Herbal Apprenticeship Program with Betty Norton ~ Victoria BC

🌿 NEW FALL HERBAL SERIES: HERBS FOR THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Hello, friends!

We hope you’re enjoying plenty of summer adventures. We miss gathering and creating with you, but we’ve been hard at work preparing some wonderful new classes for the fall—and we’re excited to announce our next series:

✨ Herbs for the Nervous System ✨

As the seasons begin to change, nature reminds us to slow down, take a breath, and prepare for a new rhythm. Yet life often continues to move at full speed. We may feel stretched thin, run down, unable to sleep well, or simply in need of a little more balance.

This herbal series is an invitation to pause, reconnect, and discover how plants can gently support us through the stresses of everyday life.

Together, we’ll explore how herbs, nourishing foods, and simple daily practices can help:

Support the nervous system
Encourage restful sleep
Build resilience
Restore steady, sustainable energy

Along the way, you’ll gain practical herbal knowledge, create beautiful handmade remedies, and develop the confidence to continue working with herbs at home.

Whether you’re completely new to herbal medicine or looking to deepen your knowledge, these gatherings offer a warm and welcoming space to learn, create, ask questions, and connect with a community of like-minded people.

We’re offering two scheduling options:

Tuesday Evening Series
September 15–October 6
Four Tuesdays from 7–9 p.m.

Sunday Afternoon Series
September 27 and October 4
Two extended sessions from 12–4 p.m.

Please register for whichever format works best for you—there’s no need to attend both unless you simply can’t get enough herbal magic!

Space is limited, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible to secure your place. We would truly love to see you there!

https://dancingmoonherbals.com/products/herbs-for-the-nervous-system-2026

Until we can gather again, we hope you’ll enjoy one of our absolute favourite summer creations:

LEMON BALM SUMMER CRUSH

By this time of year, the garden is often overflowing with lemon balm. This recipe transforms that abundance into a wonderfully refreshing and soothing drink for the summer heat.

What you’ll need:

Fresh lemon balm leaves
2 cups of water
Ice-cube trays

How to make it:

1. Fill a teapot with as many fresh lemon balm leaves as will comfortably fit.
2. Bring two cups of water to a boil and pour it over the leaves, making sure they are fully covered.
3. If you wish, place the infusion in the sun for a little while to soak up some solar energy.
4. Transfer the teapot to the refrigerator and allow the infusion to chill for 24 hours.
5. Strain approximately half of the tea into ice-cube trays and freeze. Return the remaining infusion to the refrigerator.
6. Once the cubes are frozen, strain the remaining tea and add it to a blender with the lemon balm ice cubes.
7. Blend using the crush setting—or whichever setting gives you the icy consistency you prefer.

Pour, sip, and enjoy your refreshing Lemon Balm Summer Crush!

Optional additions:

Lemon to brighten the flavour
Honey for a touch of sweetness and soothing goodness

Here’s to soaking up the final weeks of summer and welcoming the gentler rhythms of fall.

🌼 Gentle Chamomile

Chamomile is one of those beautiful little herbs that many of us know, yet may not fully appreciate.

With its delicate white petals, sunny yellow centre, and soft apple-like scent, chamomile has a long history of traditional use for calming tension, settling occasional digestive discomfort, and supporting relaxation and restful sleep.

A simple cup of chamomile tea can also become a gentle daily ritual—an invitation to slow down, take a breath, and allow the body to begin letting go of the day.

This is one of the things I love most about herbal medicine. Supporting our well-being does not always need to be complicated. Sometimes it begins with a familiar plant, a warm cup of tea, and a few quiet moments.

In Resilience & Everyday Well-Being, we’ll explore how herbs, nourishing foods, and simple daily rhythms can gently support the nervous system, encourage restful sleep, build resilience, and restore steady, sustainable energy.

Together, we’ll learn, create herbal remedies, ask questions, and deepen our connection with the plants that support us.

🍃 Choose the format that works for you:

Tuesday evenings
September 15–October 6 | 7:00–9:00 pm

OR

Sunday afternoons
September 27 and October 4 | 12:00–4:00 pm

📍 Centennial Park Fieldhouse, Central Saanich
Investment: $250

All herbal medicine-making materials, recipes, plant profiles, handouts, and take-home creations are included.

