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Our Story
The Seeds of ACORN
by Heather Luna
When our school was born, I had been practicing and teaching as a clinical herbalist for over a decade. I had also recently recovered from chronic Lyme disease. During the two years of my illness I struggled with daily tasks, plagued with extreme fatigue, debilitating joint pain, and horrendous brain fog. My path to recovery was steeped in the methods of Vitalist healing. I worked on healing my gut, restoring my sleep, spending time in nature, embracing spiritual guidance; along with a host of supporting strategies.
The result was that I achieved a higher level of health than before my illness began. Navigating my own chronic disease made me more equipped to work as an herbalist. I started to see better results in my clients, and I became motivated to teach classes on vitalism. It was my own healing journey that paved the way for the birth of the ACORN School of Herbal Medicine.
I remember the day when I reached out to Paul Bergner asking him for ideas on how to structure a curriculum. He sent me some articles on the concepts of a flipped classroom model, which became the inspiration for our community learning platform. Within hours we had formed a blueprint for the development of ACORN.
We agreed that students would listen to his audio recorded lectures as homework. Then use class time for deeper conversation about the material, providing case study examples, applications for real life practice, answering questions, sampling herbs, and learning from each other through these elements. The 'flipped' curriculum offers a higher retention of learning while gaining insight from shared experiences and faculty feedback.
Over the past ten years we have continued to offer core curriculum developed by Paul Bergner from the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism in the setting of a community learning platform. When our programs moved online in 2021, we decided to maintain the community learning concepts by hosting live interactive classes. The shift online allowed two things to happen: our learning community expanded to include students from around the world, and Paul Bergner is now able to join us for class.
Paul's contribution to class time elevates the entire learning dynamic. He shares updates on his latest research, clinical pearls, and stories to demonstrate key learning points. Students find that his presence in class adds deeper value to his audio recorded lectures... Read our testimonials to learn what students are saying about ACORN.
It is our mission to pass on the methods of Vitalism for the next generation of herbalists to carry forward.
