Jessica Baker, LAC

Teaching: Clinical Aromatherapy and Soul Revival: Conscious Evolution

Jessica Baker is an acupuncturist, herbalist, educator, and public speaker. Her passion for sharing the messages of the plants is reflected in her private practice and her teachings on aromatherapy, herbalism, and Chinese medicine. As a continuing education provider to acupuncturists and nurses, she teaches the importance of traditional medicine to health care professionals as well as lay people. She teaches at several herbal symposia and acupuncture conferences throughout the U.S. and has taught at the Arcata School of Massage and the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism and she is an Assistant Intern Supervisor at the Colorado School of TCM.

She studied Chinese Medicine at Five Branches University in Santa Cruz, CA, where she received a Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2008. She holds a Diplomat in Oriental Medicine through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) and is a Licensed Acupuncturist in California and Colorado. She is a Medical Qi Gong Practitioner and has also studied Medical Aromatherapy through the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy and with Jeffrey Yuen. She is a certified Acudetox Specialist (ADS) through NADA and has worked extensively with veterans and others with PTSD. In 2008, she co-founded the Humboldt Veterans Acupuncture Project to provide free acupuncture to military persons with PTSD.   

Jessica has been an avid reader and writer since she was a young child. Her passion for different cultures was fueled when she lived in Germany as a teenager. As an undergrad at the University of Georgia she studied Classical Literature and Greek, and developed a love for languages and ancient cultures. After three years her focus shifted when she took a Religions of Asia class and began her exploration of self. In 1997, she left university and moved to northern California. Her herbal journey began at the Dandelion Herbal Center with Jane Bothwell. In 2001, she had the opportunity to complete a Community Herbalist Certification Program with renowned herbalist Christopher Hobbs, LAc, where she was introduced to Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnostic techniques, classical Chinese theory, and herbs. 

Paul Bergner, Medical Herbalist, Clinical Nutritionist

Teaching: Glacier to Grasslands: Changing plants and places in the Poudre Canyon and beyond, Chronic Infection, Biofilms, and the Western Plants, and Alterative differentials and formulation for some Rocky Mountain Plants.

Paul has studied and practiced natural medicine, nutrition, and medical herbalism since 1973. He completed formal studies in naturopathy, medical herbalism, clinical nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, flower essences, yoga therapy, and bodywork, including undergraduate studies in pre-medicine and psychology, and 50 semester hours of doctoral level medical studies, including botanical medicine, clinical nutrition, and Chinese medicine at National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, OR. He combines this knowledge in his clinical approach. 

He began publishing and editing the Medical Herbalism journal in 1989, and published the Clinical Nutrition Update by Steve Austin ND from 1992 to 1996. He has reviewed the emerging scientific literature on human clinical nutrition on a regular basis since that time, and has made innovative contributions in the the areas of mineral nutrition, food intolerance, and insulin resistance. He has authored several hundred published articles on medical herbalism, and written seven books on herbalism, nutrition, Chinese medicine, folk ethnobotany, and naturopathic medicine.

Paul has taught clinical herbalism and clinical nutrition since 1989. He developed and delivered introductory, pre-clinical, and clinical programs in herbalism for the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies and North American Institute of Medical Herbalism in Boulder, CO, and developed a state-recognized Nutrition Certificate program at the NAIMH in 2004. Paul has mentored residents in medical herbalism and nutrition in the teaching clinics at those schools since 1996, training more than 280 students in an eight-month case-based learning format residency. He has also taught nutrition academically at both the undergraduate university and master's level. He is a frequent speaker at conferences on herbalism, nutrition, and natural and integrative medicine in North America and internationally. 

He has helped to establish and worked in free or sliding scale clinics in herbalism and nutrition continuously from 1996 through 2012. Since 2011, he and his wife Tania Neubauer ND have organized annual trips for clinical training in primary care herbalism and nutrition, delivering medical care at a clinic in rural Nicaragua.

Paul is an accomplished naturalist and tracker and teaches classes and guides wilderness retreats in nature awareness and inner Visioning. He feels truly at home only off trail in the wilderness with his family taking lessons from the wild places.

School website: North American Institute of Medical Herbalism

And on Facebook: North American School of Medical Herbalism

Medical Herbalism Journal website

Medical Herbalism Journal Facebook page

Valerie Blankenship

Teaching: Weeds for the Sneeze: Treating Allergies Using Our Native Plants and Herbal First Aid Using Local Plants

Valerie Blankenship has been a practicing herbal clinician, formulator, wildcrafter, medicine maker and educator for 24 years.  She is the owner of the successful retail store, Sage Consulting & Apothecary in Colorado Springs, where her large line of herbal formulas are prepared and shipped all over the world. She runs a busy herbal clinic, and is the developer and chief instructor for the popular Sage Herbal Foundations program. 

