Mushrooms have been used as medicine for thousands of years in many Asian cultures including China, Tibet, Korea, and Japan. They have long been valued for their power to enhance immune health, vitality, longevity, and promote graceful aging. In this lecture, demonstration, and hands-on style class, you will learn the medicinal properties of five different commercially available mushrooms, the best ways to prepare and enjoy them (including in-class preparation of two delicious consumables), and how to choose the best quality for optimal therapeutic efficacy.

This class will introduce you to the art of combining herbs to make therapeutically effective and great tasting tea blends. This lecture and hands-on style class will cover the most important elements involved in formulating, including herbal actions, properties, proportions and intuition, as well as special considerations such as an individual’s constitution, season and climate. Participants will make and taste several tea blends during class, including one of their own creation.

Re-establish Connection with the Wondrous Green World

A plant walk with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo M.A., is a beautiful blend of tapping into both intuitive and scientific ways of knowing the world. An opportunity not only to meet and learn about the abundance of green allies in your neighborhood and their medicinal properties and edibility, but an occasion to re-establish and honor the ancient human/plant relationship through slowing down and engaging your senses. Participants will also receive an introduction to plant family patterns, an extremely valuable tool that facilitates knowledge of an unfamiliar plant’s attributes and potential toxicity.

A Celebration and Revitalization of our Ancient Relationship with Plants

This immersive, 5 hour field workshop is for those who desire a deeper knowledge of and connection to local plants and holistic ways of knowing, being and healing.  Opportunities to learn and practice skills in keen observation, deep listening, plant identification through familiarization with plant family patterns, and honorable harvesting will be offered.  Medicinal uses and edibility of those we encounter will also be discussed and each participant will make a remedy to take home.

Delight in the Ephemeral Beauty of Spring with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo, as we saunter in/near Downtown Boulder and welcome back the first of our green companions , many of whom support our bodies in revitalization and gentle cleansing - full of beneficial nutrients!

In addition to discussing the edible and medicinal properties of the plants we encounter and tips on identifying them, participants will be invited to slow down, connect with their senses and the beauty of the season.

This class will introduce you to the art of combining herbs to make therapeutically effective and great tasting tea blends. This lecture and hands-on style class will cover the most important elements involved in formulating, including herbal actions, properties, proportions and intuition, as well as special considerations such as an individual’s constitution, season and climate. Participants will make and taste several tea blends during class, including one of their own creation.

This demonstrative, lecture and hands-on class will introduce participants to the wonderful world of infused herbal oils and salve making. We will discuss a variety of skin ailments and how best to use therapeutically effective herbs topically to assist in the healing process. We will create a powerful first aid salve that will prevent/fight infection, decrease pain and inflammation, and maximize healing of tissue with minimal scarring. Each participant will go home with a 1 ounce jar of first aid salve.

Working in conjunction with the nervous system, the endocrine system is a key player in regulating the health and optimum function of virtually every system ~ from digestion, bone density and electrolyte balance, to reproduction and modulating the stress response.  This class will introduce participants to the basics of endocrine structure and function, including a focus on stress ~ a major contributor to chronic illness and degenerative diseases.  We will also discuss and sample 5 different botanicals that are specific for assisting in balancing the stress response and supporting immune health and vitality.  Each participant will go home with a botanical remedy.

Humans have utilized botanicals for millennia to maintain health and wellness, creating myriad ways of making remedies more palatable.  In this class we will make and sample a variety of therapeutically effective and delicious herbal preparations that even the most timid palate will enjoy. Each participant will have an opportunity to go home with an assortment of these goodies (unless we consume them all during class!).

The nervous systems is one of the primary regulators of maintaining homeostasis ~ a state of balance and equilibrium. As such, its optimal functioning is essential for physical, mental and emotional well being.  The first part of this class will offer an introduction to the structure and function of this exquisite and highly organized system, while the second half will focus on Nervines ~ botanicals specific for nourishing and supporting optimal nervous system health and function.  We will cover 5 well known nervines and learn how best to utilize and prepare them, including sampling those we discuss in a variety of forms.  Each participant will go home with a nervine remedy.

A Celebration and Revitalization of our Ancient Relationship with Plants

This immersive, 6 hour field workshop will reacquaint participants with holistic ways of knowing, being and healing, and offer opportunities to acquire skills in keen observation, deep listening, plant identification and familiarization with plant family patterns. We will discuss medicinal uses and edibility of those we encounter, honorable harvesting techniques and each participant will make a remedy to take home.

