Holistic Plant Medicine Certificates
In collaboration with the University of New Mexico
Ongoing Enrollment
Learning about integrative and natural health is a dynamic and robust journey. Join Sastimos in collaboration with the University of New Mexico to uncover your heritage medicines, learn about ecological herbalism, get exposure to Ayurveda, and build fluency in caring for yourself, your family, and your community through plant and lifestyle shifts.
These certificates are designed for people who want practical, culturally grounded plant medicine skills—not a one-size-fits-all curriculum. You can shape your studies around what matters most to you while still completing a clear, rigorous core.
UNM Continuing Education is preparing an official landing page for the Holistic Plant Medicine Certificates. Until it launches, this page is the best place to learn about the program and how to begin. Click here for a full list of courses.
How the Certificates Work
Level I and Level II are each 50 hours of course time.
Both levels allow you to mix and match courses and cater topics toward your interests. That flexibility sits on a required foundation so every student leaves with shared language, ethics, hands-on skill, and clinical thinking.
Required for both Level I and Level II:
After those core courses, you choose additional herbalism, food-as-medicine, ecological, and lifestyle offerings to reach 50 hours at each level. Hours from qualifying UNM Continuing Education plant medicine courses can be applied toward the certificates.
This structure supports both community herbalists and people building toward more formal practice: you get depth where you need it and room to follow your curiosity.
What You Will Build
Through this collaboration you can expect to:
Reconnect with heritage and bioregional plant medicines
Study ecological herbalism and relationship to land
Gain exposure to Ayurvedic constitutional thinking
Learn herbal energetics, actions, ethics, and plant stewardship
Make medicines you can actually use at home and in community
Practice applying plant, food, and lifestyle tools to real people and real situations
Grow fluency in caring for yourself, your family, and your community
Sastimos Courses for 2026–2027
These courses are taught by Sastimos through UNM Continuing Education and can be used toward your Holistic Plant Medicine certificate hours.
Plant medicine is incomplete without the food we eat every day. This live online course explores integrative understandings of nourishment, how culture shapes how and what we eat, and non-Western philosophies of food as medicine—with a focus on Ayurvedic and Buddhist lineages. You will leave with a working grasp of constitution, metabolism, taste, state of mind, and season, plus practical food strategies for immunity, lymphatic congestion, seasonal allergies, and sleep.
Live online
October 6–December 1, 2026
Tuesdays, 6:00–8:00 PM
18 contact hours
$345
Plant Medicine Case Studies (required)
Plant medicine is one part plants and many parts people. In this live, fully interactive course you integrate energetics, seasonality, food, and five-sense therapy and apply them to client scenarios. You workshop cases in small groups, discuss protocols with the full class, and build confidence, discernment, and compassion—whether you are preparing for professional work or supporting friends and family.
Live online (camera on and active participation required)
January 26–March 9, 2027
6:00–8:00 PM
14 contact hours
$350
Ancestral Wisdom for Modern Minds: A Holistic Approach to Mental Health
This immersive course looks at mental health through plants, food, lifestyle, ancestry, and the body. You will explore how emotions connect to what we eat and drink; how herbs can support focus, ease, joy, and calm; how lifestyle and physical health shape psychology; and how historical and cultural relationships to well-being still matter. Students learn supportive protocols using plants, breath, and movement.
Approved for 14 professional contact hours by NAADAC and recognized by the NM Counseling and Therapy Board
Attendance at 6 of 7 sessions required for a completion certificate
Live online
March 30-May 11
Who These Certificates Are For
Beginners ready for a serious foundation in plant medicine
Practitioners and students of holistic health who want more fluency with herbs, food, and lifestyle
People reclaiming family and cultural healing traditions
Anyone who wants practical skills for home, family, and community care
Counselors, behavioral health workers, and caregivers seeking plant- and lifestyle-based tools for ease, focus, and resilience
No single background is required to begin, but Plant Medicine Case Studies is designed for students who already have foundational herbal training (or equivalent study).
Begin Your Path
You can take most courses in any order that fits your life and interests. The one exception is Plant Medicine Case Studies, which is designed for students who already have foundational herbal training.
To complete Level I, finish Foundations in Herbal Medicine and the Herbal Medicine Making class along with additional courses of your choosing until you reach 50 hours. Those two core courses can come at the beginning, middle, or end of Level I—they simply need to be completed to round out the certificate.
Level II is another 50 hours and is where you go deeper. Mix and match topics that match your curiosity—food as medicine, mental health, ecological herbalism, case work, and other holistic medicine offerings—so you can refine your practice and expand your fluency with plants and lifestyle care.
Questions about which combination of courses fits your goals? Reach out to Sastimos or register directly through University of New Mexico Continuing Education.
Sastimos in collaboration with the University of New Mexico. Course schedules, fees, and enrollment windows are set by UNM Continuing Education and may change; always confirm details on the official course pages before registering.