2024 Intensive is Full! Sign up for the waitlist below for first notification of next year's intensive.
A 6-month, in-person intensive in Chicago, IL with an embodied, experiential, and bioregional approach to herbalism.
This intensive will immerse you in the living language of herbalism and ecology. We focus on bioregional herbalism, actions & energetics in western herbalism, making herbal preparations, materia medica, and community engagement related to the use of herbs to support individual and community well-being & resilience.
By exploring herbalism from these different perspectives, we will come to a deeper and more practical understanding of the use of herbs than the common association of “use this herb for that ailment”. Working beyond this approach, we will rediscover the overlapping ecologies of organ systems, body, and earth and begin to relearn the power of herbs and fungi as ‘healers of all life on earth’.
Bioregional Herbalism
Bioregional Herbalism is the practice of working with plants rooted in place, in our case, the wondrous and beautiful ‘Great Lakes Basin’ we call our home.
Practicing bioregional herbalism, we work to enter into a sacred relationship with the land we walk upon. To learn, steward, connect, and live in reciprocity to the living landscape of which we are apart. This will require us to learn about the peoples who stewarded this land before us and reconnect with the flora of our bioregion, understanding the differences between native, naturalized, and invasive species.
Towards this end, we read ecological and environmental texts and share in discussion to augment our herbal learning, and explore the beautiful flora of our region through several plant walks from spring through summer and fall.
Monthly Plant Walks to connect with our local flora
Class discussions of ecological and environmental texts
Gardening Skills & Opportunities at Patchwork Farms
Actions & Energetics in Western Herbalism
At our class sessions, we will deeply explore Western energetics as exemplified and refined by herbalists Matthew Wood and jim mcdonald, and utilize these frameworks to understand how herbs can support different areas of health and well-being.
We explore the six tissue states and their energetic correspondences: Hot/Cold, Damp/Dry, Tense/Lax, including the nuances of application in herbal practice and their manifestations in the plants we work with.
We also cover Foundational Actions in depth: Aromatics, Bitters, Astringents, Demulcents, Relaxants, Stimulants, & Tonics.
Working from this foundation, we then explore the application of herbs for common health issues related to different organ systems.
Monthly in-person class weekends (2 back-to-back class days, 4-5 hours each) covering the following topics:
Western energetics, the six tissue states, the four humors of Greek Medicine, herbal actions
Organ systems and the application of herbs for common health issues related to these organ systems: Nervous System, Endocrine System, Cardiovascular System, Respiratory System, Digestive System, Immune System
Monthly Tea Tastings to feel into the energetics of particular herbs and develop our own perceptual awareness of herbal energetics.
Herbal Medicine Making
You will have the opportunity to work hands on with a variety of herbal preparations, covering several forms of preparation and use: water infusions, tinctures, vinegars, oxymels, infused oils, and more.
By the end of this course you will be able to take your skills home and fill your kitchen and apothecary with jars of dried herbs, oxymels, shrubs, tinctures, salves, oils, and tea blends to the delight or puzzled looks of the ones you live with.
Herbal Medicine Demonstrations with various and commonly used plant-based preparations. Information on and instruction on herbal infusions, syrups, steams, baths, oxymels, shrubs, smoke blends, tinctures, bitters, oils, salves, herbal cleaning solutions, and more! These demos are accompanied by hundreds of pages of handouts detailing the process of making your own herbal preparations, along with recipes all available in the Greenspell Virtual Garden.
Materia Medica
Through the ongoing creation of your materia medica, you will have the opportunity to connect with individual herbs through in-depth study and to organize the multitudinous insights, experiences, and epiphanies related to the herbs you encounter into written plant monographs that you may refer to over the course of your life and practice as an herbalist. You will receive accompanying handouts related to the building and development of a robust and personal materia medica that will grow with you. As a group, we share plant monograph entries with each other to receive feedback, cross-pollinate different insights about the plants we are exploring, and inspire the creation of our own materia medica by seeing how our peers work on theirs.
Class Project & Community Apothecary
As a cohort we work together to plan and organize the Community Apothecary, which offers accessible, sliding-scale herbal preparations to local Chicago neighborhoods in collaboration with community gardens and urban farms that grow some of the herbs we use in our preparations. The Community Apothecary Pop-up held during the last month of the program acts as the culmination of our learning efforts throughout the duration of the course. Students work together to curate, formulate, and prepare a selection of herbal preparations intended to support our community through the transition into colder months.
