Education and Activism;
People's Medicine; Just Livelihood

By registering for a paid workshop or class, you agree to: 1. Fees are due at time of registration. 2. Payment alone secures your place: in person or online. Extended classes (multiple days) can have a payment arrangement in good standing to secure your place. 3. When you cannot attend a one-night class/workshop after registration: A refund or credit towards a class/merchandise/consultation will be given with 48 hours notice. No credit or refund will be issued for cancellations within 48 hours of class time. Please be certain that your schedule has room for all classes for which you registered. A student is allowed to find a substitute for their seat without penalty at any time. Please contact Lily in advance to give the name(s) of your subs. 4. Low enrollment cancellations by Lily: Students will be notified 48 hours before class & issued a refund/credit, good for classes/merchandise/consultations. 5. Cancellations due to unforeseen circumstances (weather, illness): you will be notified as soon as possible & that class will be rescheduled. If you cannot attend the rescheduled class, you can apply your payment to another class. 6. Class fees or deposits will not be refunded for any reason other than stated above. 7. Only registered students may sit in on class, this includes children/ guardians. 8. Age restrictions are at discretion of teacher. 9. No shows. If you do not come to your class and you do not make arrangements to cancel 48 hours in advance, we do not issue refunds or credits. Instructor time is valuable, and you may have taken a spot from someone on a wait list.

All Lily's online classes are available either with a small monthly fee or a one-time payment that is discounted. All classes are self-paced, no deadlines or pressure. All class content is yours to keep, forever. Currently, Lily offers: Foundations of Western Herbalism Online (anatomy, physiology, materia medica, medicine making, field trips, plant ID, cultivation, harvesting, processing, and wildcrafting) Essential Oil Safety (all about how to safely use essential oils and what they are good for without all the MLM sales hype and pressure) People's Medicine Course (learn lay herbalism a plant each month through guided lessons. This is perfect for people only wanted the knowldge for themselves and their family.) Future courses being worked upon:Maiden Voyage and Mench (sex, relationship, and body education for adolescents that is consent driven, feminist, and secular) Plant Allies: Magic and Folkloric use of Plants (multiple relsigious, cultural, and spiritua traditions worldwide to create a comprehensive picture as plants as more than food and medicine. Medicine Makers Series well filmed and edited video series on every kind of herbal medicine and the techniques involved. and quite a few more!

Currently, Lily offers an in-person version and an online version of this course. The online version is self paced, deadline free, and you keep the content forever. It is designed for busy working adults who want to treat friends and family from a well-trained place. You can see online class policies at the link above. The in-person class is for people wanting to work as an herbalist in some capacity one day and advanced training is available for successful students in clinical and apothecary work. Both classes use the same textbook: Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman.In-person class policies and set up: This is an in-person, 18 module class that meets monthly with plenty of independent work in-between. It is taught by Lily Kunning, a trained, practicing herbalist. The class is designed to be half lecture, half ads-on activities. Each month, we do indoor activities (medicine making) or outdoor activities (cultivation, plant identification, wildcrafting, harvesting, processing)- depending on the season. In this class, you will learn anatomy, physiology, materia medica, medicine making, and much more. It is an "undergrad" course- giving you a foundational understanding of western herbalism and showing you the possibilities of incorporating herbalism into your life and possible practice. You can see the current syllabus here. There are advanced apprentice-model studies available for successful students- in both clinical applications and apothecary applications. Current list of compentencies for that apprenticeship are here. The next cohort starts May 2020 on third Wednesdays of the month for 18 months.Payment options: $1600 payment in full 7 payments of $251.42 (10% financing) 10 payments of $184 (15% financing) Because class size is limited and my costs for teaching remain even if you drop out, tuition is non-refundable. This includes people on payment plans. Payment plans must be completed whether you remain in class or not, as the cost for the program (rent, materials) is budgeted based on the total enrollments.If you have more questions, please email Lily. If you would like to secure your place (seats are limited), you must start a payment plan and stay in good standing, make a deposit, or pay in full. Lily can allow access to future classes for your original tuition and payment in good standing. (In other words, if you need to drop out for now, you still pay your tuition and can join a subsequent class. Just let Lily know which class you wish to enter.