🍃 Learn more and reserve your place:

Herbs for the Nervous System – Dancing Moon Herbals

Happy August
I am excited to share our next four-week herbal workshop series.

🍃 Resilience & Everyday Well-Being

As the seasons begin to change, nature reminds us to slow down, take a breath, and prepare for a new rhythm.

Yet life often continues at full speed. We may find ourselves feeling stretched thin, running on empty, struggling to rest, or simply longing for a little more balance.

This hands-on herbal workshop series is an invitation to pause, reconnect, and discover how plants can gently support us through the stresses of everyday life.

Together, we’ll explore:

🌟Stress, the nervous system, and adrenal health
🌸 Calming nervines, restorative tonics, and adaptogenic herbs
🌙 Herbal approaches and daily rhythms that support restful sleep
✨ Nourishing foods and practices for steady, sustainable energy
🫙 Hands-on herbal medicine making in every session

You’ll gain practical herbal knowledge, create beautiful remedies to take home, and develop the confidence to begin incorporating herbs into your everyday life.

Whether you’re completely new to herbal medicine or would like to deepen your knowledge, you’ll find a welcoming space to learn, create, ask questions, and connect with like-minded people.

Choose the format that works for you:

🍃 Tuesday evenings
September 15–October 6
Four weekly sessions from 7:00–9:00 pm

OR

🍃 Sunday afternoons
September 27 and October 4
Two extended sessions from 12:00–4:00 pm

Please register for one format only.

📍 Centennial Park Fieldhouse
7526 Wallace Drive, Central Saanich

Investment: $250

Your registration includes all herbal medicine-making materials, recipes, plant profiles, a gentle guide to supporting restful sleep, and every herbal creation you make to take home.

I believe herbal medicine is meant to be shared. My hope is that you’ll leave feeling inspired, connected, and empowered to bring the healing gifts of plants into your everyday life.

🍃 Learn more and reserve your place:

https://dancingmoonherbals.com/products/herbs-for-the-nervous-system-2026

Gifted a little bundle of lavender—long treasured for its calming scent and gentle reminder to slow down, breathe deeply, and enjoy the beauty in small things.

Cherry, Yellow Plum, Apple & Spearmint Compote

Summer fruit + fresh herbs might be one of my favourite combinations.

This simple compote is sweet, tart and beautifully bright, with fresh spearmint stirred in at the very end to preserve its flavour.

You’ll need:
½ cup cherries, pitted
2 cups yellow plums, chopped
2 medium apples, diced
¼ cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
2–4 tbsp honey or maple syrup, if needed
8–12 fresh spearmint leaves, finely chopped
Pinch of sea salt + ½ tsp vanilla, optional

You can also add cinnamon, cardamom, fresh ginger or a tiny pinch of nutmeg.

Add everything except the spearmint, vanilla and sweetener to a saucepan and gently simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the fruit is soft and the mixture has thickened.

Taste and sweeten if needed, stir in the vanilla, then let it cool for 5–10 minutes before adding the fresh spearmint.

Serve warm or chilled over Greek yogurt or kefir, oatmeal, chia pudding, pancakes, waffles, sourdough French toast or vanilla ice cream.

Keeps for about a week in the fridge or freeze for later.

A simple way to preserve a little bit of summer.

Tea Time 💕

Hello herbal community
Its time to come together once more
Please read
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BnNDXz8TS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

This is very important please read through

Individualized herbal care is about much more than buying a product off the shelf.

Practitioners from many disciplines often tailor recommendations based on your health history, medications, allergies, sensitivities, constitution, therapeutic goals, and how your body responds over time.

The proposed policy changes could affect your practitioner's ability to prepare customized herbal medicines, adjust formulations as your needs change, and continue offering the individualized care that many Canadians value.

They also risk affecting many of the small-to-medium Canadian businesses that practitioners rely on when sourcing high-quality ingredients for compounding.

If you've benefited from working with a practitioner who compounds personalized remedies for you, your experience is important.

Health Canada wants to hear from the people who may be affected—not just professional practitioners and organizations.

Visit the link below to learn more, read our summary, and access our patient response template.

https://tr.ee/sg8Q24NK4S

The consultation closes July 12, so ACT NOW!

image courtesy of Canva