Organic Herbal Products

Tinctures, elixirs, and more.
Our products are made in small batches, in accordance with Vermont's seasons and the moon's cycles. We intimately know the plants in our medicines because they are growing around us in the wild as well as in our organic gardens. We take time to know them from seed to full maturity. What we are not able to harvest in our gardens we ethically wild craft nearby, or source from organic growers.

We do mail orders. Also, look for our products on the shelves of Tulsi Tea House (next to the Thai restaurant) on Elm Street in Montpelier VT, Fiddleheads Raw Foods Cafe in Worcester VT, L.A.C.E. (Local Agricultural Community Exchange) in Barre VT, the Plainfield Co-op, and Willow Branch Herb Shop in Randolph, VT. Click here for a Product List.

Classes & Summer Program

Classes:

Request our monthly e-newsletter of classes, events and updates by emailing: mandalabotanicals@gmail.com.

Projects in 2010:

The 2010 Local Healers Program:

This is the 6th season of the Local Healers Program. Crafted to keep herbalism, and health care, in the people's hands, where it belongs. The local plants, mycelium and wildlife are the 'Local Healers' given tribute in the program's name.

The applications for the 2011 Local Healers Program will be available in late fall 2010. To participate in other herbal workshops this year, email us for a monthly calendar update.

• Learn to identify, gather, prepare & administer plants for healing & food
• Understand the microcosm of a place through plants and seasonal cycles
• Gain confidence, knowledge & hands-on experience with medicinal plants throughout an entire growing season in Vermont

Meets Wednesdays 9am – 1pm. Start date is May 19th, then weekly from June 2nd to September 1st, plus once in October, a half day per meeting. Program cost is $675. Payment plan available. Discounted tuition ($650) if paid in full by May 1st. VSAC Non-Degree grant approved. Onion River Exchange (Time Bank Barter) hours accepted. Deadline to register is May 5th.

We venture out on many trips into the wild, to farms, and to other inspiring places to identify, gather and learn about herbs. We make herbal preparations, cook and eat together, and develop our relationship with nature. Learn to use local VT plants as food and medicine, as well as several familiar plants of Asia, Latin America and Europe. A balanced menu of practical information, self-healing and activism, it is appropriate for learners of all ages.

Students develop confidence and ability to: select and cook wild foods of the Northeast bioregion, ethically gather wild plants for medicine, prepare culinary herbs in medicinal ways, and cultivate a wide range of foods and herbs in the garden. Students learn to prepare tinctures, salves, infused oils, incense, teas, poultices, soups, healing baths, spirit bathing, and more. Each participant creates a custom first aid kit and herbal apothecary. Over the course of the program, participants discover insight into their personal health, and experience the importance of this prerequisite before offering healing to others. The skills gained are of lifelong value, and are contagious. A beautiful certificate is awarded at completion of program.

Student testimonials:
"The atmosphere is so wholistic—seed to seed through the seasons, medicine making, food as medicine, a safe space to process my own path and grow in a group setting. The amazing potlucks, the enriching field trips, it was a brilliant orchestra of educational material!" D.W.
"I expected to learn about identification, preparation and usage of healing herbs, and I did. I also expanded my vision and improved my connection to the organic reality. I have become much more aware of and connected to the plant world, and I know how to incorporate my learning into my life." B.R.
"I enjoyed learning about the medicinal values of plants in my backyard. I will always remember that I can heal myself and others with what is around me in nature." P.L.

Natural Health Consultations

Consultations may include: spirit baths with herbs; astrology;
art, gardening, food and herbal recommendations.

Each person is an ecological expression.
We are part of nature and need nature. In this rapidly changing global climate we need to attune to the practices of our ancestry, and to the foods and medicines of the bioregion in which we live. Through integrating regular awareness of our bodies with the rhythms of the seasons, we can enjoy great improvements in health.

About Sandra Lory

Sandra founded Mandala Botanicals on the Winter Solstice in 2003. Sandra is a Folk Herbalist, Food Educator and Artist. A multicultural American, she was born in India and raised on a subsistence farm in Vermont. She is the granddaughter of a Goan village herbalist on her mother's side, a Czech urban gardener and German nurse on her father's side. Her passion incorporates awareness and action, impact and responsibility inherent in being a global citizen. Her practice integrates her temperate and tropical herbal education. Sandra's teaching style is inclusive, engaging and lively. She has over a decade of experience in organic agriculture and natural foods, and has been chef at Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center since 2002.

Sandra is grateful for her teachers: Atmo Abram, Rosemary Gladstar, Ms. Beatrice Waight, Josephine Spilka, Amy Goodman Kiefer, Guido Mase, Rocio Alarcon, Joseph Kiefer, Luiza Maria Antao and Hadar Sarit for their generous and timeless teachings. Sandra is also thankful to her parents for their support and the freedom they have given her to create the map and compass of her life.

Photo Gallery

Click here to see photos of botanicals, herbal classes, and community events.
(Scroll down and click on photos on left side bar.)

Links

Co-Founder of:
VermontHealers.Org
The Barre Community Garden at Metro Way

Member of:
Transition Town Vermont
Northeast Radical Healthcare Network
Onion River Exchange
Naturopathic Relief Clinic for Haitian Earthquake Victims

Friends:
Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center
Numen (A film about the healing power of plants)
Catalyst
Red Fox Trading Post
Twin Pond Retreat Center
Tulsi Tea Room & Green Mountain Medicinals Herbal Apothecary
Food Works
LACE
Roots School
Wisdom of the Herbs School

Contact Us

By phone: (802) 479-1925
By email: mandalabotanicals@gmail.com