2022 workshop descriptions*

Sample herbs together as a community, learn from the herbal experience, learn from each other.

There is a movement among herbalists to protect our wild plants by promoting organically farmed medicines in place of wildcrafting. The fatal error in this noble effort to help save the wild is that encouraging organic farming does not protect our wild landscapes. Modern farming (no matter how organic) destroys natural habitats, pushes out wild life, significantly contributions to climate change, and is the primary cause of modern diseases through soil born nutritional deficiencies.

The connection between Modern Diseases, soil depletion, where our food and herbs come from, and how to cultivate health are some of the biggest problems in the world today. We may discuss materia medica in the treatment of various chronic diseases in this workshop, however herbal deficiencies are not the cause of illness. Nutritional deficiencies are. Nutritional deficiencies start in the soil and are completely present in organic diets. We will discuss the degeneration of soil and its effects on the decline of human health as well as acute therapeutics for the treatment of modern diseases and the long term regenerative solution to chronic disease.

This workshop explores the formative currents and crystalizations of an earth-centric human identity @ a global scale, what we are calling ‘Gaian Folk’. Aka the Amazonian ‘bridge people', the Hopi ‘one Hearted’, the Pleiadian ‘way-shower’, ‘the ones we have been waiting for', etc. . We will specifically focus on how the teachings of the plant kin-dom (Deep Herbalism), as Gaian elders, can help free us from the fixations of our mind, releasing us into a free-flowing, heart-centered, multidimensional awareness that is already dreaming a new earth into existence.

Essential Remedies: Mental & Emotional Balance — Discover the powerful and subtle medicinal uses of Essential oils for bringing clarity, confidence, balance and anxiety relief into your daily life. In this workshop we will learn how to create a blend to delight the senses and support overall balance and wellness. Walk away with new knowledge to apply to your current health and well-being challenges & a free sample anointing oil!

Essential Remedies: Pain relief & Immune support — Essential Oils can be a wonderful addition to your medicine cabinet. Balance is the key to feeling great, pain in the body can cause stress on emotional and mental health and vice versa. Learn how to create a simple blend of essential oils to help support your body on all of these levels simultaneously. We will also discuss which oils can support adrenal fatigue, immunity strengthening and energetic balance.

In this workshop we will cover reproductive health specific to men and it’s connection to the holistic nature of our vitality in all dimensions of our lives.

We will learn:

• The basics to sublimation, a process of retaining the male seed to increase and cycle vital energy in the body.

• Herbs to aid our vitality, and their functions

• Deconstructing cultural programs and habits that inhibit vitality.

• Male specific physiology

• Physiological strategies to increase vitality

Although most all of us know that seaweeds are superfoods and have profound medicinal benefits, what is the status of our beloved sea vegetables today?

Learn how to harvest it sustainably, source it cleanly, and apply it to a number of common clinical conditions.

Having held monthly, community based, plant meditations, I seek, study and practice to facilitate greater connection between folks and plant spirits for transformational somatic healing.

This class will be unique in bringing folks together to ask wisdom from a plant ally, by placing the engagement around one of our local "invasive" plants, another species, rather than another human. We will be exploring the topic of colonization, calling in a somatic understanding around the energy of this topic.

I hope that this class will open up and introduce participants the value of turning to the intelligence and spirit of a plant ally in asking for guidance and wisdom not only with physical healing but also with personal healing. Being able to experience the love and support from the plant spirit be able to bring in support for allowing greater curiosity. I hope that after this class they will be more confident in allowing themselves and others to begin a practice of plant spirit relationship as well as a knowledge of the sensation on non linear language.

The class will include an introduction of the history and characteristics of the plant, a discussion around areas of interest in the shared characteristics between the audience and the invasive plant as well as sharing what we experience in the plant meditation.

This class will focus on earth-based medical systems that are innately a part of human health and culture. Every culture on earth has an indigenous medical system based on how the human body is reflected in nature. From the foundations of Taoism and East Asian medicine, we will learn about how seasonality and the phases of nature relate and affect human health. We will learn how simple universal principles such as hot, cold, full, empty, yin and yang can be applied to daily connection to the qi regulation in the body, diet, and movement. We will investigate how this relates to health sovereignty and how reclaiming these Healthways without appropriation can help us reclaim true health with these practices that have been lost due to the erasure of colonization. Be prepared to go outside, as this will include some outdoor somatic connection exercises.