Her clinical approach is anchored in Vitalism, a tradition that respects the body’s innate ability to heal itself if given the proper physical, spiritual and mental nourishment. In the clinic, she uses Michael Moore’s Western Constitutional Assessment technique, a method which focuses on the unique constitution and organ state of each client, as well as the energetics of individual herbs and formulations.

Valerie is a guest speaker at UCCS at the Bethel School of Nursing and will be teaching at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism in Boulder this year. Valerie loves sharing her knowledge, and her teaching approach is generous. Her rich experiences from the clinic provide a deeper understanding of the use of both local and planetary herbs. She encourages to become proficient in understanding, recognizing, making and using their own herbal medicines.

In her leisure time she may be found munching on fresh nettles, woods walking, speaking Spanish with her Peruvian friends, or playing her flamenco guitar.

You can contact her at:

valerie@sagewomanherbs.com

www.sagewomanherbs.com

http://www.sagewomanherbs.com/sage-herbal-foundation-certificate-program/

https://www.facebook.com/valerie.blankenship.311

Monticue Connally

Teaching: African Gods/Western Herbs, Male Herbs of the Mountain West, Co-teaching Healing The Spirit: Using Plants, Song and Prayer in Modern Herbal Practice, and participating in the Osha discussion pannel

Monticue Connally is a Denver Medicine Man who resonates with the sounds of African Drums, Rhythmic Chanting, Afro-Caribbean Folklore, Hip Hop and the Spirits of the Dark Forest. He writes medicine songs for the plants. He sings these songs to bridge gaps between the hearts of men and the spirits of nature. His walk with music has been a long and successful one.  In 2006 he won the international USA songwriting competition for the Hip Hop Category and since then has sold many CDs and performed with many local bands including Denver’s own internationally renowned and socially aware rap group “The Flobots”. Growing up, Hip Hop was a very sacred way of life in his family. At every family gathering the young males would form a circle and rap rhymes that held deep personal truths within their witty packaging.

He graduated with honors from the Denver School of the Arts as a Vocal Music Major and has performed in many local plays and musicals including the opera “Porgy and Bess” at Boettcher Hall in front of audiences of close to 3,000 people.   

Monticue is a graduate of the Artemisia & Rue Western Herbal Medicine and Earth Centered Healing Traditions Program. He instructs students in working with Chakras and Essential Oils, Herbal Men’s Health, Banishing and Blessing with Herbs, Shamanism, Power Animals and many other esoteric topics. Monticue leads an Herb Walk on 33rd and Holly called the Herban Herb Walk. This is a growing event where people in the inner city can become more aware of the wonderful medicines growing about them. He is also drummer for the annual Kwanzaa celebrations who is often asked to speak to the children and rap songs about the many wonders of the plants. 

Monticue also writes beautiful songs about the plants and sings them with excellence. Ask him to sing his “Damiana” song which is a big hit among the students. Monticue has been on many herbal adventures with herbalist Shelley Torgove, the founder of Artemisia and Rue. On these adventures you’ll catch him teaching students at Shelley’s side as they walk through the most beautiful mountainous areas in Colorado. Monticue received his Reiki 1 and 2 certifications from Denver’s Usui Center and has since received Reiki 3 Master Status and developed a plant specific system of reiki that helps one to connect better with the plant world. He has been asked to perform blessings on the houses of locals and has also been asked to speak on “the Priestess View” and other internet radio shows dealing with the world of the unseen.

As a natural plant mystic, he has an unorthodox knowledge of the nature of plants and works with them on many levels. Herbs, the spirit world, and alternative healing methods have been a lifelong interest for the Denver native who plans to continue to use workshops and music to teach people in urban areas how to access the many esoteric tools within and the earthly medicines growing around them. 

Ann Drucker

Ann Drucker has taught shamanic and herbal healing traditions for over twenty years. She holds a Masters Degree in Education and is well known for her joyful, dynamic, experiential teaching style.

Ann has a thriving private practice in Boulder, Colorado. She offers earth-centered healing sessions which include soul retrieval ceremonies, shamanic body work, uterine massage, herbal steams, healing remedies, and plant brushings.

Ann honors her children and her teachers: Miss Beatrice Waight, Susun Weed, Sandra Ingerman, and Maureen Murphy, and gives thanks for their heart-centered, timeless wisdom. 

