Sept 2023 - June 2024 - CLASS IS FULL

This year's class is in full-swing. Contact us to be put on the waiting list for the 2024 course beginning next September.

Learn the ancient and modern traditions of herbal medicine. This class is open to anyone with an interest in learning the craft of herbalism to care for your health, and the health of your family, friends and community. Explorations in Traditional Western Herbalism offers students a strong foundation in herbal healthcare, basic nutrition and healthy lifestyle practices to promote and enhance well-being. This class blends the scientific with earth-based traditional wisdom, and balances indoor classroom time with exciting outdoor daylong herbal adventures. No prior training, experience or pre-requisites are required.

Classes are held on Wednesday evenings (options of in-person or online) as well as two Sundays a month (hands-on, in-person classes).

Students who complete this 300-hour, nine-month program will receive instruction in:

• Body System Therapeutics
• Comprehensive Herbal Materia Medica/Pharmacology on over 100 Medicinal Plants/Fungi
• Herbal Energetics
• Extensive Medicine Making Techniques
• Herb Safety, Herb/Drug Interactions
• Basic Botany and Plant Identification
• Creating Deeper Connections with Nature and Ourselves
• Flower Essence Training
• Natural Cosmetics
• Tending Our Medicinal Herb Garden
• Wildcrafting Ethics and Techniques
• Medicinal Seaweeds and Mushrooms and other Wild Foods
• Herbal Crafts
• Whole Foods Nutrition/Food as Medicine

Each lecture focuses on different systems of the body (i.e. respiratory, immune, digestive, etc.). You'll learn some basic physiology, along with in-depth instruction of medicinal plants (with an emphasis on plants that grow in our bioregion), how to use them, their actions and energetics. We'll discuss common illnesses and how to approach them holistically using herbs, nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices. This course consists of classroom lectures and experiential learning. Over the course of nine-months, you will learn a variety of medicine making techniques including the proper preparation of medicinal herbal teas, glycerites, tinctures, syrups, oxymels, electuaries, acetums, liniments, oils, salves and more.

Schedule & Fees:
Class meets every Wednesday evening beginning September 6th from 6:00 to 8:30pm (live in our classroom or over Zoom).  In addition, students meet in-person at our field campus on a beautiful 50-acre ranch in East Petaluma two Sundays a month for hands-on instruction.  The course is $2,500 with monthly payment plans available.  A non-refundable deposit of $500 holds your space.  Register early - we sell out every year!  We also offer two optional (but highly recommended) camping trips in April and June at an additional $250 each.

This is a rigorous foundational program designed to teach you the basics of Western herbalism and prepare students for our Intermediate and Advanced Clinical Herbal courses. In order to successfully complete this course, students are required to put in additional time outside of the classroom to complete all homework assignments and, most importantly, get to know the medicinal plants we discuss for health and wellbeing, including those growing in the wildlands and neighborhoods where you live. In order to embrace herbalism fully, you must dedicate yourselves to the plants - and what a meaningful path you’ll begin to walk.

Contact Us For Further Information:
Send us an email.  Leave your phone number and a good time to call you back to discuss course details. 

Registration:
When registering, please indicate whether you wish to attend Wednesday lectures in person in our San Anselmo classroom or over Zoom.  Sunday classes are in-person only.