free

Plant Study Retreat

Doors open again in 2024!

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free 3 day online retreat

I know you want to work with
herbs and plants in a way that is genuine, intuitive, practical and reciprocal.

You know there is more to herbal medicine than ‘taking this for that’ . You want to learn ways to connect to a deeper understanding of plants and make your relationship with plants a conversation.

This is a free online retreat to learn ways to connect with the plants, refine your senses + understand their deeper nature.

Cultivating a connection
with plants is so rewarding.

It enriches our lives a thousand fold. Plants are a window into the wisdom and nature of life.

I was really lucky that the university where I studied Naturopathy had a full medicinal plant garden, right across from our labs and lecture rooms. It was full to the brim at the time with medicinal plants. But to be honest, at that time in my life and studies I wasn’t yet really ‘seeing’ the plants. I was so enthralled about everything I was learning about them and their healing properties, but I wasn’t really listening to them or developing skills to hear them. I was learning a definition of the herbs, facts, a full stop so to speak. I wasn’t really learning skills to find these answers from the plants themselves. We learnt about the doctrine of signatures, about traditional herbalism and our history, though I listened as if it was a story of the past. Fascinating, so inspiring, but nothing I knew I could reach. I didn’t yet know how to have a living, breathing relationship with the plants, a way of letting them teach me anew.

A great turning happened and I met Anthroposophic Medicine through my family’s Steiner school. Immediately I felt drawn to it. I studied a little in Australia, then went to Germany and Switzerland to study more deeply. I learnt about Goethe and Plant Observation, and worked though this process with a plant over a month. I put aside everything I knew about this little plant and listened. Put aside the name I knew it as, my botanical language, its healing actions. As best I could, I met the plant anew, observing, drawing, listening, practicing, watching it transform. It changed so much in that time and taught me more than I felt I’d learnt in over 10 years of studying plants. It also taught me about people. About illness, and healing. Rather than the ‘full stop’ knowledge I had before, there was a living, ‘new in every moment’ thinking beginning to develop that let me be open to the plants. My work with them had become a conversation.

In this free online retreat I’ll introduce you to the ideas, stories and the practice
behind plant observation, and share why it’s so important to our evolution with the plants.

Day 1

Today we dive into Goethean observation, the history and practice, about ‘living thinking’ and the plant world.

You’ll have head in to nature homework for Day 2.

Day 2

Practice! Today we learn about the four fold nature of the plant, and begin our plant observation practice.

You’ll have drawing exercise homework for Day 3 (you don’t have to be an artist).

Day 3

Today we deepen into the Plant Observation Practice, moving through the last two processes with the four fold nature of the plant. You’ll learn ways you can continue the practice with plants too!

“To truly know the world,
look deeply within your own being; to truly know yourself,
take real interest in the world.”

— Rudolf Steiner

There is a deeper nature to plants.

We’ve come to a point in history where plants are seen as a commodity, with nutrients, chemical constituents that have actions in the body. Behind this lens, across the span of cultures, including older western cultures, there was and is an understanding plants have a living essence. A deeper character or spirit. If you didn’t grow up with a cultural story that explains this or shows you how to meet it, how do you get to know a plant’s character, or deeper essence in a way that relates?

Plants speak through their form, the shape of their leaves, the expression of their flower, the patterns of their growth, their preferences for soil, light, water, temperature. They also speak through their medicinal plant parts, like their seeds, roots, fruit or flowers. Plants are honest. They can’t help but reveal their deeper nature in their gestures, we just need to fine tune our perception to hear their language. By being with them, observing their features, studying their growth, and tuning into your impressions you can begin to nurture this living perception, and meet the deeper nature of a plant.

The details!

Who?

This free online retreat is for you if you are a yes to any (or all!) of these points

you have an interest in plants and nature
you want a way to connect more deeply with nature
you are a Herbalist, Naturopath or practitioner working with the herbs, or you love herbal medicine
you are interested in the study of nature and life
you’re a gardener, botanist or plant lover
you’re an artist interested in ways to understand the
nature behind what you paint, draw, sculpt, express…
you’re interested in reflective practices, learning, or growing your awareness

How?

Our retreat will be held online, via Zoom. Each day you’ll be sent your new session link to join in. When you join in you’ll be set up with a Client Portal to access the free retreat resources and recordings and session reminders.

Will there be recordings?

The famous question! Yes, if you can’t attend live, there will be recordings available for a week after our retreat. You will have access to the recordings via your Client Portal which you’ll be set up with when you register.

What you’ll need

access to the internet + Zoom to meet
a notebook and pen
lead pencil, coloured pencils or paints (optional)
on Day 2 and 3 you can be out with a plant in nature for the session if possible, or you can bring a plant with you into the session (more on this on Day 1!)