Our 2020 Herbstalk Teaching Team
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Aja Atwood
<< Trella Technologies >> Classes: Women's Sacred Ayahuasca Journeys: A Panel Discussion AND Cannabis and Sustainability Aja is an entrepreneur, team-leader, and cannabis advocate with over 15 years of experience in the engineering industry. She is a mechanical engineer by education and graduated cum laude from Northeastern University. She cut her teeth professionally as an engineering consultant and specialist, working in natural catastrophe risk engineering, and by 2011 started her first entrepreneurial businesses. Aja’s business ethos is rooted in the belief that success comes from creating innovative technologies that can be shared with communities that need them the most. Aja is the CEO and Co-Founder of Trella Technologies, LLC. She lives in Cape Cod, MA, where she advocates for sensible cannabis regulation in the region. 
Alana Russell
<< Starfield Energies >> Class: Restorative Yoga Infused with the Healing Energies of Lavender and Reiki Alana has always found yoga and meditation to be a profound way to ground and feel at peace in the mind, body, and soul. As an elementary school teacher, Reiki healer, and tarot reader she feels yoga and magical practices help her maintain a healthy physical and mental state of being, and are powerful ways to radiate positive energy outward to her community. 
Amanda Stanley
<< Jupiter's Labyrinth >> Class: Planting Seeds Of Intention: Mind, Body & Spirit A passionate herbalist who teaches empowered health & healing with a focus on individualized care, Amanda has been studying & practicing integrative herbalism & Reiki for over 14 years. Combining a broad spectrum of practices, Amanda includes Ayurveda, astrology, traditional herbal medicine, Reiki & yoga to create a unique tool-box for each person she works with. Amanda not only provides lifelong tools, but also the support needed to have a happier, healthier life ~ mind, body and spirit. A lover of art, Amanda also creates herbal pottery & real plant filled resin jewelry as another way to invite & imbue the spirit of healing plants into people’s lives. A Taurus sun sign, a lover of all things food, nature and comfort, when Amanda’s not on her yoga mat, seeing clients or teaching, you’ll find her in the woods scouting for wild medicinals, in her own gardens harvesting herbs, or at the local tea shop sipping on Kashmiri chai with her husband. Amanda offers 1 on 1 wellness programs, Restorative Reiki packages, herbal medicine making courses & Reiki attunement certifications throughout the year, online and in person around the NH Seacoast. 
Anna Cohen
<< Herbalist Uprising >> Class: Flirting with Lavender Anna Booth Cohen has been studying herbalism for the past 8 years, completing a three year apprenticeship at the Gaia School in Putney, VT, an advanced program at the Boston School of Herbal Studies, and a year-long apprenticeship at the Ohlone Center in Berkeley, CA. She offers individual herbal consults and herbal education, including classes, workshops, and programs. Anna has dedicated herself to the service of all beings through strengthening the connection between humans and plants and promoting wellness. 
Benoit Azagoh-Kouadio
<< Boston Entheogenic Network >> << Round the Bend Farm >> Class: Mushroom Medicine, Spirituality and Mental Health Benoit Azagoh-Kouadio is a perennial student and cultivator of herbal medicine. He lives, works and educates at Round the Bend Farm, a holistic small farm and sustainable education center in South Dartmouth, MA. He has been an advocate for psychedelic medicine for 13 years and is currently a member, organizer and educator with the Boston Entheogenic Network where he focuses on public advocacy and engagement, education and harm reduction. He is interested in the intersection of psychedelics with herbal medicine, equitable access to mental healthcare and changes in ecological awareness. 
