What is relevant and attainable for people in the modern world, and what role does natural medicine play in attaining that goal?

Yogic and meditative traditions teach that spiritual fulfillment is not found in the outer world, but within our own consciousness — and that the path to illumination lies in the inner transmutation of the heart and mind within the container of the body. This alchemical process requires conditions that are often difficult or impossible to find or attain: time, vitality, and freedom from obstacles.

You’ll begin your journey into Illuminated Herbalism by taking three steps: defining the goal of your spiritual path, establishing a foundation of health practices that support rejuvenation so you can accomplish that goal, and beginning the process of inner transmutation.

During Unit 1, you’ll explore:

• The relationship between the outer alchemy of plant medicine and the inner alchemy of transmuting consciousness
• Controllable and uncontrollable factors that increase (or decrease) longevity — and the importance of longevity for reaching spiritual fulfillment
• Routines and habits that reduce stress and enhance the powers of rejuvenation — to support the journey of healing and create a strong foundation for deep meditative exploration
• The ultimate goal of spiritual practices, how spirituality and nature are inseparable, and how to start using plant medicines and aromatics to support meditation
• The relationship between classical Asian medical, yogic, and spiritual lineages
• The 4 levels of herbal medicine, from treating diseases to supporting enlightenment
• Concepts of aging in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine and the modern understanding of physiological changes and challenges of aging
• Qigong methods for enhancing digestive power and rapid relaxation
• Establishing ongoing routines and habits to reduce stress, enhance the powers of rejuvenation, and create a strong foundation for deep meditative exploration to support your healing journey
• The appropriate diet for your age, constitution, and digestive power
• Guided practices for awakening body deities for energy and rejuvenation... improving breathing habits... determining your spiritual goals and aspirations... evaluating the 4 aims of life... cultivating awareness of the elements and energies of the body to transform ordinary consciousness into ecological spirituality... and more

Prana activates the flow of elements through the channels of the body — earth as nutrients, water as fluids, sunlight as metabolic heat, and breath as air. The movement of these elements through the internal space of the body creates sensations that give rise to the illusory sense of separation from the world and others.

When you work with the powers of plant medicines in conjunction with body-based contemplations, it becomes relatively easy to suspend the illusion of biological boundaries and perceive your deeper unity with the elements of nature.

From this awareness arises a profound sense of freedom and genuine compassion, knowing that you’re woven into the fabric of existence, and that the physiological activities of the body are manifestations of ancient cosmological intelligence.

Your journey into Illuminated Herbalism continues into two broad fields of study and practice. The first is how to create and use a home pharmacy. The second is how to use your pharmacy to support and deepen your meditative studies of prana and the elements of the body...

... and, how to use meditation to enhance your understanding of botanical prana, the elements in herbs, and their effects in the body.

You can easily assemble a highly effective home apothecary that uses the outer alchemy of plant preparations that will provide countless benefits for the rest of your life. Combining this outer alchemy with the inner alchemy of contemplative focus can lead to direct experiential knowledge of the subtle spiritual dimensions of your being.

During Unit 2, you’ll explore:

• Plants’ energies, elements, and intelligence as the foundation for understanding how they work in the body
• Creating a home pharmacy and preparing herbs in different forms — while integrating spiritual focus and intention into your plant medicine preparations
• Two Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa
• How to make simple infusions and decoctions, incorporating tinctures, powders, and other extracts
• General dosage and frequency guidelines, and the best times of day to take different types of herbs
• The role of plants in planetary evolution, including how botanical prana and Qi create and maintain the planetary biosphere
• Plants as the bridge between consciousness and matter, as vehicles of sunlight and moonlight, and in relationship to balancing the biosphere of the body
• The best ways to extract different herbal allies, such as herbs, roots, flowers, fungi, and resins — and the best menstruum for optimum extraction and personalized use
• The 5 element systems of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Using herbs and aromatics to enhance meditations on the 5 elements in the body
• Plant medicine’s therapeutic categories — adaptogens, trophorestoratives, cholagogues, emmenagogues, tonics, nervines, anti-inflammatories, and more
• Medicine making — core preparations to create your own herbal pharmacy with guest Adriana Ayales, herbalist, writer, and founder of Anima Mundi Herbals
• Guided practices for establishing baseline dietary routines to stabilize digestive biorhythms... meditation methods to enhance your perception of prana and Qi in foods, medicinal plants, and the environment... organoleptic analysis to know herb functions based on taste, smell... and more

Aromatic plants and their profound and mysterious influence on consciousness are not only an important part of spiritual practices — they’re also powerful medicines that treat many health conditions.

