My journey with plants began in grade school after learning about the importance of trees. As a result I planted a tree annually on Arbor Day. By the time I left home in my early 20’s, to move to Boston, we had a small orchard on our suburban plot in northern Ohio. I started college…
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In 1974 I bought a copy of the Barefoot Doctor’s Manual and it changed my life. After graduating I built an Investment Consulting Practice in Atlanta and the TCM diagnostic process became the foundati …
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I am a clinical herbalist and holistic health consultant and have been part of the Goldthread team for the past four years. I started as a student of William Siff’s and transitioned to Goldthread’s op …
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I grew up in Sacramento, California. I’ve always loved nature, and spent most of my childhood outside, sitting in trees and reading. I lived for many years in the Bay Area, and now live with my husba …
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At 50, I’m at a time of reflection with our only son having headed off to college this Fall and my husband and I starting a new life in sunny St. Petersburg, FL. Growing up, I used to travel with my mom from Louisville, KY to Boston, MA so she could get acupuncture and herbs…
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I came from a big family of many siblings, and was born in Lithuania Klaipeda (former Prussia`s Memel, by the shore of the Baltic Sea) while it was part of the Soviet Union. When Soviet Union collapsed, every one in my family took advantage of traveling opportunities and as a result, was spread in the…
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I was born in Winnemucca, Nevada, to young parents. For many years I lived with my grandparents in a wonderful country home. My grandmother was a farm girl so she baked, canned, sewed, embroidered and …
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I am native of former Yugoslavia where herbal tradition has always been strong. Herbs were always part of my life, inseparably and tightly woven into the fabric of my family, traditions and customs. M …
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My herbal journey began after the birth of my fourth child and a long episode of overlooked and undiagnosed postpartum depression. A homeschooling mama of four children, I desperately began seeking alternative health treatment so I could just make it through the day. At the time, the essential oil business was booming. I looked into…
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… Our Student of the Month for April 2009 is:… … Sidney Barthell … Sidney Barthell loves learning. Her strong suits are researching, writing, reading, interpreting, music, and ar …
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My name is Sheri Hawn and I am currently an Advanced Student here at East West. What a journey of learning and self-discovery this has been. I grew up in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and spent many hours, as a child, wandering the land, picking plants and flowers and “making medicine”, which I usually fed to the dog! I come from a line of healers and nature lovers; I am grateful to my elders for helping me to see beyond what eyes can see in both people and nature. …
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Growing up on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, UT (yep, I’m a Mormon) my family grew and preserved much of our own food and enjoyed the great outdoors. Outside of school I studied many types of dance …
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This school has been such a transformative experience. My interest in alternative medicine started with my high school boyfriend’s mom of all places. With herbs, homeopathy, and so much love she helped me tackle health problems that Western medicine seemed to only make worse. That seemingly impossible success led me on an investigation in alternative…
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I’ve moved from East to West over the course of my life. I was born in Boston. My parents were involved in the home birth movement, and natural food co-ops. We followed my father’s career first to Chi …
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Where can I say my journey into East West began…. I wasn’t much into natural medicine growing up, but I have always loved nature. I didn’t become interested in natural medicine until I travelled to Vietnam many years later, where I, unfortunately, picked up something nasty. Upon my return to Australia (where I was living…
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Even though I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and appreciate urban centers, I developed a deep respect for the natural world. This inspiration can be attributed mostly to spending time on m …
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I am Sarah Ford Thompson. I began my love affair with plants and plant medicines as a young child. I spent my first few years on a self-sustaining farm in Kentucky with my family. We grew our own food and raised goats for milk. We traded goat milk and homemade goat cheese with the nearest…
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For my first nine years, I lived just outside Xenia, a small town in southwestern Ohio where my brother and I roamed freely through yards, pastures and weed fields with only our imaginations to entert …
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My love of the natural world was instilled early by growing up in the beautiful and challenging environment of outback Australia. Being surrounded by people who were keen observers of plants, animals …
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I have held a deep interest in natural healing for as long as I can recall. My grandfather was a chiropractor, and I remember receiving an adjustment from him at age 5. Perhaps that spurred the initia …
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I began my plant kingdom journey seven years ago when I started studying primitive living skills with Earthwalk Northwest. Through the experience of exploring my relationship to the natural world arou …
