Celebrating One Full Year!
It’s official! Connecting to Our Roots: Intro to Herbalism Intensive is one year old! It is so wild that this class, something I could have only dreamed of years ago, just officially hit its one year birthday. I don’t even know how to convey my immense gratitude for all who have trusted me with cultivating a communal learning and teaching space. I am touched and truly honored. I have so much excitement for what this class will continue to grow into as we build, learn, and commune together.
What is Connecting to Our Roots?
Connecting to Our Roots: Introduction to Herbalism Intensive was birthed of a desire to remember and rekindle our ancestral land traditions. This class is a 3 month herbal medicine course that provides its students with a base understanding of plant medicine, body systems, botany, and Black medicine traditions.
This class aims to create a space where individuals can cultivate their unique relationship with the plants based in community and reciprocity while also providing students with the tools to navigate herbal medicine in the context of western medical systems. Each class will be taught live over zoom with the recordings sent out on a weekly basis. There will be space devoted to learning, sharing, and connecting with self, our classmates, and the plants. By the end of this course, students will have had the opportunity to develop their own unique intuitions around plant medicines and given the tools to support themselves and the people they love in basic herbal care.
Want a Sneak Peak of What CTOR has to Offer?
Register for the free class:
Herbalism as Resistance
Description: Our ancestors braided seeds, grew freedom gardens, and lived in reciprocity with the earth. Herbalism as Resistance orients our relationship building with the our bodies, the land, and our community as an acts of resistance against a colonial state. Join me in exploring these rich relationships while highlighting some of the medicines that have supported us through it all!
Date: Tuesday March 12
Time: 6-7pm EST
As of 5:45 Registration is closed. But no worries, the class will happen again!
CTOR: Intro to Herbalism Intensive Spring ‘24 Class Details
“I became inspired to create this intensive after struggling to navigate western medical systems and herb spaces where my ancestral traditions went unacknowledged or erased” -Taylor Rae, Intensive Educator
About the Teacher
“ I have been studying plant science for 10 years and have been an educator in the field for 8. I am so deeply in love with the land and I feel driven to share that love in ways that feel genuine and authentic. I always aim to cultivate spaces where connecting with the land feels accessible and healing, especially as colonization and white supremacy have intentionally tried to rob Black and Brown folks of these opportunities. I became inspired to create this intensive after struggling to navigate western medical systems and learning spaces that prioritized western approaches to land and herbs, exclusively. With my teachings, I hope to tell the stories of the plants and my ancestors while incorporating clinical methods of practice to enable participants to both commune with the plants and advocate for their health in western medical spaces.”
-Taylor Rae, Intensive Educator
Who is this intensive for?
I left university after studying plants through a classic western academic lens, craving a way of relating to the land that reflected my ancestral lineage. I wanted to return to my roots and align myself with the understanding that me and my body were just extensions of nature. I wanted to find ways to remember the traditions that capitalism and colonialism wanted us to forget. I urned to deepen my relationship with these little herbaceous beings while keeping me, my communities, and the ecosystems around me well and thriving. Does this feel like it resonates?
In far too many plant medicine spaces, Black and Indigenous traditions are erased. Now more than ever, we are being faced with the the repercussions of how erasing histories can effect communities. In a time of book bannings and curated history sharing, it is all the more important to be mindful that the information we are getting be inclusive and critical. Black herbal history is an integral part of understanding the formation of herbal traditions on Turtle Island and they are often left out of the conversation. Full and dynamic understandings of subjects only benefit everyone.
Are you ready to join me in our collective remembering?
What are past student saying?
“This class has been everything that I've been wanting and looking for in an herbalism class. Tay is a patient and magical teacher-the space felt safe, fun, informative, and true. The flow and flexibility of the material and the joy and connection is FELT in the cohort as you take this journey together- a balm for the spirit in our busy world. I HIGHLY recommend!”
~Spring ‘23 Student
“Taylor is a marvelous person to learn from and with, offering the tenderest, sweetest, and most cogent perspective on herbal medicine and our bodies' relationship with the land and the medicine that grows on it! They help make complicated systems easy to understand and reframe your understanding of medicine into one of relationships and conversation and listening rather than transaction or mechanics. The space they hold feels cozy, safe, and illuminating. it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
~Spring ‘24
“Taylor is by far one of the strongest teachers I have learned from in my herbal education of 6 years. She has an incredibly wide range of knowledge, experience, patience and joy that she brings to every interaction. Her consideration to our learning time and understanding are unparalleled. You will learn photochemistry, body systems, medicine making, formulation alongside the rich histories of those who have built the foundation of herbalism and are often left out. Taylor elevates what an herbal education can be and should be.”
“This class is a great way to ease into herbalism. A way to learn about the body systems and how different herbs work with those. Taylor has a deep knowledge of herbalism and will make you feel comfortable, warm and open. She provides a safe and easeful space for learning and makes it easy to feel at home. Her attention to detail will allow you to have a deep connection and understanding of the subject.”
Questions?
If have additional questions or concerns regarding the class, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Feel free to reach out via email or schedule a 30 minute discovery phone call with me.
Donate to the BIPOC scholarship fund
The BIPOC scholarship fund enables radicalized students to receive partial or full scholarships for Connecting to Our Roots. Any support is appreciated!
Past Workshops
The Weight of Stigma
Description:
The Weight of Stigma is beginner friendly class that explores the anti-Black roots of weight stigma and fatphobia in modern day society. The class dives into:
The History of Fatphobia
Precolonial Understandings of Bodies
The Health Implications of Experiencing Fatphobia
Weight Bias in Holistic Spaces and Its Effect on Peoples Access to Care
The Many Ways that our Idea’s of “Health” are Socially Constructed
Building Understanding and Trust for our Body and more!
This class is perfect for people who are looking to decolonize their relationships with their bodies and/ or practitioners who want to cultivate safer spaces for themselves and the people they work with.
Holding Grief Through Revolution
Description:
Holding Grief Through Revolution is a beginner friendly herbal medicine class as well as a space for holding our collective grief. During this hour and a half, we will talk about what revolution calls for on a community level and dive into what it means to prepare our hearts and nervous systems for revolution with the help of our plant companions. We will also hold space for some collective centering, grieving, and imagining as we dream up a better world.
The Stress of Disconnections
Description:
The Stress of Disconnection is a beginner friendly herbal medicine class that examines the barriers many of us face to land connection and their roots in white supremacy. This class dives into how this disconnection from the land creates stress in the body and the mind; and explores how plant medicine and other holistic approaches can be an avenue for support.
Past Collaborations
The Cornell Botanic Garden~ Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust (NEFOC)~ The Great Lakes Herb Faire~ Oji:sda’ Sustainable Indigenous Futures ~ Khuba International ~Common Healing ~ The Earth Medicine Gathering ~ International Herb Symposium ~ After School Matter: TEENS Program ~ The Youth Farm Project ~ The Outsiders MN ~ The Womxn or Color Summit ~ Chingonx Chameleon ~The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum ~ Molasses Chicago ~ The Lost Traveler Podcast~The Aura House