NETTLE PLANT MEDICINE LAB
Tuesday April 7, 6-8pm
Join Vanessa and Sharon for this monthly drop-in series to expand and deepen your knowledge of plant medicine! This class is a fun 2 hour introduction to various plants with a focus on practical application and relationship-building. Each class features a 45 minute lecture which may include a combination of history, folklore, physiological actions, and energetics; as well as some medicinal, esoteric, and culinary uses. After the lecture we’ll make something you can take home, and we’ll end the class with a relaxing guided meditation to complete the experience!
Also, for the remainder of the month, you’ll have access to Teachable, where we’ll post all lecture material and class recordings, a list of books and resources we use and recommend, and a Western and Ayurvedic glossary of terminology, properties, and constituents.
Each 2hr class will include some combination of these cross cultural comparisons:
Culinary Uses
This month we’ll make nettle pesto, so remember to bring a 2 ounce jar!
10% of all proceeds are donated to Liberation Medicine School, a POC and Queer led movement around liberatory practices of decolonizing ourselves and society.
OUR PHILOSOPHY:
The art of making medicine from the land originates with indigenous knowledge systems across the globe, accessible to members of their respective communities. Now, in a capitalist healthcare system, our treatments are inaccessible to most and focus on the symptom rather than the source, leading to "prescriptions" to enhance our “performance”. In resistance to this, a movement has been growing to reclaim and relearn ancestral wisdom and reconnect with the parts of ourselves that long to be recognized as a whole.
Because of the impact of colonialism and capitalism, it isn’t easy to learn where we come from and what our medicines are. Unless we have an ancestor or live in a community that carried forward the traditions of our heritage, we often turn to cultural methods which appeal to us because of their visible, living ways of connecting to spirit and land. It’s clear we’re seeking an authentic connection to ourselves, our community, and medicine.
We believe returning to our respective traditions for healing is an act of anti-capitalist political resistance. We reject exploitative and appropriative practices, opting instead to share and redistribute what we’ve learned from our respective traditions to nurture our community. This class was born out of a sincere desire to combine self care with community care, and good practices of rebuilding a reciprocal relationship to the land and each other.
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Class size: 12-14
This class is held within a loving container of resilience, sovereignty, body positivity, compassion and inclusivity. All are welcome.
If you feel called please bring a small biodegradable offering (flowers, herbs, chocolate, etc) for our community altar (more about that here https://www.madronahouseapothecary.com/community.html).
Floor cushions and chairs are provided. Please dress comfortably and bring anything you might need to feel comfortable during our time together.
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Cost: Sliding Scale $20-$40
We believe this work is important and should be accessible to all. Sliding scale is available with priority given, in order, to BIPOC, those who have limited ability/disabilities, those who are chronically ill and/or those who are living at or below the poverty line.
One sponsored spot is open each month for individuals who identify as BIPOC.
Pay it forward option: sponsor or co-sponsor someone otherwise unable to attend. Please reach out if you'd like to apply for sponsorship.
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About your hosts:
Sharon Arnold (she/they)
Sharon (she/they) Sharon is a queer independent scholar, writer, and educator working in arts, activism, politics, and cultural histories. Their areas of interest are in philosophy, divination, journeying, ritual, and connection to a meaningful ancestral practice in reciprocity and relationship with the land. They approach this work through the examination of capitalist systems, community ecosystems, unsettling settler colonialism, and building solidarity networks to support new paths forward. Descended from multiple Northern European-American lineages, they identify themselves as a person working within syncretic folk traditions, primarily rooted in the study of Irish and American traditions and folklore. In addition to teaching at Madrona House, they teach ethics and practices of exhibition-making in the visual art department at Cornish College of the Arts.
Vanessa Ainslie (she/her), LMT, CLC, CST, AWC
Vanessa is a healing arts practitioner and educator offering 13 years of experience working through a trauma informed lens. In her private practice, she offers somatic bodywork, personal ritual, energetic + spiritual healing. This soul tending work focuses on exploring early wounding as a means of re-mything limiting self beliefs to establish good boundaries, energetic hygiene and sovereignty. As an educator she offers practitioner training, plant medicine learning labs, ancestral reconnection, and grief processing.
While Vanessa is a descendant of many mixed lineages including Sephardi and Askenazi Jew of Middle Eastern, Mediteranean and Baltic regions, she is also a 4th generation immigrant from Greece. Her practice is rooted in exploring and reclaiming the ancient traditions of her Greek heritage in right relationship to the Spirits of this land and its Ancestors.
As Founder of Madrona House Apothecary, Vanessa strives to collaborate an intentional, accessible, and inclusive space for healing and education, prioritizing the need for both self-care and community-care as tools for a resilient, liberated, well and bright community.
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This class will be held at Madrona House Apothecary + Healing Arts
1423 34th ave unit c seattle wa 98122
Look for the red cow restaurant and take the concrete stairs to the immediate left. Come up the wood porch to the right and through the glass door that says Unit C! Street parking is abundant in the neighborhood.
Accessibility Info:We have an up sloping driveway with 5 concrete stairs that lead to a wood porch with 3 more stairs.
Due to the nature of being an Apothecary we are not a scent free environment. We do, however, strive to keep our space free of any synthetic fragrances and APPRECIATE YOUR ABSTAINING FROM WEARING ANY SCENTED BODY PRODUCTS.
*Please note:
Due to the increasing demand for our events registrations are non-refundable and are non-transferable to another event.
Studio doors lock promptly at the start of all events to protect the privacy + belongings of students, as well as to promote sanctity of space once an event has started.