Our 16-week Herbal Apprenticeship Program in Sandpoint is for those who have a strong desire to strengthen their skills and fill their herbal tool belts and apothecary with plant medicine from both the wild and garden. CMHS delivers intensive in-the-field plant identification with hands-on harvesting, formulation, medicine making and holistic health practices. This program is appropriate for both novice and advanced students and meets on Thursdays May through September.

The Roots to Tips apprenticeship program meets the last weekend of the months April through September in Sandpoint. It's designed for those who cannot attend the weekly program, yet have a strong desire to strengthen their skills and fill their herbal tool belts and apothecary with plant medicine from both the wild and garden. CMHS delivers intensive in-the-field plant identification with hands-on harvesting, formulation, medicine making and holistic health practices. Going beyond foundational herbalism, this program is appropriate for both novice and advanced students.

Winter in North Idaho is long, dry and freezing, and skin gets chapped ~ let's get ready with extremely moisturizing herbal lip balms, body butters and lotion bars. More than just something slick to put on the lips and skin, they'll heal and protect the skin from our harsh winters. Students will aid in creating a tasty and effective lip balm, a luxurious body butter that glides on the skin and a solid lotion bar that moisturizes the skin like nobody's business! Students will choose their own packaging for the lotion bar. Best yet, they make beautiful Christmas presents that your loved ones will ask for time and time again!

Incense is the traditional roots of aromatherapy that has been used to delight the senses and in ritual and praise across every culture for ages. Making natural incense is as easy as noticing the plants that grow around you! Students will use spices, tree resins, herbs, leaves and flowers in combination with high quality essential oils, botanical extractions, and binders like honey and wine to create all natural fragrant incense cones.

Suzanne has pressed hundreds of beautiful flowers and leaves all summer long in preparation for this workshop. They are stunning on their own - tissue paper thin, achingly beautiful works of art made by nature. Students will create their own works of art with pressed flowers of their choice and plain or patterned art paper along with inspirational quotes to inspire students to add to their design. Picture frames will be provided along with all materials. Flower presses will be available for purchase for $35 each for future flower pressing. What to bring: your favorite writing utensil. It can be a calligraphy pen or just your favorite color ink.

After an excess of holiday treats, this workshop comes in at perfect timing. While bartenders use bitters in tasty cocktails, herbalists commonly use bitters to support the digestive, nervous and immune systems. The Standard American Diet relies heavily on salt, fats, processed foods and sugar. Bitter is normally avoided as “tasting bad,” but it’s the bitter taste profile that is so badly needed for robust health. Suzanne will discuss the anatomy and physiology of the digestive system and the roles that bitters play that go far beyond digestive health to mitigating insulin resistance, reversing chronic inflammation and more. Students will receive a .pdf of the presentation via email upon registration to download and bring to the workshop. We will create a tasty and healthy chocolate treat (and yes, chocolate qualifies as a bitter) and there will be a variety of herbal bitters to sample.

The role of elderberry as one of the most beloved and effective herbs for addressing many viral infections is well known, yet there are as many ways to utilize the berries as there are herbalists. Gain an understanding of the unique constituents of our native Elder, Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea, that make it such a valuable remedy. Students will make an elderberry honey OR tincture to take home.

Leaky gut seems to be a buzzword these days that many folks are being told they have. What is it and what can be done to correct this issue? Leaky gut is actual separations (breaks) in the membranes of the intestines which can cause chronic inflammation and low grade infections, giving rise to many health issues. Diet, herbs and lifestyle changes can correct this issue - repairing the membranes and resolving inflammation. Students will receive a .pdf of the presentation via email upon registration to download and bring to the workshop. This is a lecture class.

It seems so simple...herb + honey, what could go wrong?! Sadly, there is a lot of misinformation out there preventing folks from achieving sweet medicine-making perfection. Properly infused and preserved honeys are dependent on many variables including a basic understanding of how honey actually extracts plant constituents. Find out how, when and why you want to incorporate honey remedies into your herbal apothecary - let’s get the medicine to the people in ways they’ll enjoy taking, so that healing can occur! Students will make a herbal honey using conifer needles and bark, citrus and ginger.