By adding essential oils to your home apothecary, you have many new therapeutic tools to support your self-care and rejuvenation practices. When used in conjunction with herbal medicine, these effects can be enhanced with excellent therapeutic results.

The scented compounds of the aromatic woods and resins have a pronounced effect on consciousness. When used with meditation, the sacred scents measurably increase focus and clarity of the mind.

They help deepen your exploration of the true nature of the Self, moving you forward on your journey inward.

During Unit 3, you’ll explore:

• What essential oils are, how to use them safely, and how they’re integrated and blended with other forms of herbal medicine
• The most important botanical aromatics used throughout history for sacred purposes and spiritual devotion — how they’re used, their effects on body and mind, and how they support meditation and inner alchemical practices
• Practices for integrating aromatherapy into daily life — a self-inquiry using the principles of Ayurvedic, Chinese, and Tibetan medicine... the “Sitting Forgetting” Taoist meditation for loosening ego fixations... and more
• The meaning, importance, and practice of svasthya (“abiding in the self”) for medical and spiritual purposes
• Essential oils as botanical immune systems — antimicrobial powers, uses for immune enhancement, and more
• The alchemy of distilling essential oils — safe uses, contraindications, and adverse reactions
• The major sacred scents from precious woods and resins — their uses in spiritual practices... their effects on neurochemistry, moods, and mental states... and their wish-fulfilling powers
• Ahamkara, the process of self-identification in the body’s matrix of cosmological energies and elements
• “The Power of Prayer and Plant Spirits in Ceremony,” with guest teacher Puma Fredy Quispe Singona, Andean medicine man and spiritual leader

There are many simple herbs you can add to your home apothecary that have highly effective therapeutic powers for preventing and treating common respiratory conditions. Aromatherapy, essential oils, and the sacred scents are also important botanical medicines for the lungs.

Understanding how to work with these plants for protecting the respiratory system increases your overall wellbeing and reduces the need for stronger and more toxic medications, supporting long-term rejuvenation and longevity.

These powerful allies support the inner alchemy of your contemplative practices. Herbs and aromatics that work directly on the lungs can deepen your awareness of the subtle energies and elements of the respiratory system, such as the “Prana Vata” and “lung Qi.”

Subtle energies have always been used in ancient practices — such as pranayama — as doorways into the deeper dimensions of our mind and consciousness, and can ultimately lead to profound wisdom and insight about the nature of reality.

You’ll come to understand the inner and outer dimensions of the respiratory system and the breath... the principles of self-care for respiratory health, immunity, and rejuvenation... the biological unity of all breathing things on earth... and the flow of consciousness that the breath supports.

During Unit 4, you’ll explore:

• The primary treatments for protecting, treating, and rejuvenating the respiratory system
• A deeper understanding and experience oflife force according to classical Asian medicine — and its relevance to herbal medicine, rejuvenation, and illumination
• The muscles of emotion and the rhythms of spirituality with guest Dr. John Douillard, creator of LifeSpa and globally recognized leader in the fields of natural health, Ayurveda, and sports medicine
• The journey of the mind through the 6 bardo states of consciousness
• Therapeutic strategies, essential oils, and aromatherapy formulas for protecting, treating, and rejuvenating the respiratory system
• Combining herbs and aromatics for addressing respiratory infections, allergies, and asthma
• Nasya therapies for chronic sinus conditions and rejuvenation of the respiratory system
• Practices such as using awareness of prana and Qi to enhance intuition and sensitivity or sensing for self-healing... breathing together with plants to cultivate ecological spirituality... meditations to study different levels of prana and Qi
• How mind, breath, nerve current, and heartbeat are different aspects of the same current that flows through your waking, sleeping, and dreaming states
• Resources for ordering and interpreting your own blood tests
• The 4 levels of Prana Vata — breath, nerve current, heartbeat, and mindstream
• Concepts of the mindstream from Buddhist, Tantric, and Vedic meditation lineages
• Two Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa

The heart is a physical organ, the abode of mystical consciousness, the temple of the innermost Self, and the ultimate destination of all spiritual pilgrimages.

It’s also the abode of Shen, our spiritual radiance, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s the door to a kind of happiness independent of external causes, and the crucible of inner alchemical transformation. Tantra, yoga, and Ayurveda provide their own methods for discovering the mysteries of life in the heart’s inner recesses.

Just as you must practice self-care to protect and rejuvenate the vital breath, you must do the same for the sensitive physical and emotional organ that maintains your life one beat at a time.

And, just as you can use the outer alchemy of herbal preparations to support your contemplations on the breath and its inner teachings, you can also listen to the heart — literally and metaphorically — and discover in its rhythmic pulsations great revelations and insights.

In Unit 5, you’ll explore:

• A deeper awareness of and relationship with the heartbeat, the prana of the heart, and the spiritual dimensions of the heart
• The most important herbs for strengthening the heart and protecting it from metabolic inflammation and degeneration
• The concept of Shen, the spirit and luminosity of the heart, as described by Traditional Chinese Medicine... its role in consciousness, health, and spirituality... and its relationship with the flow of time and biorhythms for rejuvenation and illumination
• Practices such as contemplating the 7 levels of heart prana, incorporating herbs and aromatics to enhance heart-centered meditations, and integrating Shen-nourishing and stabilizing herbs into your heart-centered meditations
• How to use primary cardiac herbs like tonics, trophorestoratives, circulatory enhancers, and more
• The role of botanical medicine in supporting the stability, clarity, and the luminosity of Shen
• Listening to the heart by cultivating self-nourishment and developing emotional intelligence
• The self-love and self-nourishment of heart-focused meditation
• What “internet medicine” means, how it can support or damage health, and the importance of developing critical thinking skills to create your unique, personalized herbal program
• How to distinguish between plausible and implausible causes of illnesses and symptoms
• Principles of rejuvenating the cardiovascular system
• Two Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa
• “Spiritual Wellbeing and the Heart,” with guest teacher Dr. Rosita Arvigo, DN, naprapathic physician, herbalist, and author

Cognitive function is the foundation for all success and accomplishment, whether your work in the world or your inner spiritual development.

The medicinal plants of your apothecary can be used for self-care of the inner and outer dimensions of the nervous system, as well as prevention and treatment for a wide range of conditions, including stress, anxiety, and depression.

The inner alchemy of meditative practice ultimately liberates the mind from concerns of the world, while the outer alchemy of plant medicines can take you deeper into contemplative freedom with greater mental focus and clarity.

With that support, you can enjoy the health benefits of greater emotional balance, restorative sleep, and peaceful meditation.

You can also gain insights into the deepest levels of your being, including how mind and matter meet... how the stream of consciousness flows through the conduits of the physical and subtle nervous system... how the celestial rhythms of sun and moon operate in your consciousness... and other great mysteries waiting to be illuminated by your inwardly focused attention.