Brittany Nickerson
<< Thyme Herbals>> Class: Celtic Festivals Brittany Wood Nickerson is an herbalist, author, health educator, and cook. She combines knowledge of nutrition and a passion for using food as medicine with her training in Western, Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine. Her approach emphasizes personal empowerment, holistic self-care, and intentional living. Brittany is the founder and primary instructor of Thyme Herbal in Conway, MA, where she teaches a two-year herbal program, as well as courses in earth-based ritual and lifeways. She teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is the organizer of the Northampton/Amherst Herbal Meet-up group. Brittany is a passionate teacher and an inspirational speaker, presenting at conferences and for programs throughout the country. She is the author of Recipes from the Herbalist’s Kitchen, The Herbal Homestead Journal, Sacred & Mysterious, Cooking for Winter Health Wellness, and Spring Cleaning, as well as a series of herbal educational posters made in collaboration with artist and illustrator Chelsea Granger. 
Caitlin Moakley
<< Soil and Spirit >> Class: Women's Sacred Ayahuasca Journeys: A Panel Discussion Hailing from South Boston, MA, Caitlin Moakley is a plant medicine advocate, floral and fungal foodie and champion of conscious ingredients in personal care. Caitlin is the owner and operator of Soil and Spirit, an independent consultancy focusing on collaborating and creating with small businesses in the natural products industry and cannabis and psychedelic communities. When Caitlin isn't thinking outside of the box with her clients, she's orchestrating quite the cacophony in the kitchen with her weapon of choice: the S-Blade or browsing through her many books in her home resource library. Caitlin is thrilled to be teaching at Herbstalk this year, and can't wait to learn with you! 
Christine Terramane
<< Medway Community Farm >> Class: Meeting Plant Allies: Where to Go, Who to Talk to, and How to Connect Christine is the greenhouse manager and flower and herb farmer for Medway Community Farm in Medway, MA. She grew her first medicinal herbs in a community garden plot in 2012, and has broadened her understanding of herbs and their uses ever since. 
Elise Bish
<< Elise Bish >> Class: Flirting with Lavender Elise Bish is a conscious sexuality educator, folk herbalist, family constellations facilitator, and desire coach. She believes that sex is sacred, pleasure is healing, and desire is our motivation to grow. Elise has over a decade of experience in the field of sexuality and has supported hundreds of people in cultivating an inspired relationship to their desire. In her 1:1 coaching, workshops, and retreats, she holds sacred space where people of all genders can explore and heal their relationship to their desire and sexuality in a shame-free, non-judgmental environment. Elizabeth Golden
<< Golden Hour >> Class: Gemini Plant Walk: Living With the Cycles of Plants and Stars Elizabeth Golden makes up one half of Golden Hour with her wife Katie Golden. Their combined studies have spanned herbal medicine, ritual facilitation, poetry, and art. Their goal is to foster community and transformation through plant and star magic. 
Erika Shoukimas
<< Spirit Wise Herbs >> Class: Herbs & Magic for Childbirth Erika is an Herbalist, Natural Childbirth Educator, Lactation Counselor, Master Reiki Practitioner / Teacher, and LPN. She loves gardening and making spirit medicine. She crafts Moon Flower Essences for deep emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical healing that aid in illuminating the soul's journey. Her mission is to help connect the mother (earth) to her children through the wisdom of the plants. 
Estefani Vidal
Class: Women's Sacred Ayahuasca Journeys: A Panel Discussion Living wall designer Estefani Vidal (@v.i.d.a.l.e) received Cosmic Sister’s immersive Plant Spirit Grant in 2018 to experience ayahuasca ceremonies and serve as interpreter at Temple of The Way of Light in the Peruvian Amazon. Estefani is experiencing a spiritual awakening after reconnecting with her ancestors and learning to self-nurture in the medicine space. She has traveled to Italy, Germany, Spain, Peru, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Thailand, exploring how cultures express creatively through food, especially spices. Estefani traveled to her mother’s native country, the Dominican Republic, to search for her roots and study permaculture at Taino Organic Farm, a permaculture-inspired agro-tourism education center just outside the surf town of Cabarete. She was hired by Taino to work as community outreach coordinator and started a popular interactive learning program teaching local kids English. Estefani grew up in New York City, the middle child between two brothers, with a single mother who owned a salon and spa. Her maternal great-grandmother moved from Spain to the Dominican Republic, where she was a healer and partera (midwife) who would go into the jungle to consult the plants. Estefani inherited her passion for plants and has seen plant auras, which she says “blew my mind and changed my relationship to nature.” She believes nature is the greatest teacher and the most important thing she can do is “empower others—by example—to turn to nature for healing and restoration, not just for us but for the planet we call home.” 
