Home Herbalism 201: Herbs for Wellness and Healing

I am very excited to announce that I am starting a new series of classes for you to start taking care of yourself and your family! Each session will cover part of the body and the herbs that support and heal, and how they work. We will make and taste various remedies for common concerns; we will talk about preventive care and remedies; we will explore how to use what we learn in practical and doable ways. And we will have fun!

Schedule of classes:

Saturday, November 21st, 3-5 pm, Brighton
Session 1: Digestion and Elimination -- Making Your You

Just before seasonal feasting, we will discuss how we get everything we need from what we eat, and how to support healthy digestion. From anticipation to taste, from nutrients to hormones, from "healthy diet" to food sensitivities, we will help you build the best you. We'll also cover how best to support digestion -- ways to feel more comfortable with all the rich foods in your immediate future!

Saturday, December 12th, 3-5 pm, Brighton
Session 2: Circulation and Lymphatic -- Moving Everything Around

In time for the New Year and letting things go, we will explore how your body moves the building blocks, waste, messages, and immune responses throughout your body. We'll look at how best to support all that movement, and keeping things flowing optimally. This is a great time of year to pay attention to your heart and the sweeping away of debris from the past!

Saturday, January 16th, 3-5 pm, Brighton
Session 3: Nervous, Skeletal, and Muscular Systems -- Moving You

Deep winter is the most challenging time for our nervous and skeletomuscular systems -- Come prepare for a happier, healthier winter! We will look at how to use herbs and habits to support a strong and flexible you!

Saturday, February 13th, 3-5 pm, Brighton
Session 4: Respiratory and Entaugumentary -- Breathing and Barriers

The air is cold and dry, drying out your nose and skin, making you vulnerable and uncomfortable. We'll cover how to support these crucial interfaces between you and the outside world, places for taking in and keeping out.

Saturday, March 26th, 3-5 pm, Brighton
Session 5: Immune System and First Aid -- How Your Body Heals

Your amazing body does all the healing you will ever need! With herbs and habits we can support this impressive work. Before the season of allergies, you can head them off at the pass; before the season of accidents, you can learn what to do when they happen. Your immune system crosses all the boundaries between systems and parts, making it a great way to pull things together from other sessions.

Saturday, April 30th, 3-5 pm, Brighton
Session 6: Reproductive Systems and Wrapping Up -- Coming Full Circle

In women and men, throughout most of our lives, we experience the cycles of reproductive and productive energy. These also manage the changes from childhood to adulthood, and the changes later in adulthood into maturity. These cycles are also deeply connected with how we interact with the community around us. We will look at regular cycles, and supporting them, as well as the reproductive year (pregnancy through childbirth and infancy).

For more information or to register for classes

{Link coming soon!}
Email Kerry (kerry _ kokkino @ yahoo . com) for online registration or how to register by other means.

Welcome to the Milkbar! How to get breastfeeding started

You're having a baby! So much excitement and joy! And, it can feel like there is so much to learn.

Most women in the U.S. want to breastfeed, but many run into problems or complications or bad advice, and end up stopping long before they wanted to. The key to success is support. The right kind of support for you, your little one, and your particular challenges. (This is true of pretty much all of parenting, though.) This book with help you find in-person, online, or telephone support, understand a good position and latch (which will prevent more breastfeeding problems than anything else), realistic expectations of babiness, tricks of the trade, and more! With Welcome to the Milkbar!, you get the confident voice of experience to get you started on the right foot.

To buy Welcome to the Milkbar!, go here.

If you have questions, email me here.

Home Herbalism 101 -- Parts 2, 3, and 4!

We just completed Part 1 on Saturday, and it was a great class! Fabulous questions; each person got something different from the class; even the weather conspired to make a great day! We decocted hawthorn and rose hips, slow-steeped marshmallow root, and made a few quick teas: nettles, ginger, and a liver/kidney/nervine mix. We looked at a rapid history of Western herbalism and healing, and discussed the digestive system, as the center of health and how to (generally) support its wellness. Finally, we identified and tasted weeds/herbs growing right in the average yard.

We now have dates for the rest of the classes! I am so looking forward to the next class -- I hope you can join us! :)

Part 2: Air and Alcohol (and vinegar)

Saturday, July 11th, 2-5 pm

For this class we will talk about the respiratory, circulatory, and lymphatic systems; take a walk to a park to see a greater variety of weed-herbs; and will work with alcohols and vinegars. We'll talk about how to pick different menstrua (the alcohol or vinegar), and will make a tincture, mustard, and fire cider, all of which you will have to take home with you. (If you'd like to learn a little about the fire cider controversy, see here, and here, and here.) The class is $40 and will include materials.

To register online, click here!

