Aparna Bapat

Ayurveda, the ancient indigenous medical tradition of India, is characterized by its reliance on natural means to avoid disease, it’s extremely sophisticated system of diagnosis, and its categorization of patients into distinctive anatomic and metabolic “types.” In this class a renowned Ayurvedic physician will share this ancient tradition’s guidance about choosing foods appropriately based on their qualities, our own needs and the season; introduce us to the general principles of Ayurveda. She will then teach us: the “six tastes”; food and body typologies; healing and cleansing recipes; and the use of Ayurvedic herbs, common spices, teas, and seasonings, as well as herbal medicine compounds and formulas to address health issues such as digestive disorders, skin conditions, hot flashes, hair loss, coughs, aches, insomnia, etc.

Note: Materials fee of $10 is payable directly to the instructor.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(4 sessions) Wednesdays, June 6–27, 8–10pm
12SHN20T
Members: $120 / Nonmembers: $130
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Aparna Bapat
Aparna Bapat, a highly experienced Ayurvedic physician and former senior lecturer at the College of Ayurveda in London, lectures and teaches internationally. She currently teaches at the New York Ayurvedic Center, is the Ayurveda program director at the Starseed Center for Yoga and Wellness in Montclair, NJ, and the principal instructor at Starseed’s Institute of Ayurveda.

Andrea Beaman

The foods we eat, our lifestyles and some prescription medications (including Fosamax and other bone medications) can all contribute to weakening our bones and even lead to osteoporosis, arthritis and other debilitating conditions. Because there are many misconceptions about how to properly build bones, people are needlessly suffering. This class will teach us how to select and prepare foods that can both prevent bone loss and/or help correct it. We will learn how to prepare: an old-fashioned bone stock rich in glucosamine, chondroitin, phosphorous, amino acids, and collagen-nutrients that support and build healthy bone; and a calcium and essential fatty acid-rich salmon salad-an ideal dish to help reduce inflammation and build bone strength. If you’re concerned about the future of your bones, this class is for you: come discover how you can build bone health with every delicious bite.

Note: A $15 materials fee is payable directly to the instructor.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(2 sessions) Thursday, May 31 & June 7, 6–7:45pm
12SHN16P For CEUs click here
Members: $60 / Nonmembers: $65
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You are registering for a FREE INTRO on Thursday, May 24, at 8pm. To sign up for the weekly course, see Healing with Whole Foods and Chinese Herbs.

Drew DiVittorio, Dipl (NCCAOM)

This class will teach us how to begin using herbs and whole foods safely to balance and regenerate our internal organs, heal our bodies, strengthen our immune systems and prevent disease. We will discuss healthy weight loss, antioxidants,  longevity-promoting foods, natural pain management, digestive health, allergies, detoxification, healthy aging and environmental toxins. The instructor will assess each student to help them design a personalized diet, exercise and herbal program. Each student will also receive a 125- page manual outlining the course material and providing recipes, herbal formulas and research articles. Please join us for this fun and informative look at healthy living.

Note: A $10 materials fee is payable to the instructor.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(4 sessions) Thursdays, May 31–June 21, 8–10pm
12SHN43T
Members: $125 / Nonmembers: $135

Drew DiVittorio, Dipl (NCCAOM)

This class will teach us how to begin using herbs and whole foods safely to balance and regenerate our internal organs, heal our bodies, strengthen our immune systems and prevent disease. We will discuss healthy weight loss, antioxidants,  longevity-promoting foods, natural pain management, digestive health, allergies, detoxification, healthy aging and environmental toxins. The instructor will assess each student to help them design a personalized diet, exercise and herbal program. Each student will also receive a 125- page manual outlining the course material and providing recipes, herbal formulas and research articles. Please join us for this fun and informative look at healthy living.

Free introductory class on Thursday, May 24, at 8pm.

Note: A $10 materials fee is payable to the instructor.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(4 sessions) Thursdays, May 31–June 21, 8–10pm
12SHN43T
Members: $125 / Nonmembers: $135
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Robin Rose Bennett

The heart pumps vital nourishment throughout our bodies from the moment we’re born till our last breath. It is our physical and emotional core, where our greatest joys and cruelest pains are centered, but we tend to ignore it and not give it the attention it deserves. In this class with renowned herbalist Robin Rose Bennett, we will honor our hearts by, first, exploring how our extraordinary cardiovascular system is designed to work, and then by exploring the remarkable plants nature provides to heal our hearts. We’ll learn about some of the most important herbs that support the cardiovascular network and those that help with heartbreak, heartache, shock and grief, and learn how to use them effectively. These include lavender, rose, hawthorn, motherwort, linden and violet. Our afternoon together will include herb-tasting, meditation, hands-on medicine making, and other practices to help us open and heal our hearts.

