A Four-Week Autumn Series in Embodied Herbal Wisdom & Sensual Movement
Join clinical herbalist and owner of Dancing Willow Herbs, Elliott Brinkley, alongside dancer and movement guide Ana Hyatt, for a four-week series in the heart of the autumn season exploring embodied herbal wisdom in dialogue with guided sensual movement.
Autumn offers a natural invitation to turn inward. As the light dwindles and the plants begin drawing their energy back toward the roots, we’ll gather each week to slow down, listen, and explore another way of coming into relationship with the plants around us.
Rather than beginning by asking what does this herb do?, we’ll begin with direct experience.
Each evening, we will work with a different autumn herb, thoughtfully chosen for the season and for the unfolding arc of the series. We’ll taste the plant and sit with it in quiet reverence. Through guided plant meditation, you’ll be invited to soften the analytical mind and attune to the subtler language of the plant- noticing sensation, emotion, imagery, intuition, and whatever else may arise through the experience.
From there, we’ll transition into a slow, floor-based sensual movement practice led by Ana and set to thoughtfully chosen music. These practices are designed to bring us more fully out of the thinking mind and into relationship with the body. Through guided prompts and increasingly intuitive, self-led movement, we’ll explore how the qualities of the plant might be felt, expressed, and embodied through movement.
The movement practice is distinctly sensual and expressive, and may at times feel sexy... an intentional part of Ana's work and of this exploration. You do not need any previous dance or sensual movement experience to participate. This series offers a welcoming place to be a beginner, explore your own movement vocabulary, and discover what it feels like to move without needing to perform or get anything “right.”
After the movement practice, we’ll have space to reflect on what we experienced, both in conversation with one another and within the larger group.
Then we’ll return to the plant from another perspective.
Elliott will guide us more deeply into each herb’s medicinal benefits, energetics, folklore, traditional uses, plant chemistry, and ways you might work with it in your own herbal practice.
Sign up here!
A Season of Turning Inward
Fall is the perfect time to dive in to the liminal space of transformation, inner reflection, deep emotion and magic.
In the dwindling sunlight, our goal is to create a safe and sacred 4 week portal of healing, slowing down and deepening relationship to our body and the plants.
There is something about moving in a group, learning about plants in a group, that draws upon a deep yearning for belonging, community, and ancestral ways. The experience will be crafted in a way, with the prompted movement and chosen plants, to facilitate an inward (not performative) deepening.
What to Expect Each Evening
Each two-hour gathering will follow a similar rhythm while exploring a new plant and theme:
Taste + Plant Meditation
We’ll begin with the evening’s herb and a guided meditation led by Elliott, creating space to experience the plant before learning about it intellectually.
Guided Sensual Movement
Ana will lead a slow, primarily floor-based movement practice inspired by the plant we are exploring. Expect music, guided sensual movement, and opportunities to move intuitively within your own body.
Reflection + Connection
There will be space to integrate the experience through personal reflection, conversation with a partner, and optional group sharing.
Herbal Wisdom
We’ll end by learning about the plant itself- exploring its medicinal benefits, energetics, folklore, traditional use, phytochemistry, and practical applications.
Over four weeks, these experiences will build upon one another, creating a deeper exploration of plants, movement, body, and the changing season.
Who This Series Is For
This class is for anyone longing to deepen their relationship with plants through direct experience- blending meditation, sensual movement, and herbal wisdom into a practice of connection, presence, and embodied learning.
You do not need to be an herbalist.
You do not need to be a dancer.
You do not need experience with meditation or sensual movement.
The movement portion of this series is sensual, expressive, and body-centered. If that feels outside of your comfort zone, you are still very welcome. This can be a beautiful opportunity to experience this style of movement in a guided and supportive setting.
All women, non-binary, or trans people, ages 18+ are welcome.
Four Wednesday Evenings
October 21
October 28
November 4
November 11
5:30–7:30 PM
Classes will be held at The Fly Space, located on the second floor of the Smiley Building in Durango.
The Fly Space is a beautiful, soaring room with high ceilings and open floors that gives us plenty of space to gather, move, and settle into the experience together.
Head upstairs to the second floor from the café and look for the long hallway across from the bathrooms.
What to Bring
Come in comfortable clothing that feels good to move in.
Yoga mats will be available, although you are welcome to bring your own. No special shoes or equipment are necessary.
Mostly, bring yourself! And a willingness to slow down, listen, move, and experience the plants in a different way.
Join Us This Autumn
Herbalism does not have to exist only in books, formulas, and lists of medicinal actions.
Plants can be studied, but they can also be experienced.
Over these four evenings, we’ll create space for both: the tangible knowledge of herbal medicine and the quieter, more personal knowledge that can emerge through taste, attention, movement, and direct relationship.
Come meet four autumn plants through your senses, your body, and the traditions of herbal medicine and discover what unfolds when we allow ourselves to learn with more than the analytical mind.
Sign up here!
If you want to feel into our energy and what we are offering even more, listen to our podcast episode on The Dancing Willow podcast!
A Little More About Us
Ana Hyatt is the owner and founder of Ana Hyatt Movement and The Alt Feminine. She’s been a movement educator for over 20 years and enjoyed a career as a professional dancer and performer in the Bay Area. She is also a mom and gardener. Ana’s passion is to make movement accessible, fun and transformative for all who make their way into the studio for a class.
Learn more about Ana's movement philosophy, work with her 1:1 and see her other classes on her website: https://www.anahyattmovement.com/
Elliott Brinkley is a clinical herbalist and owner of Dancing Willow Herbs. Elliott formulates handcrafted herbal products, works 1:1 with clients, and educates her community. She is a certified Clinical Herbalist with over 1400 hours of training from the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and the Acorn School of Herbal Medicine. With over a decade of professional herbal practice, she has the gift of conveying grounded clinical herbal strategies with everyday people, so that they can feel empowered to make informed decisions about their wellness. Her passion emulates beyond the clinical/scientific and weaves through the energetic nature of healing and the sacredness of connecting people to the Earth.
Come explore your body and the plants with us!
Please note: If you need payment plans or financial assistance, please email us at info@dancingwillowherbs.com.