Felix Lufkin
Help Yourself! Class: Meet Your Neighbors Plant Walk Felix lives in the Connecticut River valley of Western MA, and works with folks of all ages teaching nature connection and wild plant literacy classes. He also works with Help Yourself, a non-profit that designs, plants and maintains community access gardens and orchards in the Valley, free for all to harvest from. 
Gabrielle Jansen
<< Witch Mountain Herbal >> Class: Reclaiming Menstruation Gabrielle Jansen BNat is an Australian Herbalist and Fertility Educator out of Rockland, Maine. Gabrielles practice combines her clinical training with a deep desire to reconnect to cyclical ways of being. She offers classes, consultations and informative blog posts on herbalism, fertility education and cyclical wisdom at Witch Mountain Herbal. 
Grace Chang
<< icultureculture >> Class: Ancient to Modern Craft: The Tradition of Fermented Beverages With her pastry, culinary and architecture background, Grace Chang strives to use the totality of her experience to create delectable fermented foods and beverages and solid sustainable design. She hopes to be fermenting from various cultures with her startup Culture Culture and she'll show you some kits and products after the workshop, so stick around... 
Hannah Jacobson-Hardy
<< Sweet Birch Herbals>> Class: Ghee: The Local Oil of New England that Repairs the Gut & Calms the Mind Hannah Jacobson-Hardy is a community herbalist and founder of Full Moon Ghee and Sweet Birch Herbals in Ashfield, MA. Hannah offers herbal consultations, custom made formulas and teas, workshops, and a wide variety of products for sale, including Full Moon Ghee at the Farmer’s Market in Northampton. Learn more about where to find ghee at fullmoonghee.com or contact [email protected] 
Heather Irvine
<< Giving Tree Botanicals >> << Herbal Academy >> Class: Adaptogens, Nervines, Nootropics Heather Irvine is a clinical herbalist, educator, and the herbalist spokesperson and organizer for the Herbal Academy’s educational outreach programs. Heather began her education through her studies at Cornell University, graduating with a degree in the sciences. She then continued building on her academic background with studies at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine and later pursued clinical herbalism through the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism (VCIH). She worked with VCIH as their Medicinal Actions & Chemistry instructor for three years until she relocated to Boston. Heather now works with Herbal Academy’s team of herbalists on course development and delivering thoughtful approaches to complex topics in herbalism. She enjoys teaching and bringing in important voices in herbalism, which she does whether she’s participating at an event or conference, in the Herbal Academy’s online community, or in a variety of multimedia resources. 
Holly Rowley
<< Riverwoman Ministries >> Class: Herbal Smoke Clearing Holly Rowley is an Interfaith minister, ordained through One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in 2011. A Shamanic Reiki Master Practitioner through Shamanic Reiki Worldwide. She has been using herbs in her energy work practice and public ministry since 2012. She has studied at Boston School of Herbal Studies. 
Iris Weaver
<< Soul Gardens >> Class: House Plants for Urban Dwellers Iris Weaver, M.A., is a Shamanic Herbalist and Foraging Instructor who teaches classes on connecting with the spirit and energy of plants in order to have your own direct connection with your helping plants. She leads plant walks on finding and using edible and medicinal plants in urban, suburban, and rural settings, as well as workshops on making natural herbal skincare and herbal medicines, and how to use them. She is a co-founder of the North Shore Herbal Network, a community of herbalists and enthusiasts exploring the many aspects of plants on the North Shore of Boston. 