Intestinal health depends on over 500 different strains of beneficial flora known collectively as probiotics. Probiotics’ many health benefits include strengthening the immune and nervous systems, stimulating digestion and protecting against the spread of harmful yeast overgrowth, lowering cholesterol and guarding against cancer. Wise healers have known for centuries how a healthy gut = more robust mental health and calm. Included in the discussion is how much fermented foods per serving is beneficial and why too much can cause an inflammatory response. Learn how to make cultured butter and fermented curtido.

Autumn is a wonderful season for learning to wildcraft and make medicine with roots, fruits/berries, barks, & seeds. It's the time to prepare for the colder months, build our herbal apothecary and ourselves by working with herbs that support wellness, build up resilience to stress and illness, prevent and address infection and aid in recovery from illness! In this 4 week introductory course, you will learn about wildcrafting and be introduced to self-reliant, place-based herbalism. You will also learn to identify, harvest and make a treasure chest of herbal medicine from key plants that grow in the Pacific Northwest. We will also cover holistic practices that are appropriate for managing stress, preventing illness and building immunity.

Our 16-week Herbal Apprenticeship Program in the Seattle area is for folks who have a strong desire to gain and strengthen herbal knowledge and skills specific to plants in the Pacific Northwest and build an apothecary with plant medicine from both the wild and garden. Students experience intensive wildcrafting and herbal medicine making with in-the-field plant identification, hands-on harvesting and processing. Our approach centers on supportive practices for natural health and healing of body, mind and spirit, and is grounded in both herbal science and tradition. This program is appropriate for both beginner and continuing students. Classes meet on Fridays. The course begins in March and ends in August.

Aging gracefully with joy is a mindset. It is also a process that can be aided by making some lifestyle changes to prepare for a smooth transition. The sooner you start the better - and easier transition - for you and even for your daughters! Learn about the impacts of xenoestrogens (aka estrogen mimickers), how to avoid them and how phytoestrogens from plants can play a protective role.

Let's get real! Two menopausal women share their stories and strategies for sailing through the ups and downs of menopause, including herbal remedies we have found helpful in getting relief from hot flashes, acne flares, vaginal dryness, muscle and joint aches and more! We will share why we love our ages and the many benefits of getting older.

An exploration of healing with plants, fungi, and the combined potential of nature, wisdom, perspective and love from the knowledge and experiences of those who came before us. Their voices can be heard in our teaching.

As one of my apprentices said: “To me, the importance of picking herbal medicine at the correct time, (with) the ray flowers are pointing towards the sky, the purple of the hypericum at different times in the bud, flower. I don't think I had really understood there was a difference between pollinated and unpollinated plants prior to the class. I don't think other herbalists that I follow really teach that.” We’ll explore roots, leaves, flowers and barks.

Restful sleep is crucial for all of our body processes and our mental health. Does restful sleep elude you? Let's fix that! Learn about healthy sleep hygiene, effective habits and some wonderful herbs to develop your own custom plan that will help you fall and stay in blissful slumber the whole night through! Ahhhh....get ready for some zzzzzz’s!

It took a long time to get there. We may have seen signs, yet ignored or dismissed them. The inability to think clearly, constant tiredness. Anxiety and/or panic attacks. Body aches, changes in hair and skin. Weight gain in the torso, butt and thighs that no amount of sit ups or diet changes help. Help is on the horizon. Suzanne shares her journey from adrenal exhaustion to deep healing.

Do I simmer or steep a particular plant? Which part? for how long? Hot or cold water? Is an herbal infusion different than a decoction? Does it even matter? Oh, yes, it really does! Whether you are new to learning about herbal remedies, need a refresher or want to take your skills to the next level, you will learn about a variety of water based preparations and which process is best suited for the herbs - knowledge that will empower you to craft the most effective remedies!

Epigenetics is the study of how cells control gene activity without changing the DNA sequence.The foods our mothers and grandmothers ate while pregnant, the stressors they dealt with, the foods they ate, their relationships, perspectives and thoughts, their involvement in nature and environment in the home play a part in our health today. We can become unbound from what we think as genetic predisposition and take charge of our health.

It seems so simple...herb + honey, what could go wrong?! Sadly, there is a lot of misinformation out there preventing folks from achieving sweet medicine-making perfection. Properly infused and preserved honeys are dependent on many variables including a basic understanding of how honey actually extracts plant constituents. Find out how, when and why you want to incorporate honey remedies into your herbal apothecary. Let’s get the medicine to the people in ways they’ll enjoy taking, so that healing can occur.