Note: There is a $2 materials fee payable to the instructor

A HALF-DAY WORKSHOP
Sunday, August 26, 2:30–6pm
12SHN51S  For CEUs click here
Members: $55 / Nonmembers: $60
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Robin Rose Bennett

Our kitchens (including our cupboards, spice racks, and refrigerators) can be abundant sources of effective medicine for many ailments, and a lot safer than those in the pharmacy! In this class we’ll explore the healing gifts of many items that most of us likely already have in our homes, from onions and garlic to thyme and cinnamon, potatoes and vinegar to salt, pepper, honey, apples, chocolate, etc.  We’ll discover a variety of ways to use these common foods and herbs, including in wound powders, honeys, infused vinegars, herbal syrups, steams and baths, herbal washes, spice pastes, and healing meals. We’ll address such first aid challenges as minor bleeding, belly aches, food poisoning, cuts, headaches, infections, inflammation, sinus troubles, burns, and much more. Come learn how to use the natural pharmacy you already have at your fingertips to keep you and your family healthy.

Note: There is a $5 materials fee payable to the instructor.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(3 sessions) Tuesdays, June 5–19, 8–10pm
12SHN22T For CEUS click here
Members: $90 / Nonmembers: $100
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You are registering for a FREE INTRO on Thursday, June 28, at 8pm. To sign up for the weekly course, see Sugar-Free/Gluten-Free Eating: A Path to Health and Vitality.

Drew DiVittorio, Dipl (NCCAOM)

Many contemporary diseases are linked to high levels of sugar and gluten consumption in our modern diet, which tends to encourage inflammation and contribute to conditions such as hypertension, obesity, asthma, chronic fatigue, and even emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety. A sugar/gluten-free diet can result in greater vitality, better sleep, reduced stress and improved digestion. In this class we will learn how to free ourselves of sugar addiction and gluten foods and discover palatable alternatives. Drew DiVittorio will discuss studies that link sugar and gluten to a host of medical conditions, and teach us to reduce our cravings, find healthy substitutes for gluten and sugar, combine foods  intelligently, and understand food addictions and how to break them. He will also share menus, recipes, and herb and food cures that can support us on the path to greater health and vitality.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(3 sessions) Thursdays, July 12–26, 8–10pm
12SHN25T For CEUs click here
Members: $90 / Nonmembers: $100

Drew DiVittorio, Dipl (NCCAOM)

Many contemporary diseases are linked to high levels of sugar and gluten consumption in our modern diet, which tends to encourage inflammation and contribute to conditions such as hypertension, obesity, asthma, chronic fatigue, and even emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety. A sugar/gluten-free diet can result in greater vitality, better sleep, reduced stress and improved digestion. In this class we will learn how to free ourselves of sugar addiction and gluten foods and discover palatable alternatives. Drew DiVittorio will discuss studies that link sugar and gluten to a host of medical conditions, and teach us to reduce our cravings, find healthy substitutes for gluten and sugar, combine foods  intelligently, and understand food addictions and how to break them. He will also share menus, recipes, and herb and food cures that can support us on the path to greater health and vitality.

Free introductory class on Thursday, June 28, at 8pm.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(3 sessions) Thursdays, July 12–26, 8–10pm
12SHN25T For CEUs click here
Members: $90 / Nonmembers: $100
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View the VIDEO INTRO TO OUR COURSES
or check out our other COURSE LISTINGS

Drew DiVittorio

“The information Drew provides is invaluable to anyone aware of the connection between diet and sustained health, along with the happiness that brings. Every sentence he utters is a piece of practical advice that you can begin to implement immediately to change your life dramatically for the better.” —M.B.

Chinese medicine is one of the world’s great biological systems of understanding, with an unbroken tradition going back thousands of years. Chinese herbal medicine, along with the other components of Chinese medicine, is based on the concepts of yin and yang. It aims to understand and treat the many ways in which the fundamental balance and harmony between the yin and yang may be undermined and the ways in which a person's qi, or vitality, may be depleted or blocked. Clinical strategies are based upon diagnosis of patterns of signs and symptoms that reflect an imbalance.

In this four-week online course, Drew DiVittorio will walk you through basic processes of diagnosis and remedy that anyone with access to a grocery store will find both inspiring and instantly accessible. The strategies learned in this class can help to bring your body into harmony, creating less potential for discomfort and disease and more opportunities for health.

NOTE: Students must have access to a computer with a web browser for this ONLINE ONLY course, and may need to download free software to use some course features. Password-protected access to the course website is permitted only during the dates that this course is being held; PASSWORDS WILL BE ISSUED THE NIGHT BEFORE THE COURSE BEGINS; and user accounts will be deleted once the course is over. Audio-visual materials on the website are not downloaded but streamed through the web browser. Open Center Online Learning courses give students access to teachers and other students through several interactive tools on the course websites.

