How ‘Academic’ Is Our Herbalism Course?

Sometimes prospective students get in touch with us wondering what the learning experience we offer is like. Whilst we do have resources to explore about our guiding principles and teaching methodologies, we thought we’d shed a bit more light on the academic aspects, as everyone has their own learning style, and it’s important to us to guide prospective students towards the right match for them - whether that be our courses or another programme.

Exploring herbalism can feel like a rabbit hole, and perhaps you’ve already been down a few (or many) and still feel like you’ve not made much progress truly understanding it, working with it or integrating it into your daily life. This is where a well-structured, intentional course curriculum is so supportive. It’s the difference between wandering through the woods in the dark hoping you come out the other side in the morning and having a map, a torch, a guide to go with you, to show you the important things you may not have noticed, to let you know where there’s a fallen tree so you don’t stumble on it, and to build your navigational skills so you can ultimately go on your own.

Each herbal concept we teach serves a purpose to deepen our understanding - of the plants, of ourselves, of the communication between the two. Each is introduced at a time that aligns with nature’s timing and cycles - e.g. each herbal taste as it comes into peak across the seasons - and each core concept from the foundational through to the more nuanced - e.g. the elements, doshas/constitutions and qualities through to the dhatus/tissues and srotas/pathways. Each is included in the courses because they will bring a deeper understanding of your practice of herbal medicine, of yourself and of the dynamics of nature.

Once we introduce a core concept at an in-person gathering, we work with it regularly. We massage it into our minds by weaving it into our explorations of our daily topic for each of our live Zoom sessions. For example, after exploring the doshas (vata, pitta, kapha) at our first in-person gathering in year one, they are included in our discussion of everything else we learn across all three years - how they are influenced by the herbal tastes, how they are at play within each herb, how common body messages (e.g. fever, digestive upsets, headaches, etc.) manifest if they’re vata-, pitta- or kapha-type, how they change across the wheel of the year and how they shift across our lifetime.

If you’re considering joining us for the journey, we highly recommend you download our full curriculum guide, which will walk you through each of the concepts and skills we explore across the three years and how we continue to weave them together in our rhythm of learning so they become second nature over time. Once we learn another aspect of herbal medicine, we don’t leave it behind or set it aside. If you have any questions at all, do pop us a message and ask.

All of the knowledge sharing on the course is done together and the bigger concepts are taught at our in-person sessions. Our course books are interactive, so there is plenty of space to fill in your notes, thoughts, learnings and reflections when we are together, as well as any ponderings, aha moments or rabbit holes you wish to explore further that happen outside of course sessions.

Will you need to engage your mind? Absolutely! And your senses, your intuition, your curiosity!

Herbalism is a practice, a medicine, a lifestyle and a discipline. If you’re considering joining our courses, it’s because you want to dedicate the time and energy to learn herbalism thoroughly and properly - how plants work, as well as how our bodies work. You want more than a weekend workshop making a few fun herbal lotions and potions. You want to be able to create your own remedies and combinations - not because you saw some recipe on a post somewhere, but because you fundamentally understand what’s going on for yourself or a loved one at that moment, which plants will provide them the best support and in what form.

Knowledge is power, and knowledge of herbalism is power and autonomy over your own health and the health of your family. We’ll walk with you on that journey.

At our herbalism school, our students have nothing to prove. We know you’re on the journey because you have a hunger, a curiosity, a passion, a calling. You’re not with us to gain a formal qualification or open up a clinical practice. Perhaps you’ve always been interested in herbalism, and now you finally have time to dedicate to exploring it thoroughly. Perhaps you’ve got a family and want to be confident in supporting their health naturally and safely. Perhaps you’re in the midst of a paradigm shift and want to recalibrate your senses to what’s real and ground yourself in timeless wisdom. Perhaps you just really want to do something for you.

And so we know between your goals and where you’re at in life, you’re unlikely to want to have reams of required reading to squeeze into the crevices of your life. You don’t want to have to sit any exams or write papers of a certain word count.

And because we have chosen to be an independent school empowering people personally, we don’t need to ask you to do any of those things. There is absolutely nothing you need to prove. Just show up to the journey as you are, engage and enjoy. If something really piques your interest, there are always more avenues we can recommend to explore (and we love it when you share with the rest of our community). If something isn’t quite clicking for you, just ask! We always have time for questions and are happy to weave the story of a new concept or skill with different words.

If our approach is lighting you up inside and you’re here in the UK, you’re very welcome to join us on our intensive herbalism course - Awaken Herbal Wisdom - which spans all four seasons. With up to three years of development available, our course gets herbalism both deep into your bones and your daily life, without either having to do a clinical degree or a traditional full-time apprenticeship. Although it is intense, it’s suitable for a wide range of herbalists, including beginners!

Be sure to join our mailing list to hear more about what the current cohorts are up to, learn some of the golden nuggets that emerge from our sessions and receive other school updates. Enrolment opens after dates are announced each spring for the following year, and places are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you’re ready to join us on the journey, you can request an application to join an upcoming cohort.

Whatever your next step is with learning herbal medicine, I hope you enjoy the journey!

At the Heritage School of Herbal Medicine, our practice of herbalism is rooted in the belief that we must remember, reclaim and relearn our knowledge of our bodies, our autonomy and how to work with plant medicine in order to bring control of our own health back into our families and homes for a sustainable future for ourselves and the planet. Through our intensive herbalism course, we facilitate the development of confident, empowered herbalists, attuned to the messages of their bodies and the natural world. Living the deep wisdom of herbal medicine within themselves, their homes and their communities, they uplift themselves and others, creating a stronger society organically. We do hope you'll join us on your journey!