Charles Garcia

Teaching: Plant & Prayer: A Brief Look into Plant Preparations Using Methods and Rituals of the Mountains South, The Great Influenza Pandemic 1918-1920 Medicine that Failed. Herbs that Succeeded, and Primitive Wound Care Of the South and Mid Rocky Mountains

 I was born in 1954 and raised in central California at a time when social segregation was still prevalent. Poverty and herbalism went together so its practice was common among the Hispanic community. Without my knowing it I was being groomed to be the third healer (at least) in our family. My mother, Martha Navarro Garcia learned her healing skills from her father Desidro Navarro whole learned them from various native America medicine people in California. Poverty and herbalism being what it is I turned my back on it at age fifteen and vowed never to look back. Leaving for college meant leaving my roots behind so I found myself in the San Francisco bay area. I wandered from career to career (law enforcement, high risk private security, special education) but always found sick people who despite insurance fell through the cracks of bureaucracy. Out came the herbs. Then came those whose legal presence was suspect. The need for herbal medicines became even more important within the community. So again, out came the herbs. By my late 30’s I was reading books by Tierra, John Lust, Michael Moore, and my medicine garden grew more extensive. Then came classes with Adam Seller, Karen Sherwood of the North West, Tom Brown jr. and others. A stroke ended my career in deaf education leaving me only with my skills for herbal care. So I picked up where my grandfather left off. I became the next curandero a, traditional healer. As such, I accept no payment for services rendered. Nor did my mother who was a partera (poorly translated as midwife).  Currently I treat the homeless of my city and anyone who can make it to my door. Those of us who wear the mantle of curanderismo believe all things have a spirit even if we cannot understand what that is. The plants I use once touched the sun as I have. They thirsted as I have. They lived in harmony as I try to do. In all this, I have no regrets. 

Lisa Ganora

Teaching: Cannabis: Therapeutic Actions, Energetics, and Adverse Effects

Lisa Ganora has been a Western herbalist for almost 30 years, practicing in the Wise Woman and Vitalist traditions. She has spent some 10 years in New England, 10 years in the Southern Appalachians, and 10 years in the Colorado Rockies, wildcrafting and learning from the herbs themselves as well as from a wide variety of teachers. Always interested in science as well, Lisa is an expert on the activities and synergistic properties of phytochemical constituents in healing foods and medicinal plants. Lisa, who earned her biology/chemistry degree with highest honors from the University of North Carolina, is currently the Adjunct Professor of Pharmacognosy at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and the Director of the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism in Boulder, CO. She is the author of the popular website, HerbalConstituents.com, several distance-learning courses, numerous visual curriculum materials, and the textbook Herbal Constituents, which she wrote specifically for herbalists who want to understand constituents and extractions.  As a teacher, Lisa combines traditional wisdom and Spirit, hands-on clinical experience, beautiful visual presentations, and easily accessible science for a uniquely holistic learning experience.

Feather Jones

Teaching: Herb Walk: Plants of the Rocky Mountains, Michael Moore: Herbal Wisdom From the Hillside, Native Nervines of the Rocky Mountains, and Osha Round Table with John Slattery and Monticue Conally

Feather Jones is a Clinical Herbalist who integrates herbal remedies, holistic nutrition, flower essences and stress reduction guidance.  She has a part time private practice in Sedona and is a 1982 graduate from the Santa Fe College of Natural Medicine as Clinical Herbalist.  Her 3o+ year career in teaching, clinical practice and mindful wildcrafting coupled with a background in First Nation (Mandan) tribal teachings, provides her clients and students with a synergistic approach to health and healing.

She is Adjunct Professor of Botanical Medicine at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.  She also owns and operates Canyon Spirit Botanical Ventures, a touring company that specializes in herb walks, earth ceremony and red rock hiking tours.

Feather sits on the Board of Trustees for the American Herb Products Association and chairs the Small Business Committee for AHPA.  She also sits on an advisory ad hoc working group in conjunction with AHPA's ongoing Osha research project.  In Boulder, Colorado, she founded and directed the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies for 12 years.  As well, Feather has served on the Board of Directors for the American Herbalists Guild.

Preserntly, she owns an organic herbal energy inspired tea company, Sedona Tea Blends.  Sedona's famed vortex energies and selected desert flower essences are infused into a mandala of medicinal botanicals that provide a wellness tea for body, mind and spirit.

Sarah Josey, Clinical Herbalist & Nutritionist, Founder & Owner at Golden Poppy Herbal Apothecary & Clinic

Teaching: The Business of Herbalism

Sarah began her journey as a healer by studying biochemistry at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Part way through the program she felt a need to find a healing method that was closer to the rhythms of nature; one that worked with a person’s body and the wisdom innate in us all. Shortly thereafter she began attending the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism in Boulder, CO; now called the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism. She graduated two years later as a certified Clinical Herbalist and Clinical Nutritionist.

