Study the plants, live the medicine.

Offsite Herbal Apprenticeship

For those already rooted on Lake Atitlán, the Offsite Apprenticeship offers a way to enter the Casa Curativa herbal circle without living onsite. Over three months, you’ll join our weekly teachings, deepen with plant allies, and learn the craft of medicine-making alongside a small cohort of apprentices.

reserve your spot!

A truly rare opportunity in a sea of online offerings

Have you been searching high and low for an herbal program that truly meets this moment in history? One that that places you in a real IN PERSON classroom with other students next to you? One that honors lineage, invites you into direct relationship with plants, and gives you both the skills and the soul of medicine-making?

Well, good, this apprenticeship is designed to do just that.

Book now

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Your apprenticeship is an immersive experience, a comprehensive introduction to herbalism. Each week you will be stepping further into the practice of herbalism with study, practice, and community.

Weekly Lectures

Each week we gather for an in-depth class exploring elemental herbalism, tissue states, energetics, and materia medica. These teachings give you a framework to understand plants and people through patterns that are alive in nature itself.

You’ll step into the apothecary to learn tinctures, tea blends, salves, fermentation, and seasonal formulations. The emphasis is on practice, so you leave not just with knowledge but with medicine you’ve crafted yourself.

Hands-on Apothecary Training

We weave the work into life with garden days, sauna nights, and shared meals. These rhythms root the learning in friendship, laughter, and the everyday beauty of tending plants together.

Community

Each week we share a nourishing vegetarian lunch prepared with fresh, local ingredients. These meals are part of the learning too, time to slow down, connect, and digest the teachings together in community.

Lunches Included

Throughout the program, you’ll receive guidance and feedback from Julia Bentley and the Casa Curativa team. Our approach blends Vitalist herbalism with the Mayan Cosmovision and other cross-cultural traditions that honor the land.

Mentorship

This is no academic exercise—it is a participation in the ages-long continuum of herbalists, healers, and stewards of the Earth who are caretakers of ancestral knowledge. When you study with us, you become a part of that larger tapestry of tradition and reciprocity.

Connection to a living lineage

Meet Your Teachers

Herbalist, Mother, Teacher, Birth & Postpartum Doula, Steward of Casa Curativa

Julia Bentley, originally from Tennessee (ancestral territory of the Cherokee people), found her path into herbalism through her own healing journey from eczema and psoriasis. After studying with Sajah Popham, Julia moved to Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, where she founded Casa Curativa, a sanctuary where people from all over the world can connect with the healing power of plants.
A humorous and engaging teacher, Julia blends lightheartedness with deep wisdom, encouraging students to laugh and find humility in their practice. Her lectures on alchemy and the spagyric arts invite exploration into the more mystical aspects of herbal medicine. Julia’s entrepreneurial spirit shines through in her work, as she has cultivated Casa Curativa into not only an educational hub but also a thriving herbal brand, focused on quality, ethics, and community.
Living onsite at Casa Curativa with her son Emmitt, Julia continues to steward the sanctuary, nurturing both the plants and the community that surrounds it. Her teaching inspires students to embrace both the practical and the profound in their herbal practice, empowering them to create their own path in the world of herbalism.

Herbalist, Master Natural Builder, Full-Spectrum Doula
Ashley McDonell, a native of Minnesota (ancestral Dakota and Anishinaabe land), has been a dedicated herbalist for over a decade. She studied under Kiva Rose and Matthew Wood, learning to connect deeply with the plants and the land. Ashley is also a master natural builder and full-spectrum doula, blending her knowledge of herbalism with a holistic approach to life and healing.
Known for her engaging teaching style and thought-provoking "soapbox rants," Ashley’s classes challenge students to think critically and connect deeply with the plants, the earth, and themselves. She invites students to see herbalism as more than just a practice—it’s a way of being in relationship with the natural world.
Ashley’s approach to healing is grounded in the belief that plants hold wisdom that extends beyond their chemical properties, and her teaching inspires students to explore both the science and spirit of herbalism.Ashley McDonell, a native of Minnesota (ancestral Dakota and Anishinaabe land), has been a dedicated herbalist for over a decade. She studied under Kiva Rose and Matthew Wood, learning to connect deeply with the plants and the land. Ashley is also a master natural builder and full-spectrum doula, blending her knowledge of herbalism with a holistic approach to life and healing.
Known for her engaging teaching style and thought-provoking "soapbox rants," Ashley’s classes challenge students to think critically and connect deeply with the plants, the earth, and themselves. She invites students to see herbalism as more than just a practice—it’s a way of being in relationship with the natural world.
Ashley’s approach to healing is grounded in the belief that plants hold wisdom that extends beyond their chemical properties, and her teaching inspires students to explore both the science and spirit of herbalism.

Herbalist, Apothecary Manager & Astrological Guide
Lindsay Chestnut hails from Michigan, land traditionally stewarded by the Anishinaabe peoples, where her journey into herbalism began. Lindsay moved to the Tzununa valley of Lake Atitlán in 2020, finding both community and purpose during a time of global uncertainty. While studying with Sajah Popham, she quickly recognized the need for help at Casa Curativa and stepped in, bringing her sharp organizational skills and a deep passion for herbalism. Lindsay’s entrepreneurial spirit and talent for creating systems have been vital in transforming Casa Curativa into a flourishing herbal brand.
Her commitment to quality control and ethical practices ensures that the apothecary’s medicines remain potent and reliable. Lindsay has also played an integral role in shaping the apothecary’s production process, learning firsthand alongside Julia Bentley to create standardized, effective herbal remedies.
With a passion for astrology, Lindsay integrates planetary wisdom into her herbal teachings, helping students make connections between plants and cosmic cycles. Her love for permaculture and landscape design also informs her work, finding peace in the daily harvests that fuel the apothecary. Lindsay’s teaching style is animated and engaging, blending humor and structure to help students grasp both the science and the artistry of herbalism.