Year 1, Foundations of Herbalism

Herbal medicine is the art and science of using medicinal plants. The practice of herbal medicine considers not only the use of specific herbs and supplements but also a person’s diet and lifestyle. A skilled herbalist learns to blend tradition with science and your pathway can begin here at Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism.

Sunday, 10 am- 12 pm: Herbal Medicine Making: Tinctures, Glycerites and Herbal Vinegars

On Sunday morning we will learning how to make hydroalcoholic preparations (tinctures and elixirs), glycerites and herbal vinegars. We will discuss which solvents are best for using with various plants based on their phytochemistry, understand the benefits and drawbacks to using hydroalcoholic and vinegar preparations, and compare the folk and scientific method of making different preparations. We will be focusing on making medicine with herbs that can be used for building your own herbal medicine home kits.

1-3 pm: Medicine Making, Topical Preparations:

Topical preparations have been one of the main stays of herbal medicine, through the history of civilization. Records or remnants of healing balms and poultices have been found dating back to Sumerian and Egyptian times. Herbs have been used to make therapeutic compresses, plasters, fomentations, creams, pastes, salves, ointments, liniments, infused oils, suppositories, pessaries, douches, enemas, smoke treatments, and herbal hydrotherapy such as sitz and steam baths, just to name a few. Nowadays, we tend to forget about many of these traditional methods. It’s time to turn the tables back and resurrect some of these highly effective methods, so join us to learn the art of infused oils and basic salves as well as ’biblical balm’ made with frankincense and myrrh, medieval German black and yellow salves and many other methods of using ‘weeds’ from your backyard & local woods.

Please email your questions to:

MidAtlanticSchoolofHerbalism@gmail.com

Come and join our Foundations of Herbalism Certification through the Mid-Atlantic School of Herbalism at the Smile Herb Shop. This certification course is taught in executive format, one (1) weekend (Saturday & Sunday, 10 am-5 pm) each month (except August). Assignments and study between classes are required with some online content. A study group via web-conference is available once a month between classes. Classes are recorded, so if missed can be made up.

The one-year program leads to a Foundations of Herbalism Certificate. For those who are interested in clinical practice, students can continue on for a second year of study to gain a Professional Herbalism Certification. This advanced course also consists of 1 weekend a month, over a period of 12 months with the final 6 months, being a clinical component. If both years are completed with accompanying assignments and case studies, students receive a Diploma of Clinical Therapeutic Herbalism.