Congratulations to our student of the month for August: Karen Kimrey!

Karen was born under a Cancer sky in mid-20^th century America, the first child of nomadic parents, who finally found her way “Ëœhome’ in the early 1970s to a piece of holy ground near Fayetteville, Arkansas, a university town located in the Ozark Hills. Since then, she birthed and nurtured two daughters to womanhood, earned degrees in horticulture and education, spent happy years teaching at the Montessori school she established on her place, loved and lost then loved again, organically farmed blueberries, herbs and bees, and studied those things that resonated most strongly: plants, astrology, bodywork and other healing arts, how to run a profitable business, mystic literature, the Ozark ecosystem and culture, sustainable farming, metaphysics and wisdom/spirit traditions, stovetop distillation of hydrosols, mask-making, and ethnic cooking. She readily admits being an information junkie and celebrates the inception of the Internet, believing it to be the closest thing to instant manifestation available to her, at least for now, on this earth plane of existence.

Formal study based on the lifelong love of plants and healing handed down by grandmother came later, beginning in earnest with admission into the prestigious professional herbalist program at East West in the late summer of 2007. Enjoying the fun and responsibility of her new status as an advanced level student means graduation, mentoring and American Herbalists Guild certification are goals in sharper focus now. Meanwhile, Karen is restoring a 100-year-old cottage she just bought very near her home that seems destined to be a healing space.

The distinctions between work and play are practically non-existent for Karen, so she typically spends her time doing things that simply bring her joy, like hanging out with family and friends, traveling, study, doing bodywork or yoga, tending herb clients, practicing astrology, gardening, teaching, medicine-making, hiking bluff lines high above the Buffalo River, exploring inner realms through creative processes, listening to music while preparing beautiful meals, hosting her house concert series, and being in, on or near water.