Janet Kessenich
<< Spiral Energies >> Class: "Tuning In" Through Sound Healing Janet Kessenich, M.M. leads thoughtful, interactive workshops and retreats that connect participants with what brings meaning, purpose, satisfaction and empowerment into their lives. A holistic sound and energy healer, Janet uses the essence of music – calibrated vibration – with clients and workshop participants to in a sense, tune them to their most aligned way of being. She is the author of Music Lessons for the Spirit, a collection of essays drawn from the spiritual/life lessons she learned as a pianist. 
Jay Wolkoff
<< Integrative Nutrition Solutions >> Class: Promoting Optimal Oral Health: A Natural Approach Jay Wolkoff, MS, CNS, CDN, is a nutritionist specializing in integrative and functional medicine. He graduated summa cum laude with a master’s of science degree in human nutrition from the University of Bridgeport and holds a bachelors of science in nutrition/dietetics from the University of New Haven. A course on herbal therapeutics towards the end of his graduate studies sparked an interest in herbal medicine that would eventually lead him to formal training at David Winston’s School for Herbal Medicine. He is also a passionate organic gardener, firmly committed to the principles of regenerative agriculture, and major advocate for the inclusion of mind-body therapies for the treatment of functional nutrition interventions. 
Jenn Pipp
<< Jenn Pipp, Ceremonial Media Artist >> Class: Lavender Moon Media Ceremony: Reclaiming Our Collective Dreamspace Jenn Pipp is passionate about creative transformation. They earned a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts in 2001 and a Energy Medicine certificate from the Four Winds Society in 2011. While professionally supporting film, animation and photography programs at the college level they have exhibited their art work and performed community ceremonies. Their MFA in Media art from Emerson College is focused on the study of the intersection of spirituality and media.You can view their current media ceremonies on their YouTube channel called Jenn Pipp https://www.youtube.com/jennpipp/. 
Joye Williams
<< Joyefully Natural >> Class: Journey to Self Care Joye is the founder of JoyefullyNatural, where we make handcrafted organic herbal remedies and use our products and knowledge to share insight on wellness, self care and the journey toward transitioning to using natural products in your very day. Joyefully Natural also serves a tool and advocate for environmental protection with our growing zero waste initiative, and collaboration in other industries such as food and retail, and agriculture that share similar goals and models, spiritual wellness, with our products made to order in small batches in ritually cleansed spaces, and the garden to table aspects with organic, homegrown herbs included in our remedies. JoyefullyNatural also holds one on one connections to provide custom herbal remedies to meet an individuals needs. 
Julia Moore
<< Moonbeam Steams >> Class: Women's Sacred Ayahuasca Journeys: A Panel Discussion Julia Moore received Cosmic Sister’s Plant Spirit Grant to experience traditional Shipibo ayahuasca ceremonies at Nihue Rao in the Peruvian Amazon in 2015. While in Peru, she worked on reclaiming her roots as a “sister of the earth” and tuned in with her ancestral roots. She comes from a long maternal line of healers and midwives in the Philippines but says many of her people’s traditions have been “erased and destroyed by colonization, militarization, and imperialism.” Julia’s ayahuasca experience inspired her to start her organic flower farm, Laughing Moon Farm, selling fresh-cut flowers and handmade flower crafts such as crowns and wreaths. She also gave birth to a delightful baby boy. Julia works as a Certified Vaginal Steam Practitioner at Steamy Chick (@steamychick), supporting women with specific menstrual issues and imbalances and those who “want to try something new and non-invasive instead of pharmaceuticals or surgery—which have their place.” She is also a postpartum doula and steams clients to aid in recovery. Julia is passionate about creating stronger community food systems, women’s rights, textiles, and body movement healing systems. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Sustainable Food and Farming from University of Massachusetts-Amherst and has been featured in LA Yoga and Boston Yoga. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her partner and son. |
Kate Laurel
<< Laurel Tree Healing Arts >> Class: Restorative Yoga Infused with the Healing Energies of Lavender and Reiki As a Reiki healer, tarot reader, and folk herbalist, Kate uses her holistic and magical training to tap into the mind and body’s intuitive knowledge, working with others on their path to healing. 
