Wild Medicine Internship
near Asheville, NC
After just one plant walk, it feels like a new whole world opens up.
When you look at a landscape, it's not just “nature” anymore – but new plant friends and allies.
This plant walk series is like the in-person version of CoreyPine's book, Southeast Medicinal Plants
Spring session begins May 9th — just a few spots remain!
"We start our first plant walk with a grounding exercise. We drive miles on highways that morning, but we stand next to a tree that's been there longer than any of us have been alive. It takes slowing ourselves down to be able to really tap into the plants” – Founder CoreyPine Shane
Come slow down with us.
So you can learn to see the “green wall” differently…
Most of us look at the woods and just see a green wall of plants.
But as we learn the individual plants and what they do, it becomes 3 dimensional.
This internship is where you begin to see the world with new eyes.
There is food, medicine, and plants that heal all around you – whether you’re deep in the woods or walking a city sidewalk.
A felt, lived experience of being in relationship with plants that have always been there… waiting.
Waiting for you to return to what you’ve always known:
That you belong here.
That this is your birthright – to walk among the plants as a friend, as part of the living world.
Every Saturday, you’ll step into one of the most biodiverse temperate rainforests in the world, just outside Asheville, to learn how to identify, harvest, and create medicine with the wild plants of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Not just through books or screens, but with your body and your senses. This is a chance to get your hands in the soil and feel your heart open.
At Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine we don’t talk about nature like it’s something separate from us – because we are nature. The separation is a human construct, one we are here to rewrite.
This internship is an invitation for you to feel that truth in your own life.
Imagine that -
Each week you and your new friends venture into the forest – from lush hollers to high-elevation balds. You meet native plants where they live. You learn to read the landscape, recognize plant communities, and harvest respectfully.
Then, you make herbal medicine with your new community of like-minded folks. You will leave with at least two homemade extracts you made with your own hands, and a new budding excitement for the infinite possibilities that your new path in herbalism has created for you.
You belong here if you are ready to:
Spend full days outside in the woods
Want to meet the plants in person – not just in books
Find the confidence to harvest and make your own medicine
Reconnect to the land, the old ways, and your own body
You will leave with:
A working knowledge of local medicinal and edible plants
The ability to identify plant families and tell lookalikes apart
An understanding of basic herbalism language and methods
A felt experience of harvesting, preparing, and taking herbal medicine
There’s a profound sense of empowerment that comes from making your first herbal extract from a plant you harvested yourself. It sparks a deep inner trust – because you realize that, at any time, you can walk into the woods and create medicine to heal yourself and your community.
Whether you're a total beginner or someone who's studied online, this immersive program offers a unique gift: connection. Not just to the plants – but to your own body, to the community, and to the land.
What You’ll Learn
Botany
How to identify plants and how to tell them apart
Lookalikes and poisonous species
The top 10 plant families in our area
Harvesting
Wildcrafting ethics and sustainability
When and how to gather for best results
Best harvesting tools
Medicine-Making
Tinctures, vinegars, succuses, oils, and more
Wild foods preparation for each season
Medicinal Knowledge
Plants for coughs, colds, digestive issues, pain, first aid, stress, depression, cramps, and more
Nutritional uses of wild plants
Plant Connection
See beyond the “Green Wall”
Build relationships with plants as beings
Begin to trust your own herbal instincts
The Mountain Experience
Hike into biodiverse ecosystems
Visit waterfalls, rivers, meadows, and old-growth forests
Feel what it’s like to learn directly from the land
It’s like going to a party where you don’t know anyone, but eventually you talk to people and find commonalities. You feel alright being there.
This is the feeling you get when we go on our plant walks – at first it's just a sea of green; you don’t know anyone. But then you begin to notice the patterns, find similarities – you notice the individuals, and suddenly you see friends and begin to sense how you belong there.
Our unique teaching philosophy
At Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine, we combine traditional folk knowledge with clinical herbalism, drawing from both Western herbalism and Chinese medicine while staying rooted in the Southern Appalachian bioregion.
You’ll learn from CoreyPine Shane, a practicing clinical herbalist with decades of hands-on experience – both in wildcrafting from forest and treating patients in the clinic.
He teaches in a way that blends science with soul, humor with depth, and always centers the student’s lived experience.
Testimonials
Why In-Person? Why Now?
In an age where you can learn anything online, this internship offers something you can’t download.
A place to slow down — to step out of linear learning and into relationships.
You won’t just memorize what a plant does, its properties, and what it is used to treat. You’ll feel it. Smell it. Walk with it. Work with it. And that is where the real learning happens.
Dates + Details
**We meet rain or shine. Lectures and medicine making are mostly outdoors and under covered spaces. Plant walks take place in the field!
2026 Dates Spring Series:
May 9, 2026
May 23, 2026
May 30, 2026
June 6, 2026
2026 Fall Series:
September 12, 2026
September 19, 2026
September 26, 2026
October 3, 2026
Schedule:
Saturdays, 10 AM – 4 PM
4-week series (choose Spring or Fall)
Themes
Spring Series:
Spring ephemerals + wild foods
Leaf and flower herbal medicines
Plant families
Aboveground plants + medicinal bark harvesting
Making tinctures, oils, flower essences
Fall Series:
Plant and tree identification
Harvesting and making leaf and root herbal medicines
Edible fruits, nuts, mushrooms
Root harvesting
Plant families
Making syrups, tinctures, oils, and more
Investment
$360 for a series of 4 walks
Apply anytime. We accept applications until full.
We cannot hold your spot without payment (payment plans available)
Equity Seats // $288 (20% off) For Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
To request an equity rate, complete the registration form and email JJ.BRSHM@gmail.com
Alumni Discount // $324 (10% off) If you’ve taken a BRSHM program before, let us know your year and program when you register.
Refund Policy
Withdraw 2+ weeks before class → 50% refund
Withdraw within 2 weeks of start → no refund or credit
Your Place Is Waiting
Whether you’re seeking reconnection, resilience, or a richer relationship with the land…
Whether you’ve read all the books and still feel unsure…
Whether you’re just beginning or simply want to go deeper…
The Wild Medicine Internship welcomes you.
“I want students to feel self-reliant. But more than that – to see the world in a more holistic way. To look for patterns. To ask better questions. And to remember that the forest is the best classroom there is.” - CoreyPine Shane, founder