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First of all, being an Earth Rat (Jan. 1949) and with Indian Summer approaching, I want to thank GOD for the harvest that I’m about to receive. Whether it be herbs, vegetables or just witnessing the F …
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I was born and raised in Toronto Ontario, Canada. After completing a BSc and DDS at the University of Toronto, I moved west to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where I practised dentistry for several years. I then returned to school at the University of Saskatchewan and completed an MD and residency after which I became a full…
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Growing up, I remember my parents frequently using herbs and traditional, European folk remedies. When I was about 5 years old, my mother had severe pneumonia and stayed in bed for a number of days. D …
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Ironically, though I grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by crops, animals, and nature, I was never exposed to natural health or healing during all that time. Farmers are not necessarily naturalists, and my parents showed little interest in herbal medicine. I never even tried whole wheat bread until I was a teenager and…
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I am a Northern Californian, born in Oakland, California where I currently reside. I grew up in Berkeley, California, but also in the woods of the Pacific Northwest and on the rocky beaches of California’s northern coast. As a teenager, I developed a sense that people came to me with their injuries and ailments for…
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I live in Perth, Western Australia with a loving husband, son and daughter-in-law, two labradors, two rabbits, two ducks and many visiting birds. Our wonderful daughter also lives in Perth. Keisha and Noxy, our beautiful labradors, are mother and daughter. Noxy is due to give birth next month. I am a registered home breeder and…
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I grew up in Perth in Western Australia, where the countryside is very dry. As a child I did not feel connected to the earth there as I didn’t relate to it and it seemed very harsh. When I moved to th …
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Hello! My name is Rachael Witt. I am a land-steward, herbalist, and teacher of ancestral skills. I grew up amidst the Oak woodlands in the foothills of the Sierras. As I explored the world around me, studying plant ecology and ethnobotany, opportunities led me to the small town of Duvall, Washington, where I am currently…
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I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I went to college in Australia and lived there for eight years, earning my bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA. My career has been in I.T. thus far des …
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I spent my early years in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. When I was 5, my family settled in State College, PA. That was a magical and formative place and time for me-we had a sandbox my dad made …
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I was raised in the San Francisco bay area and currently live in Grass Valley, Calif., north of Sacramento. My father was a hunter and fisherman. During my childhood, he inspired my love of animals. …
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Born and raised in France, I came to Boston with my family about twenty years ago to pursue a scientific education in biochemistry and biophysics. An avid Aikido student for many years, I have always been attracted to Eastern philosophies. While working my first science job, I took evening classes and earned a Zen Shiatsu…
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I came to appreciate the power of herbs fairly late in life. After working as a postdoctoral researcher in cell biology for several years and then an institutional investor in private equity, venture capital and agriculture for nearly 2 decades, I found my calling as a healer. Through my Chinese medicine, acupressure and tui na…
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I grew up in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York and spent my summers outdoors (whether I was in the Adirondacks, at the pool or beach, at day camp playing in the lake or running around in the woods). …
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… For the month of May, we are honoring two students of the month: Pamela Gould and Linda Vaughan!… Pamela Gould Pam first became interested in alternative ways of maintaining good health w …
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I grew up in Campbell, < Ohio with one sister and two loving, supportive parents. I was raised in a political family, and hold the elected office of precinct committee person and serve as presiding ju ...
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My connection to plants began early in life when I started work in a flower shop. I learned floral design and managed different flower shops through high school and college. I was always excited for o …
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I was born in Lithuania while it was part of the Soviet Union. We were a self sustaining family, living and surviving on the labor of our farm. My father’s work as a forester connected me with nature and I developed a great respect of earth’s bounties. Growing up, we used many of nature’s plants…
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My name is Nathan Shannon. I was born in Meeker, Colorado, which is in the northwest part of the state. I moved to central Wisconsin before I started school and lived there until I was 21 at which ti …
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I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and majored in Business Administration at the University of Hawaii because I felt it was a good foundation. I worked as an accountant in the construction industry for about 20 years and then in the airline industry for about 17. Sometime in 2015, I…
DetailsHi! My name is Morning. I have lived in various places around the U.S., as well as elsewhere in the world. I have loved and enjoyed the people I have known, < and the richness of being able to experie ...