While in school, Sarah worked at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy in Boulder, where she gained hands-on skills in working with clients as well as running a retail store.  Her love of working with clients, as well as being in an environment where people could come to learn inspired her to open the Golden Poppy Apothecary & Clinic in Fort Collins.  Her hope is that the Golden Poppy be it's own hub for learning about natural health options, a resource for people to ask questions and to find out how to begin taking charge of their health.

Sarah’s practice combines a blend of traditional herbalism and wisdom as well as the latest research and knowledge on herbs and nutrition. In this way, there is the ability to use what has worked for centuries by traditional healers as well as the many advancements that the modern health field has to offer, creating a blend that is as adaptable and personalized as each of her clients.

Her passions lay in bringing herbal medicine back into main-stream society and helping people achieve their health goals; whether it is weight-loss, or reduction of symptoms from chronic health conditions. She is also passionate about using food as medicine and helping her clients find their body's unique dietary pattern. She specializes in hormone balancing, digestive issues, specialized dietary issues, weight-loss, and increasing over-all health and vitality.

She is constantly doing independent research on herbal medicine and nutrition in order to stay up-to-date on the latest information regarding health. She also attends several conferences each year ranging in topics from functional nutrition to grass-roots herbal medicine. As ongoing education, Sarah is involved in Aviva Romm's Herbal Medicine for Women course as a way to refine her skills specifically relating to women's health; she is a trained Hormone Cure Practitioner, is working on her Precision Nutrition Certification and is, also one of the instructors for the store's education program called the Equinox Center of Herbal Studies.

Amanda Klenner

Teaching: A New Hope: Teaching Kids About Their Plant Friends, A Holistic Approach to Chronic Pain

Amanda is a clinical herbalist and holistic health coach in Westminster, CO. She specializes in helping those with chronic autoimmune conditions, children, and women in their child-bearing years. Her struggles with PCOS, endometriosis, and infertility linked to Celiac disease has given her a special love for helping families get onto the right path, so that they can find their path to optimal health.

She is the owner and publisher of Natural Herbal Living Magazine, a monthly online publication that focuses gaining a deep, profound understanding of one herb every month. Additionally Natural Herbal Living provides a service which sends herb boxes for their subscribers who want to touch, feel, taste, smell, see, and work with the “herb of the month”. In addition to her publication, Amanda also teaches local classes monthly, is an associate at the The Herbal Academy, and hosts a local year long apprenticeship program every year. She is also hosting the Mountain West Herb Conference in Breckenridge, CO June 16-19, 2016 where the focus will be on bio-regional herbs and herbalism in the Mountain West. 

Amanda loves hiking, botany, wildcrafting, tree hugging, and building relationships the local and abundant plant allies that can be found all through the Rocky Mountains and surrounding plains. She also has a geeky side, playing board and video games with her husband and friends, watching sci-fi, and reading historical fiction.

You can find her on her website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Katherine 'Kat' Mackinnon

Teaching: Medicine of the Trees; Wild Western Weeds

Kat is a certified clinical herbalist and nutritionist, as well as a certified Bach essences practitioner through the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism. She is also a Registered Herbalist through the American Herbalists Guild. She currently works as faculty and student services coordinator for the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism.  She also has her own clinical practice and runs a small business, Meet the Green, through which she teaches classes on herbalism. Meet the Green is her blog on botany, herbal medicine, and any other information on plants she finds interesting. 

Though a transplant from the East Coast, she has a passion for working with the herbs nearest to her.  Having studied forestry at Northern Arizona University, the plants, animals, and incredible harsh beauty of the Southwest are one of the great loves of her life. Between teaching and working, she spends her time wild crafting and running in the mountains, gardening in the lowlands, and medicine making in between.  Her other interests include art, primitive skills, birds, and generally geeking out on the natural world.

Brigitte Mars

Teaching: Herb Walk: Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies, Natural Remedies for Mental and Emotional Health, and Sacred Psychoactives

Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of Natural Health with over forty years of experience. She teaches Herbal Medicine at Naropa University, Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition, The School of Natural Medicine, Living Arts School, and Heilseimestraskollin in Iceland. She has taught at Omega Institute, Esalen, Kripalu, and The Mayo Clinic, She blogs for the Huffington Post and Care2. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild.

Brigitte is the author of many books and DVDs, including The Home Reference to Holistic Health and Healing, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Beauty by Nature, Addiction Free Naturally, The Sexual Herbal, Healing Herbal Teas, Rawsome! and co-author of The HempNut Cookbook. DVDS include Sacred Psychoactives, Herbal Wizardry for Kids of all Ages, Natural Remedies for Childhood Ailments and Natural Remedies for Emotional Health. Her latest project is a phone app called IPlant. 

