identify gaps of opportunity to build bridges to more healthy, resilient communities through food. In December 2018, Katrina helped bring together nearly 50 food system representatives from across the state to participate in ISU Extension and Outreach, Community Food System Workshop and Certification Training. Katrina completed ISU Local Food Leader Training Certification program in March 2019. Food systems play a crucial role in the health of our communities. Katrina is continuing her food systems work by joining a diverse group of passionate food system thinkers and doers to form the grassroots organization, Allegheny Food Connection in the Fall of 2019. Recently, Katrina was nominated and picked to be a part of the Blair County Farm to Early Child Education(ECE) Advisory Board- lead by The Food Trust, a Philly based non- profit to help facilitate and implement Farm to ECE programing in Blair County
Rooting for Community Food Systems
How to be a local food leader in your community. Katrina will share her experiences of how she has been connecting the dots in her local community food system; addressing how food access impacts community health.
Melanie Yukov
Melanie Yukov is a bilingual Spanish and Russian speaking Speech and Language Pathologist, Certified Holistic Health Coach, and Community Herbalist. She received her graduate degree in Speech Pathology from Teachers College at Columbia University and is certified by the American Association for Speech and Hearing. Melanie has attended numerous trainings on the topic of feeding, picky eating, and oral motor development in children. She is certified in the SOS Approach to Training Children with Feeding Disorders, Kaufman oral motor skills, Debra Beckman Oral Motor Training, and Talk Tools Level 1 training. Melanie likes to bridge her knowledge of healthy food with her background in speech, language, and feeding to transform the picky eater to the food explorer. She believes picky eating is not just a phase to be waited out and understands the challenges parents face through practicing as a therapist. She enjoys guiding children and families with care and compassion.
From Picky Eater to Food Explorer!
This workshop is designed for parents and caregivers who long to transform their picky eater to food explorer. Imagine your loved one eating a well- balanced diet to thrive and flourish! We will discuss the causes of picky eating in addition to tips, tricks, and resources to aid in this process of transformation from picky to healthy happy eater. Participants will be provided with a detailed power point with notes full of information to help in this process. Melanie understands the frustration and emotional challenges associated with having a loved one who won’t eat a variety of foods and looks forward to providing you with tools to navigate from picky eater to food explorer!
Melanie Yukov is a bilingual Spanish and Russian speaking Speech and Language Pathologist, Certified Holistic Health Coach, and Community Herbalist. She received her graduate degree in Speech Pathology from Teachers College at Columbia University and is certified by the American Association for Speech and Hearing. Melanie has attended numerous trainings on the topic of feeding, picky eating, and oral motor development in children. She is certified in the SOS Approach to Training Children with Feeding Disorders, Kaufman oral motor skills, Debra Beckman Oral Motor Training, and Talk Tools Level 1 training. Melanie likes to bridge her knowledge of healthy food with her background in speech, language, and feeding to transform the picky eater to the food explorer. She believes picky eating is not just a phase to be waited out and understands the challenges parents face through practicing as a therapist. She enjoys guiding children and families with care and compassion.
From Picky Eater to Food Explorer!
This workshop is designed for parents and caregivers who long to transform their picky eater to food explorer. Imagine your loved one eating a well- balanced diet to thrive and flourish! We will discuss the causes of picky eating in addition to tips, tricks, and resources to aid in this process of transformation from picky to healthy happy eater. Participants will be provided with a detailed power point with notes full of information to help in this process. Melanie understands the frustration and emotional challenges associated with having a loved one who won’t eat a variety of foods and looks forward to providing you with tools to navigate from picky eater to food explorer!
Geoff Edwards
Geoffrey Edwards is an educator and healing artist whose practice encompasses herbalism, community acupuncture, urban farming, and the expressive arts. He is the Owner of Nu Grain & Pestle, an herb apothecary based in Rockville Maryland. In addition to his practice, Geoffrey also holds positions at Maryland University of Integrative Health as Dispensary Supervisor, Teaching Clinic Supervisor, and Guest Lecturer in the Chinese herbs and acupuncture programs, respectively. While completing his studies in acupuncture Geoffrey began the process of cultivating what he now calls the “Healing Arts Garden” which includes a wide selection of perennial herbs and continues to expand each year. Nu Healing Arts Garden is a teaching home garden that primarily functions as a space for the preservation of a variety of medicinal North American, African and Asian perennial medicinal herbs. The garden features an herb nursery for rare, niche ethnic crops and grows plants which are processed (dried, tinctured, powdered) and sold in small batches as teas, tinctures, extracts, oil infusions, and compresses.
Congees for Family Wellness: The Amazing Benefits of Grain Porridge
Join herbalist Geoff Edwards as he discusses how to aid digestion and boost immunity with simple grain porridges.
Geoffrey Edwards is an educator and healing artist whose practice encompasses herbalism, community acupuncture, urban farming, and the expressive arts. He is the Owner of Nu Grain & Pestle, an herb apothecary based in Rockville Maryland. In addition to his practice, Geoffrey also holds positions at Maryland University of Integrative Health as Dispensary Supervisor, Teaching Clinic Supervisor, and Guest Lecturer in the Chinese herbs and acupuncture programs, respectively. While completing his studies in acupuncture Geoffrey began the process of cultivating what he now calls the “Healing Arts Garden” which includes a wide selection of perennial herbs and continues to expand each year. Nu Healing Arts Garden is a teaching home garden that primarily functions as a space for the preservation of a variety of medicinal North American, African and Asian perennial medicinal herbs. The garden features an herb nursery for rare, niche ethnic crops and grows plants which are processed (dried, tinctured, powdered) and sold in small batches as teas, tinctures, extracts, oil infusions, and compresses.
Congees for Family Wellness: The Amazing Benefits of Grain Porridge
Join herbalist Geoff Edwards as he discusses how to aid digestion and boost immunity with simple grain porridges.
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