About A Simpler Way
A Simpler Way was conceived back in June of 2001. Nearing the end of my studies with JoAnn Sanchez at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, I began looking forward to the application of my studies. My interests were nearly as varied as herbalism itself, but at the heart of what I wanted to do was community-based herbalism.
To make this dream a reality, I first need to decide on the "community" in which to base my practice. Five years in Phoenix was long enough, and I yearned for a smaller community, one which already had some established holistic practitioners but not necessarily a full- fledged "alternative hotspot". After searching around, I decided on Cottonwood, Arizona to set up shop. Cottonwood is in part of the Verde Valley, an area of the state I had fallen in love with many years ago. It's proximity to Sedona satisfied the holistic requirements, and the other surrounding cities of Jerome, Clarkdale, Camp Verde and other tiny towns ensured a large enough population to draw on. This area is also home to the Arizona School of Integrative Studies and various holistic practitioners, ensuring not too many people would look at me funny when they asked me my profession. To me, an herbalist practicing community-based herbalism does much more than just hang out a shingle and provide client consultations. A community-based herbalist is interested in his or her community and is happy to provide services to the community at large. Locally, I provide free monthly "walk and talks", easy hikes in the area where I point out the native medicinal plants and offer some information about them. I'm working with the Yavapai Community College to provide workshops in herbal medicines or even elective classes. A commmunity-based herbalist also is of service to other practitioners. There is no doubt that people today are turning more and more to herbal medicines. Medical doctors, nurses, chiropractors, and dentists... most have little or no training in botanical medicines. Even naturopathic doctors have only a few tens of hours of exposure to botanicals. As patients and clients become more accustomed to sharing their supplement and herbal regiments with their health care providers, questions on safety and efficacy are bound to come up. And that's where I can help.
Then of course, there is this website. I'm trying to push community-based herbalism beyond my local community, extending it to the web. I try to stay topical, posting a few time a week on subjects that are in the news or might be of interest to a wide range of people. If my stats are any measure, it's going quite well!
Contact Information
Evo Terra
2182 Sunflower Way
Cottonwood, AZ
928.634.6158
evo@asimplerway.com
Posted by Evo Terra on January 4th, 2003
A Simpler Way was conceived back in June of 2001. Nearing the end of my studies with JoAnn Sanchez at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, I began looking forward to the application of my studies. My interests were nearly as varied as herbalism itself, but at the heart of what I wanted to do was community-based herbalism.
To make this dream a reality, I first need to decide on the "community" in which to base my practice. Five years in Phoenix was long enough, and I yearned for a smaller community, one which already had some established holistic practitioners but not necessarily a full- fledged "alternative hotspot". After searching around, I decided on Cottonwood, Arizona to set up shop. Cottonwood is in part of the Verde Valley, an area of the state I had fallen in love with many years ago. It's proximity to Sedona satisfied the holistic requirements, and the other surrounding cities of Jerome, Clarkdale, Camp Verde and other tiny towns ensured a large enough population to draw on. This area is also home to the Arizona School of Integrative Studies and various holistic practitioners, ensuring not too many people would look at me funny when they asked me my profession. To me, an herbalist practicing community-based herbalism does much more than just hang out a shingle and provide client consultations. A community-based herbalist is interested in his or her community and is happy to provide services to the community at large. Locally, I provide free monthly "walk and talks", easy hikes in the area where I point out the native medicinal plants and offer some information about them. I'm working with the Yavapai Community College to provide workshops in herbal medicines or even elective classes. A commmunity-based herbalist also is of service to other practitioners. There is no doubt that people today are turning more and more to herbal medicines. Medical doctors, nurses, chiropractors, and dentists... most have little or no training in botanical medicines. Even naturopathic doctors have only a few tens of hours of exposure to botanicals. As patients and clients become more accustomed to sharing their supplement and herbal regiments with their health care providers, questions on safety and efficacy are bound to come up. And that's where I can help.
Then of course, there is this website. I'm trying to push community-based herbalism beyond my local community, extending it to the web. I try to stay topical, posting a few time a week on subjects that are in the news or might be of interest to a wide range of people. If my stats are any measure, it's going quite well!
Contact Information
Evo Terra
2182 Sunflower Way
Cottonwood, AZ
928.634.6158
evo@asimplerway.com
Posted by Evo Terra on January 4th, 2003