Brigitte and her daughter, Sunflower Sparkle Mars run Herb Camp for Kids in Boulder, Colorado. Brigitte's other daughter is world famous activist/yogini-actress/ supermodel, Rainbeau Mars. 

Peter May grew up in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, learning from his mother how to use plants from his family’s backyard garden to heal himself and his family. He later received a Bachelors of Science in Architecture, with independent studies in Landscape Architecture, from the University of Michigan in 1988. In 1990, he began consulting on, designing, and building passive solar and bio-harmonic structures, and providing edible and native landscape design in Seattle, Washington. He is a meditation teacher, tri-athlete, natural alchemist and formulator, distiller of essential oils, fire and land manager, wilderness guide, and Grammy award winning producer and musician. He teaches Conservation Biology and Spirituality at Colorado College.

In 2003, he helped to create Kundalini Fire Management (KFM), a fire department in a remote area of the southern Rocky Mountains, near Crestone, Colorado. There, he rediscovered the art of under-burning piñon pine trees with low intensity prescribed fire to support the trees in producing pine nuts, and increasing the biodiversity of native species, especially those that need fire to thrive. Seeing the need to educationally expand KFM in 2006, he collaborated to create E3 KFM – Elemental Experiential Education, Kundalini Fire Management, a non-profit 501(c)(3), which has now expanded to include PranaCamp, Life Force Awareness Training, which specializes in Nature-based, elemental awareness programs for youth and adults, including programs such as “Awakening the Natural Genius ” and “Connecting with Natural Intelligence.” These programs use the elements, native flora and fauna, guided time in Nature, and living music to connect participants more deeply with Nature, their own creativity, and the life forces that are living within them.  

His work with Paul Winter and Richard Cooke on the album “Crestone”, which received a Grammy award in 2008, helped him refine his art of playing and recording music with animals out in Nature. His current work is expanding to playing and recording music with the plant and mineral kingdoms. He has also been facilitating Paul Winter’s Adventures in SoundPlay sessions since 2006.

In 2006, Peter began distilling essential oil from several native Rocky Mountain plant species. He continues this distillation art, and produces one of the finest piñon pine (Pinus edulis) oils in the world. With his life long passion for revealing legends, and having studied with masters and teachers over the last 28 years, including eastern and western spiritualities and alchemical traditions, he has received immense support for the development of his own work and practice. He also creates acoustically tuned plant and mineral alchemical formulations with essential oils, which help support increased awareness on the levels of body, energy, and mind, through Windhorse Botanicals, and improved athletic performance through Endurance Alchemy Lab. His new endeavor of creating sonic alchemies will soon be available through The Sonic Apothecary.

His current work involves working with healing precursors, such as specific plants and minerals, sound, and embodied presence, in varying combinations, to support renewal of pineal gland function and enhancement of the body’s own ability to heal itself. 

You can find peter at: windhorsebotanicals.com, endurancealchmeylab.com, thesonicapothecary.com

Gus Pattillo

Teaching: Fungi as Keystone Species: Harnessing the Symbiosis, Fungal Function and Medicine Production: Differences Between Plants and Fungi,

Originally from Atlanta, Gus moved to Boulder, Colorado to attend the University of Colorado to study environmental science as well as ecology and evolutionary biology.  With a focus on natural resources, he wrote his thesis on the potential of mycoremediation (fungal bioremediation) for acid mine drainage and mine tailings.  This thesis gave rise to his passion for mycology.  After experimenting with edible and medicinal mushrooms for several years, he sees much potential in their ability to heal the Earth as well as our own bodies.  In 2015 he founded the Colorado Mycology Center to explore the potential of fungi while educating the public about mushrooms and mycology.  Gus formerly worked with the Amazon Mycorenewal Project (now ABSS) culturing local fungi in the Ecuadorian Amazon to create mycoremediation systems for the widespread oil pollution there.  This work sparked a desire to create the space for mycology projects.  Passionate about sustainable design, he thinks it will save the earth, as this time in history provides the global connections and resources to come together as a species to heal the planet.

Gus believes in business as a force for social and environmental change, working to stimulate that personally through his own entrepreneurialism.

He formed a deep connection with herbal medicine through traveling Asia and South America.

Since then he tries to bring this connection he has experienced to his work and to those around him. 

Gus loves to play, listen, and see music of all types.  Gus is an artist through the mediums of painting, drawing, wood burning, ceramics and more.  He loves being in nature and putting together the pieces of the ecological puzzle.

Lori Roop

Mold Illness, CIRS and Lyme Disease

Hi!  I’m Lori and I am really passionate about using herbs and healthy eating to create a strong vital force in each and every one of us. The Chinese call it chi and the Hindus call it prana, but a strong vital force is key to our vitality and our body’s superb and innate ability to heal itself.

