Learning with Simon
The herbal experience
“The qualities of medicines are considered in respect of humans, not of themselves”
Simon says: The quote above is attributed to Galen and sets the tone for this series of classes. They will focus on what herbs feel like as they work on us. Plant drugs affect us differently from other medicines. They also engage with us, so that they have different effects in different situations. There are centuries of human experience which has charted these interactions. We can learn from this to navigate our patient’s conditions, like seafarers navigate their world, and see our remedies become more powerful as a result.
I have a half-century of experience myself to offer. From the beginning I began to integrate my university physiology with immersions in the principles of Chinese medicine. This seemed much better at translating the science into experience. Then as much Galen as I could and later some Ayurveda. All this repeated over and over: it is not the symptoms but the patient’s story that matters most – stupid!
These classes are for practitioners and students who want to leaarn more about reading the body so that they can personalise their plant prescriptions to maximum benefit.
Professional webinars
These will be 90 minute live Zoom sessions including Q&A.
Titles planned so far include
- An integrated tongue diagnosis.
- When Galen came to tea, and what we shared about a new medical system!
- Pain as signpost not target: useful herbal approaches.
- The liver – for life! Our core herbal practice partner.
- Navigating the autoimmune landscape: a plant tracker’s guide.
- Plants and gut biomes: our inner personal drug factory and what that means in practice.
What I bring to these classes
I began teaching when I helped Hein Zeylstra with the start of the NIMH School of Phytotherapy in Tunbridge Wells in 1978, working with him for over 20 years. In the 1980s I taught herbal medicine at the TriState Institute of Acupuncture in New York (course notes written up as the book Out of the Earth) and also co-founded the world’s first university complementary health masters programme in Exeter. In the 90s I ran a herbal programme at Thomas Jefferson University Medical School in Philadelphia. In the 2000s I led an integrated health programme at Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, and then from 2002, the first herbal masters programme in the USA at Maryland University of Integrative Health. For 30 years I have happily partnered with Professor Kerry Bone in writing key herbal texts and teaching, notably in the Mills and Bone Academy webinars. I have presented at Harvard, Johns Hopkins and UCLA medical schools in the USA, various venues in Australia, and am visiting professor at South Pacific College of Natural Medicine in Auckland.
professional webinar fees
(indicative*)
Per webinar: £25 GBP
Bundle of three webinars (in advance): £45
Downloaded recordings: £20 per webinar
* Professional Masterclass schedules will be announced from March 2025. To register your interest please use the sign-up form below.