Lily offers advanced placement (in clinical and apothecary) for people that have had an "undergrad" education in western herbalism. The class taken should have been in-person (not online) and submission of curricula and affidavit of completion should be submitted for admission to the cohort. Successful completion of Lily's Foundation of Western Herbalism, her Herbal Certifiate course at GAFEE, or another herbalist-taught class (of at least 43 classroom hours, 15 hours of field trips, and 41 hours of independent work) qualifies for entrance to the cohort. Apprentices meet once a month for two hours as a cohort (Second Thursdays, 7 PM), do one-on-one work at least two hours a month with Lily, and do independent work in the list of competencies.

Maiden Voyage is a feminist, consent-oriented, coming-of-age class for self-identified girls and AFAB non-binary folks that covers sex, bodies, and relationships in a way quite unlike any other classes out there. Click for curriculum. It was created to fill the gaps in state mandated curriculum nationwide. It is science-based and gives girls all the knowledge they need to make informed choices in the adult lives. Lily was trained as a sex educator in two places: at Good Vibrations, a formerly worker-owned cooperative company that sold sex toys, videos, and books (and indeed made their own under Down There press). She was trained to educate adults about sex without stigma or shame and to empower those seeking resources. She was also trained in OWL- Our Whole Lives, a curriculum developed and offered to Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ congregations) and found it good (it is commonly seens as some of the best the country has to offer), but lacking comprehensive updates in areas involving gender, the internet, pornography, and other items very pressing to kids coming of age these days. Lily is doing an in-person beta test workshop the first quarter of 2020 and using feedbackand questions to develop an online version later this year. Soon, a partner class, Mensch (for boys and AMAB non-binary folks), will also exist.

Wellness in Weeks is a group wellness coaching program. It features live webinars for 6 weeks in a row- each week focusing on a different area of wellness: diet and nutrition, movement and exercise, sleep hygiene, stress management, removing toxins in your life, and finding your passion. It is a holistic approach to wellness, run by me- an herbalist, educator, and welness coach. It is different from any other offering of wellness coaching that I have seen. No matter where a student starts in their wellness journey, there is content (and enough customization) that will offer positive changes to all who enroll. The class has a live webinar each week (which is recorded in case someone has to miss one) that offers time for interactive Q & A. After the webinar, a followup email is sent with resources, a lifestyle log, and assignments for you to use the newly found information to make positive changes in your life. All that's needed to participate is a computer or smartphone with internet access and an email address. No technical knowledge required!

Patreon is a website that allows people like yourself to fund others doing amazing work in the world. It is commonly used by artists, musicians, and writers. Lily has ambitions to do amazing work in Columbus and in the world with her herbalism and activism. Currently, here is what she does without a paycheck, thanks to her Patrons: 1. Teaches free wellness classes at Cancer Support Community once a month. 2. Runs an Herbalists Without Borders chapter. 3. Practices in the People's Clinic and Apothecary (a free/sliding scale clinic). 4. Organizes a non-profit called Sassafras, which plans to organize an annual herb gathering in Ohio and fund holistic, herbal, and wellness education. 5. Does a weekly radio show/podcast called Beyond Theory. 6. Is co-creating a democratic school called Liberigo Free People School. 7. Teaches Ohio's next generation of herbalists. She needs community support to continue this work and expand it further. All these projects cost money to sustain and as of yet, she is unpaid for doing the work as well. Funders choose the amount they want to give each month- from $1 on up, and get rewarded and also are rewarded knowing that they are funding good work in the world. See below for projects!

