Herbalism: Learn about Herbs
[This page contains affiliate links]
Herbalism is a lifestyle commitment in which we incorporate plants into our daily lives to nourish and support the body's own intelligence, energy, and balance.
The Herbal Academy
As you may or may not know, I've started a sister business called Lather and Light Co selling all-natural, plant-based beauty products, including soaps and candles. I have a monthly spa box that features new herbal themed products each month. A few people have been wondering where I learned about herbs and making these nourishing products, so I thought I'd share my source for herbal courses.
I’ve been really enjoying learning about herbs and herbalism from the Herbal Academy. They have a free course to start with that gives a great introduction to the amazing array of things you can do with herbalism from teas and tinctures to careers. It has great info on history, ethics, learning, and building a business.
I just finished the Making Herbal Preparations 101 Course. It describes 4 basic categories for preparing herbs, starts you with 12 basic herbs to learn about, and includes 33 DIY herbal recipes from teas and tinctures to salves and oils. It has 7 lessons, including videos and hands-on activities. It has optional Herbal Preparation Guide cards to complement your studies.
Next, I’ve got my eye on the Botanical Skincare Course (of course!). I have a good understanding already, but I’m excited to get some more formal training to hone my skills. This course is meant to prepare you to create your own skincare recipes using botanicals and other natural ingredients. There are 200 recipes in the course! It also has a beautiful book of the recipes you can to go with the course or separately if you just want to get your hands on those recipes!
The Herbarium is another amazing resource!! It has a wealth of information on herbal knowledge, discoveries, lessons, and beautiful visuals. It includes herbal monographs, photographs, thoughtful articles, educational videos, tutorials, and teaching charts. And it’s constantly updated with new findings and more resources. It’s a deep-dive into herbalism, including intensive classes, live forums, downloads, a monograph collection, and an awesome selection of ebooks. It’s a great tool for your herbal learning!
The Herbal Academy also has more intensive courses focused directly on herbs: the Introductory Herbal Course, the Intermediate Herbal Course, the Entrepreneur Herbal Course, and the Advanced Herbal Course. Even the introductory course will set you up with an understanding of “the herbal approach can support radiant wellness, and you will feel more comfortable AND excited about making and using your own teas, tinctures, and body care products.” The courses are set up for self-paced online learning, but they also offer textbooks if you prefer to learn from books rather than online or a combination of the two. They also offer discounted bundles if you know you want to take more than one course.
The Herbal Academy also has an amazing array of niche courses (many with amazing accompanying resources), including
The Herbal Self-Care for Stress Management Course “explores stress and its effects on wellbeing and then delves into the holistic approach to self-care for stress management. You’ll walk away with an understanding of the nutritional choices, lifestyle practices, and herbs that can transform your response to stress and enhance your wellbeing”
The Botany and Wildcrafting Course “delves into characteristics of plant parts and the use of dichotomous keys for plant identification, as well as the identification of botanical families and patterns in nature. Hands-on lessons on drawing plants and creating a pressed plant herbarium encourage one-on-one engagement with the plant kingdom. We’ll get you started wildcrafting with a discussion on wildcrafting ethics and techniques, an understanding of at-risk plant species, and botanical, edible, and herbal characteristics of 25 common wild plants.” They also offer a Botanical Illustrations Workbook
The Foraging Course will help you to “create wild plant-based, soul-soothing, immune-boosting recipes and fill your apothecary shelves with hand-harvested botanicals? Sound amazing? It absolutely is! The Foraging Course will get you started foraging wild edibles and herbs safely, ethically, and sustainably”. They also offer a Forager’s Pocket Guide and Foraging Record Book.
The Craft of Herbal Fermentation Course will teach you about “creating herbal fermentations including herbal beer, herbal mead, herbal kombucha, herbal water kefir, and herbal lacto-fermented foods through both written instruction and video tutorials. You will also be introduced to exclusive recipes and techniques and supplied with the resource and supply lists that you will need to get started on your own herbal fermentation journey.”
The Mushroom Course is “a fascinating exploration into the monumentally important and mysterious world of fungi! The Mushroom Course is your complete guide for learning all about the compelling world of fungi, from cap to stem, taking you on a wild adventure through fascinating folklore, safe and sound foraging practices, and must-know biology. Learn how and why mushrooms offer powerful nutrition and become adept at preparing delicious, wellness-promoting mushroom recipes.” They also offer a Mushroom Foraging Kit.
The Herbal Materia Medica Course is based on the idea that “by studying plants one herb at a time, we have the opportunity to connect with individual herbs at a meaningful level through in-depth study. The Herbal Materia Medica Course will teach you this simple––yet powerful––study process and help you organize what you are learning into plant monographs for future reference. We’ll teach you what a materia medica is (if you don’t already know) and guide you through the research process, equipping you with the tools you need to study herbs on your own.” AND there’s a beautiful Materia Medical Journal that might help you in your journey.
From what I’ve experienced so far, you’ll enjoy any of the courses from The Herbal Academy.
Herbalism: Use herbs to nourish & support the body’s intelligence, energy, & balance Learn how!