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Herbs for Stress, Strife, and Strain with jim mcdonald

  • Goodale Shelterhouse 120 West Goodale Street Columbus, OH, 43215 United States (map)

Tickets available through EVENTBRITE or by MAIL. 

If you are purchasing tickets online, there is a service fee attached to the workshop ticket price. If you would like to reserve your place by mail you can send a check payable to Sovereignty Herbs, LLC along with your name, contact phone AND email address, and workshop title to:

Sovereignty Herbs, LLC, 7247 N. Coolville Ridge Rd., Athens, OH 45701

About the Workshop:

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Stress is likely the single largest contributor to illness, depleting our bodies of the energy needed to maintain health, fight off infection, and keep us happy & smiling. All to many of us feel like we're swimming upstream or in a constant state of fight or flight, even if we're just standing in our kitchen. Fortunately, there are a myriad assortment of herbs known not only known to offer a calming influence, but which act in a restorative manner upon the nervous system as well.

Join herbalist jim mcdonald in a discussion of the herbs and behaviors that will support us through times of stress and strain, whether it be due to acute trauma or just trying to keep up with the unsustainable pace of life that surrounds us. Special attention will be given to differentiating between the herbs that are best used for an immediate short term effect and those that help to nourish and strengthen the body's core vitality over the long haul. The role of the adrenals, the "fight or flight response", and the importance of breathwork and other supportive therapies are also discussed.

Doors to the venue open at 9am. The workshop begins promptly at 10:00am and continues until 4:30pm with a 30 minute lunch break at the presenter's discretion. There are ample food locations adjacent to the venue (see below). However, due to time constraints we highly recommend bringing your lunch with you.

About jim mcdonald

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"My approach to the use of herbs blends a folk and indigenous perspective of herbcraft with the eclectic/physiomedical approaches of 19th century American herbalism. I also just pretty much do what makes sense to me. I use (and teach about) mostly local plants I know and trust, though I certainly enjoy a draught of Kava and don’t begrudge a plant just cause it doesn’t happen to live close by. I place utmost importance in ethical wildcrafting to ensure that the plants I use continue to thrive in their natural habitats, and in creating unique, personalized formulas for the people I work with...

I feel the most important offering I can make to the herbs that have taught me so much is for me to teach others to make relationship with the plants that grow around them and receive their own teachings. It is my deepest passion to encourage people to understand the herbs that they share this land with, and to integrate that relationship into every aspect of their lives. That connection, I believe, is what makes for a good herbalist.

My classes, if I do say so myself, are very good. They cover identification, medicinal uses, herbal properties, ethics, history, folklore, preparation, and generally include a plethora (a lot) of handouts, thoroughly explaining the information and ideas covered in classes. They're also taught in a manner that makes sense, using stories, humor, examples, and analogies to make important herbal concepts clear and relatable; something you nod your head to, rather than furious scribble down to figure out later. Questions make my day."

About the Venue: Goodale Shelterhouse

Goodale Shelterhouse is located in the heart of Columbus, OH owned and operated by Columbus Recreation and Parks department. It lives adjacent to the lovely Goodale Park, a thriving green space in downtown Columbus and within walking distance of the infamous 'Short North' and a wide variety of restaurants. There is ample free parking onsite.

For those of you traveling from outside of Columbus area who are looking for overnight accommodations Goodale Shelterhouse is a short driving distance from a variety of hotels. CLICK HERE for available options.

About your host: Sovereignty Herbs

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Located in the gorgeous foothills of Athens County, Ohio, Sovereignty Herbs is SE Ohio's center for wellness education and herbal consultations. Owned by Erika Galentin, clinical herbalist, and Brooke Sackenheim, we operate our clinical space, apothecary, and business home base from the property of Companion Plants, a retail greenhouse dedicated to medicinal, culinary, and ceremonial herbs. Our motto at Sovereignty Herbs is 'Empowering People with Plants'. We believe that wellness is more than the absence of ill-health, it is a personal journey and state-of-mind that must be cultivated from within. We offer herbal consultations, workshops, and other education services across Ohio and beyond to support, guide and empower your practice of herbal self-care.

Thanks for joining us for this fantastic opportunity! See you there!