Botany and the Body series: Healing the Emotional Body on the Land

Botany and the Body is a seasonal workshop series exploring how plants and trees support physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being through hands-on learning and herbal preparations.
In this third and final session, we’ll explore how to nurture the emotional body through connection with the land. Participants will engage in practices for grieving and healing with the support of plants, trees, and the surrounding landscape. Deciduous and evergreen trees offer guidance and comfort, while seasonal flowers, seeds, berries, and cones can be gathered to create art that nourishes emotional and spiritual well-being.
Featured plants may include hawthorn, rose, pine, linden, catnip, and other heart-supportive trees and herbs. During a plant identification and ethnobotany walk, participants will learn traditional associations with emotional healing, then collect needles, cones, and berries to craft solstice beeswax candles—integrating natural materials into a meaningful practice of reflection and care.
Each participant will also receive a complimentary botanical face serum or body scrub from Ursa Major!
Dr. Jessica Dolan is an environmental anthropologist and ethnobotanist with over 20 years of experience working with Indigenous communities and environmental caretakers across the Northeast. She currently serves with the National Park Service Northeast Region in Native American Affairs and is writing an ethnobotany field guide. She is a loving parent to a third generation Brattleboro kid.