Acorn School of Herbal Medicine - Nevada City, California

Josie Semmes

I had the most amazing experience in the ACORN clinical program. Heather and Paul are a wealth of knowledge both in traditional and scientific approaches to herbal medicine. Having an herbal program of the caliber that ACORN provides allowed me to continue my herbal education without needing to relocate for in person classes. The ACORN school not only taught me the traditional uses of herbal medicine but also how food can be central to helping the body heal itself. I will forever be grateful for all of the knowledge, encouragement, and support they share with their students both during my education and after graduating.

Anika Bundschuh

My two years attending the Acorn School of Herbal Medicine were incredibly inspiring. Heather's knowledge is immense and she does an amazing job sharing what she knows with her students. I looked forward to each class and always came away feeling so much better equipped not just as a herbalist, but just as a person in general! I have taken numerous other herbalism classes and workshops and none have come close to the high quality and holistic teachings of what is offered at Acorn. I would recommend this school in a heartbeat for anyone looking to learn about herbal medicine and deepen their understanding of themselves and this place we call home. Thank you Heather!

Acsa Lopez

I am so grateful for being a student in Acorn School of Medicine Footprints program. Heather is such a charismatic, artistic and extremely knowledgeable soul. I didn't realize how much I would learn about myself and how important it truly is to be able to be my own client in order to be able to be there for others. This program has taught me valuable and lifelong ways to heal myself within through nutrition alongside herbs. I am teaching myself how to live a vital life in order to share my knowledge with others and I could not have been in this stage in my life without Heathers wisdom.

I have been meeting with an Acorns clinician and it has changed my life. The clinician I am with is kind, patient, encouraging and knowledgeable of everything she has taught me. I have never felt judged or pressured to do more than I could not handle. I feel encouraged and empowered. I feel so blessed.

Debbie DeShields

ACORN School of Herbal Medicine is an outstanding school. I have been a student for 2 years. As I get close to graduating I am compelled to share my experience. Heather, the school owner and instructor is beyond knowledgeable. I feel I have made the best choice for a Clinical Herbalist program. There is a great deal of support as you move through the curriculum. You leave each year with the entire program at your disposal to return too at any time. This school is not easy and it sets you up for a future of helping as many people as you are presented with. The format of community learning also helps to develop relationships with many other serious Herbalists as well as providing a kind of “think tank” atmosphere. I highly recommend ACORN as serious training for anyone wanting to learn how to care for themselves, their family and clients.

CMA Medeiros

The Acorn School of Herbal Medicine has changed my life for the better. Heather leads by example, and speaks from embodied wisdom based on years of devotion to her medicinal garden of plants and her clients and students. Every minute of her expertise and guidance is gold.

Since I attended the Footprints in Medical Herbalism Program, I have become a better listener to my body by developing and practicing my skills in "courting" herbs. In class, we learn how to listen as we discover herbal allies for the organs and tissues of my body that I no longer take for granted.

I have also become a better listener of nature around me. I observe, recognize, and learn more about plants around me and in my continued studies; I am no longer taking them for granted either.

The 9 month live online course on Vitalist Herbalism was extremely well organized and prepared me for success. The exercises, projects and assignments kept me focused, while the weekly peer learning circles allowed me to connect with other learners and appreciate how herbs can affect us in different ways.

Herbal "care packages" for each well thought out course section contained everything we needed to make syrups and tinctures and pastilles and more. We not only got to follow Heather step by step in our kitchens, asking questions along the way, but we also had plenty more "raw material" to continue practicing making herbal preparations beyond class.

For those who can get there, Heather offers herb walks and daylongs at the garden which are so fun and fulfilling, as it too is a great blend of content, peer learning, and medicine making.

Heather and her team at the Acorn School of Herbal Medicine, along the guidance of fount of knowledge founder of the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism, made this learning experience enjoyable, immensely worthwhile and deeply enriching.

Kaira Sherman

I was strongly guided to take the Advanced Herbalism course. Before discovering this school, I kept seeing acorns everywhere I went. Sure enough, it turned out to be the name of the school I attended! Acorn’s Advanced Herbalism program surpassed all of my expectations, and my own health improved immensely. Heather Luna, the school’s owner and director is knowledgeable beyond measure. Her years and dedication to running an herbal clinic and school truly sets her apart as a teacher and the school itself, as a top learning institution. Because of this course,. I now feel confident in assessing clients and in my own medicine making. Also, having the added benefit of learning from a Sage and master herbalist, Paul Bergner, was a huge blessing. Paul has been practicing and teaching herbalism since the 1970s. Years ago, he traveled to Scotland to visit an apothecary and was able to leave there with formulations from physiomedicalists remedies from the 1800s! This and so much other hidden herbal medicine is what makes this course thorough and well worth the cost. There is SO much information and magic packed into the course!
If you are wanting to build your confidence as an herbalist, or take your own herbal practice to the next level, I couldn’t recommend any other herbal school higher than Acorn.

Riley Mitchell

I am beyond excited with the programs offered. I was quite nervous with taking online classes as I’ve always preferred an in-person setting. Heather makes it easy and exciting to show up for each class. And the lectures from Paul are always so insightful, I feel like I can’t write down enough of what knowledge they share with us students. I’m excited to finish the whole program and be able to share the knowledge I’ll develop with friends, family and one day have a practice of my own. I highly recommend this program to anyone who is interested in herbalism, but more so to those who have a real desire to help change peoples lives.

Katherine Flores

As a student in the medicinal footprints program I cannot rave enough about how much I am learning that will benefit not only my future skill set as a practitioner but i will be able to help others with vitalist applications. This program is not just teaching herbal skills and nutrition but it is reconnecting me with my understanding of nature and its connection to my body, mind and spirit. I am very thankful and cannot recommend enough Heather as a teacher with such an incredible breadth of knowledge she is sharing with all of us future herbalists. If you are debating what program to take - this is it folks, it'll change your life:)