Katja Swift & Ryn Midura
<< The CommonWealth Center for Holistic Herbalism>> Class: Katja & Ryn are a wife-and-husband team who founded the CommonWealth Center for Holistic Herbalism in 2010. They offer online and in-person instruction in foundational, advanced, and clinical herbalism, as well as holistic business building, movement skills, and wilderness first aid. Learn more and take a free mini-course at commonwealthherbs.com! 
Laura Chávez Silverman
<< The Outside Institute >> Class: Greta or Bust: What Kind of Activist Are You? Laura Silverman is the founding naturalist of The Outside Institute, which fosters connection to the healing and transformative powers of nature. By nurturing humanity’s innate affinity for the wild, we hope to inspire joyful awareness and an essential reciprocity between all beings. Our year-round program includes guided nature walks, forest immersion, sustainable foraging education, wildcrafting workshops and botanical mixology. 
Leila Bihksk Gutierrez
<< Jaia Devi >> Class: Third Eye Activation Jaïa Devi is a global citizen. Indigenous to North Africa, she was born in Colombia, raised in Morocco, she has then bloomed in Canada and more recently in the United States of America. She carried on her studies of the healing arts, earth based spirituality and mental health. She is an experienced yoga teacher, addiction counselor, Usui Reiki master, herbalist and the list goes on. Jaïa bridges her understanding of the mind, body & soul connection in her practice through a non dogmatic and accessible approach. Deeply rooted in trauma theory, Jaïa Devi cultivates an authentic and non-competitive space for growth. Her classes are an invitation to slow down, explore your inner perceptions as you reconnect to your truth. They are meant to be accessible to a wide range of people and easy to practice! 
Linda Patterson
<< The Eclectic Institute of Aromatherapy and Herbal Studies >> Class: Lavender Essential Oil Linda Patterson, M.A. founder and director of the Eclectic Institute of Aromatherapy and Herbal Studies has over thirty years of experience working with herbs and essential oils. Her love for plants inspired her to complete an education in the sciences at Smith College to better understand plants, their functions, and the challenges they now face in their ever-changing environments. This love has led her to become a Master Gardener as well as a Flower Essences Practitioner, and her passion for the healing arts inspired her to become a Reiki Practitioner and Reflexologist. Being a food activist has guided her on a path of health through nutrition, the primary source of energy, longevity and vitality. Linda teaches internationally as well as throughout the New England area. Her dynamic style of teaching encompasses a wide variety of healing modalities, which embrace a holistic approach to health and well-being. 
Lindsay Chimileski, ND LAc RH(AHG)
<< Hawthorn Holistic Health >> Class: New Research on Ancient Mushrooms Lindsay Chimileski is a naturopathic physician, acupuncturist, registered herbalist, professor, naturalist, lifestyle coach, writer and public speaker. She is an advocate for natural medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, nutrition, botanical medicine, and the appreciation of nature. After a few years working with mentors, Dr. Chimileski opened her practice, Hawthorn Holistic Health, in 2017 with classmate Matthew Robinson. She completed her Naturopathic Doctorate and Masters of Acupuncture at the University of Bridgeport. Prior to that, she studied Human Development and Family Studies at The University of Connecticut. Through professional seminars and self-study, she has become an expert in local plant identification and continues to explore more in the world of mushrooms. She works closely with one of her mentors, Dr. Eugene Zampieron- leading excursions through Jamaican jungle, identifying and studying the plant medicines and ethnobotany with the locals. She is an adjunct faculty member, redesigning the botanical medicine curriculum and teaching advanced nutrition courses at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. She lectures locally as well. In her spare time, she enjoys nature, greenhouses, hiking, and practicing yoga. 
