2019

Building Resilience in Troubling Times

Addressing Stress & Trauma through Earth Connection, Herbal Medicine and Somatic Awareness

a weekend intensive with Larken Bunce, MS

August 16 – 18, 2019

Underhill, Vermont

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$250, includes meals

Register here

(more registration info below )

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We need powerful and effective tools to address the pervasive physical, emotional and spiritual illnesses and injuries associated with chronic stress and trauma. Drawing on insights from somatic trauma resolution, psychophysiology, neuroendocrinology and clinical herbal practice, this course is an exploration of the integration of herbal medicine and somatic practices to modulate the stress response, heal trauma, and build personal and collective resilience.

 

What will I learn?

This intensive weekend weaves many healing practices and theoretical frameworks. We’ll follow the threads of psychophysiology, neuroendocrinology, and somatic trauma resolution, weave them with clinical and folk herbal practices and ecopsychology, and then see where they all intersect with a commitment to social justice and collective liberation. We’ll explore techniques for regulating our nervous systems as part of re-educating our responses to stress and threat. We’ll learn to select plants and somatic skills that best suit specific experiences of stress and trauma. We’ll hold our learning in the context of the traumatizing nature of white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism and the many and different ways we are all harmed as both targets and beneficiaries of these (and other) systems.

My intention is for you to leave with more compassion for yourself and others, along with a deeper understanding of what’s happening when we experience stress and trauma and why addressing and resolving these experiences matters. You’ll also leave with immediately applicable, effective, embodied skills and plant allies to draw on for yourself, your clients and community.

Topics to be covered include:

Neuroendocrine education and stress physiology:

• physiology of the neuroendocrine system and polyvagal theory
• physical and psychological impacts of chronic stress and trauma related to mood, digestion, immunity, endocrine dysfunction and essentially everything else!
• the gorgeous wisdom of survival, allostasis and being a human animal

Cultural Context:

• trauma as a result of separation–interpersonally, culturally and ecologically
• trauma as an emergent property of systemic oppression
• honoring land connection as vital and joyful while attending to our roles and responsibilities as settlers on Abenaki land (or that of other Indigenous people, unless, of course, you are native to Turtle Island)
• honoring our ancestors, acknowledging that trauma and resilience can be intergenerational

Herbalism and Ecotherapy:

• integrating plants, diet and connection with earth and others into self and client care
• specific herbal partners for particular experiences of trauma
• theories and practices for connecting with new plants and selecting plants for clients

Somatic practices and concepts:

• Basics for self-care and trauma-aware clinical work (e.g. orienting, sensing, tracking, titration, pendulation)
• Developing relationship and co-regulation (with plants, place, people)

Experiential practice opportunities:

• Finding a plant partner
• Co-regulation and resonance
• Play and pleasure
• Integration space

What will we do?

The intensive will combine lectures with experiential practices, both inside and outside in a beautiful, secluded setting at the foot of Mozodepowadso (Moosehead Mountain, also known as Mt. Mansfield). We’ll explore healing connection with each other, with plants, and with our own inner landscapes. We’ll share meals together and there will be time for integrating the information, asking questions and spending time alone or together in nature.

Why should I attend?

We are living in a time of great social and ecological upheaval. Many of us are experiencing global and systemic dis-ease in the form of personal illness and pain—physically, mentally and spiritually. We’re often left trying to heal on our own, to find the right diet or diagnosis or practitioner to finally figure it out. If you are a practitioner, you might also feel the weight of trying to support people in this lonely process.

What if we can’t do it alone? What if our separation from each other and the earth drives many of the ways we suffer? What if the sources of illness and healing are not always or only within us? What if illness is shared–interpersonal, cultural, and ecological? And, what if healing happens in relationship, too? What if we need others—human and non-human kin—to support our deepest healing?

Mental health, strong immunity, robust digestion—each of these core functions are disrupted by chronic stress and unresolved trauma. Inflammatory diseases, auto-immunity, adrenal and thyroid dysfunction, depression and anxiety, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer are all understood to be compounded, or even generated, by chronic stress. Folks experiencing unresolved trauma are more likely to manifest one or more of these conditions, as well.

Tools and practices that help us manage stress, regulate our nervous systems, and resolve trauma are now commonly used to address these conditions and more. The study of resilience is exploding and it’s easy to see why. We need practices to build our capacity to resist the impacts of stress and handle the extreme demands and harmful structures that impact us daily. We need to build resilience on every level: personal, social and ecological.

When we start building resilience, we find that it requires relationship and an experience of our interconnectedness with each other and all of life. Working with plants as non-human people and expanding our sense of community to include these kin can be a powerful tool for creating this necessary connection and belonging. Learning to do this work in a welcoming and gentle group builds a sense of trust and safety that can further re-educate our nervous systems in the ways of co-regulation and resilience.

