Lavender Distillation, Basket Making & Foraging Wild Plants

In 2012, I volunteered at Kripalu for 8 months as a gardener, landscaper, and dishwasher. It was one of the most pivotal times in my life. I met kindred friends who I still keep in touch with nearly every day. After my time there, I felt inspired to follow this path as an herbalist, leading me to launch both Sweet Birch Herbals and Full Moon Ghee in 2014. It is a great honor to be invited back as a presenter 14 years later. Kripalu creates a vessel for catalyzing life adjustments that align more fully with our souls desires, hope to see you there!

I will be presenting at this immersive weekend at Kripalu in Stockbridge, MA on Saturday, July 11th. Sign up for the whole retreat devoted to remembering your relationship with the natural world and experiencing the five great elements—earth, water, fire, air, and space—as profound sources of healing. Through hands-on experiences, contemplative practices, and embodied learning, you’ll reconnect with the living landscape around you and bring this wisdom back to your families, communities, students, and clients. Learn more about "The Land Is Medicine" retreat here.

This is an immersive weekend devoted to remembering your relationship with the natural world and experiencing the five great elements—earth, water, fire, air, and space—as profound sources of healing. Through hands-on experiences, contemplative practices, and embodied learning, you’ll reconnect with the living landscape around you and bring this wisdom back to your families, communities, students, and clients.

Connection to Land and the Five Great Elements as Medicine

Reconnecting with the Healing Intelligence of Nature

In this portion of the program, you will experience:

• The Kripalu method of Mindful Outdoor Experience

• Outdoor sit spots, water meditation, and nature connection practices

• Gathering and making medicine bundles to bring home

• Night sky gazing

• Relating to the five great elements as medicines and powerful healers and enlivening the five sense organs

• Establishing a nature-based meditation practice for self and others

Lavender Distillation and Foraging Wild Plants with Hannah Morano

Honoring the Dance of Fire and Water During Summer’s Peak

Awaken and soothe your senses as we distill lavender flowers in a copper alembic still—an ancient alchemical practice that brings the elements of fire and water into harmony. As summer reaches its height and pitta energy surges, lavender’s cooling qualities offer medicinal balance. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll embody the wisdom of the plants, explore their elemental nature, and connect deeply with the land.

You will:

• Identify wild edible and medicinal plants.

• Forage berries and plants from the land.

• Immerse in the calming, cooling properties of lavender.

• Experience a guided meditation with the spirit of lavender.

• Explore the water element in the fullness of summer.

• Learn the distillation process from fresh plant material to essential oil and hydrosol.

• Learn from a local herbalist through experiential, land-based teaching.

Traditional Basket Making with Katie Hagel

Weaving Connection Through Natural Materials

In this portion of the program, you will:

• Weave a small, functional berry basket: Ideal for foraging berries, nuts, and mushrooms.

• Learn an ancestral skill: Our earth-based ancestors needed to know how to make baskets to gather nature's bounty. Today, many indigenous cultures around the world still maintain rich traditions of wild basketry.

• Share in community around the fire: Experience the simple pleasure of weaving baskets together in a relaxed, outdoor setting.

• Make it, then use it: Experience the joy of gathering wild-foraged nuts, berries, and mushrooms in a basket woven with your own hands. 

NOTE: This program is approved for 14 NAMA PACE (Professional Ayurveda Continuing Education) credits.

Hannah Morano founded Sweet Birch Herbals, LLC in 2014. She is a holistic health coach and community herbalist devoted to providing the region with high-quality plant-based medicines that are locally grown and sustainably wildcrafted to ensure abundance for future generations. Hannah approaches her work with compassion and an open heart as she serves a wide range of clients and customers. She grows over 50 herbs on her farm in Ashfield, MA. Check out her natural product line, visit her farm store and learn more about Hannah’s services at www.sweetbirchherbals.com or contact sweetbirchherbals@gmail.com.