Botanical Medicine and the 5 Elements of Ayurveda
July 12-15, 2012 • Conway, MA

Botanical medicine is a qualitative art. It is the practice of harmonizing the 5 Elements we experience and observe in the outside world and those same elements within our bodies. All the tools you need for healing are your own senses. Along with all of the ancient medical traditions, Ayurvedic Medicine emphasizes the language of Energetics as the primary method for understanding both the ailments of the human body and the healing properties of the plants.Energetic characteristics are universally accessible, something that all of us can taste, smell and see.

The 5 Element Immersion will provide a rock solid foundation in the language that the plants and our bodies have in common; hot and cold, tight and relaxed, wet and dry and so on. A deeply-felt understanding of these basic qualities is all anyone needs to relate to and employ botanical medicine with confidence.

The program begins with an introduction to the doctrine of signatures through both theory and physical interaction. Participants will learn how to “meet” the qualities internally in a technique that is as old as herbal medicine itself. We’ll finely tune our senses to experience the herbs and let them tell us their healing properties through extensive guided sampling. An exploration of the Ayurvedic principles of individual constitutions and qualities will broaden the discussion. Understanding the manifestations of the 5 Elements within our own physiology is essential, practical and widely applicable.

With a basic language clearly understood, we’ll travel the paths of the farm to meet the plants in person and observe their qualities in the natural world. Sitting among the Tulsi flowers, in a guided breath exercise, we’ll watch as the fire of the sun is transferred to the plant and transformed into an aromatic medicine to light the fire of our own metabolism. The marshmallow takes the sweet earth and morning dew and creates a soothing demulcent remedy for the dry and inflamed tissues of our bodies. On the farm you’ll learn to see the 5 Elements all around you in the natural world and understand their message.

Theory, contemplation and interaction will intersect in hands-on, practical activities that further illuminate the 5 elements. Participants will have the chance to get their hands in the earth and learn to manage the interplay of the elements for optimal cultivation. We’ll blend the elements into potent remedies such as infused honeys and elixirs. And finally we’ll watch as all 5 elements align in the alchemy of distillation. Fire consumes the Air and transforms the water to release the precious essential oils from the earthy plants within the 85-gallon Still.

A daily Vegetarian lunch prepared with local produce and many of the herbs growing on the farm will nourish us while providing another chance to internalize the elements. We’ll taste the bitter greens, pungent spices and sweet nectars of our food and then harmonize them by chewing fiery Angelica seeds. Get closer to the medicine by selecting plants for a delicious digestive tea in a group herb walk and then savor the results in the shade of the forest garden.

This multi-dimensional immersion into the aesthetics, qualities and manifestations of the 5 Elements will give participants both a scholastic and deeply felt understanding of botanical medicine. Become fluent in the language of energetics and find a whole new lens through which to view health, medicine and the world around you. Let the aromatic air of the farm restore harmony and revive your senses while enjoying a hands-on, capacity building course on the practice of botanical medicine.

Goldthread Herbal maintains a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/GoldthreadHerbFarmandApothecary) and a blog, The Thread (http://goldthreadherbalapothecary.blogspot.com/).

Joann Lutz is heading up workshops on yoga philosophy and techniques, combined with the latest neuroscience findings, that are designed for psychotherapists and others who offer emotional/mental healing. These techniques can be incorporated into a practitioner's therapeutic toolbox to calm and balance the nervous system and heal major emotional disorders.

Details on this international effort at www.yogainpsychotherapy.com.

Florence, Italy: Tuesday, June 26- Sunday, July 1, 2012. 12 Mental Health CEUs. (Retreat/yoga vacation options are also available; bring family members! $ 200 US) Tuesday, June 26- Sunday, July 1, 2012.

Edam, Holland: June 16-17, 2012. 12 CEUs. Email jcm.harms@planet.nl for information and registration details.