My name is Anja (they/them) and I live with my partner and our dog, two cats, 13 chickens, two cows and two beehives on a 5 acre smallholding in the South West of Scotland. I’m originally from Brussels, Belgium. As a teenager I was already interested in herbs, and I had an extensive collection of herbs in pots on my parent’s terrace. I studied biology and finished a PhD in plant population ecology and conservation genetics. After my PhD I started studying herbalism with more focus and I enrolled in the East West School of Herbology. I was really fascinated by TCM and decided to study Chinese herbology locally so I could better understand the legal implications of practicing herbalism in Belgium, letting go of my online East West studies along the way. Unfortunately I felt that my education wasn’t sufficient to safely and confidently work with clients so I let go of this idea. During this time I started a small business blending and selling herbal teas, giving workshops and doing guided herb and wild food walks. I was part of a group that set up an urban farm in Brussels and was responsible for the herb garden. Wanting to gain a deeper understanding and connection to the herbs I did a seven year apprenticeship in Insight herbalism in the UK, which focuses more on the emotional and spiritual aspects of herbalism. In 2018 I decided to move to the UK to be closer to where I was doing the herbal apprenticeship. Through my herbal apprenticeship I started to do breathwork and finally trained to be a breathwork practitioner. Throughout the years I have offered breathwork groups and experiential herb groups to the queer community, often fundraising to donate books to LGBTQIA+ people in prison. In 2024 I joined East West again, and I am so glad I did. Participating in the case study sessions and live classes I realized how inadequate my former TCM training really was, and I really appreciate the mix of self-study, interaction and hands-on herb work.

Although I’ve done a lot of different things I never really had a consistent ‘career’ (apart from being an eternal student!) and my aim for the future is to slowly grow a one-to-one practice, both in herbalism and breathwork. I’d like to be of service to the queer and neurodivergent community specifically, and I’d like to grow, harvest and process a good proportion of the herbs I use.

Other random things: 

* I’ve illustrated the images for the Queer animals and plants coloring book. 
* I lived in a spiritual community for a while where we drank tea in meditation every morning.
* I met my partner over our common love for pu’er tea.
* I worked as a retreat cook for a few summers.

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