Southwest School of Botanical Medicine – A Distance Learning Update

16. October 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Follow Me Through Herb School, Herbalism, Herbalists in History · Tags: , , , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaway

Michael Moore gained much of his herb knowledge by studying the plants of the desert.

Michael Moore gained much of his herb knowledge by studying the plants of the desert.

Throughout history, there have been countless numbers of herbalists.  No doubt most of them practiced locally, helping the people in their own towns and villages.  And no doubt most of them wrote no book, left no legacy save passing down their knowledge through word of mouth to their children or an apprentice.  But some herbalists have stood the test of time, bridging the gap between their era and our own by leaving us their knowledge in the form of the written word.  Although there aren’t a great many of these books available today,  some are still circulating and are even referenced in herbal practice.  

Today we’re able to learn from herbalists who practiced even hundreds of years ago.  Sure, our medical knowledge has grown and shifted over the generations, but the plants haven’t changed.  They’re still capable of healing us in ways we well know and in ways yet to be discovered.  So the great herbalists of this generation are no doubt leaving their own mark for future practitioners.  What makes this era so different is our ability to record our knowledge in more ways than simply in the written form.  I think that’s what makes the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine so unique.

As you may or may not know, I’ve been attending SWSBM through its distance learning program, watching the DVD course at home.  You also may or may not know the founder of this school, Michael Moore, sadly passed away last February.  But the legacy he’s left behind is something I’m appreciating more and more.  

In the over 200 hours of lectures offered through the course, the majority of it is taught by Michael himself.  For many years the school had a physical location where students could travel to Arizona and attend, learning from Michael and others.  He filmed the final year that the school was open.  What results is a class in herbalism that may very well be attended by generations to come, and I’m grateful to be a part of that.  Can you imagine?  It’s possible that 100 years from now, students of herbalism will be able to listen to Mr. Moore teach his classes, to see his enthusiasm for a plant, even enjoy his unmatched wit.  If you’re interested in becoming an herbalist, I’d highly recommend you look into this course.  I’m quite certain there is no other like it.

As for the herbalists of days gone by, I can only imagine the  many great written works that have been lost over the years.  No doubt herbalism would have all but withered up and blew away had it not been in great part for the work of Mr. Moore and his revitalizing of the craft.  If you’re interested in checking out some of the texts he rediscovered, they’re still available online for free on the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine website. I’ve spent countless hours there myself, in wonderment over the heritage left to us from the great herbalists of this and previous generations.

Herb School Update – Lesson 1 Complete!

15. July 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Follow Me Through Herb School · Tags: , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways

Drawing by Famous Botanist John Lindley (1799 - 1865)

Drawing by Famous Botanist John Lindley (1799 - 1865)

I’m so geeked!  I never say “geeked”, but there it is.  Last night I finished the first installment of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Distance Learning Program.  There are actually two courses, Therapeutics and Materia Medica, and I’m working on both simultaneously.  So I was really excited that I was able to complete the first installment of both last night.  It took me almost a month to the day to finish, which really surprised me.  I thought it would take about two months for me to get through each portion since 1.) I’m doing both courses at the same time and 2.) I work at home full time, blog quite a bit, and raise a 3-year-old boy who likes to climb bookshelves and spit banana on the dogs when I’m not looking.  

So how did I do it?  I’ve given myself a schedule to try and watch at least an hour of the DVD’s a day, after said banana spitter is in bed at night.  I’ve also been working my way through the Physiology Coloring Book, attempting to do at least a page of that a day.  My son loves this part because I have a massive box of artist’s color pencils that I let him dip into.  We sit on the floor, I show him pictures of phospholipids and sodium potassium channels, and he draws his own amoebic pictures while I learn cell structure and how an eyeball works.

One thing that has really surprised me by the SWSBM courses is how difficult the quizzes for the Therapeutics course can be!  Funny thing:  They’re not really graded, you’re not taking a quiz while sitting in a classroom with nothing but your memory to help you, and yet they’re quite challenging.  Students are encouraged to leave their quiz questions out while watching the DVD’s, filling in the answers as they’re discussed by the instructors.  Sounds easy enough, but since you’re often learning completely foreign concepts, it takes some serious listening to catch all the answers.  The point of the quizzes is really to help the student know what things are best committed to memory.  I’ve learned to keep a Word file open on my computer for notes and another for quiz answers.  And believe it or not, I’ve even had to go back and watch several sections of the DVD’s over again just to find all the answers!  That helped solidify a lot of information, which was pretty helpful to me.

So what have I been learning so far?  Therapeutics took me through some Chemistry Basics, Cell Metabolism, Physiology Introduction, Nerve Function, Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, and GI Tract. The Materia Medica works its way through various herbs alphabetically by Latin name, as well as some coverage of things like Adaptogens, Physiology, and more.  All totally fascinating, making evenings of study something to look forward to – and of course something to get really geeked about.

Follow Me Through Herb School Update – What’s the Home Study Program Like, Anyway?

02. July 2009 · 7 comments · Categories: Follow Me Through Herb School · Tags: , , , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways

Physiology has me Dancing in a Field of Clover

Physiology has me Dancing in a Field of Clover

So glad you asked!  Like I mentioned in my first Herb School Update, I’ve looked at several distance learning programs for herbalism.  The Southwest School of Botanical Medicine is almost entirely on DVD which appealed greatly to me.  I wanted the classroom experience, I wanted to have someone hold up herbs and say, “Here’s the taproot on this one.  And that’s what it looks like in full bloom.  This is how we process it.”  I also wanted something of a classroom experience, which I feel like I’m getting through the SWSBM courses.  

