Beyond the Green Pill: Practicing Vitalist Herbalism
I was recently had a great conversation with Elliot Brinkley from The Dancing Willow podcast.
In this episode we dive into:
🌿 How vitalist herbalism differs from “green pill” thinking
🌿 The difference between family, community, and clinical herbalists
🌿 How to address stress at the root by healing your sensory input & accessing beauty
🌿 Why learning your local plants is more powerful than memorizing distant materia medica
🌿 Ethical wildcrafting and honoring the seasonal rhythms of nature
🌿 Practical advice for herbal beginners ready to build hands-on experience
We also explore why true herbalism is about practicing — not just studying — and how slowing down, observing, and building relationship with plants transforms not only your herbal skills, but your entire life.
This episode is available here.
————————————————————————————————————–
Becoming a Clinical Herbalist
How does an herbalist take all the information gathered from one’s own experience + readings, classes, workshops, conferences, round tables, webinars and blogs and actually apply it to a real life situation with a client who comes asking for help?
This stage of herbal learning and doing is Clinical Herbalism.
It is working 1:1 with a person, first gathering information, then devoting thoughtful time to assessing what is happening for the person and finally, sharing a plan that is used to help bring the person back to a healthier, more balanced state.
Being a clinical herbalist draws upon every experience and bit of information the herbalist has gained over the years.
Details of this course are available here.
——————————————————————————————-
Family Herbalist Program
This course is full and registration is closed.
Registration opens on September 1, 2025 for the 2026 Family Herbalist Program.
Send your contact info to mmasek@theforagerspath.com to be notified when registration opens.
The Family Herbalist is meant for people who want to get clear and accurate information on the foundation aspects of using herbs to promote health on a personal and family basis.
These people may be totally new to herbal medicine or they have taken the occasional workshop, read some blogs and use various herbal products from the local health food store.
They are ready for the next step.
Details on the Family Herbalist Program are here.
An extra bonus are plant walks offered to introduce students to the regional healing flora.
These are not a formal part of the program and no fee is charged for these outings.
______________________________________________________________
Flagstaff Native HerbFest 2025
June 14, 9:00am- 3:00pm
Choose from 9 workshops and plant walks on a variety of topics related to herbal medicine, wild foods and useful plants in northern Arizona.
This is a wonderful opportunity to meet and get to know a range of herbalists, foragers and healers from the region.
The event is located at the WillowBend Environmental Education Center in Flagstaff.
Registration and details on the day will be available on their website in early Spring, 2025:
https://willowbendcenter.org/herb-fest/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Private Class CD
