It was a place that felt unnatural, disturbing even - the plants were tied to stakes, forced to grow in certain ways, fed synthetic foods to produce the biggest and best flowers. There was a fakeness to it, and the plants were under pressure to uphold that. That phone call was a window, an opportunity, a reminder - there is more to learn, more to realise, more to remember. And looking back I realise that the plants in that garden who had gotten to know me over a couple of years, they sent the utmost of encouragement to follow my nose and join the course, to follow my instincts towards what felt more whole and more real.

Everyone’s journey on the apprenticeship was unique. Some came to the class with a great deal of knowledge of holistic health, anatomy, alternative therapies and orthodox medicine, and some had even completed other herbal medicine courses and apprenticeships.

Others had absolutely no experience; they were entirely new to the vision of the person as a whole being, entirely new to the vision that the psycho-emotional realm of a person was just as important as their physical body, entirely new to the plants (or more accurately to remembering the plants).

Though I only realise this retrospectively, one of the beautiful aspects of the course was in Nikki’s ability to educate twenty human beings of greatly varied capacities and experience, who were all utterly unique  in their approach to learning and life, and even more so, in a way that was heartfelt, authentic and personal to each of us as well.

Through the experience of the apprenticeship, Nikki retained a deeply rooted, powerful, joyful and inspiring connection with the plants; again, and again, and again she reminded us that they are the reason we are on the course, they are who called us here. Not the academic journals, the celebrities, the nonsense - what called us to the course was the plants, and we are here to remember how to listen to them.

As the course progressed, I remembered. I am home. I have never not been home. I am home in my heart, in my body, on the earth. I went deep into the cave of healing and learned both how to be there (and be there well), and also how to emerge from there, and reconnect with the world around me.

The inner realm and the outer realm began to dance, and I began to notice how they danced. I was addressing educational wounds, traumatic dissociation from the suffering of the world, and holes in my aura which allowed corporate illusions to control me. I remembered the ways in which I loved to learn, how to embody myself into the wonderful magic of our world and how to protect myself from the evils of the world so I could truly feel safe in the glories of it. I was making mistakes, as we all do, but not being afraid of making them, remembering that they are another way of learning.

I continued to learn with Nikki & Alex for five years and continue to learn with them today. It is an absolute pleasure to work with the school and to see so many students coming home to the plants with the utmost passion and joy, with a system of education that honours each individual student, encourages them to empower themselves in their learning and remember who they really are.