Our Student of the Month for March 2009 is: Anne Salazar-Dunbar
A second generation native San Diegan, Anne Salazar-Dunbar has nurtured an intuitive relationship with healing plants since she was a child. Following this instinct, she started self-study of herbal healing in her teens and continued this education formally and informally throughout her 23 years of marriage and the raising of three children.
In her search for the right path, Anne studied for a year at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and devoted two years to pre-med education. Feeling that she needed to focus more on plant medicine, she turned to the San Diego Self Heal School of Herbal Medicine, and graduated with clinical training in 2004. She also studied with Apache Medicine Women for several years, focusing on energy medicine, shamanism and plant spirit communication.
Anne first signed up for the East West Herb Course in 1987! “I thought I could raise young children and do this course,” she says. “I wasn’t able to take the time necessary to devote to the lessons until 2005. I am glad I waited. The seminars and internet have made this course so much more accessible and do-able! Community has been created, and that makes all the difference in the world.” Anne plans on graduating from our school this May, and looks forward to professional status with the American Herbalists Guild.
Anne currently maintains a private practice specializing in women and children, with a strong nutritional focus. She is proud of her full apothecary, and says “My very favorite thing to do is to formulate!”
Anne also works as an herbalist for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy and teaches classes on a variety of herbal/natural medicine topics groups in public and prviate settings. “My greatest joy is helping to empower parents regarding their health and the health of their children,” Anne says. “I really enjoy teaching! It’s a great way to learn.”
Looking toward the future, Anne hopes to travel extensively, learning from herbal practitioners of all cultures including her own Mexican tradition, and teaching whenever possible. “I’d like to have an herbal store with a clinic attached, having a fully integrated (planetary) style practice,” she says, adding that her vision includes an educational component as well. “I’d like it to be a fertile environment for apprenticeship and sharing and healing. I think I will call it ‘Yerba Buena.'”