Please view our F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) for more detailed information about Open Center Online Learning courses.

AN ONLINE COURSE
February 20-March 18, 2012 (4 weeks)
12OLAHH101
$135 No Member Discount

Led by Peeka Trenkle, with Drew DiVittorio, Dipl (NCCAOM), and David Winston

Herbal medicine has been in use for thousands of years, each culture having its own unique system based on the herbs of its bio-region. In the last hundred years, we have steadily moved away from our ability to use herbs in a daily way for nourishment and healing, and have all but lost the ability to use herbs medicinally for treatment of acute illness. We no longer cultivate physic gardens in which families used to grow their own medicine or keep recipe books of remedies that healed illnesses in our communities. Foraging of wild plants for food has also largely been lost as a skill. Industrialization has led to a fear of nature, and several generations have now grown up believing that natural and herbal remedies are quaint but impotent and that pharmaceutical drugs are the only effective treatment for illness. All the work of healing has been delegated to the “experts,” both mainstream and alternative.

This course will give you a comprehensive overview of Western herbs for medicinal and nutritional uses, and our guest speakers will broaden the scope by presenting in-depth information from other various cultures. We will cover each of the body’s systems, the anatomy and physiology of each system and its functioning. You will learn about herbs for tonification, herbal treatment programs for illnesses relating to each system and how to prevent illness, promote vitality and maintain balance in the body through the use of herbs.

We will also cover the history of Western herbalism and how we got to where we are now, and the legal considerations of being an herbalist. In addition, we’ll discuss the use of herbs in an ecological context so that we can wisely choose the most effective herb and not be using endangered or threatened species.

The herbal materia medica in this course primarily focuses on herbs from the northeast United States, including a few from other regions of North America, in order to foster a bio-regional understanding: Our region can, in fact, produce all the plants necessary for our healing.

Note: A certificate of completion will be given upon completion of course requirements.

Note: There will be a $30 materials fee for course manual, payable to the instructor at the first session.

Free Introductory class on Monday, March 5, 7:45pm.

COURSE SCHEDULE
Monday sessions (all led by PeekaTrenkle) will be from 7:45–9:45pm.
Saturday & Sunday workshops will be
from 10am–5:30pm. The field trip will
be from 11am–4:30pm.

A Brief History of Western Herbalism
Monday, March 19

Preparations & Dosages
Monday, March 26

The Digestive System and Liver
Monday, April 2

The Respiratory System
Monday, April 9

The Nervous System and Brain
Monday, April 16

Basic Chinese Diagnostic Techniques
with Drew DiVittorio
An introduction to Chinese diagnostic techniques including pulse taking, tongue and complexion examinations, and reading symptoms and signs.
Saturday, April 21

The Endocrine System
Monday, April 23

Herbal Pharmacy: Making Herbal Products
A one-day hands-on workshop with Peeka Trenkle in making extracts, salves, balms, poultices, etc. There will be an $8 materials fee.
Sunday, April 29

The Circulatory System: Blood and Lymph
Monday, April 30

The Skin
Monday, May 7

Women’s Reproductive System
Monday, May 14

Herbal Energetics
David Winston will discuss simple techniques for matching herbal qualities with the energetics of an individual’s symptoms, using concepts from Chinese and Cherokee medical systems.
Sunday, May 20

Men’s Reproductive System
Monday, May 21

Seasonal Healing: Herbal Therapeutics and the Cycle of the Year
Monday, June 4

Field Trip with Peeka Trenkle
We will identify, taste and study herbs and wild foods at Stephen and Robin Larsen’s Stone Mountain Farm in the mid-Hudson Valley.
Sunday, June 10

Musculo-Skeletal System
Monday, June 11

Urinary Tract and Kidneys
Monday, June 18

Herbal Treatment and Management of Chronic Illnesses: Eastern and Western Approaches
A one-day workshop with Drew DiVittorio.
Sunday, June 24

Materia Medica/Herbal Medicine Chest
Monday, June 25

Case Taking Skills I
Monday, July 2

Case Taking Skills II
Monday, July 9

REGISTRATION AND FEES
A 4-MONTH TRAINING
March 19–July 9, 2012
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Full Payment: 12WHG25LA
$1,300 (No Member Discount)

Payment Plan: 12WHG25LB
$1,450 (No Member Discount)

A non-refundable deposit of $400 is due upon registration. Three further payments of $350 are due April 23, May 21 & June 18.  To register for the payment plan call 212-219-2527.

Automatic credit card payments only.
For CEUs click here

Free Introductory class on Monday, March 5, 7:45pm.