A plant walk with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo, is a beautiful blend of tapping into both intuitive and scientific ways of knowing the world.  An opportunity not only to meet and learn about the abundance of green allies in your neighborhood and their medicinal properties and edibility, but an occasion to re-establish and honor the ancient human/plant relationship through slowing down and engaging your senses.  Participants will also receive an introduction to plant family patterns, an extremely valuable tool that facilitates knowledge of an unfamiliar plant’s attributes and potential toxicity.

A plant walk with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo, is a beautiful blend of tapping into both intuitive and scientific ways of knowing the world.  An opportunity not only to meet and learn about the abundance of green allies in your neighborhood and their medicinal properties and edibility, but an occasion to re-establish and honor the ancient human/plant relationship through slowing down and engaging your senses.  Participants will also receive an introduction to plant family patterns, an extremely valuable tool that facilitates knowledge of an unfamiliar plant’s attributes and potential toxicity.

Re-establish Connection with the Wondrous Green World

A plant walk with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo M.A., is a beautiful blend of tapping into both intuitive and scientific ways of knowing the world. An opportunity not only to meet and learn about the abundance of green allies in your neighborhood and their medicinal properties and edibility, but an occasion to re-establish and honor the ancient human/plant relationship through slowing down and engaging your senses. Participants will also receive an introduction to plant family patterns, an extremely valuable tool that facilitates knowledge of an unfamiliar plant’s attributes and potential toxicity.

This immersive, six-hour field class is a beautiful blend of scientific and indigenous ways of knowing and relating to our green allies. Amberle and Cat present unique opportunities to rekindle our ancient human/plant relationship and to acquire skills in keen observation, deep listening, plant identification and familiarization with plant family patterns. We will cover basic botanical terminology, discuss therapeutic uses and edibility of those we encounter and honorable harvesting techniques, and each participant makes several remedies to take home. The afternoon will be spent at the beautiful and bountiful Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms, and the morning at a nearby hiking trail.

This class will introduce students to the myriad ways in which a variety of botanicals can be utilized safely and effectively for first aid situations, including burns, sprains/strains, poison ivy and insect bites/stings.  We will cover both internal and external applications, including homeopathy and poultices.  Students will make several products to take home to add to their first aid kits.

 Delight in the Ephemeral Beauty of Spring with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo, as we saunter in/near Downtown Boulder and welcome back the first of our green companions to emerge after winter’s slumber. It is no coincidence that the first to make an appearance are those who support our bodies in revitalization and gentle cleansing - full of beneficial nutrients! In addition to discussing the edible and medicinal properties of the plants we encounter and tips on identifying them, participants will be invited to connect with the nascent energy of the season and make a remedy to take home.

This class will introduce you to the art of combining herbs to make therapeutically effective and great tasting tea blends. This lecture and hands-on style class will cover the most important elements involved in formulating, including herbal actions, properties, proportions and intuition, as well as special considerations such as an individual’s constitution, season and climate. Participants will make and taste several tea blends during class, including one of their own creation.

The first part of this class will provide participants with an overview of botanical safety guidelines, including critical thinking, dosage strategies and primary considerations. The second part of the class will introduce the basics of combining herbs to make therapeutically effective and great tasting tea blends.  This lecture and demonstration style class will cover the most important elements involved in herbal tea formulating, including herbal actions, properties, proportions, and intuition, as well as special considerations such as an individual’s constitution, season, and climate.  Each participant will go home with a tea blend of their making.

Gather in community and attune to the emergent spring energy both within yourself and in wild nature, fostering a sense of interconnectedness and belonging. Invitations will be offered to cultivate joy, peace and a renewed sense that the world is alive, meaningful, enchanted and whole.  A deeply nourishing experience for mind, body and spirit, promoting resilience and trust in the unfolding of our lives.  Our walk will end with a sharing of delicious pine needle tea

Mushrooms have been used as medicine for thousands of years in many Asian cultures including China, Tibet, Korea, and Japan. They have long been valued for their power to enhance immune health, vitality, longevity, and promote graceful aging. In this lecture, demonstration, and hands-on style class, you will learn the medicinal properties of five different commercially available mushrooms, the best ways to prepare and enjoy them (including in-class preparation of two delicious consumables), and how to choose the best quality for optimal therapeutic efficacy.