Lisa Estabrook
<< Soulflower >> Class: A Soulflower Journey with Lavender Artist, mother, wayshower and healer in service to Mother Earth, Lisa Estabook plays with the Plant Spirits as a way to remember, embody, heal and restore Divine Feminine Consciousness in herself and to empower other women to do the same. Through the use of her Oracle Deck, Intention Setting Tattoos, Intentional Art, Guide Book and Daily Practice Journal she’s able to journey with the Plant Spirits through each moon cycle supporting women with her bi-monthly blog, in her Online Garden Tenders Community and more in depth within her Soulflower Sanctuary Mentorship. She believes the Earth’s rhythms and Moon’s cycles graciously show us that personal growth is only possible with the willingness and openness to examine our stories and beliefs, to use them as fertilizer for our personal evolution and to have the courage to compost and let go of what is no longer aligned. One by one as we come home to ourselves we will help heal the Earth together. 
Madelon Hope
<< Boston School of Herbal Studies >> Class: Stress, Brain Health, Mood, and Memory Madelon Hope directs the Boston School of Herbal Studies where she teaches Herbal Apprenticeship programs, Advanced Training, and a variety of classes. A Clinical Herbalist for over twenty years and a Licensed Psychotherapist, she combines Western Herbalism with Chinese medicine and psychotherapy to assist healing on multiple levels. Her main focus is on stress, mood imbalances, fatigue, lowered immunity and sleeplessness. 
Margi Flint
<< Earthsong Herbals >> Class: Understanding the Upper Endocrine Glands Margi Flint owns and operates EarthSong Herbals, a busy family practice and clinic in Marblehead MA. She is a mongrel practitioner blending over 40 years of herbal practice with years of labor coaching and polarity therapy and art. Margi continues to teach Advanced Clinical Studies, is on the staff at Pacific Rim College in British Columbia and teaches nationally and internationally. The plants and people are her teachers. Margi confers with many local doctors concerning shared clients and runs a supervised Practitioners Circle monthly. She is the author of The Practicing Herbalist, meeting with clients reading the body 
Nicole Lebreux
<< Cosmic Earth Collective >> Class: Plant Medicine, Meditation, and Breath For Your Nervous System Nicole Lebreux is a community herbalist, yoga teacher, and meditation guide who lives and works in coastal Rhode Island on sovereign Wampanoag land. She specializes in teaching people how to deeply connect with their multidimensional selves and the living world within and around them through simple everyday techniques that are available to all. In her offerings there are no expectations and no judgments. Nicole holds space for you to strengthen your intuition, commune with the earth, and connect with Source Energy whatever that looks like and feels like for you. 
Nikki Paxton
<< Real Good Things >> Class: Microbiome: Synergy of human and Nature through a community Nikki Paxton lives on Cape Cod with her husband, 3 children, 2 dogs and 20 chickens where she can garden until her heart is full, forage for tiny wonders in the forest and then hit the beach. Nikki has carried a deep curiosity of plants since she was a young child, sowing seeds in her Gramma’s seemingly magical garden. This wonderment continued to grow as she earned certifications in herbalism, yoga and horticulture. These 3 facets are the guiding factors in her practice, mindfully weaving them together to create a balanced and unique approach. 
Nina Katz
<< Meridians of Health >> Class: Herbs on Acupoints Nina has a passion for helping people take control of their own health using readily available resources, such as plants and hands. She has been in private clinical practice in the Boston area since 1999. Like many other practitioners, Nina began by looking for solutions to her own health problems, and eventually found herself answering questions from family and friends. This led to more study with the plants as well as with books and people. 
Ray Lardie
<< Sovereign Birch Herbal >> Class: Travolechenie: Introduction to Russian Herbalism Ray Lardie is a Boston-based clinical herbalist and relentlessly optimistic realist who couldn’t stop learning if they tried. Dedicated to helping people learn to work with herbs and their bodies as partners, not enemies, Ray seeks to build resilience in individuals and communities. They work from Western and Russian herbal medicinal perspectives, tailoring their approach to fit whole-body, whole-life needs. A permaculturist and writer, Ray is ever on the lookout for the seeds of the hopepunk stories and futures we will nourish with one another in this era of climate change. 