As a class, we will work together to create a ‘zine’ to share our learnings and insights with our community. The zine may include recommendations on how to integrate herbs into your daily self-care regimen, recipes, practices, poems, pictures, and meditations to support community members in deepening their relationship to their body and supporting their well-being. The Community Apothecary Pop-up is also intended as a community gathering with workshops, movement, and sliding-scale herbal consultations.
Supplemental Online Community & Learning through the Greenspell Virtual Garden
This intensive is about building relationship–with plants & fungi, with our bodies, with the earth, and especially with all the wonderful humans who are a part of your cohort!
So, I created a dedicated online community through an application called Heartbeat, where you'll be able to communicate, collaborate, & connect with other students in the intensive in between class weekends. If you're familiar with slack or discord, it's kind of like that, but just for members of the year’s intensive.
Students will also have access to the Greenspell Virtual Garden, which contains hundreds of pages content related to herbalism, ecology, and foraging. Read more about the Greenspell Community & Virtual Garden.
At the end of the intensive, students will be added to the wider Greenspell online community (which includes alumni of past Greenspell Intensives), which I encourage you to visit for years to come to reconnect and field all herbalism, foraging, and ecology questions you may have!
Students who complete the intensive will have lifetime access to the Greenspell Community & Virtual Garden.
This intensive will support you in:
~ Learning to make your own herbal preparations for yourself, your family, and your community
~ Understanding plant actions and energetics from a western herbalism perspective
~ Developing a deeper relationship with the plants, fungi, and ecology of our bioregion
~ Expanding your perceptual and sensory awareness of body, earth, and the spaces in between
~ Entering into a richer relationship/rapport with your body
~ Understanding the links between embodiment, well-being, and social justice
~ Building community organizing and outreach skills related to collective community care
2024 Tentative Class Dates & What to Expect
April 20-21 (Class Days)
May 4-5 (Class Day & Plant Walk)
June 8-9 (Class Day & Plant Walk)
July 13-14 (Class Day & Plant Walk)
August 10-11 (Class Day & Plant Walk)
September 14-15 (Class Day & Plant Walk)
September 28-29 (Tentative Community Apothecary Prep Days)
October 6 (Community Apothecary Pop-up Event!)
October 19 (Final Class Day)
All Saturday Class Days will be held at Irene C. Hernandez Family Picnic Grove at LaBagh Woods (4498 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60630). I will request that you bring your own folding camp chair or blanket to sit on for all class days held at the picnic grove. The picnic grove is sheltered and open air, so some days may be a little chilly. Bring layers to add or remove especially in spring and fall.
Sundays will be devoted to plant walks (exluding Sunday, April 21) at various locations throughout the Chicagoland area.
Some plant walk locations we may be visiting include Somme Woods, Palos Area Woods, Schiller Woods, Indiana Dunes State Park, and various areas within the city including Patchwork Farms and Humboldt Park.
Make sure you are able to secure transportation to these areas. I will do my best to facilitate carpooling of students within the class, but ultimately, traveling to these locations is up to you. Travel times for some locations can be up to 2 hours by car. Budget for gas and time accordingly.
Both Class Days and Plant Walks begin at 11am sharp and end at 4pm-ish, although I will never go later than 4:30pm. Please bring a lunch both days, we will typically have at least one break for lunch.
We also have a few additional tentative dates scheduled in September which we may utilize as preparation days for the Community Apothecary Pop-up. These will likely be held at my apothecary in Logan Square.
Once the class begins, we will work together to schedule several days throughout the season where I will be working on our shared class garden at Patchwork Farms in Humboldt Park. These days will be more loosely structured where students are able to come as desired to gain some gardening experience, get intimate with some of the plants we discuss in class throughout their growth cycle, and ask me any questions. Attendance on these days are optional.
October dates are reserved for our Community Apothecary Pop-up event.
If a class will be held at a location other than the ones listed above, you will be given several weeks notice.
We meet rain or shine, so be prepared for exposure to the elements! Class will be held via zoom or cancelled (with make up session) in the event of extreme weather.
Be sure to read the Intensive FAQ linked below for all additional details and commonly asked questions about the course.
How to Enroll
Submit your application – using the link below (applications will open again in November 2024 for 2025's Intensive)
Note that for 2025's Intensive, the application window will be open from mid-November 2024 to January 31, 2025. The application window may close earlier if the class fills up.
Interview – After you apply, I will reach out to set up a time for a brief zoom interview so we can discuss details, get to know each other a bit, and field any questions you may have about the intensive. We will also discuss further payment details including if you are interested in the shadowing add-on (see below).