Who should come?

• Everyone looking to understand how trauma impacts each of us individually and collectively
• Herbalists, nutritionists, aromatherapists, bodyworkers, yoga therapists, coaches, teachers, mental health professionals and everyone else working for individual and collective healing
• Health professionals interested in understanding neuroendocrinology, psychobiology and the embodied nature of trauma
• Anyone interested in understanding how we can partner with plants and place to support ourselves in renegotiating trauma, managing persistent symptoms, and building resilience
• Anyone interested in ecotherapy and connection with earth and medicinal plants as an aid in resourcing, relating and trauma renegotiation

Who is teaching?

My name is Larken Bunce. Rooted in a lifetime of intimate relationship with plants, I’ve spent 25 years as an herbalist, 15 of which have focused on clinical work, teaching clinical herbalists, and studying mental health and trauma. I’ve loved plants since my earliest memory and feel called by them to bring their gifts to as many people as possible. I was raised by folk herbalists who called themselves other things—mostly Storyteller and Carpenter. These other identities further shaped the way I relate to plants and the earth, as both keepers of our stories and homes that offer shelter and belonging.

My approach to healing work and teaching is both deeply personal and also critically considered. I hope to share what excites and inspires and has worked for me in my practice and to encourage you to follow your own paths. I put embodied knowing at the center, trusting individual wisdom and affirming personal agency. I also love understanding and sharing current theories and research that make up the story we call Science. Scientific language and concepts can be useful when communicating with other healthcare workers and many of our clients. I am also just a big nerd.

My teaching and perspective are also rooted in my experiences as a white, able-bodied, queer, cisgender woman from a class-straddling background (i.e. a rural and working class upbringing coupled with higher education). My work as Executive Director and core faculty at a non-profit herb school that I co-founded affords me positional power within an ever-changing community of diverse humans whose wisdom and perspectives humble me and continually shape my work. I honor my ancestors and carry some of their rich spiritual and medicine traditions, hailing from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Russia, Poland and Lithuania. My work with trauma also necessarily acknowledges and seeks to address my inheritance of intergenerational harm, both borne by and caused by my people. It’s complex and messy work and I make mistakes and stay committed. I welcome your complexity and mistakes, too.

I believe the earth and plants are sentient and wise in ways we lack the capacity to comprehend. So, I know that there is a great deal that cannot be known by my small human mind. I often call the visible workings of all this unknowable-ness, Magic. You can call it whatever you like. Meanwhile, I hope to share some of the gratitude, beauty and belonging that I find in relationship with plants and this earth. I wish the same for you.

For more about my education, experience and teaching lineages/influences, visit here.

Location and Accommodations:

Reciprocity: Vermont Embodiment Center in Underhill, Vermont will be our home for the weekend. Learn more about the beauty and intentions of Reciprocity here. Underhill is about 1 hour from Montpelier and 45 minutes from Burlington, Vermont, and the closest airport.

To keep costs to a minimum, I chose a space without onsite housing. So, while there is no onsite indoor accommodation for the weekend, there will be limited local camping available (for a small fee) for folks coming from afar. There are also local Air BnB options available. I will do my best to connect out-of-town participants with locals for housing and ride-sharing. You can indicate your housing needs during registration.

Meals:

As part of the connective and relational experience of the weekend, I’m providing meals for us to share. We will be immersed in the work of learning and I want folks to feel cared for and well nourished. We will be treated to 5 meals, plus snacks, including Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch. Our food will be lovingly created by Hailey Cohn of Satori Foods. Her food is beautiful and impeccable in its sourcing and preparation. Meals will be primarily lacto-ovo vegetarian with animal protein options, as well as vegan and gluten free options, as needed. You can let us know of your food needs during registration. The cost of the weekend includes these meals.

Note that Friday dinner is not included, as we’ll start after dinner. For folks coming from afar arriving early to the area, we’ll have light snacks available. 

Weekend Logistics:  

We’ll start at 6:30 pm on Friday evening to meet each other and orient to our work for the weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday we’ll begin with breakfast, followed by morning and afternoon class sessions. Saturday evening there will be time for sharing and connection. Sunday, we’ll complete after a closing session at 4 pm.

Over the course of the weekend, we’ll share five delicious catered meals (3 meals Saturday and 2 Sunday, plus snacks and beverages).

Classes will be held in a spacious movement studio, as well as outside in the gardens and woods. There is a pond for swimming, as weather allows.

Physical accessibility: Reciprocity’s indoor teaching space is ADA accessible (Americans with Disabilities Act). Outdoor space is well-tended and flat in the areas where most teaching will occur. However, please get in touch with us if you have questions about physical access or mobility so that we can ensure access for you.

