Herbal Medicine for Health and Wellness

Many of our common garden and culinary plants offer an effective, safe, sustainable, and joyful alternative to commonly used over-the-counter drugs, and many of them might already be growing in your backyard! Learn how to begin an herbal practice at home through exploring the plant world at the Esalen gardens. Experience the touch, taste, and personalities of common garden plants that can ease common ailments like indigestion, headaches, muscle strains, and colds and flu. This class will offer you a broad overview of home-scale herbalism and provide techniques and guidelines for incrementally expanding your herbal repertoire in a fun, joyful, and safe manner. Over the weekend, experience different ways to take and make herbal medicine with fresh and dried herbs, including teas, tinctures, nut-butter balls, herbal vinegars, and medicinal oils and salves. Leave with a recipe for your own “prescription tea” to promote daily health and wellness, and a handcrafted tincture to bring home.

Required reading: Cech, Making Plant Medicine.

($20 materials fee will be added to the workshop cost)