About Us
Our Mission:
The Herbal Bear is dedicated to promoting and
providing responsible information and
education about medicinal plants.
Our Courses:
Our classes range from short one day workshops
to a comprehensive six-month program for
herbal studies.
We offer instruction on a variety of topics.
Our herbal medicine courses include classes
on herbal medicine making, herbs for colds and
flu, herbs for Women's health, medical botany,
medicinal mushrooms, herbal energetics, herbal
formula making, phyto-chemistry of medicinal
plants and other health related topics.
Additionally we offer herbal workshops on
herbal cosmetics, herbal soap making and other
craft related topics. Many of these classes
are offered in New York City. We have taught
for a number of organizations including: New
York Botanical Garden, The Brooklyn Botanical
Gardens, Beth Israel Hospital, Open Center,
Learning Annex, Green Nations Herbal
Gathering, Women's Herbal Conference, Wave
Hill and Institute for Environmental Studies.
For more information about our classes click
here.
The Herbal Bear offers a 6-month, one
weekend a month, program for those who are
interested in an in-depth course which will
cover herbs in a systematic and hands-on
learning process. The Botanical Medicine Program, formerly
called the "Apprentice Program" offers
students an opportunity to learn about the
plants in their natural environment.
Students take classes at our Herbal Bear
Catskill location, a private 30 acre center
located in the Northern Catskill Mountains.
By extending the learning process over a
6-month period, the students are able to
study and see the plants in all the growing
stages. The program combines formal study
with field work so that students are
intimately familiar with the proper
identification, medicinal uses, harvesting
and herbal preparations of the plants. We
offer small intimate class sizes for this
program, never more than ten students. Our
program is unique in that it provides guest
lecturers who are specialists in their
field. This insures careful individual
attention and instruction for each student.
The topics covered in this program are:
- Spring Herb Identification
- Herbal Terms and Resources
- Wild Food Gathering
- Herbs for the Digestive System
- Making Herbal Teas
- Making Flower Essences
- Plant Meditation
- Herbal Harvesting, Drying and Storage
- Herbal Vinegars
- Making Herbal Tinctures
- Medicinal Herbal Oils
- Herbs for the Nervous System
- Making a Herbal First Aid Kit
- Herbs for Women?s Health
- Herbs for The Circulatory System
- Making Herbal Salves
- Understanding Traditional Chinese
Medicine
- Herbal Energetics and Diagnostic
Techniques
- Developing Herbal Formulations
- Making Herbal Cosmetics, Body Creams
and Herbal Bath Salts
- Herbal Case Studies
- Herbs for the Immune System
- Sacred Herbs and Ceremonial uses
- Medicinal and Edible Mushrooms
- Field Identification of Mushrooms
Mushroom Propagation Harvesting Autumn
- Roots and Barks Herbs for Colds and
Flu
- Making Herbal Brandies and Elixirs and
Syrups
- Exploring Healing Modalities (i.e.
Reiki, Reflexology)
- Wildlife in the Catskills
- Planting a Herb Garden
For more information about this program
click Here Our website also offers on-line specific
information about medicinal plants and
herbs.
We currently have a database listing the
following plants (and our list is growing):
We offer a quick
reference chart for plants
cross-referencing common names and the
botanical Latin names. Our herbal information resources also offer
the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
energetics of the plant.
To assist our students, and those interested
in herbalism, we have provided a section of
our website to the review of herbal books.
Our book review cover basic beginner's books
for the study of herbal remedies,
recommendations for more advanced herbal
medicine studies, herbal crafts, and herbal
cookbooks.
Our
Director The Herbal Bear's Program Director is Ursula Basch. She has studied
botanical medicine and herbalism with a
number of notable American herbalists. Her
herbal studies have included a wide range of
topics including: western herbalism, Chinese
traditional medicine (TCM) and Cherokee
herbal uses. Ursula also studied scientific
botanical topics including botany, plant
morphology, medicinal plant/drug
interactions, and toxicology. She is the
instructor for the New York Botanical
Garden's medical botany course. Her
background of both scientific and folk
traditions of herbal medicine are a unique
combination which makes her a much sought
after instructor and lecturer. Ursula has a
unique ability to relate to many different
audiences, including those who are
technically trained as well as those who
have a general interest in the topic of
herbal medicine. |