I’m taking both of the SWSBM courses simultaneously, the best way to approach this system. The courses are “Materia Medica” and “Herbal Therapeutics and Constitutional Evaluation“.  The first class installment came in a box that contains DVD’s for each course, a total of 12 DVD’s; a couple of booklets, and a CD containing massive amounts of research articles, charts, books etc. (kind of a bonus item if you will, and in my opinion quite valuable).  Each DVD lasts somewhere around 2 hours, and while it’s recommended that you try to finish one of these boxes a month, you can go at your own pace as needed.  I try to watch a DVD a day, alternating between the Materia Medica DVD’s and the Herbal Therapeutics ones.  

As with any new venture, it took me a little while to get my rhythm going.  My initial thought was since I would own the DVD’s forever, I could watch them whenever I wanted; hence note-taking seemed redundant. As more and more valuable information was discussed,  I quickly changed my tune and now I have a Word document open next to the DVD screen so I can type up anything I may want to brush up on later.  This is really helping get the massive doses of info to stick to my brain.  And massive doses they are!  So far I’ve been learning some basic physiology, chemistry, and of course herb identification and usage.  I’m even working my way through a Physiology Coloring Book.  (Laugh if you will, dear friends, but never in my life have I dealt with such complicated coloring!  Quite a challenge but I love it.)

Teaching the physiology and chemistry basics is the very energetic Howie Brounstein who makes you want to jump headfirst into the subjects.  (My three-year-old adores Howie and explained to a complete stranger yesterday how “Mommy watches a class and there’s a man with long hair and arms that do ‘this’ ” – picture gesticulating – “and has a long beard”.)  And of course nothing compares to learning from the master himself, Michael Moore, who peppered all his teachings with fascinating anecdotes, fast-paced jokes, and more herbal info than you can shake a rain stick at.

So far I’m working hard and having the time of my life doing it.  Even after a very long day of the usual work-at-home thing, the cooking, cleaning, mothering, and general chaos, I’ve still felt enthusiastic about popping in a DVD and learning something.  I’ve had some tiring, hectic days that still end in feeling a little more complete about my direction.  And if nothing else, I can sit down with my son, crack out the physiology coloring book, and show him what a phospholipid really looks like.

Follow Me on My Big Endeavor – Botanical Medicine School!

25. June 2009 · 9 comments · Categories: Follow Me Through Herb School, Herbalism · Tags: , , , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways

I guess I’m like most herb loving people throughout history – I’m self taught.  That’s because herbalism has never really been the sort of thing we could sign up for when enrolling in a University.  And in many ways I think that’s a good thing – because historically herbalism has been the “people’s medicine”.  Anyone is free to learn it from their elders, books, etc. and anyone is free to use their obtained knowledge by, say, growing chamomile in their garden, drying it, and making a tea to help with a myriad of physical issues.  The accessibility is one of the things I adore about herbalism.  But when you feel it’s right for you to dig in – I mean really dig in – and go more in-depth with your herb studies, where do you go?   Do you pack up the family and move into a cabin with an old mountain woman who raises goats and talks to herself?  The kids may enjoy the goats, but that’s not a practical solution.  Since herb schools are few and far between, many of them offer distance learning programs.  That was the decision I came to, so I’ve started studying with the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.  

I have been looking into herb schools by the dozens over the last several years, and quite honestly I found the search confusing.  What’s a reputable herb school, after all?  You can’t get a degree in herbalism since there are no government regulations (fine with me – I’ll tell you why some other day), and there are so many distance learning programs that I felt overwhelmed.  But one kept coming back to me again and again.  Perhaps that’s because over the years I got in the habit of finding lots of free information on herbs at SWSBM.  And the founder and master herbalist, Michael Moore, had begun to be one of my herb heroes.  (I mean, if there were herbalist bubble gum cards, people would be trading whole packs for a single Michael Moore card.) 

Unfortunately for the world of herbalists, Michael Moore passed on in February.  But thankfully his wife Donna keeps their distance learning program going.  What’s completely unique about this program is that Michael himself is still teaching the class.  That’s because both courses (Clinical and Constitutional Herbalism and Materia Medica) are all on DVD and were actually filmed a few years ago when the “brick and mortar” school was still open in Brisbane, Arizona.  So I feel privileged to be learning from Michael Moore even after his passing.

This is no measly endeavor and I’ll be taking both courses at the same time, so I figure that it will take me a good couple of years to complete.  I’m going to take you along with me since many of you have expressed to me your interest in learning herbalism more formally.  No, I won’t let you have my class notes.  But I will keep you posted on my progress and I’ll share my struggles and triumphs along the way.  There will be many of each, I am sure, since I’m a work-at-home mother who also blogs and spends much time tromping through field and forest in search of wild herbs.  I’ve barely begun, but this has already proven to be something worth the effort. Perhaps by hearing my experiences, you’ll be inspired to learn more about herbs too.  Or if you feel herb school might be the thing for you, perhaps you’ll be inspired to follow your dream.  Either way, I hope you’ll come with me on my new journey.