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Congratulations to Mojohito Richerson von Tchudi, our October student of the month!… … A partially homogenous life as the son of progressive academic education philosophers, with its customa …
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I’m a city girl who was raised by a ‘health conscious’ mother and that was extent of my familiarity with alternative health care until 2003. A brush with breast cancer and some very impressive complim …
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I am not sure where my love of plants came from, but there is a familial connection. My mother was an avid gardener and I grew up in a home with hundreds of plants. My uncle is an amateur botanist. I …
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In 1999, I graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a Degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Magna Cum Laude; and in 1994, from Fresno City College, CA, with a Degree of Associate …
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I’ve been in the nutritional consulting field for the past 8 years. Prior to that I was a full time yoga instructor. I am the founder of www.MetabolicHealing.com, where I’ve authored around 300 resear …
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As a kid, I loved to play in the woods adjoining my suburban neighborhood. It was the home of a grandmother oak tree, in which my best friend and I built a two-story tree house. We would fantasize abo …
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… Meet our September student of the month: Meret Giacomini!… I spent most of my childhood in a mimosa tree day dreaming and imagining that the pink fiber optic tutu-like flowers were twirli …
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My path with plants began in York, PA, where as a child, I had the good fortune of being encouraged to, “go out and play” in the woods surrounding my house. I learned to love nature and had the opport …
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Meet our November student of the month, Melissa Fritts! As a child I spent my time in the woods and fields – ever exploring the natural world. I quickly also became fascinated with the inner worlds an …
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I never planned to become an herbalist. Though I spent much of my childhood mashing up plants in my backyard (and unknowingly smearing poke on my little sister while pretending to make medicine… an …
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I always loved plants, as a little girl I craved to taste the sweetness of honeysuckle and play along with the soft sleeping grass. I first began my pathway to herbalism by working at Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods, assisting customers in the supplements department. This was my first exposure to herbal medicine and I was…
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Hi! My name is Megan Deely. I am currently residing in the outskirts of good old Cleveland, Ohio. I’ve been here for ten years now and although I am only 24, I feel as if I have lived through quite a …
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I was lucky, though having been born in London, to have spent much time in Nature as a young boy. My mum who’s Polish also brought us up on natural foods and medicines at home and by the time I was a young student I was talking peoples ears off about natural being the best!…
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My path towards herbalism began via a long and winding road as a small child in 1970s Ann Arbor, Michigan. This international-college-town microcosm of diversity, hope and idealism would form the root …
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… Please enjoy the bios of our June students of the month: Mara Ribbin and Holly Nielsen!… Mara Ribbin My early love of the natural world was encouraged by my grandmother. She was so at hom …
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I was lucky to grow up in a beautiful area just outside Copenhagen, near the sea and close to forests and parks. It feels like my interest in herbs and natural medicine have been with me my whole life …
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My name is Liz Collins. My first passion in the recognition of physical and spiritual health is the practice of yoga, with over 25 years of teaching and study. I was certified in the Iyengar tradition through the Center for Yoga of Seattle in 1997. In the past 14 years I have immersed myself in the Shadow…
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I grew up in a small town in New England. My soul was at home in the hardwood forests and in the arts, singing, dancing, playing music, sewing, drawing and painting. I moved to Chicago and trained in the visual arts at an amazing museum/school and for years had a tandem career as an exhibiting…
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My name is Laurel Paxton, I grew up in the beautiful oceanic community of Santa Cruz, CA. I currently live in South Lake Tahoe, where I spend my days homeschooling my children and studying the healing arts. I love studying herbology from around the world and everything around me as much as possible! I have…
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I grew up in the small town of Yuba City, CA. I spent most of my childhood helping do the inventory of my local health food store’s vitamin department. It was one of my favorite things to do as I learned about herbal remedies and all the crazy big names. I used that knowledge as…
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I’ve felt a connection with plants for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until my first move to the Southwest that I began to integrate them into daily life. There I discovered how the native …
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I grew up exploring the inlets of South Florida. Swimming with river otters and manatee, diving for starfish, and trying to replant the mangroves kept me grounded in the natural world. This bond carri …
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After graduating in 2002 with a degree in Physical Education and a certification through the American Council on Exercise, I set out with the ambition to try to make the world a healthier place as a personal trainer. It did not take me long to see that diet and exercise were not the silver bullet…
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Well, I’m finally doing what I love; plants, nature, herbs, healing and learning. I’ve been involved in East West for a couple years. My original goal was to heal myself of a debilitating autoimmune disease that kept perplexing medical doctors. While they remained perplexed, I became more sick. My journey started with a wonderful…
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… Congratulations to our student of the month for July: Kevin Pennell!… Kevin Pennell Saying Kevin has a varied background is an understatement! Having started a career in broadcasting at a …
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I’m a home dad in Japan, but I grew up in northeast Ohio before the Internet age. I was the little kid who tried to revive baby birds that fell from their nests. It never worked, but I tried anyway. I …
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I’ve lived in Tinmouth, Vermont, for the past 36 years amongst the hills, < fields, and trees. There’s such a diverse amount of plant material here that will keep me busy for a long time to come. My ...
