An inkling became a passion which bloomed into my life's work
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THE WILD STORY
Hello. My name is Tanya Van Eyk and I am an herbalist located in Merrickville, Ontario. After living on the West Coast for many years, I decided to relocate to Ontario in 2011 so that I could be closer to my family. I am still learning to embrace the winters but I love my community and the wild lands surrounding it.
Natural health has been my inspiration and passion for most of my adult life, but remained a hobby while I was busy forging a career in business. Then, in 2012, with a new fire in my belly and some spare time, I entered into an apprenticeship with an herbalist in Eastern Ontario. I learned how to identify medicinal plants, why we use them, and how to gather and make medicine with them. The greatest revelations from this experience were that medicinal plants were all around us, we could make our own medicines, and I could help people to feel better with them!
Don’t know what an herbalist is?
Check out the FAQ page.
My Dream Job
After I completed this apprenticeship, I spent the next six years studying, investing thousands of hours on research and learning the craft of medicine making. Now ready to take the leap, I gave up my “day-job” and became a full-time herbalist – my dream job.
I love being an herbalist because every day is filled with my favourite activities. Research and science fulfills my curious nature, while medicine formulation and writing fills my days with creativity. And most important of all, this work is about caring for people, giving them options and hope, and helping them feel their best.
To learn more about how we could work together, please check out My Approach.
My Wild Quest
For me, being an herbalist is a quest. Not only to heal, but to teach, and to help people find their way back to their primal wildness. Most of us are starved of a connection to nature. And while plants offer us everything we need to survive – air, nutrition, clothing, shelter, and medicine – they can also feed our souls, clear out mental chatter and relieve pain and sadness. So…. I invite you to come on this quest with me! Let’s bring nature’s wild wonders back into our lives. Together.
Check out Learn with Me for updates on workshops and the Blog for my wild ramblings