Rebekah Sutter
<< Twin Star Tribe >> << Lua Nova >> Class: Herbal Allies for the Creative Spirit Rebekah Sutter is a blossoming community herbalist & artist residing in the rolling hills of Northwest Connecticut. She spends much of her time crafting remedies and sharing herbal wisdom as Apothecary Manager and Herbal Educator at Twin Star Community Apothecary and Herbal Education, located in New Milford, CT. Bekah's passion lies in combining the healing physical, energetic & plant spirit magic of the herbal world with the creating of beautiful hand-crafted artwork and herbal remedies, and channels her creative spirit through Lua Nova Herbals. 
Sabrina Pilet-Jones
<< Sabrina's Garden >> Class: Women's Sacred Ayahuasca Journeys: A Panel Discussion Sabrina Pilet-Jones received Cosmic Sister’s immersive Plant Spirit Grant in 2018 to experience ayahuasca ceremonies at Temple of The Way of Light in the Peruvian Amazon, which inspired her to found Sabrina’s Garden, a popup flower shop offering floral arrangements, seedlings, botanical products, “Witchy Wares" and workshops. Sabrina was recently featured in Sensi magazine’s “Saving the World One Trip at a Time” (cover story, Boston). Sabrina began practicing Wicca at age nine and has explored spirituaI/magical studies, including hoodoo and shamanism, throughout her life to reconnect with her New Orleans Vodun ancestral Lineage. Studying African American spirituality and ancestral universal laws of living in harmony with Dr. Nteri Nelson empowered Sabrina to continue her own personal spiritual exploration and help others heal. Sabrina is a recipient of Cosmic Sister’s Emerging Voices Award, a Women of the Psychedelic Renaissance grant for writing, and Cosmic Sisters of Cannabis grant for photography. Sabrina is also assistant farm manager for the Urban Farming Institute (@ufiboston). 
Santalena Yakubowski-Groves
<< Heart Grown Wild >> Class: Calling Each Other In: Looking at What Takes Up Space in Herbal Medicine Santalena is the Creator and founder of Heart Grown Wild, an organic, plant-based skincare company created to help foster an intrinsic connection to nature and the body through the beauty and art of self-care rituals. Santalena crafts hydrosols, face toners, body oils, honey masks, serums, steams and bath soaks. Santalena’s dynamic background of mental health social work and a love for plants, nature and alternative modalities helped to formulate her herbal skincare products. It is her hope that each bottle act as a portal, bringing the beauty + connection of the natural world into your skin. She hopes to inspire an element of ritual into our daily skincare routines with each product she creates. 
Sophia Avramides
<< Avraveda >> Class: Planetary Medicine Sophia is the founder of Avraveda, a company with the intention to help others navigate the best way to take care of their vessels. She is a NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor and Reiki Practitioner with an educational background in Health Psychology. She strives to bring together ancient philosophy with the modern day world in a way that is insightful. A student of the cosmos, Sophia often seeks new perspectives to evolve understanding healing the body, and actively integrates these studies into her teachings and offerings. Sophia resides in Southcoast Massachusetts. 
Su Cousineau
<< Taproot Healing >> Class: Spiritual Bathing with Herbs: Community and Self Healing Su Cousineau of Taproot Healing is a local shiatsu practitioner, herbalist and educator with a full-time private practice in Jamaica Plain. Su's a gardener, medicine maker, meditator and member of the LGBTQ community with pronouns: she, her, hers. Prior to doing healing work, Su was a children's art educator for 12 years in Jamaica Plain/Brookline and still loves to teach and share in community. 
