Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism

This is One of Two 3-day weekends constituting a complete course on holistic evaluation skills for herbalists, developed and taught by the foremost people in the field of Herbalism and Holistic Health.

Pulse Assessment

Matthew Wood comments: “Francis Bonaldo is one of the most competent practitioners that I have ever met in the herbal world and is a beloved practitioner both in his native Montreal and the Twin Cities. He is a licensed acupuncturist and a very experienced herbalist. He was taught by both myself and Lise Wolff, of Minneapolis, and often exceeds his teachers.” 

This class emphasizes the pulse since Francis was a major contributor to the Pulse Evaluation book (required for this class). With the pulse, we emphasize the skin, its heat or lack, oiliness or dampness, and the overall condition of the thermoregulatory system, which shows forth through the skin. "Both Francis and I try to ‘follow the blood,’ understanding from the pulse where the blood is going, i.e., the circulation. We will be introducing evaluation from the circulation.”

Matthew introduces the doctrine of animal medicines and the reason for their importance in developing our vital, animal, energy, etheric, or light body - however phrased. This also introduces us to our animal self, the basis of accurate dreaming. Francis contributes his own insights on herbal remedies. Both teachers give specific pulse and tongue indications for specific remedies. 

Francis describes his own areas of expertise: "My two areas of study in recent years have been Culpeper's English Herbal (the classic of Western herbalism) and the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine (the Bible of Chinese Medicine, 2000 years old). In addition to pulses, the old doctors knew how to just "look at a person" to diagnose (this includes observation of the face, neck, forearms, lower leg, and more to assess the overall quality of blood flow), so I want to share some insights regarding observational diagnosis in old Chinese Medicine which are essentially absent from the modern practice."

How do you convey pulse over video? Our instructors are experienced at teaching this content and incorporate multiple teaching methods to convey the pulses. We also used extra cameras and sound equipment to catch extra footage for students. Learning the pulses does take time, practice, and patience. Teachers are available online to help answer your questions. As with learning any new skill: practice, practice, practice! 

We encourage students to study the following to get the most out of this course:

• The 2017 Tongue and Pulse Evaluation course is a preliminary version of this epic course being offered in 2019. It offers 10 hours of content with brave volunteers who offer close-ups of their tongues and helpful feedback.
• Shamanic Herbalism is a fascinating topic. Gain a solid understanding from one of our earliest courses recorded for the Institute.

This course is included in The Library!