In this day and age, with supply chain issues and shortages, folks are taking note of who, how and where things come from. There is no better time to take your health into your own hands by growing your own medicine. We’ll discuss growing herbs in your backyard and community gardens. When growing your own herbs is not an option, we’ll explore ways to find local farmers to source from and questions to ask farmers and distributors when buying herbs in commerce. Just like having local food is a food security issue, growing and supporting medicinal herb production in the US is an important part of our health security.

Coming soon!

Get grounded, get connected, get nourished and shift imbalances using your own healing hands! The traditional healing art of Ayurvedic medicine invites us to care for our own mind, body and spirit in practical and sacred ways. This workshop focuses on teaching lymphatic/immune health and a deep personal self care connection through the art of Ayurvedic self care. Certified Ayurvedic body worker, Drea Moore, will educate attendees on how to use several self care tools such as salt scrubs, guasha, cupping therapy, herbal oils and stones to establish a regular personal practice of sacred self care and self love for embodiment, immunity, strength and total health and beauty.

Plant Walk — Come on this exploration of wild weeds, trees, shrubs and herbs. We will compare, smell, touch, taste and discuss all the medicinal plants we come upon. Natalie has led hundred of walks and absolutely loves this method of teaching.

Join Julia of Blue Mountain Yoga for this morning flow.

Be guided by Love and the Breath of Life as you tap into your own inner wisdom and surrender to the flow. We will deepen our breath and move our bodies into poses with that rhythm guiding us towards balance of mind, body and Spirit.

Bring your favorite herbal elixir and experience the voice of the plant through your body! Movers of any ability and background are welcome to join an inclusive space for embodiment that includes somatic movement, meditating with an herb or plant medicine of your choice, asking the medicine to move through you in movement and sound. When we allow our bodies to move authentically we connect to our subconscious and can unveil resources to support our waking life. Harvest from your journey through verbal sharing & witnessing.

Posture is Everything! A practical and informational class on how to easily establish and maintain good posture.

Bring ease and grace and aliveness into your body thru correct alignment of your bones and joints. We can stand tall yet remain relaxed while our bodies operate more easily: aches and pains subside, digestion improves, emotions become balanced, and our minds become quieter.

Self Care Sovereignty is the purpose and Somatic Integration is the method. This is a 60-75 minute self care education workshop to inform and activate centering, grounding and integrating energy. We will move through 4 sections of the body Head/Chest/Core/Feet going over anatomical and energetic qualities of these areas.

You will be led through the specific anatomical acutouch with guided breathing. Utilizing energy meridians mapped out by Traditional Chinese Medicine and Neuromuscular Therapy techniques you can directly activate the holistic healing process. It will be interactive the whole class so related questions, comments and feedback are welcome. Muscular trigger points will be released, energy meridians activated and myofascial layers soothed as you're guided through whole system relaxation.

You will experience empowerment fortifying the body's homeostasis through therapeutic self touch, supporting the synergy of the mind and body while increasing somatic awareness.

Use a journal to take notes on the awarenesses that arise.

In the tradition of shamanic medicine circles, we embark upon a collective journey, an embodied creation story, that we breath, voice, chant, spirit-language, and ultimately, sing alive.

This resonance with our evolutionary heritage opens a fertile imaginal space, allowing the deeper currents of Creation to sprout, rise, flower, and fruit the higher Octaves of our Human Beingness. This all in service to increasing activation of the Gaian Dream, of Our Dream, as it unfurls itself beneath the Sunlight of our Opening Hearts.

Explore the geometry of sound and how it is used as a tonic for the nervous system.

As a lifelong practitioner in a nourishing tradition, EagleSong Gardener, teaches you how to bring a deep level of nourishment to your daily life.

What is it about minerals & proteins that is so important? What do bioflavonoids do in the body? What is the alimentary canal and why should you know how it works? This is a fun, in-depth look at how plants and bodies work in the realm of nourishment from the ground up.