Sudip Peterson
<< Waldorf School of Baltimore >> Class: Eurythmy for the First Time: For Adults Sudip Peterson received her B.A. in Psychology from Boston University College of Arts and Sciences. She studied at Eurythmy Spring Valley in NY and graduated in 2016 with her artistic and pedagogical diplomas. She earned her therapeutic diploma from Therapeutic Eurythmy Training in America, in Copake NY, in 2019. Before discovering eurythmy she pursued life as a painter and muralist. Sudip enjoys Tai Chi, running, poetry, the fragrance of beautiful living flowers and music from all over the world. 
Tarsha Stacke
<< Granola Simply >> Class: Chi Kung As a certified K-12 teacher Tarsha has has taught for the Boston Public School System, the Boston Center for Adult Education, and the Waldorf High School. She holds an MS Ed for Young Children with Special Needs. Currently she teaches at the Cambridge Senior Center. Tarsha is trained in Tai Chi yang style long form by Arthur Goodridge. She has written and published articles for the World Tribune and Somerville Journal. 
Tom Groves
<< Heart Grown Wild>> Class: Cannabis Cultivation Made Easy Tom Groves is a botanist for Long View Forest as well as co-owner of Heart Grown Wild. Tom lives in Vermont with his partner Santalena and dog Cici and spends most of his time growing plants, seed collecting, researching and working in the native habitats of New England. 
Veronica Light
<< Spirit Wise Herbs >> Class: Making Herbal Liqueurs for Medicine and Celebration OR Wheel of the Year Veronica Light is a practicing herbalist and herbal teacher here in NH and has been growing in herbs and knowledge this way for over 12 years. She is a co-owner and creator in Spirit Wise Herbs with her partner Erika Shoukimas. She brings passion, spirit and relatability to her classes which are truly for all. 
Vicki Sargsyan
<< Herb Queendom >> Class: Herbal Aphrodisiacs Originally from Armenia, Vicki has been a Boston local for most of her life. She has studied traditional Western herbalism and Ayurvedic practices for several years, deepening her knowledge of the plant world with herbal teachers such as Brittany Wood Nickerson, Heather Irvine and Steph Zabel. She also works as the Assistant Manager + Bulk Herbs Lead at Cambridge Naturals, where she helps connect people with herbs every day. Vicki's mission in teaching is to be a voice for the plants, and to share their healing with as many people as possible. She wants to inspire her students in creating their own herbal experiences, and to have fun while doing it! 
Zoe Helene
<< Cosmic Sister >> Class: Psychedelic Feminism: Mother Earth's Co-Evolutionary Allies AND Women's Sacred Ayahuasca Journeys: A Panel Discussion Zoe Helene is an artist, environmentalist, and cultural activist best known for women's empowerment through sacred plants such as cannabis, ayahuasca, peyote, and psilocybin mushrooms—our co-evolutionary allies—through Psychedelic Feminism, a term she coined and popularized. Zoe's work with sacred plants deepens her determination to help protect the earth’s diverse biological abundance. She believes creating a true balance of power across the gender spectrum—globally—is the only way humans (and non-humans) will survive, and that it is our moral responsibility, as Earth’s apex predators, to protect and defend the rights of non-humans to live freely in thriving, uncompromised wilderness sanctuaries. She founded Cosmic Sister, an environmental feminist collective for progressives who understand that the grossly imbalanced “power-over” patriarchal model will continue to lead humans down a devolutionary path ending in the destruction of life on Earth as we know it. Cosmic Sister’s Psychedelic Feminism educational advocacy projects promote sacred plant spirit medicines as a way to jump-start rapid cultural evolution, starting with women. Zoe has been featured in Bust, Forbes, Sensi Magazine (cover story), BBC, VICE, Vice | Broadly, Vice | Tonic, LA Yoga, Playboy, Outside Magazine, New York Magazine, Boston Magazine, Psymposia, PRØHBTD, Psychedelic Times, Psychedelics Today, Organic Authority, The Journal for the Study of Radicalism a peer-reviewed academic journal, and many more. |