Currently, Patreon is covering a portion of rent for classes and meeting space, web hosting and podcast fees for several projects, domain registrations, and basic internet and printing fees. We are over halfway there to covering 100% of those costs. Once those are met, Lily will start paying herself for this important work in order to do it more and side-hustle less. Activism, organizing, and mutual aid work, rather than gigging for money includes: 1. Herbalists Without Borders, Central Ohio. It boasts Columbus' first sliding scale holistic clinic with multiple practitioners, every month. It has an apothecary of herbal and holistic remedies and tonics for clients and people who come to chapter meetings. We make Blessing Bags of non-perishable necessities in November and december annually and host herb swaps and seed swaps, too. This takes lots of coordination and volunteer management, as well as direct volunteer time. 2. She is filling a void of affordable education for people pursuing herbal studies. Her online and in-person classes are already some of the most affordable classes of their kind nationwide, but she hopes to subsidize them further and offer scholarships- particularly for communities of color, immigrants, and the working poor. 3. She is organizing a new non-profit here in central Ohio, called Sassafras. It's mission is to preserve holistic and botanical legacies of wellness for future generations. We do this through classes, seedling sales, anmoral history project, and an anual conference. 4. She founded and administers Liberigo Free People School, a democratic school for ages 5-8 here in Ohio. 5. She produces and hosts Beyond Theory, a radio broadcast/podcast featuring people doing the work of making the world a better place. In order to do this organizing work, she needs to be able to provide for her family too. By stabilizing her income through Patreon, she can dedicate all of her time to these organizing pursuits, rather than dividing her time between making money and pursing the greater good. If you like and agree with her vision, consider becoming a patron!

Herbalism is different in many ways: 1. When using herbs as medicine, you are employing the entire plant (root, flower, leaf, rhizome, etc) which consists of hundreds or thousands medicinal constituents to address specific issues. This differs from pharmaceuticals which are manufactured to address one specific goal (which they often do very effectively). Pharmaceuticals, standardized as they are, do not always take into account the synergy of multiple body systems, often leading to unnecessary and potent side effects. 2. Herbal medicines were not created for your specific diseases and illness, therefore there is no herb to “treat arthritis” or to “treat IBS”. Herbal remedies are custom created for you- a whole person experiencing specific symptom manifestation with a specific constitution that is uniquely yours. Herbs, when combined together in a custom compounded form, can be remarkably effective in providing holistic treatment that is not just symptom specific, but whole body supporting. The plants work with YOU, as an individual. 3. Herbalism works with your body, restoring normal systems. Pharma usually replaces things and does not have this goal- pharma wants you staying on pharma. 4. Herbalism looks at plant energetics (as well as actions) and then looks at the person needing plants (and their constitutions and how their symptoms manifest). Only after taking all this into consideration is an herb or formula recommended. ​

Good herbalists don’t treat conditions: they treat people. Instead of relying on "this herb is good for X condition", Lily looks at you, your constitution, your condition, your current diet, lifestyle, pharmaceuticals, exercise, stress, and more to create a custom plan and possible supplement *just for you*. Lily has helped thousands one-on-one and at Boline Apothecary (her former shop). She puts together customized herbal and lifestyle programs to help with a variety of conditions. Herbalism works best when combined with a lifestyle that includes clean water, whole foods, gentle exercise, and plenty of self-love. Lily prefers to help her clients stay well, rather than treat illness- but she does both. Anyone calling themselves an herbalist should be a highly trained practitioner skilled in the art and science of matching medicinal plants with people. Botanical medicine is both incredibly simple and amazingly complex. An herbalist has extensive knowledge of not only the medicinal potential of botanical medicines (from phytochemistry to pharmacology) but also a solid understanding of human physiology and pathophysiology. Combined together, this allows an herbalist to provide holistic treatment of varying illness using the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants custom compounded to fit each individual need. In the United States, there is no licensure or regulations of who can call themselves an “herbalist” or who can practice using that title. It is extremely important to do your research and feel comfortable with your herbalist's level of training. Some herbalists can attend weekend seminars or brief certificate programs and begin practicing with little actual clinical experience. Some others have simply read recipes off the internet! Lily is trained and has over a decade of experience.

Anyone calling themselves an herbalist should be a highly trained practitioner skilled in the art and science of matching medicinal plants with people. Sadly, there are no regulations about this, so caveat emptor! Columbus has several folks calling themselves herbalists with no formal or incomplete training. Botanical medicine is both incredibly simple and amazingly complex. An herbalist has extensive knowledge of not only the medicinal potential of botanical medicines (from phytochemistry to pharmacology) but also a solid understanding of human physiology and pathophysiology. Combined together, this allows an herbalist to provide holistic treatment of varying illness using the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants custom compounded to fit each individual need. In the United States, there is no licensure or regulations of who can call themselves an “herbalist” or who can practice using that title. It is extremely important to do your research and feel comfortable with your herbalist's level of training. Some herbalists can attend weekend seminars or brief certificate programs and begin practicing with little actual clinical experience. Some others have simply read recipes off the internet! Lily is trained and has over a decade of experience.