During Unit 6, you’ll explore:

• The changing paradigm of medicine and healthcare
• How to perceive the microcosm of the body as a reflection of the macrocosm of nature and the Universe — and what that means for health, rejuvenation, and illumination
• How to work with botanical medicine to support cognitive functions as the basis for longevity, rejuvenation, and illumination
• Practices such as cultivating mindfulness between sense organs and sense objects, combining herbs and aromatics with meditation methods, and listening to the heartbeat as a mirror of the mind, thoughts, and feelings
• The importance of deep sleep for healing and rejuvenation, the major underlying causes of sleep disorders, and the major categories of botanical medicine for treatment
• Mental health conditions according to classical Asian medicine, the strengths and weaknesses of botanical medicine to treat them, and how to integrate botanical medicine into other modalities for better therapeutic results
• The strengths and weaknesses of allopathic and natural medicine and how to effectively integrate them
• Which conditions herbal medicine treats best, with the most reliable positive outcomes
• How to determine your options when your doctor wants you to take a medication you don’t want, and when you want to create a personalized herbal program to supplement medications
• Shen disturbances and Prana Vata disorders that affect the mind and emotions
• Concepts of emotional disturbances and psychological disorders from Indigenous cultures and shamanic traditions
• The purifying and rejuvenating powers of the 5 cosmological elements for individual and collective health and wellbeing
• Insights into sleep, dreams, and spiritual evolution
• Three Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa

The digestive system is the realm of the fire elements, which transform everything that enters your body, senses, and mindstream. The outer alchemy of herbal medicine is a powerful support for good health, fulfilling the aims of life and assisting you with your inward practices.

You have access to a vast pharmacopeia that can be highly effective in preventing and curing digestive illness and maintaining optimal functioning of the digestive fires, for complete metabolic transformation without stagnation or accumulated toxicity.

Spiritually, your practices of inner alchemy are intimately related to the fire element. Assimilation of the outside world is happening continuously, not only through the digestive tract, but also through every tissue, the sense organs, and in the mind and psyche.

Every stage of digestion — from the outer GI tract to the inner psyche — influences how you feel, think, understand, and perceive yourself, which in turn is expressed in your daily activities. Healthy digestion includes metabolism of information, sensations, emotions, and memories — all of which have powerful influences not only on your health and happiness, but your personal evolution and spiritual maturation.

During Unit 7, you’ll explore:

• Teachings of the 5 koshas (sheaths) and their relevance to medicine, rejuvenation, and illumination
• Ways to support detoxification and rejuvenation by addressing dental hygiene
• Practices such as meditations to develop awareness of the gut-brain axis, gut-lung axis, and the gut-immune axis
• How to develop personalized herbal protocols to regulate the 13 agnis, 5 subdoshas of Pitta, and 7 tissue levels
• How to create personalized digestive protocols using combined herbs and aromatics
• The role of dental health issues in disease processes throughout the body — and the role of rejuvenating dental health for longevity and immunity
• The cosmological dimensions of metabolic and digestive fire — and what this reveals about your inner spiritual nature
• The primary treatments for protecting, treating, and rejuvenating the digestive system
• The relationship between digestive functions and dental health
• The flow of solar energy from the sun through metabolic transformation and into the light of awareness
• How to use cooking as a spiritual practice with guest teacher Karen Wang Diggs
• Concepts of digestive fire in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine
• The relationships and interplay of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha at the organ level in the respiratory, cardiac, and digestive systems
• Four Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa

Plants detoxify the biosphere of the Earth. Many medicinal plants are also highly effective for detoxifying the inner biosphere of the human body, which pharmaceutical drugs can’t do.

Environment, illness, unhealthy lifestyles, and stress all create toxicity, affecting every system of the body, making the purifying powers of plants increasingly valuable and necessary.

Detoxification can help remove your obstacles to health, happiness, and fulfillment — and plays an important role in individual and collective spiritual evolution.

The outer alchemy of physical detoxification is a crucial aspect of healing that requires specific knowledge of what, when, where, and how to get the best results.

Numerous plant medicines gently support the body’s natural detoxification processes, and others are stronger purgatives and purifiers. Some work by helping cleanse the blood. Some work by enhancing lymphatic drainage. Some work by improving digestive power and restoring the gut membrane and microbiome. And some work by supporting liver and kidney functions.

Detoxification of the body supports the inner alchemy of purifying the mind, transmuting the causes of suffering into wisdom and illumination.