 

Cost & Registration:

Tuition for the weekend is $250, including 5 meals, snacks and beverages, handouts and sample herbal materials.

Camping is $15/night and will be handled separately after registration.

If you feel called to attend, but the cost is prohibitive, please be in touch. It’s important to me that trauma education is accessible and I’ll do my best to both cover my own costs and needs while including as many folks as possible. Please contact me early, as financial support will be offered on a first-come basis.

I am also reserving three reduced tuition spots for BIPOC folks (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) who would like to attend. Please be in touch if you would like to claim one of these spots, which are $150 (reflecting meal and venue fees only).

Feel free to be in touch with any questions!

Registration is through paypal, here.

(You’ll be taken to a pay pal page where you may provide personal details, including a note indicating that you are registering for this course.)

Once I receive payment, you’ll be sent a registration questionnaire, along with further info about location and camping, if needed.

 

Due to the deep and intimate nature of this work, space will be limited.

If you are interested, please register soon as I expect this course to fill.

 

 

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2018

Plant Medicine and Magic

A weekend with Fearn Lickfield and Larken Bunce

August 31 – September 2, 2018

Worcester, Vermont

The healing power of the green world is available to us in many forms. We know that ingesting herbs can ease what ails us, but what other kinds of medicines do plants carry? How does the vital force of plants–veriditas–express itself and how can this green fire of life help us kindle and tend our own spark? How can working with the spirit-nature of plants help us to re-enchant our lives and empower our personal and community practices? How might working plant magic help us find embodied belonging in our ecological home? What can we learn through plants about the more-than-human wild and our own feral, inner terrain?

We invite you to join us for a late-Summer weekend in the beautiful, wild Green Mountains to explore these questions and many more, while finding community with kindred souls and our green kin.

Who should come?

Are you a plant person looking to explore the magical side of herbs and trees? Have you been wondering how to work with plants more deeply as part of your spiritual path?

This course is for:

• Plant-lovers (herbalists, naturalists, gardeners)
• Lovers of magic and ritual (druids, witches, pagans of all kinds, and anyone who sees the divine expressed in nature and wishes to engage with it; people of all faiths welcome!)
• Anyone seeking to re-enchant their experience of the world and see with new eyes

What will we learn?

The weekend will be a balance of inspiration and practicality, engaging for hearts, hands, and minds.

A sampling of what we’ll cover:

13+ ways to engage plants in healing magic (sneak peek: water ritual, smoke medicine, essences, internal medicine, plant story…)

Identifying and preparing local medicinal plants (+responsible harvest and growing)

Archetypes and Spirits of Plants and Place

Geomancy and Earth Acupuncture

Moon phase lore and seasonal attunement

Creating personal plant rituals (simple to elaborate)

Reciprocity and appropriate relations

And SO much more!

Students will take home a kit of magical preparations and tools, along with a selection of recipes and suggested resources for further exploration.

 

Who are the facilitators?

Fearn and Larken have over 50 years combined experience working with plants, ritual, magic and healing. They have also been friends and collaborators for 20 years, walking parallel paths as practitioners and teachers in their community. Fearn co-founded and directs the Green Mountain Druid School, while Larken co-founded and co-directs the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. This unique weekend will weave their shared knowledge and skills in clinical herbalism with the wisdom and inspiration found in druidry and allied earth-based spiritual practices.

Both Fearn and Larken trace ancestry and spiritual lineage to the British Isles and various parts of Western and Eastern Europe. This course will reflect their personal experiences and orientations, while encouraging participants to explore practices from personal lineages, as well as to interact respectfully with traditions of others.

For more about Fearn and Larken, see their individual bios below.

 

Weekend Logistics: 

We’ll start at 7pm on Friday evening to meet each other and settle in for the weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday we’ll have optional morning activities before breakfast, followed by morning and afternoon class sessions. Saturday evening there will be a co-created ritual with fire in the stone circle. Sunday, we’ll complete after a closing session at 4pm.

Over the course of the weekend, we’ll share five delicious catered meals (3 meals Saturday and 2 Sunday, plus snacks and beverages) and rustic camping will be available on-site for free (tent site only; composting toilets, no showers; participants bring all gear). Folks are welcome to stay in the area and commute each day, as well. Arranging and paying for lodging off-site is the responsibility of each individual.  (Breakfast will begin at 8:00am.)

Our location for the weekend is Dreamland, a 70-acre sacred retreat and home to the Green Mountain Druid School. Classes will be held in a spacious yurt, as well as in the fields and woods. Time will be spent in the stone circle and pond, as well, with evening fires and afternoon swimming, as weather allows.