Yes, she does. She sees clients on limited weekdays between 9-5. She can do in-person or online consultations. You can book here. She also does sliding scale clinics with Herbalists Without Borders. Find the next clinic here. If that schedule cannot work for you, here are some other herbal recommendations: There is one herbalism practice that has office hours in Columbus: Sovereignity Herbs. They also see folks in Athens. Also in Athens: Caty Crabb (You can contact her through her school). There are also herbalists in Marysville (Dawn Combs) and Ashtabula County (Leah Wolfe).

No way José! She’s an herbalist! She does not "practice medicine" and does not diagnose or treat diseases or medical conditions. Her services are not meant to substitute or replace those of a licensed physician (and legally, she is not allowed to do so) and clients in her practice are free to be under the care of a licensed physician or other practitioner of choice. She is happy to work with other practitioners of any stripe on case management, too.

After you book online and pay your deposit, download the intake form. Fill it out (give yourself 20 minutes, minimum) and bring it to your in-person appointment (or email it to Lily before your online appointment). At the visit, Lily looks at this form, interviews you, assesses visible signs of health (skin, eyes, tongue, pulse, etc. when necessary) and clarifies a larger holistic picture of your health and then makes recomendations. The balance of your consultation fee is due at the time of appointment, Each appointment is about 45 minutes and her office is on the second floor (no elevator). If you need an elevator or ground floor, please let her know and she will find another place to meet you (or suggest online consultation). Lily is a wellness coach specializing in herbalism and will make suggestions having to do with stabilizing the foundations of wellness for you (diet, appropriate movement, stress relief, relationships and support networks, and more). She will recommend supplementation if it is necessary to assist in restoring balance. Generally, Lily picks 3-4 areas or less to focus on- any more than that is overwhelming and often self-defeating. She will often try and combine supplements so that clients are not burderned with too many things to take each day. If you are taking medicines or supplements that are duplicative or counter-act one another, she will point those out, too. She has the ability to create custom formulas just for you or recommend other products. She often recommends Haven Herbs products, because these are also her formulas and she is familiar with them and their sourcing. She also has a Fullscript dispensary for you to use freely. This is an online resource for you to order supplements at a substantial discount and professional strength ones, to boot. (Through this tool, she is also able to find supplements that meet dietary and allergy restrictions for you.) Fullscript is where your recommendation email originates- and you can purchase any recommendations in it through clicking on them within the email. After your initial consultation, you will recieve an email summary of your visit with recommendations. If there are any concerns, questions, or feedback about the plan or following it, please contact Lily. The plan only works if it is followed! After a month of following the protocol outlined, you should set up a followup visit to check in and work on existing and new wellness goals.

Lily makes custom formulations in two ways: 1. She formulates for a consultation client after meeting and setting health goals with them. 2. She can create a custom formula for a client after a series of email check-ins for verification and make it available. This is for folks looking to replicate a formula and does not replace a consultation or case management. Usually, these can be made available within 2-3 days. However custom formulations may require getting a specific herb or tincture not in stock. In that case, it could take up to a week or more, but Lily will advise you if that is the case. Formulas will be invoiced online and then shipped to you. You will pay actual shipping, no handling fee.

Yep. In addition to custom formulations that she makes for some of her clients and the ready-to-purchase items she makes for Haven Herbs, she also has access to premium supplements through FullScript. These can be purchased online through her Fullscript portal where folks receive up to 20% off retail prices. Lily will speak to you about Fullscript orders and recommendation emails during your consultation if they apply to you. (Or you can register in the footer of her website and create an account on your own.) Disclaimer: Lily Kunning, Community Herbalist receives a 5% percent of sales from supplements purchased through Fullscript, even with your substantial discount. You can get them through the recommendations or portal or elsewhere, your choice. But it is often cheaper to get them through Lily's Fullscript.