After completing my Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University in 1998, I attended the Certified Clinical Herbalist (CCH) program in Boulder, CO, at the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies from 2000-2003.  I completed over 1400 hours, ranging from Herbal Materia Medica, local herb walks, aromatherapy under Mindy Green, Anatomy and Physiology, to a clinical internship program.  After finishing school, I proceeded to see clients for a while.  I eventually transitioned to creating an herbal, all natural body product business called l.c. of acirema.  As a mom and living up in the mountains at 9200 ft, I felt I could balance my time better by creating beautiful herbal products that I could use on my own family.  And I dearly love making all natural, herbal products!

But I have also dealt with my own unexplained chronic illness that doctors could only diagnose as adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in the beginning.  Within 5-6 years I finally had the diagnosis of chronic Lyme and CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Illness) or better known as mold illness.  After spending approximately 5-6 years ill and the worst two years being bedridden off and on, being unable to drive, work or even take care of my children, I am finally on the road to recovery and learned even more so than before, that finding the necessary tools for health is an extremely key aspect.  The body can heal itself, it just needs the tools to do so, which is a beautiful and miraculous part of us!  I know firsthand how incredibly helpful herbs and real food have changed my life, but the real star is our own body and its innate wisdom.  Truly, the human body can heal itself.  Sometimes you just gotta find the right tools.

After everything I have been through, I went back to school and finished the Certified Nutritionist program at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism in 2014.  I felt a deep-seated calling to serve clients as they work through their own health issues.  I am passionate and dedicated to helping others on their journey toward vibrant health!  The information I learned is life-changing and I want to pass this information on to my clients.  Peruse my website, LoriRoop.com, to learn more about my practice, or feel free to email me at LoriRoopRevitalizeYourHealth@gmail.com to set up a free 15 minute phone chat for you to learn more about working with me!

My work is to help people find the right tools .so that their bodies can begin to heal themselves too. 

Elaine Sheff

Teaching: The Menstrual Map: Interpreting Menstruation and Using Herbs for the Fertility Cycle; A Natural Approach to Drug Resistant Microorganisms; Ethical Wildcrafting, and Medicinal and Edible Plants of the Rocky Mountain

The author of several books on herbal medicine and healing, clinical herbalist Elaine Sheff has been passionate about sharing herbal knowledge for over 25 years. Her latest book is Naked: Botanical Recipes for Vibrant Skin and Healthy Hair. Elaine is the Co-Director of Green Path Herb School, located in Missoula, MT, where she strives to inspire and empower students and clients to remember their connection to the earth, the plants and their own healing process. She teaches nationally and internationally and is the co-founder of Meadowsweet Herbs.  As a certified Instructor of the Natural Family Planning and Fertility Awareness Methods, Elaine has helped many couples to avoid or achieve pregnancy naturally.  An artist and writer, Elaine has written numerous articles about her family’s journey with epilepsy and a special needs child. You can often find her bent over an herb in her garden or marveling at small flowers in mountain meadows with her husband and sons. You can find out more about Elaine and her life work at GreenPathHerbSchool.com.

John Slattery

Teaching: Becoming a Bioregional Herbalist; Acorns & the Origins of Civilization; Plant Energetics & Contextual Awareness: Bringing together the Plants, People, and Place; The Osha Panel

John Slattery has dedicated himself to the development of bioregional herbalism in the American Southwest and is presently pursuing the expansion of this model to other bioregions. In 2001, he began his journey of gaining experiential plant knowledge with an extended trip to Latin America. In over a year of travel, he encountered numerous and generous indigenous plant healers, who inspired and guided his path. Settling in the Sonoran Desert, his bond with the plants of this immensely diverse area took center stage in his life. Learning from a wide variety of indigenous herbalists of the region, he also gained great insight and knowledge from the inimitable Michael Moore at the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. Curandera Doña Olga Ruiz Cañez from Imuris, Sonora as teacher, friend, and adopted mother has enriched his life’s work immensely. Doña Olga, who has gathered her own medicines for over 65 years, invited “Juanito” into her family of “Pajareros” (bird people), who continue to harvest plant medicines from “el monte” (the mountain/wilderness) to this day. John offers bioregional medicines through his business, Desert Tortoise Botanicals, conducts the annual field-based Sonoran Herbalist Apprenticeship Program based in Southeast Arizona, and is the author of Southwest Foraging (Timber Press), scheduled for release in August, 2016.

