Partner in the practice
Lauren Coulson.
Placeholder: LAUREN'S ROLE — as she would describe it
Lauren works alongside Meg, bringing the herbal side of the practice: plants, preparation, and the traditions that grew up around them. She runs five sessions, from a first look at herbalism through to what is already growing in your garden.
Still to come
Placeholder: A PHOTOGRAPH OF LAUREN — none has been supplied, and one of Meg’s work would not be a substitute.
What these sessions are, and are not
These sessions are educational. They are not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a treatment plan. Lauren does not prescribe, and nothing taught here should replace or delay care from a doctor or pharmacist — particularly if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescribed medicine, or managing an existing condition. Herbs interact with medicines, and that is taken seriously rather than waved away.
Her story
About Lauren
Placeholder: LAUREN'S BACKGROUND — how she came to herbal medicine, written by Lauren.
Placeholder: LAUREN'S QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING — nothing has been assumed.
What Lauren runs
Five ways into the plants.
Each session stands on its own. Taken in order they build, but nobody has to start at the beginning.
- 01
Basics of Herbalism
The starting point: what herbalism is, the vocabulary it uses, and how to begin looking at plants with a herbalist's eye.
A first session for people who are curious and have nowhere to put that curiosity yet. It covers what the tradition actually is, where it sits alongside modern medicine rather than against it, and the language you will meet everywhere else.
Plants are handled, smelled and tasted. Most of the session happens with something in your hands.
What you leave with
- The vocabulary — infusion, decoction, tincture, and what separates them
- How to identify a small number of common plants with confidence
- Where to read further, and how to tell a careful source from a careless one
- 02
Introduction to Herbal Medicine and Natural Healing
A wider look at the traditions of plant medicine, how they developed, and the place they hold in wellbeing practices today.
Where the first session starts with the plants, this one starts with the traditions: how different cultures arrived at their plant knowledge, what they recorded, and how much of it has since been examined.
It is a session about context and history rather than prescriptions. You will leave understanding the field, not holding a treatment plan.
What you leave with
- How herbal traditions developed, and where they diverge
- The difference between traditional use, evidence, and marketing
- Why a herbalist asks you to see a doctor, and when
- 03
Basics of Herbal Medicine
Preparation, hands on. How plant material has traditionally been dried, infused, decocted and stored.
The practical follow-on. This is a working session: measuring, steeping, straining, labelling, and understanding why each step is done the way it is.
Preparation is most of herbalism. It is also where most of the mistakes are, so the session spends as much time on what not to do — and on storage, labelling and shelf life — as on the making.
What you leave with
- How to prepare an infusion and a decoction properly
- Drying and storing plant material so it keeps its character
- Labelling: what to write down, and why it matters later
- 04
Herbal Medicine for Colds + Flu
The plants traditionally reached for through the colder months, what has been recorded about them, and how they have been prepared.
Every tradition has its winter plants. This session looks at which ones, where the practice came from, and how they were made up — the honeys, syrups, steams and teas that people have used for a very long time.
It is a teaching session, not a consultation. Nothing here diagnoses anything, replaces medical advice, or should delay seeing a doctor. Some herbs interact with prescribed medicines, and that is covered directly rather than glossed over.
What you leave with
- Which plants the tradition reaches for, and what has been recorded about them
- How the traditional preparations were actually made
- Interactions and cautions — including when to stop and see a doctor
- 05
How to use Garden Herbs
For what is already growing outside. Harvesting, drying and using the herbs most people have without realising what they have.
Rosemary, thyme, sage, mint, parsley — the plants in the pot by the back door. This session is about noticing them, cutting them properly so they keep growing, and using them beyond the kitchen.
The most practical of the five, and the one people tend to use the same week.
What you leave with
- How and when to harvest so a plant keeps producing
- Drying and storing at home, without special equipment
- Everyday uses in food, in the house, and in simple preparations
Before you book
The practical details
Everything below is still being confirmed with Lauren. Nothing has been guessed at in the meantime.
- Format
- Placeholder: FORMAT — in person, online, or both
- Length
- Placeholder: SESSION LENGTH
- Group size
- Placeholder: GROUP SIZE
- Price
- Placeholder: PRICE, OR HOW PRICING WORKS
- Where
- Placeholder: WHERE LAUREN'S SESSIONS RUN
- What is provided
- Placeholder: MATERIALS PROVIDED
- What to bring
- Placeholder: WHAT TO BRING
- Next dates
- Placeholder: NEXT AVAILABLE DATES
Two practices, one place.
Meg works with fibre, art and holistic therapy. Lauren works with plants. People come for one and often find the other.
Questions
Getting in touch
Enquiries about Lauren's sessions come through the same contact form as everything else, and reach her directly.
Lauren’s sessions sit under the same Health and Wellbeing Disclaimer as the rest of the practice.