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Plants and nature bring me great joy. Sometimes along the way all this delightful stuff I’ve learned helps brighten others’ days too, and to me that is worth all the while. Herbalism was not a word or concept to me until my 20’s. The conceptualization that the wilderness around me was intelligent, symbiotic, full of ever-giving…
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A good portion of my life’s journey was spent among the corn and bean fields of Illinois, but I’m a California native currently living in the Sierras immersed in the beautiful backwoods. I’ve always had a pull towards nature, where I feel most at home. I spend as much time as possible enjoying the elements…
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My direct experience with herbs as medicine only began a few years ago. Even so, I believe that they were always there running a parallel path with me and, like little brain synapses, connections wer …
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I am originally from a small town in Calaveras county California, which is in the foothills and upward into the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. I knew since I was a child that I wanted to live on …
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I was born in Newport, Rhode Island. At age six, my family moved to the suburbs near Chicago where I resided until 1974. There, I met new friends who taught that healthy eating habits and taking care …
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Growing up in England, I have always loved trees, plants and nature walks. I studied Optimum Nutrition in London and that gave me a good background in getting the most out your food. My first interest in Herbalism was when, I was given a Nicholas Culpeper – The Complete Herbal book, I fell in love…
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I currently live in Colorado with my husband. Our three boys are grown and finding their way in this world, just as we continue to find ours. I always believed my calling was to be writer. I pursued that calling as an undergraduate and graduate student. I wrote short stories. I worked on several books,…
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Congratulations to our student of the month for August: Karen Kimrey!… … Karen was born under a Cancer sky in mid-20th century America, the first child of nomadic parents, who finally found …
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I was born Arvella Louise Harris in Richmond, Virginia, but was renamed after adoption. I live in Hubbard, Oregon, population 2800, halfway between Salem and Portland. I’ve been married to my husband, …
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My name is Kareem Charlton, and I am from the sunny shores of The Bahamas. I worked many years as a certified lifeguard instructor, helping hundreds of persons from all walks of life and various countries. I always had a love for helping people, plants and nature. As a young boy I witnessed my grandmother…
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When I met my husband I had no concept of whole health or herbal medicine. I secretly questioned what had been presented to me as absolute truths… in medicine, politics, religion, etc…but never h …
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Growing up in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, I have wonderful memories of time spent in the garden with my parents who harvested and preserved their own fruits and vegetables. We also kept beehiv …
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When I was a little girl I was interested in many things but could not nail down what I really wanted to do with my life. When I came to the US from Hungary, I started studying Health Sciences at a community college. I was interested in health but I was not aware that schools…
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My great and late father, Paul, was a plant freak in his own right and gave to me my love of the natural and spiritual worlds. My mother tells me that I was conceived at Wind Cave National park in the …
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I grew up in London and then moved to Chico, California in my late teens. I studied International Communications at Chico State. During my Chico time, I also began my yoga journey, did my massage certification and other explored other modalities such Shiatsu and Reiki. I also worked for the weekly college paper, writing and…
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Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee didn’t allow for much exposure to things like herbalism, just the vestiges of southern folk medicine mixed with the health food store accounts of rare radicals like my …
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My name is Josh Kuhn. I am an Ohio native and have for as long as I can remember felt a deep kinship with the natural world. Over the years I have worn many hats (bicycle builder, found object sculptor, mime) but have always come back to the land. In 2011 my wife Bix and…
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I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, and it was traveling abroad that really enlightened my life path and purpose. Six years ago I fulfilled a dream of traveling through India and this is where …
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I grew up just west of Salt Lake City, Utah, and have spent my life surrounded by protective mountains and four very dramatic seasons. Since I was a child I’ve been fascinated by the natural world, an …
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Finding myself in the place I am now, I feel so much gratitude to witness my life filling with herbs- building my apothecary, building my understanding, having a homestead to invite medicine plants to …
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I’ve always loved the magic of Nature. It all began with growing up hiking and surfing the Northern California mountains and coastline. On most nights my dog, Turk, and I would head to the hills to se …
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Growing up in Austria, I was surrounded by herbs and, more importantly, people who knew how to use them. We never saw a doctor except for compulsory school check-ups; instead, we were treated naturall …
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My name is Joe Granger and I am a third-year student at East West. I am thankful to be acknowledged as student of the month amongst our network of talented healers. I found East West at a very inter …
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My name is Joe Eckre. My friends call me Surya. When I was in the first grade, my father took an interest in nutrition and vitamins. He had problems with his energy level and his new diet and suppleme …
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… Welcome to 2009 and our Student of the Month for January: Jodi Snyder Jodi Snyder is a family generational herbalist. In her family, this art is passed from grandmother to granddaughter. In 198 …
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Hi, my name is Jodi Martin. I have been a student with East West since 11/2013. I am from upstate New York but have been living on the Island of Kauai in Hawaii since 2011. I am a mother of three amazing daughters and most recently find myself with an empty nest. While living in…
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I was born and raised in Olympia Washington, and lived in Seattle until 2009. I currently live in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with my husband, his two boys and our golden retriever. I …
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My first exposure to herbs was soon after moving to Montana at age 12 when my mother came down with pneumonia. She took echinacea as part of her healing process, and so my young curiosity was struck. …
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One of the main reasons I got into holistic health, and learning about herbal medicine, nutrition, iridology, self-empowerment, etc., is because I was upset that there has always been such a cloak of …
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I am a New Yorker of Mediterranean descent, convinced my herbal sorcery stems from my ancestry. I endured 2 major surgeries before the age of 8, leaving my inner spirit scarred and scared. My father t …
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