Lauren Stauber

Teaching: Rocky Mountain Pain Allies

Lauren came to kitchen medicine as a teenager in the New York State childcare system where she witnessed firsthand the damage done by low quality, high sugar foods, and poor access to resources. Observing the relationship between what she ate and her state of body/mind, she explored various approaches to nourishment and began to reclaim her wellness. This led to working in small “mom & pop” health food stores where she was exposed to a diverse range of whole foods, herbal medicines, and healing modalities. In her early twenties, Lauren began to study shiatsu at the Ohashi Institute under Sensei Wataru Ohashi. A car accident detoured her into a decade of rehabilitation, the intensive practice of qigong, and the completion of a bachelor's degree in writing and literature. In 2001, Lauren graduated from the Swedish Institute for Massage Therapy, and developed a thriving practice in NYC and Boulder, CO. A flare up of an inherited genetic condition eventually led her to close her massage practice and intensify her study of herbalism and nutrition. In 2009, she graduated from Paul Bergner's North American Institute of Medical Herbalism. Her son was also born in 2009, so she finished the program with her baby at her breast. The knowledge she acquired at NAIMH helped her reverse some of the manifestations of her genetic condition and manage the occasional painful flare ups. She did her practicum with Matthew Becker who has continued to be an important mentor to her. She further pursued her studies with Sean Donahue, deepening her connection with the plants and the land around her. In 2014, she became a student of Ayurveda under Todd Caldecott at the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine where she continues to study.

Lauren has been on staff at Rebecca's Herbal Apothecary since 2011 where she has formulated herbal remedies for thousands of people over the years. She teaches classes at the apothecary on herbal approaches to pain, emotional support, and incense making, and has also taught children's herbalism classes at Columbine Elementary School and the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference. Lauren is a passionate writer and has contributed many monographs to the apothecary newsletter. She currently writes for Natural Herbal Living Magazine and foresees more writing and teaching in her future. She loves trees, gardening, songwriting, medicine making, haiku, and her son's smile.

Jamie Lynn Thomas - Clinical Herbalist, Nutritionist & Flower Essence Practitioner. CMT

Teaching: Introduction to Cannabis Energetics & Quantum Flower Essences, Cannabis Flower Essences & Fibromyalgia – A 6 Week Protocol, Cannabis Dosing Strategies for Pain Using Eclectic Percolations

Jamie Lynn Thomas is an integrative health practitioner who specializes in complex chronic conditions. Her approach to health and vitality is to work with all aspects of a person or their PEMS, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies, by utilizing her extensive degrees, certifications, advanced trainings and clinical experience to specially tailor each individual session to meet the needs of her client.

"I empower people to take control of their health by decreasing pain in the PEMS (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies) by reconnecting to all these centers which will automatically increase their vitality"

As a wounded healer, Jamie lynn started her journey to vital health through a debilitating chronic illness that resulted in her taking 50 prescribed medications. Jamie was told she would be disabled for life; unable to walk without assistance or live a normal young woman’s life without medications or lingering complex problems. Now, 16 vitally healthy years later, her soulful journey to sustainable vitality has led her to share her healing message with others about PEMS reconnection using colors, energy vibrations and quantum healing techniques. Jamie Lynn believes that everyone can shift their pain through PEMS reconnection and the client would take responsibility for their longevity.

Jamie has served as faculty and administration at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and is currently serving as faculty at the Academy of Natural Therapy. Jamie lynn is currently in the process of self publishing 4 books for helping people reconnect to their PEMS through the Cannabis and Bach Flower Plant Spirits using vibrational imprints, color therapy and sacred geometry. She presents workshops in VibroChromoTherapy, VibroChromoPictography and Cannabis reeducation.

Jamie Lynn graduated from the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism with honors holding Clinical Certifications of: Herbalism, Nutrition and Bach Flower Essences. As well as the Metropolitan State College with: Two Bachelor certifications: Integrative Therapeutics, Nutrition and Biology. The Colorado School of Healing Arts with certifications & advanced trainings in: Medical and Oncology Massage Therapy, Neuromuscular & Structural Massage Therapy, Craniosacral and Lymphatic Drainage Therapies, Healing Touch, Trauma Touch Therapy, Polarity. Flora Corona a Certification in: Quantum Flower Essences and Color Therapy. Academy of Resonance Therapy with certifications in: Quantum Mechanics. As well as completing apprenticeships and mentoring in energetic modalities such as Reiki master, Peruvian & Earth based medicines. Internships in: Teaching, Pre-Medicine, Gardening, Biofeedback and Psychiatry.

Shelley Torgove

Teaching: Women’s Herbal Health Care Intake; Healing The Spirit: Using Plants, Song and Prayer in Modern Herbal Practice (with Monticue Conally); From There to Here: Stories & Cross-Cultural Wisdom Teachings on Women’s Health; Honoring the Lineage of our Teachers

Shelley has been working one-on-one with clients in private practice for over 20 years. As a Clinical Herbalist, Shelley incorporates ethnobotany and her love of traditional Maya healing with  plants, songs, and blessing work. Her practice focuses on  fertility work, menstrual cycle problems, and more complex women’s health issues, where botanical medicines are appropriate and effective. Shelley is also a therapist, offering guidance, counseling, and support. As a bioregional herbalist, she spends time in the mountains and deserts gathering plants and making medicines.

