Welcome to The Herbarium’s intensive on Regenerative Herbalism with educator, permaculturist, and herbalist Sarah Wu. Thank you for joining us! There are four video sessions in this intensive.
This intensive presents a unique and deeply intersectional perspective on the phrase “as within, so without.” Together, we look through the remarkable lens of how the body is a microcosm of planet earth itself. Marrying the worlds of permaculture and herbalism, Sarah Wu brings the best of each world to the forefront and insightfully unpacks how the external landscape matches the internal. Packed with findings from geology, botany, dendrology, and other natural sciences presented in a meaningful way, this intensive will help you gain an understanding of how the human body and the planet coexist, connect, and mirror one other.
Both permaculture and herbalism are dynamic, not static, and we are in a place in our world where we as herbalists welcome change and growth on so many levels. At the crossroads between permaculture and herbalism we find a multitude of parallels between the two, from the similarities between the breathing habits of trees and our own lung function to the correspondence between the oceans, rivers, and lakes of the earth and the lymph system or the waters of the body. Addressing the definition and importance of regenerative herbalism at its core, we see that nurturing planetary health is not so different from nourishing our own well-being, and vice versa.
In this intensive, we examine permaculture from a truly holistic lens, from how what we put into our bodies affects our external ecosystem to how the underground webs of mycelial life mimic the incredibly intricate network of the human nervous system. Come along with us as we explore the major features of the earth as they relate to our bodies and needs for both internal sustenance and planetary sustainability.
Session 1—Introduction to Permaculture
In this session, we’ll begin by defining and discussing the concept of regenerative herbalism from a permaculture lens. What are the foundational ethics, principles, and philosophies of permaculture from an herbalist’s perspective? What considerations need to be taken into account when comparing the ecosystem and the human body? Why is herbalism so vital and how does this show up on a daily basis?
Session 2—Forests and the Respiratory System + Soil and the Microbiome
In Forest Ecology and the Breath of Life, we’ll learn how and why trees mimic the structure of human lungs, and how the process of breathing actually parallels the natural world’s acts of transpiration. In The Microbiome Within and Without, we draw on ancient connections to understand the relationship between the health of the soil and our own internal microbiome.
Session 3—Waters and the Lymphatic System + Mountains and the Skeleton
In The Living Waters: Hydrological Cycle and Body Fluids, we further these connections by piecing together how the water cycle mirrors the lymphatic system, the waters of the body. In Moving Mountains: Tectonic Plates, Minerals, and the Human Skeleton, we come to see how just as our bones are the pillars of our bodies, the mountains are the backbones of the earth, with both relying on minerals to thrive.
Session 4—Mycology and the Nervous System + Pollination and Reproduction
Finally, in Myco-Networks and the Nervous System, we dive into one of the most fascinating connections of this series, the threads between the invisible tangles of mycelium and the similarly intricate designs of the human nervous system. Then, in A World of Fertility, we match up the near-miraculous facts of pollination with the mysteries of human reproduction, linking the two in a fitting finale.
Let’s get started on this journey through permaculture-meets-herbalism!