Interviews will be held in two waves: Dec 1-15, 2024 and January 1-15, 2025.
Scholarships typically fill up early, so if you are interested in receiving a scholarship make sure to apply as early as possible.
Acceptance – Shortly after this interview, you will be notified of your acceptance to the intensive. – Know that priority is given to folks who are confident they can commit to the entire program. This is not a 'course' that you are welcome to drop in whenever you feel like it. I ask for participants who are willing to show up to all classes, walks, and events that are apart of the intensive.
Submit your deposit – Once you are accepted, I will provide a link for you to submit your initial $500 deposit, which counts toward the full cost of the intensive, and also holds your spot.
All deposits are required to be submitted by 2/1/2025
Submit remaining balance or start your payment plan – no later than 3/1/2025
Orientation – once you either submit your remaining balance or start a payment plan, you will gain access to the Greenspell Online Community and Greenspell Virtual Garden. Get to know these online aspects of the intensive a bit by navigating through the welcome & orientation sections of each.
Intensive Cost
~ $1500 ~
The cost of this intensive is $1500. Upon acceptance to the intensive, you are asked to pay an initial $500 deposit which holds your spot in the intensive and counts toward the full cost of this intensive.
Alternatively, you may pay your remaining balance through a payment plan. Payment plans are available after the initial deposit is made. Payment plans will be 8 payments of $125. I require you to make your first payment by 3/1/2025.
Before applying, make sure to read over the Intensive FAQ page for common questions and other important considerations. Note that the link below to apply will not work until the application window opens.
All students who participate in the Greenspell Intensive will have lifetime access to the Greenspell Community & Virtual Garden.
Mentorship Add-On
This add-on is for those seeking to do deeper work to truly develop a profound and enduring relationship with their body, herbcraft, and the more-than-human world. Those interested should be ready and willing to make fundamental changes in their life, and are not just looking for herbs as bandaids to ‘fix’ their ‘problems’, but rather as allies in the journey of becoming fully human and alive.
If you are interested in developing a more individualized approach to working with herbs from the perspective of your own body, and want with me to cultivate practices to deepen your intuition and sensory awareness in working with plants, the mentorship add-on might be for you.
Through this work, we will explore the ways that you experience your world, being in your body, and the interconnections between your body and your environment. We will also explore how your conception of wellness has developed, and how that conception informs your experience of the world.
Mentorship is rooted in principles of depth ecology, ecopsychology, somatics, intuitive practices, and heart perception. These frameworks will support you in cultivating practices to liberate your awareness from the limited ideological frameworks our western culture encourages, towards a more holistic and embodied perspective of self and earth.
We often engage in a dynamic range of practices and rituals to support you in expanding your perceptual, sensory, and extrasensory awareness to encompass the subtle messages and cues that arise from your body and earth that guide you toward openness, presence, and vital well-being. Examples include:
Stillness / Meditation
Mindful and intentional eating and cooking
Joyful movement practices
Active imagination and dialogue with one's body
Dreamwork
Earth connection practices & relationship with your local earthly environment
Breathing exercises & breathwork
I will also offer custom herbal formulas and herbs to support your ever deepening connection with your body and to develop an embodied sense of how the herbs support health and well being. The cost of herbal formulas are not included in the price of the add-on.
Mentorship Benefits
All aspects of the intensive as outlined above.
Mentoring Sessions: I offer (6) 1-hour mentorship sessions each month from May-October that we will schedule together after your acceptance into the program. These sessions can be held virtually or in-person at my home apothecary.
Leadership Skills: The mentorship add-on invites all those who engage in this work to learn skills that will empower you to act as leaders within the space of this intensive, and within your own community and work. You will be invited to lead one workshop on a topic of your choice, hosted by the Greenspell Organization, which we will work on together and you will lead.
Intensive Cost with Mentorship Add-On
~ $1800 ~
The cost of this intensive is with mentorship add-on is $1800. Upon acceptance to the intensive, you are asked to pay an initial $500 deposit which holds your spot in the intensive and counts toward the full cost of this intensive.
Alternatively, you may pay your remaining balance through a payment plan. Payment plans are available after the initial deposit is made. Payment plans will be 8 payments of $162.50. I require you to make your first payment by 3/1/2025.
Before applying, make sure to read over the Intensive FAQ page for common questions and other important considerations. Note that the link below to apply will not work until the application window opens.
I am only taking on five mentees in 2025.
Those who complete the intensive with the mentorship add-on are highly considered for future apprenticeship.