Primary teachers in the world of Western Herbal Medicine include Cascade Anderson-Geller, Adam Seller, and Michael Moore. Shelley was one of the first students trained in Maya abdominal massage by Dr. Rosita Arvigo, Hortence Robinson, and Beatrice Waight in Belize. Shelley has been working and co-teaching groups in the Yucatan with Daniel Pool Pech, one of the great traditional Maya healers of our time, since 2006.

Through her work as an educator and her private practice, she shares the wisdom teachings of these many masters.  Shelley’s teachings demonstrate how to weave the working knowledge of bioregional herbalism (plants of the Rocky Mountains and Desert Southwest) with the beauty of traditional healing. Shelley teaches a year-long professional training program in Western Herbal Medicine and a program in Women’s Ethnobotanical Studies and Traditional Healing Practices of Mexico. She is the owner of Artemisia & Rue in Denver, Colorado.

Laurel Carter Wilde

Teaching: Making Herbal Kombucha; Growing Your Own Herbal Garden in the Mountain West

Laurel Carter Wilde has been gardening for over 35 years in the Mountain West.  She loves growing a wide variety of herbs in her gardens and landscapes that she uses to make freshly brewed teas, medicinal tinctures, creams and lotions.  She earned her training certificate The Science and Art of Herbalism from Rosemary Gladstar.

Laurel Carter Wilde grew up on a cattle ranch in Wyoming spending her days gathering wildflowers on the hills, riding horses, and helping her mother garden.  She loves growing plants: flowers, vegetables, fruits, trees, and herbs of all kinds.  She has always found peace, joy, and energy walking among her gardens or hiking in the mountains with the plants, trees, and sky that envelope her.

She lives in a mountain valley in rural Idaho with her husband raising herbs, vegetables, fruits, chickens (her), horses and cattle (him).  She regularly makes tea blends, lotions, tinctures, salves and creams from the herbs in her garden or on the nearby mountains.  She loves teaching and sharing what she has learned with others.  One of her favorite activities of the day is picking fresh herbs from the garden and brewing a health-packed tea to sip on the front porch.

Laurel attended University of Wyoming, South Dakota State University, and Utah State University.  As a profession, Laurel has worked as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist focusing on women’s issues such as depression, anxiety, abuse, and relationships for the last 20 years.  She has presented workshops on these issues at numerous state and national conferences.  Over time she has noticed the tremendous effect of the foods/drinks/substances that people put into their bodies; not only on their physical, but mental health.  This has peaked her interest in herbs and their medicinal value.  She has also noticed that when people have a connection with nature, they have an advantage and a huge resource of strength, peace, and energy.

One of the greatest experiences of her life was traveling to Italy to study with Rosemary Gladstar and Helen Ward on the Plant Lovers Journey to Tuscany.  This experience stimulated a desire to know more about herbs, their characteristics and medicinal uses.  This lead to over a year of intensive study with Rosemary in the didactic, therapeutic, laboratory, and fieldwork of Herbalism thus earning a certificate from Sage Mountain Herbal Center in the Science and Art and Science of Herbalism.  It has been a joyous journey and it continues…

Briana Wiles

Teaching: A Foray of Foraged Plants; Herbs, Oils and Toils from a Bodyworkers Perspective; Medicinal and Edible Plants of the Rockies

Briana Wiles is a wild plant enthusiast who loves expanding people’s knowledge about the plants surrounding them. She teaches foraging and medicinal plant classes out of her home and locally in Gunnison, Colorado, and runs a small herbal business, Rooted Apothecary, which offers her own line of body care products made with foraged botanicals. Briana is author of "Mountain State Foraging" a guide book to wild and flavorful plants from alpine sorrel to wild hops. It will available for purchase through all major bookstores June 2016.

She combines her herbal and bodywork knowledge, using Rolf’s Method of Structural Integration. Also known as Rolfing, which is a technique of bodywork that addresses postural alignment through the organization of connective tissue called, fascia. A practitioner uses strokes and pressure to give length and tone to fascial tissues. When fascial tissues are misaligned they can result in improper posture and emotional & physical traumas. This then gives the client a better awareness of the structure they live in, how gravity effects them and provides them with the liberation they need. 

Briana resides in the central Rockies of Colorado with her husband, son, and Alaskan malamute. In her spare time, she enjoys snowboarding, hiking, boating, rock climbing, and figuring out how to wildcraft while doing the aforementioned