Part 3: Earth and Honey

Saturday, July 18th, 2-5 pm

We will cover the skeletal-muscular, and integumentary (skin and skin-like parts), and immune systems. We will work with honey and molasses in multiple ways. And we will visit the wild and weedy banks of the Charles River for edible and healing plants.

Register here!

Part 4: Fire and Oil

Saturday, August 8th, 2-5 pm

We will discuss the nervous system, and reproduction. We will use oils and waxes to create ointments and butters. And we will explore more of the river banks.

Register here!

Each class is $40, including supplies, or you can register for all four for $140 (a 50% discount on the last session!) **You can sign up for them one at a time, and get the discount retroactively.** 

All classes take place in Brighton.

Register for the series here!

Mama's Herbal: Pregnancy to Baby Care

You are pregnant, or you want to be! With all the joy and excitement, pregnancy and birth are short stages of life that involve tremendous change, very quickly. While neither is an illness in need of treatment, that much change so quickly comes with challenges. It is these challenges and discomforts that this book will address, sooth, to make your journey more comfortable. From pre-conception, through morning sickness and hemorrhoids, completing labor and newborn care, this herbal is all about you, baby! Using a handful of safe, nutritive, and often-used herbs, this will guide you through the discomforts and everyday surprises of this dynamic transition.


Click here to buy your copy!
Email me here if you have questions.

Herbalism 101: Part 1 -- Water

Do you want to know what to do with herbs? To start healing yourself, your family, with what's in your kitchen and yard? I'm introducing a four-part series on herbal approaches to health, medicine making, and spotting the plants around you. Perfect for those who are just getting started and want a clearer picture of what they are doing!

Part 1 -- Water **June 20th, 2-5 pm**
Perspective and Theory:
We will start with some context (a brief history and basic idea of the theory behind Western Herbalism), then jump right in to the center and source of health and wellness: digestion. From that center, we will also address nurition, and the eliminatory systems.

Medicine Making:
We will make tea and broth in different ways, plus washes, poultices, and compresses. We will experience both the preparing and receiving of care.

Plants:
For this first class we will explore the weeds in your yard, both ones you know, and ones that may be new. We will also explore how to identify if a new plant is safe to eat or not.

To register for Part 1 online, click here!

Part 2 -- Air and Alcohols:
For this class, we will explore respiration, circulation, and the lymphatic system. We will make tinctures, liniments, vinegars, etc. And we will explore a park for more weed variety.

Part 3 -- Earth and Syrups:
We will discuss skeletal-muscular and integumentary systems, as well as immune function. We will work with honey and molasses multiple ways. And we will visit the wild and weedy banks of the Charles River.

Part 4 -- Fire and Oils:
We will discuss the nervous system and reproduction. We will use oils and waxes to create ointments and butters. And we will explore more plants along the river.

Each class is $40 including supplies, or you can sign up for all four for $140. **You can sign up for one and convert to the series rate later one.** These will take place in Brighton and will be scheduled for Saturday afternoons. While the dates for parts 2-4 are not yet finalized, they will be in July and early August, and will be posted shortly.

For more information and to register, email me.

Spring Clean YOU!

For the last six months, HALF THE YEAR!, we’ve been indulging in one holiday-related sugar-feast or alcohol-binge after another! Almost monthly since last Halloween there has been something going on. Your body needs a break. Plus, the sun is shinning more! Summer fun-time feels better and is more fun if you give your body the tune-up it needs!

Join us to feel and be healthier: How to detox safely and gently, how to manage the sugar monster we’ve created, how to nourish and care for your body in a balanced way.

No judgments – All support!

Saturday, April 25^th, 3-5 pm

Boston Martial Arts Center

161 Harvard Ave, #4E, Allston

Workshop is $30; $35 at the door

Registration is now open!

Email here for more information, or go straight to the online store to register!

Feel Better Herbally: Support for Allergies, Colds, and Flu!!

Summer is winding down and the air has shifted to the crispness of early fall. Does the smell of leaves remind you of sneezing? I love fall, but oooooooh, those seasonal allergies! And, as kids return to classrooms, and everyone starts to spend more time indoors, cold and flu season rears its sniffly head.

Join us to look at easy and accessible ways to avoid, decrease, or ameliorate all of the above! Support your immune system, increase feeling healthy, and enjoy your fall.

We'll work with herbs that are available at your grocery store and are simple to prepare -- if you can make tea or soup, you can enjoy all the benefits of herbal health!

Saturday, September 27th, 3-6 pm
Boston Martial Arts Center
161 Harvard Ave, #4E, Allston

Pre-Registration: $40
At the door: $45

To register, email kerry_kokkino@yahoo.com, or go online here.