Our ability to adapt to life’s stressors is being tested in ways we never imagined. Fortunately we have access to plant medicine and a class of herbs called adaptogens that help us to increase our resilience and vitality to not only endure but to thrive.

In this class, we will learn about the foundations of the endocrine system, how herbs have a balancing effect on mental and emotional wellbeing and how they support physical health especially by strengthening the immune system. We will focus on six herbs: Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng), Reishi Mushroom, Ashwagandha Root, Schisandra Berries, Holy Basil and Astragalus Root. This lecture and demonstration style class will highlight ways to incorporate adaptogens into your daily life with recipes, methods of preparation and a demonstration of how to make electuaries.

Experience deep nature immersion in community, designed to restore and nourish mind, body, and spirit. Join in a contemplative adventure that will inspire awe, wonder and curiosity, and rekindle connection to yourself as a human being, and the wisdom of our Earth Mother. While slowly sauntering on and off trail, a variety of invitations will be offered to attune to your animal senses and the quiet voices of the more-than-human world, increasing your capacity to trust in the unfolding of your life.

The walk will end with a sharing of delicious pine needle tea.

This immersive field class is for those who desire a deeper knowledge of and connection to local plants through a beautiful blend of scientific and indigenous ways of knowing, with the intention to rekindle sacred relationship with the green world and expand one’s current level of self-reliance and well-being.   In addition to covering basic botanical terminology with a focus on plant family patterns, there will be opportunities to attune to our animal senses, practice deep listening, and learn the therapeutic uses and edibility of those we encounter and how best to prepare them.

Each participant will go home with 2 remedies made in the field using honorable and ethical harvesting techniques

This class will introduce students to the myriad ways in which a variety of botanicals can be utilized safely and effectively for first aid situations, including burns, sprains/strains, poison ivy and insect bites/stings.  We will cover both internal and external applications, including homeopathy and poultices.  Students will make several products to take home to add to their first aid kits.

A Celebration and Revitalization of our Ancient Relationship with Plants

This immersive, 6 hour field workshop will reacquaint participants with holistic ways of knowing, being and healing, and offer opportunities to acquire skills in keen observation, deep listening, plant identification and familiarization with plant family patterns. We will discuss medicinal uses and edibility of those we encounter, honorable harvesting techniques and each participant will make a remedy to take home.

This immersive, six-hour field class is a beautiful blend of scientific and indigenous ways of knowing and relating to our green allies. Amberle and Cat present unique opportunities to rekindle our ancient human/plant relationship and to acquire skills in keen observation, deep listening, plant identification and familiarization with plant family patterns. We will cover basic botanical terminology, discuss therapeutic uses and edibility of those we encounter and honorable harvesting techniques, and each participant makes several remedies to take home. The afternoon will be spent at the beautiful and bountiful Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms, and the morning at a nearby hiking trail.

More than ever, connection with the natural world is essential in fostering emotional harmony, resilience and a truly sustainable future for all.  Gather in community and give yourself the gift of slowing down and rediscovering the profound healing potential of being in Nature.  While attuning to all of our animal senses, participants will be gently guided in activities that promote peaceful calm, call forth gratitude and foster a deep listening to the wisdom within themselves and the other-than-human world.  

Our time will end with the sharing of delicious pine needle rosehip tea.

For more information about Botanica Festival of Plants and other workshops being offered, Click HERE

Re-establish Connection with the Wondrous Green World

A plant walk with longtime Herbalist, Cat Pantaleo M.A., is a beautiful blend of tapping into both intuitive and scientific ways of knowing the world. An opportunity not only to meet and learn about the abundance of green allies in your neighborhood and their medicinal properties and edibility, but an occasion to re-establish and honor the ancient human/plant relationship through slowing down and engaging your senses. Participants will also receive an introduction to plant family patterns, an extremely valuable tool that facilitates knowledge of an unfamiliar plant’s attributes and potential toxicity.

Click HERE for Details and Registration

In the beautiful new classrooms of the Denver Botanic Gardens, the first part of the class will focus on the herbal preparation of decocting, necessary to release the healing qualities of roots, barks and seeds, which is also the starting point of making herbal syrups. The second part of the class will provide an overview of botanical safety guidelines, including critical thinking, dosage strategies and primary considerations.