In this workshop we will explore the therapeutic effects of microdosing small amounts of Psilocybe fungi and how this practice impacts cognition, mood, creativity, neuroplasticity, and neural regeneration. I will share my experience from coaching hundreds of people through this practice and the potential applications of Microdosing as a therapeutic alternative to conventional anti-depressants.

Topics will include:

• Benefits, Side Effects, and Contra-Indications

• Dosage

• Protocols / Frequency

• Complimentary Practices

• Synergistic Herbal Combinations

After discussing Microdosing, we will deep dive into medicinal mushrooms -- what their common biological and ecological traits are, and how to safely identify them. I will share the specific identification, ecology, ethnomycology, and medicinal properties of Reishi, Lion's Mane, Turkey Tail, Artist Conk, Oyster, Red Belted Conk, Chaga, and Witches' Butter. We will spend time exploring the ethics of harvesting medicine from Nature, and how to do so in a consensual, reciprocal, and ethical way. If time allows, we will explore how to make double extraction tinctures, medicinal mushroom extracts, powders, honeys, hot chocolate mixes, and more.

Using Astrological Moon cycles including the participants data, to navigate our power Lunar Cycles and timing.

Asthma is a plague of the modern world and the by-product of our life style. There are many different types of Asthma. I will cover some of the causes related to Asthma and other lung conditions.

• Wet or dry conditions

• Herbs that work well with the different types and also diet

• Coughing, dry hacking, wet coughing

• Wheezing

• Gasping/ shortness of breath

• Chest tightness

• Allergic reactions/ strong orders and sprays

• Exercise induced

• Occupational

Body oiling is wonderful for the skin and can be calming for the nervous system. In this workshop, I will share some tips that I’ve gained in my 10+ years of making herbal medicine and oils. Each plant requires a slightly different process to make the most potent oil. Many people struggle with their herbal oils going bad, so we will also cover ways to make longer lasting oils. We will dive into the medicine of some of the herbs I love to use and the amazing benefits of body oiling, one of my favorite self care practices. By tuning into the plants, we can infuse their energy and life into our medicine.

Did you ever wonder why that even with all these modern agricultural chemicals that crops still are attacked by pests and disease? Or what does crop health have to do with people? Or how exactly the soil matters beyond just being a place for roots to hold plants in place? This class explores some of the linkages between crops, soils and humans. Many of today's issues aren't what we think they are.

In this workshop we will explore ways you can bring herbs into your everyday life to help you create a flow of sensual erotic energy to help fuel your creativity, confidence, and vitality.

This workshop will focus on examining how we interact with the natural world and how our disconnection from nature as settlers came to be. We will be investigating the dissonance of language, food, and care--how we might ameliorate our current exploitive settler culture. We can remember indigenous ways of relating and how reparations can repair as we cultivate Ancestral Integrity.

Co-facilitated with Chiyokten Wagner, indigenous activist of W̱SÁNEĆ first people. We will investigate the grief of colonialization in contrast to indigenous thinking, and begin to unlearn the programmed colonized mentality of mainstream society. Healing begins here within our minds.

A co-created workshop where participants will have the chance to direct discussion and learn hands-on methods of tending wild plant communities, a variety of plant propagation techniques, and to reflect together on how we as humans can step into a more grounded relationship of loving reciprocity with the plants and microbes that feed, inspire and heal us.

"Humans like to take mind altering drugs, just like most mammals do. While drug use can surely get out of hand for some people, many people can take drugs safely. The global ""War on Drugs"" has made being a drug user much more hazardous than it needs to be, and has also discouraged the spread of information about how people can take drugs in safer and more beneficial ways. There is also a lot of shame and hiding on the part of most drug users due to the social climate around drug use. There are a number of herbs, supplements, and lifestyle changes that can reduce the harmful aspects of while also increasing the benefits of taking drugs in all stages of drug use.

This class will cover harm reduction and benefit enhancement techniques for people who are currently using drugs, people who are in acute withdrawal from ceasing drug use, and people who have gotten through acute withdrawals but are still having a hard time. We will cover the main drug classes, namely opiates, stimulants, dissociatives, benzodiazepines, cannabis products, and alcohol.

This class could be helpful for practitioners, drug users, and people who have drug users in their social circles.

