We've been busy in the yurt welcoming our students one last time this year to wrap up their studies and celebrate just how far they've come in developing their herbal knowledge and skills over the past four seasons.
Our winter gatherings are a time of coming together - both as a community, as well as a culmination of knowledge.
Every winter, our students amaze themselves at just how well they know their herbs and their bodies, just how clearly their intuition speaks to them, just how much the way they live their lives and understand the world around them has changed.
And every year, I'm in awe of each and every incredible, intrepid soul who crosses the threshold of our yurt and chooses to embark on this journey, which is why it's so important to me to celebrate and acknowledge them.
A few of our community members across each cohort sadly had to miss out on the celebrations due to winter colds, but they were with us in spirit, and to each of them, I said this - There are no tests or exams or final marks on this course, but if there were, this would be the final test - listening to your body when it's telling you enough is enough and you must rest and take care of yourself. So for every student who made the difficult decision to stay home, rather than push themselves, no matter how many herbs they worked with to support themselves through it, they have absorbed and embodied the teachings of the journey.
When our third-year students gathered, we were all prepared with tissues. Each of them completed the ceremony with more reverence and meaning than I could have imagined, and after a fair few soggy tissues, we set out to enjoy a delicious post-ceremony feast. It was bittersweet for all of us, especially as many of these wonderful women have been with me since our early seasonal workshop days, but now the cohort group has transformed into an inseparable group of friends with an appointed social secretary ready to organise seasonal get-togethers. I can't wait!
And our second-year students, who have become a beautifully tight-knit group of friends with a penchant for laughter (cackles) and stirring up trouble in all the best ways, swapped homemade gifts and goodies, passed round the card decks and the tissues and arranged a lovely feast out at a local restaurant. It was a celebration and a half!
Our first-years' lives were touched in ways one can never anticipate before embarking on a journey like this. These cohorts have planted the seeds of four budding clinical herbalists and two herbal bumps! And something one of the students shared was incredibly humbling - 'If more teachers taught the way you do, there would be a lot fewer people in the world thinking they weren't very good at learning.' To be one small part of sharing knowledge in the world that makes people feel as capable as they truly are and means they can develop the skills to do something that has a positive impact on their lives is nothing short of a massive honour.
We will all miss each other over the winter months, but we're all ready to tune into the season and take some time to rest and reflect - and spring always arrives before you know it!
And to all of my students this year - thank you. Thank you for trusting me to guide you in building your knowledge of herbal medicine. Thank you for the honour of walking with you on your journeys. Thank you for your open-heartedness and enthusiasm for learning. Thank you for choosing to become a ripple of personal empowerment, connection with the rest of nature, sound, grounded perception of the world in which we live and choosing to create a happier, healthier life. It has been my huge pleasure to be with you this year.
For all of you - whether you are continuing your journey with me next year or following a new path that has opened to you - I am so thrilled for the adventures that lie ahead for you.
Why Our Intensive Herbalism Courses Have Closing Ceremonies
Our closing ceremonies are something we hold quite dear and consider to be an important part of the journey. So many extremes have surfaced in our society - from the erosion of the presence, value and role of rites of passage in our lives to the surplus of superficial tick a number of boxes and download your certificate now offerings. Our intensive herbalism courses are about tapping into what is much deeper - deeper knowledge, deeper understanding of ourselves and of the rest of nature, deeper reflections and changes, deeper connections with each other. Yes, we keep things very conversational, very practical, very tangible, very fun on our intensive herbalism course, but there is no fluff, no bureaucracy and certainly no doing something purely because that’s ‘what you do when you’re on a course learning something’. Everything we do is intentional and meaningful. And so it is only natural that each full turning of the wheel, each completed stage of the journey is marked, acknowledged and recognised for the commitment and dedication that has been, for the twists and turns that have come through for each student, for the changes and shifts that have manifested for them. Because as our students agree, our intensive herbalism courses are not something you book onto and simply learn a bit about herbs and how to use them. Awaken Herbal Wisdom is life-changing.
If you’re looking for a herbalism course in the UK that creates true shifts in your life, brings you deeper into connection with yourself and the rest of nature and surrounds you with wonderful new people who become cherished friends, you’re very welcome to join us on our intensive herbalism course - Awaken Herbal Wisdom - which spans all four seasons and gets herbalism both deep into your bones and your daily life. You can learn more about our herbal medicine course here, join our mailing list and submit your application when new cohorts are announced.
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!