Physical accessibility note: The terrain at Dreamland is ungraded and inclined, in some areas. The yurt classroom space is accessed by walking on grass and up 2 steps. Some activities (e.g. woods walk or pond) may not be accessible, depending on individual needs. Please get in touch with us if you have questions about physical access.

 

Cost:

Tuition for the weekend is $250, including 5 meals, snacks and beverages, camping, supplies for magical preps, and handouts.

Feel free to be in touch with any questions!

Registration is through paypal, here. (You’ll be taken to a pay pal page where you may provide personal details, including a note indicating that you are registering for this specific class.)

 

 

Facilitator Bios:

Fearn Lickfield is a web weaver who facilitates the re-connection of the hearts of people with the Heart of Nature. She is director of The Green Mountain Druid School and founder of Guardians of the Sacred Earth. She works as a teacher, flower essence practitioner, geomancer, dowser, ecstatic dance leader, community organizer, gardener and medicine maker.  A lover of magic and ritual, she creates and leads community celebrations in honor of the earth and waters, the seasons and for rites of passage. Fearn is steward of Dreamland, a sanctuary and mystery school in Worcester, VT.

 

 

Past Special Events

Herbal Support for Emotional Resilience and Mental Wellness

March 27th-29th, 2015, White Lake, Michigan

Hosted by jim mcdonald

Herbs can be important allies in working with common mental health concerns such as anxiety, panic, depression, grief and daily stress. Trauma and the long-term stress often associated with systemic and chronic illness also responds well to herbal intereventions. In order to differentiate among the crowd of nervous system remedies and adaptogens (and add plants we might not usually consider for these conditions), we’ll examine the many elements of the complex mind-body balancing act that underlies our emotional wellness and mood stability. These factors include neurobiological function and diversity, genetics and epigenetics, gut flora, inflammation, numerous environmental factors, beliefs and behaviors, constitution and more. The practical goal of the weekend will be for participants to understand how these factors relate to traditional energetic patterns relevant to mental health, to recognize these patterns in practice, and to feel confident in selecting plants and crafting formulas for complex individual presentations.

Along the way, we’ll grapple with the larger cultural and philosophical contexts from which our ideas about mental health arise and consider the collective dis-eases (and potential remedies) which are at play. We’ll also consider the role of the herbalist as a therapeutic presence and how best to accompany others on what is ultimately a unique and personal journey.

Our discussions will be rooted in Western herbal medicine, psychoneuroendocrinology and other integrative models of pathophysiology, plant pharmacology, and a bio-psycho-social perspective on mental health. Significant threads that will also surface repeatedly include traditional Chinese medicine; mind-body and somatic techniques; social and environmental justice concerns; mythology and personal narrative; and the successful integration of herbs with conventional care.

This weekend will offer something for folks looking for self-care information, beginning herbalists and experienced practitioners alike.

For more information and to register, visit jim’s site, here.

 

East West School of Planetary Herbology ~ Seminar Special Guest

April 24 ~ 26th, 2015 Ben Lamond, California

I’m honored to be featured at this year’s Seminar for both students and practitioner-graduates of Michael and Lesley Tierra’s East West program.

I’ll be teaching all day on Saturday, joining a practitioner panel on Saturday evening and then doing a Sunday morning hands-on class.

Here are some details:

Herbalist as Emissary: Planetary Practice from a Western Herbalist’s Perspective

American herbalists are continuously called upon to bridge seemingly divergent worlds: contemporary and traditional practices, science and spirit, pharmacology and energetics, clinic and field, mind and body. Frequently, we draw concepts and plants from disparate traditional medical systems, as well. Our clients often require that we travel nimbly between these worlds, as they are ever more curious about global systems; increasingly savvy about their bodies; and interested in the latest exotic plants, as well as the weeds in their back yards. In addition to learning the foundations of our craft, we must extend ourselves as emissaries and diplomats–translators of many ways of seeing and being in the world. With this perspective in mind, we will focus on finding common language and concepts in Western herbal practice and Chinese Medicine, with special focus on practical energetics, actions and chemistry, and protocol development. We will examine key plants from each materia medica and explore local and European plants in relation to Chinese formulas, all with an eye towards developing practices grounded in our local ecologies and responsive to our clients’ needs.

Medicine-Craft: Potency and Beauty in Equal Measure

This session will expand participants’ toolkits to include innovative applications of plants in practice, especially those that are local and readily available. We’ll discuss the art of (delicious) tea-making; the use of honey and vinegar in electuaries and oxymels; tasty vehicles for powders; oils, poultices and compresses for use alone or in tandem with somatic therapies; and engaging the spiritual nature of plants through flower essences. Weather permitting, we’ll include the use of fresh plants in many of the above, in tandem with direct practice of gratitude and intention-setting as we craft our medicine, from harvest to administration.

For more information about registration, visit the East West School’s site, here.