In life we are constantly getting input. Wouldn’t it be nice if we knew which input to follow at any given moment? In this workshop we will learn practical tools to use in your daily life to support you in following your intuition and knowing the next right step to take in your journey. Always making decisions in our life isolated and alone can feel draining and challenging, when we realize we have a whole network of support that we can access we realize we actually are never alone. There is support in and all around us guiding and giving messages to uplift us and our journey.

This workshop grew from decades of personal experience growing up in the epicenter of Lyme Disease. I compiled herbal protocols from many skilled practitioners for both acute and chronic infection, and used specific herbs to overcome chronic health issues. I believe there is no one expert of one magic cure for any illness, and we will thrive through collaboration. Through hands-on knowledge and the help of many of my peers and teachers from the East Coast, I explore multiple paths to health. Though our area has not been hit hard by tick infections, these herbal protocols are relevant to many other infections and chronic health issues.

Plant Walk — During this plant walk we will be able to dive deeply into how to know what to use on hand as well as covering the basics of first aid. We will discuss how local plants can greatly facilitate your ability to cope with the unexpected! From what plants you are most likely to be able to use and gather and what techniques are most appropriate as well as what to pack in your first aid kits. Learn what herbs affect the nervous system, the circulatory systems and the digestive system and why this is important. We will be covering basic first aid principles, different types of poultices/tea’s/tinctures and the abc’s of staying calm and knowing how to respond. In this class you will come away with some clear first aid principles, how to identify and use plants from the area and a guideline of how to make a herbal first aid kit.

Harmonize your life and the world around you with this prayer dance that balances and unifies five elements and seven directions. Inspired by Cho-Qosh-A-Ho-O of the Catalina Tribe, these easy to learn energizing movements leave you feeling integrated and refreshed.

Enjoy a mindful morning of gentle movement, guided breath work and herbal tea to stimulate the vagus nerve. Learn how a variety of yoga poses, breathing techniques and self massage can be used throughout your daily life to encourage a deep sense of calm during moments when you need it the most. The vagus nerve strongly influences our parasympathetic nervous system, making any regulation techniques very powerful tools to know during stressful times. End the class with a cup of herbal tea and a brief discussion of how each herb can contribute to this vagal activation.

Through progressive relaxation, meditation and imagery, be guided into a relaxed parasympathetic state, allowing your body to come into deep rest and activate its inherent healing potential.

Suggested to bring: yoga mat, blanket, towel (to role up under your neck), and pillow (if you want one under your knees).

Modern footwear deforms the natural shape of your feet, leading to conditions such as bunions, hammertoes, and nerve damage, just to name a few. In this workshop, we will compare footwear and discover what does and does not support the natural shape of your feet and their innate function. We will also practice exercises that generate awareness, promote healing, and help you understand how your feet relate to your body. Come prepared to take off your shoes!

The world needs ecosystem restoration in most parts of the globe. Medicinal plants can be added deliberately to plantings for human use as well as ecological function. This can be a blend of ecosystem restoration, permaculture and ethnobotany/traditional knowledge. Michael has been studying the integration of these 3 disciplines.

This will be a class exploring fungal consciousness and the strategies that these brilliant organisms have developed to navigate life on Earth (and beyond). We will go over the biology, ecology, and evolutionary history of fungi, including where the first mushrooms came from, how they form symbiotic relationships with other organisms, and the deeper philosophical significance of their ecological archetype – a largely underground, decentralized and non-hierarchal resource-sharing life form that embodies the role of decomposition and regeneration. We will explore what Mushrooms can teach us about the nature of life and death and the recycling of nutrients and stories back into the mycelial matrix of life. If time allows, there will be experiential exercises in embodying mushroom consciousness and sharing/mapping the resources available to participants within this workshop container.

Learn why we are drawn to roses. We give them as gifts to express love, we wear their essential oil to enhance our aroma. We offer them as condolences to those grieving. How did this all come into existence?

Roses lend themselves to being eaten, sniffed, made into oils, salves, creams, medicine, bandages, and tonics for the heart. They are incorporated into myth and legend, woven into tales and history, are symbols of our spiritual practices and art. They represent our loves and our loves lost and they inspire, uplift and most of all give us pleasure by their beauty.

In this class we will examine the history of the rose and all it’s many uses and we will decoct a rose cream which is beneficial for softening and smoothing the skin.