Learn how to safely and effectively detoxify the body according to your age, constitution, health condition, and season — and how to avoid depleting the body with excessive and unnecessary cleanses. Delve more deeply into spiritual practices that free you from the inner toxins of mental and emotional disturbances, which obscure the innermost radiance of your true essence.

During Unit 8, you’ll explore:

• Self-care skills to approach detoxification practices in a balanced and healthy way
• Practices such as integrating simple, safe herbs and aromatics for ongoing gentle detoxification... meditating on the flow of sensory prana... and developing personalized protocols that combine meditation, herbs, and aromatics for detoxification of mental Ama, the waste products of incomplete metabolism
• How Ama accumulates and spread throughout the body, becoming the basis of disease processes
• How the conjunction of the mind, sense organs, and sense objects creates physiological balance or imbalance and depletion or rejuvenation — as the foundation of detoxification
• Classical Ayurvedic and contemporary detoxification methods to reverse and detoxify the body’s waste products
• Herbs, aromatics, and meditation to purify the brain and subconscious of past emotional trauma and enhance detoxification and deep rejuvenation
• Principles of safe and effe ctive physiological detoxification — and the role of detoxification in supporting rejuvenation
• The inherent space-like nature of the body and mind as a method of dissolving the root causes of mental and emotional suffering
• Principles of safe detoxification from addictions, and specialized detoxification protocols for environmental toxins
• Three Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa
• “Detoxification in Yoga & Ayurveda,” with guest teacher Dr. Marc Halpern, ayurvedic doctor, doctor of chiropractic, and founder and president of the California College of Ayurveda
• “Men Drup: Tibetan Mantra-Infused Medicines,” with guest teacher Nashalla Nyinda, TMD (Tibetan medicine doctor), Menpa, M Acu. and LMT

Musculoskeletal pain and inflammation are obstacles to living a joy-filled life of purpose, which includes meditative and yogic practices.

When you’re freed from pain by the powers of medicinal plants, a profound appreciation for the benevolence and healing compassion of nature’s remedies arises.

Numerous herbal medicines have significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic powers that can be helpful for both acute and chronic conditions. Some are in the form of essential oils that you can make into liniments, some are best taken as tinctures and teas, while others can be used in herbal baths.

The pharmacopeia of pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory herbs is vast and requires knowledge to use correctly — but with a few simple, safe, and easily available species, even complex and chronic medical conditions can be resolved.

Increasing the comfort of the body enhances your quality of life, supports your daily activities, and provides assistance as you discover deeper levels of meditative stability, concentration, and focus.

Use your meditation practices to reduce your experience of pain, and learn to attain peace and equanimity with physical discomfort.

During Unit 9, you’ll explore:

• The nature of pain and inflammation and their role in spiritual evolution
• The major categories of herbal medicines that help the most common types of pain
• Practices such as herbal and aromatic baths for pain and inflammation and to support meditation... safe exercise protocols for building bone strength... herbal treatment for bone health based on your individual needs
• Simple, effective, internal and external herbal methods to treat the most common musculoskeletal conditions, thereby preventing injuries and rejuvenating tissues
• Traditional and contemporary herbal and nutritional strategies for protecting and rejuvenating bone tissue
• Types of pain according to Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine
• The safe uses of the most important anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and analgesic herbs for specific body systems
• The primary types of musculoskeletal pain and inflammation that generally respond to herbal treatments
• Bone tissue and its psychospiritual functions according to Qigong, yoga, tantra, and Asian medicine
• The role of nutrition and digestive health in osteoporosis
• Herbal care of muscles and joints for yoga practitioners and meditators
• An Integration Session with K.P. Khalsa

Pharmaceutical drugs cannot detoxify the body, and are incapable of replenishing the body’s nutrients and increasing true vitality.

Classical Asian medical systems and their closely aligned alchemical traditions offer powerful herbs and sophisticated methods for rejuvenating the body and mind, and for millennia have considered herbs indispensable for the spiritual journey.

As you advance in age, rejuvenative herbs play an increasingly important role in slowing bodily processes and counteracting the symptoms of physiological decline. In many cases, it’s possible to reverse chronic conditions you didn’t have the knowledge, resources, or ability to resolve earlier in life.