After your wellness consultation intake, Lily will follow up with you via email. In that email, she will reiterate the plan you created together, the goals the two of your focused upon, and how to achieve those goals. She will attach links and resources to this email, and she may recommend supplementation. Supplementation could be custom herbal formulas that she makes herself (specifically for you), a Haven Herbs product (she also formulates these), or they could be items she does not make like probiotics, vitamins, minerals, essential oils, etc. For these items, she can offer clients a discounted rate on professional grade supplements that she has vetted and she recommends through Fullscript. She does it this way for several reasons: It allows clients to order directly from Fullscript, at a discount, and not search for the exact item (and often get frustrated). It allows very specific criteria in supplement formulation that a client may not know to look for. (Lily often will recommend specific strengths or dosages or have preferences in how the formulas are prepared: her standards are quite high,) She has "go-to" products she finds superior to the mediocre supplements that often grace the GNC or Whole Foods shelves. These superior products will be the ones on your Fullscript recommendation. Whether or not you purhase supplement recommendations from Fullscript, your follow up email will come through the Fullscript portal.

Lily makes herbal formulas that many in Columbus rely upon. With the closing of Boline Apothecary, many are confused where to get their needed items. In February 2018, Lily launched Haven Herbs as a worker-owned cooperative. Haven has most of the things Lily used to make for Boline. Shop Haven here. Lily also makes custom and limited edition products (or products she made at Boline that Haven does not carry) and they are also available online here.

Lily ran Boline as a sole proprietor for 4 years and in that time, the shop was much loved. It was too much work for one person to manage. It was also hard to make ends meet every month. Small retail, especially brick and mortar, has lower margins but all the costs that the big box shops have. If you love small independent shops, make sure you spend most of your shopping money at them, because they sure do need it! And shopping local is more supportive of your community than big box- more money gets reinvested locally when you shop this way. Lily tried getting a business partner and when that did not work, she eventually decided to form a worker-owned cooperative. After looking at the financials, the group decided to keep the formulations which everyone wanted and start with a cleaner, leaner business model- and Haven Herbs was born.

While none of the local shops who have bulk herbs have the 400+ botanicals and ingredients that Boline did, here are the two local places that have herbs and other things in bulk: Clintonville Natural Foods, 4398 Indianola Avenue, Clintonville, OH 43214 Bexley Natural Market, 508 North Cassady Avenue, Bexley, OH 43209

Haven Herbs is a worker-owned herbal apotheary company. Anytime you meet someone repping Haven, you are meeting an owner! This company got its start with all of Lily's formulas (formerly under the label Boline Apothecary). Lily is still chief formulator, herbalist, educator, and does sourcing for Haven.

Beyond Theory is Lily's activist radio program and podcast. We live in some dark times, and Lily wanted to highlight those doing the work to make the world a better place through action (hence the name of the show). It airs Fridays at 11 AM on WGRN 94.1 LP FM in Columbus (and livestreamed on their website at that time), and is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and Tune In as a podcast.

Sassafras is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose mission is to spread and preserve herbal, holistic, and wellness education in Ohio. It is organizing an annual herb gathering, sponsoring feminist sex and body education, and offers events and workshops throughout the year. It also has a project called Elder, which is an oral history project of herbalism's elders (the archive is to be hosted on Sassafras' website.) And is developing a networking database for herbalism in Ohio.

Herbalists Without Borders is an international NGO that works to deliver health care and food justice worldwide through the work of its chapters. The central Ohio chapter runs a People's Clinic and Apothecary, seed and herb swaps, and hopes to have other events and projects soon. It is volunteer run and could use your participation!

Dissatisfied with current public, charter, and private school options, Lily wanted better for her child. She has banded with other like-minded folks to create a democratic school for central Ohio called Liberigo. It collectivizes adult mentoring, making it easier for families to time manage. It builds a community of people who want their children and youth to grow into confident, self-assured, questioning adults. Democratic schooling is child-driven. This means students determine what projects they want to work on to advance their learning, academics follow when students are passionate about what they wish to learn. And the school teaches the principles of true democracy, freedom and responsibility- because studets determine mentorships, activities, rules, and consequences.