As a beekeeper, I get a unique view of the plants through their pollen cycles. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have a bounty of flowers, trees, & medicinals that provide pollen to the honey bees from the early months of spring into late fall. This workshop will brush the surface of some of the main pollen sources for each season & the benefit of those plants. I will also be providing bee pollen for participants to try. Using pollen from the hives, we can match pollens to native pollinators.

In this workshop I will demonstrate the practice of plant propagation, from basic to advanced seed starting to layering, dividing and hardwood cuttings. These practices can be applied in our home gardens, farms and in the wild. As herbalists, growers and wild harvesters, it is our responsibility to be creating reciprocal relationships with the plants and ecosystems we depend on for our medicines and livelihoods.

Our cardiovascular systems are miraculous, life giving, and sensitive. Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death for humans living in the modern, industrialized world, especially men. There is a tendency for people to not allow the heart to be one of the organs of perception, or to live in a heart centered way, in the industrialized world, and that is it's own kind of disease.

This class will look at the cardiovascular system from an anatomical view to therefore discuss the various ways that this system can be damaged and methods to be supportive of those diseases using herbs, mindfulness practices, nutrition, lifestyle changes, and supplements.

We will also discuss the heart as an organ of perception, and some of the more energetic techniques for being more aligned with the heart and getting to know them as a person and friend.

The autonomic nervous system, responsible for fight, flight, or resist and rest, digest, or release, may house the imprints of some of our most deeply traumatic experiences. If we do not clear these imprints, debilitating psycho-spiritual maladies like anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, emotional outbursts, hyper-vigilance or emotional numbness and feelings of disconnect may plague us. Via shaking, purging, and energetic reorganization, some of my favorite plant medicines—Aspen, Silktassel, and Devil’s Club—work to restore balance to the autonomic nervous system. I will share some of my personal experiences of healing trauma and how the plants have supported and accelerated this challenging process.

As herbalists, healers, Earth protectors, and agents of positive change we are swimming upstream against the current of the old culture.

As you grow into your personal power and your leadership, what would it mean, how empowering would it be to have extra clarity about WHY you are here - your Life Purpose? How important is it to you to move intentionally toward your ideal life — the one that will support you to keep learning and growing and to make the biggest possible difference?

In this workshop we'll teach you 3 Key Questions for discovering why you are here, and give you a template for calibrating your interior compass to take you where you yearn to go in life.

Be prepared to dream big and dig deep. Honesty with yourself will be your ally in this session.

Bring Your Journal and Pen!

Astrology provides us with a multivalent language where a planet's archetypal expression shows up in minerals, plants, animals, emotions, senses, and the psychological and physical makeup of a person. This class is geared toward allowing people to perceive these archetypal patterns all around us in everyday life, and is not a class on chart interpretation. As a healthcare practitioner, it provides a unique perception to see the underlying patterns of disease.

We will cover:

• Yin (Nocturnal) and Yang (Diurnal)

• The 5 elements of fire, earth, air, water and ether

The significations for the 5 “inner planets” and 2 luminaries of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn according to traditional western medical astrology

Plants and Planets: We will go step by step through how to determine a planetary archetype for a plant and how to match it to the right person.

This is a valuable and powerful skill to add to your repertoire as a plant lover and herbalist. Plant taxonomy is how we group plants, and how they are related to each other. It's much like making a family tree! This knowledge can empower you to engage with guidebooks and nerdy plant resources on a deeper level, see patterns in medicinal actions among close plant relatives, identify unknown plants more easily, and look more closely at the morphology of your plant friends. I have taken this knowledge all over the world to learn about medicinal plants in new places. I like to lay things out simply so it isn't intimidating science-speak, so please do join us!

Herbal medicine has the power to transform the way we approach and process pain. This class will explore strategy for managing chronic and long-term pain and questions for understanding the origins of our pain.

By caring for our nervous system, we care for our bodies as a whole and build foundational health. Together we will dive deep into nourishing practices & herbal medicines that cultivate joy, a sense of belonging, and radical self-love. We will discuss how to address Anxiety, Depression, & Insomnia with simple herbal remedies, and intensively study my favorite Superstar Herbs for the Nervous System. Our goal is to deepen our relationship with these amazing plants & encourage wholeness in our beings.