Using plants rich in nutritive compounds for nourishing the vital essence, you can restore strong immunity, overcome fatigue, and increase the length, quality, and enjoyment of life — all required to complete the inner transformation of consciousness.

At the center of rejuvenation therapies are medicinal plants with adaptogenic powers. These plants offer unique restorative powers that balance and strengthen the immune, endocrine, and neurological systems. Modern research confirms their anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulating properties.

Reputed to support meditation practices and enhance wisdom, these medicines are known to be the elixirs used by sages for millennia.

Rasayana is the path of rejuvenation, and rejuvenation is the cure for all illnesses and health challenges arising from exhaustion and depletion. It’s the key to long life with fully functioning cognitive powers — the outer alchemy that supports the fulfillment of your inner spiritual potential.

During Unit 10, you’ll explore:

• The role of ojas, or vigor, in Ayurvedic medicine — including the health impacts of both depletion and rejuvenation, and their role in longevity and illumination
• How to work with the most ancient and powerful adaptogenic plants for vitality, rejuvenation, and longevity
• Practices such as individual protocols for incorporating ojas-nourishing foods and herbs... integrating Rasayana herbs, formulas, and methods into daily life... and using herbs and aromatics rich in moonlight to support tranquility, contentment, and rejuvenation
• The relationships among the moon, water, flowering plants, sweet flavors and the rejuvenation of body and mind
• Principles, practices, and herbal therapeutics of rejuvenation therapies
• The meanings of “rasa” and its role in rasayana (rejuvenation)
• Botanical medicines for regulating immunity and counteracting the toxicity of cancer, autoimmune conditions, and their treatment
• Nurturing therapies and medicinal plants rich in nutritive compounds that restore strong immunity, overcome fatigue, and increase the length, quality, and enjoyment of life
• Three Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa
• Qigong practices for rejuvenation with guest Daisy Lee, internationally celebrated teacher, trainer, workshop leader, and the founder of Radiant Lotus Qigong
• Sexual energy, the mystical gateway to the remembrance of our true nature as spirit, with guest Dr. Marisa Jackson-Kinman, doctor of Ayurveda and senior faculty at the California College of Ayurveda

Classical Asian medicine and its associated spiritual lineages place great emphasis on protecting and rejuvenating sexual vitality — not only for romantic and erotic fulfillment, but also for general health, rejuvenation, and longevity.

Medicinal plants offer many forms of nourishment that revitalize and enhance sexual functions, and when conjoined with knowledge of the spiritual dimensions of sexuality, this vitality energizes your contemplative path.

Your journey through theIlluminated Herbalism program concludes at the source of life, the power of procreation — and how that power drew in and propelled your individual mindstream into this incarnation.

Sexual rejuvenation is considered the root of vitality, which, when nourished and turned inward, accelerates the completion of the inner alchemy by revealing the deepest levels of your essence and being.

In Unit 11, you’ll discover:

• The primary herbal treatments for restoring balance to the female hormonal and reproductive systems
• Practices such as developing individual protocols for incorporating herbs and formulas for gynecological and hormonal health... contemplating the river of the heartbeat to understand your lifespan... enhancing sexual rejuvenation with the subtle Rasa of botanical perfumes
• The Samkhya system of how the individual mindstream evolves from the universal mind — including how the mindstream is incarnated into the innermost chamber of the heart
• How to access your mindstream’s wisdom and guidance — and how the ancestors of your family lineages live on within our heartbeat
• The unique aspects of rejuvenation therapies that focus on sexual vitality, and the role of sexual vitality in health and inner alchemy
• Psychospiritual concepts of the uterus, menstruation, conception, and menopause from Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine and alchemy
• The 3 mystic treasure boxes in the heart that contain primordial omniscient consciousness
• Shukra and Jing — concepts of essence in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine
• The role of nourishing the blood for sexual rejuvenation
• Two Integration Sessions with K.P. Khalsa