In this workshop, we will journey together through the past present, and future of herbal medicine and Aromatherapy to create simple but beautiful potions, ferments, and personal care products. All ingredients will be easily sourced and most equipment is readily found in your kitchen (including options for the alternatives for the specialist equipment). The foundations that you will learn will give you the ability to be more creative in your home, kitchen, or workshop and go on to create your own versions of these preparations for home or retail.

 

Working as a conduit for nature we will create plant portals and simple creative touch points through which we can then engage with the herbs around us on a multitude of levels.

• We will work through some ancient plant extraction methods and show you how to create your own contemporary version of these at home

• Alembic distillation – hydrosols – water-based extractions

• Alcoholic extraction – tinctures – multi-herb extractions

• Non-alcoholic extraction

• Ancient & modern extraction techniques including fermentation techniques – wild vinegars, wild sodas, and lacto-fermentation preservation techniques.

• How to safely integrate essential oils and CO2 extracts into your creative practices

• Botanical drinks - how to integrate the practices covered to create a range of dynamic drinks.

• Botanical personal & home care – how to create a range of natural topicals, scents, and personal care products to enrich and care for your home.

• How you then might wish to create a range of products for retail and how to bring this to life.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Understand the foundations of biochemistry – the basics of therapeutic flavor and scent molecules.

• Understand how harvesting and handling plants will affect efficacy, taste, and scent.

• Be able to work with the plants at different times of the year and at different parts of the growing cycle to respectfully extract plant chemicals for optimal effect.

• Taste plants to understand their biological actions

• How best to set up your workspace and environment to suit your creative needs.

• Have a grounding in the history of herbal medicine and alchemy, the key eras, people, places, techniques, and methods.

• Inspired by historical practices be able to re-create contemporary versions of ancient recipes – looking back to look forward.

• Understand and apply the basics of distillation

• Create your own range of hydrosols and understand how to store and utilize them to create beautiful plant potions.

• Safely integrate essential oils and CO2 extracts into practice

• Understand the foundations of plant extraction with and without alcohol to make a variety of tinctures.

• Know how to create your own multi-sensory botanical drinks and potions

• Understand the foundations of fermentation, health benefits, applications, and techniques.

• Understand how to piece together all the knowledge that you have absorbed to inspire you to create life-changing, health-giving, dynamic botanical potions to enrich your daily practice.

13 CEs

 

Date: April 27-28, 2024

Venue: Springhill Suites - Longmont, Colorado

Class session time: 9 am - 5 pm (April 27 & 28)

Fee: $450