Several years ago, I began my herbal learning journey. After I realized the amazing healing power of plants when I was looking for alternative options for my health (because growing up on an herb farm and coming from a family of herbal healers clearly didn’t get it through my head), I set out to learn as much as I could about using plant-based medicine in my home.
I signed up for courses, bought books, scoured blogs, joined herbal membership sites. I read anything I could get my hands on and, most importantly, applied it.
Soon, I was creating my own herbal recipes, like my healing balm, that actually worked. And worked well. And when I found essential oils – super-concentrated, potent oils that are basically herbs in a bottle, well, there was really no going back to anything else.
But it all started with a spark of interest in herbs. And without the amazing resources I was able to dive into, I don’t know if I would have fallen so deeply in love with these plants.
So today, I wanted to share one of my favorite resources to help you become an herbalist in your home.
Herbal Academy of New England (HANE)
Herbal Academy of New England is a diverse group of herbalists that creates and facilitates herbal education programs.
Based in Boston, HANE offers programs and herbal memberships around the world through their gorgeous website (seriously, their pictures are drool-worthy).
I’m not sure exactly when I discovered this site, but I loved it instantly.
Blog
The blog was my first experience and it’s a great (free) resource for all things herbal. They feature herbal profiles, DIYs, recipes, mini monographs and, of course, gorgeous photos.
While you’re there, be sure to sign up for their newsletter so you can get their free ebook, 9 Familiar Herbs for Beginners (I’m seriously considering getting the image on page 18 as part of my next tattoo.)
The Herbarium
I signed up for the Herbarium earlier this year and I geek out every time I visit. Seriously, try reading the Frankincense monograph without squealing with delight.
The Herbarium is a virtual collection of herbal resources including herbal monographs (with some seriously in-depth information on herbs), a vast library, downloadable/printable charts and graphs and some fun member perks. Learn more here.
Courses
They also have two great courses to further your herbal knowledge. First is the Introductory Herbal Course. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll tell you more anyway.
The course includes beautiful charts, handouts, flipbooks, recipes, herbal monographs and videos and covers:
- Herbal basics
- Common discomforts
- Kitchen remedies
- Nervous system
- Body care
- The holistic approach
You can even take a sample lesson to see how you like it. Read more (and see the lovely photos) here.
The Intermediate Herbal Course takes your knowledge even further. Perhaps that’s why they call it the Herbal Apprenticeship for Distant Learners.
This course comes with the same great tools but includes 40 lessons in 10 units.
Topics are:
- Introduction and herbal review
- Food as medicine
- Digestive system
- Immune system
- Nervous system
- Cardiovascular
- The liver
- Respiratory
- Urinary system
- Children
When you’re done, you’ll have an herbal certificate and be able to confidently use herbs in your home. Learn more here.
These courses are some of the most affordable I’ve found.
So if you’ve been looking for a great herbal learning resource, I highly recommend checking out their courses before enrollment ends.
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