Offering a wide variety of courses, Animá Lifeways & Herbal School provides in-depth instruction via classes, a health and herbal clinic, wilderness and rewilding retreats as well as extensive herbal, therapeutic and recipe resources.
Through Classes, Workshops & Online Courses students can explore and experience opportunities for studying nature awareness, herbal medicine & rewilding skills. Located in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest with The San Francisco (Saint Francis) River running through the sanctuary’s center just a few hours drive from Albuquerque, El Paso or Tucson, The Center is located in the heart of Catron County and provides 2 unique Lodges with wood stoves, kitchens and limited solar power, as well as several scenic tent camping spots that are located both along the river and in the pine forest.
School faculty members Kiva Rose, Loba and Jesse Wolf Hardin work toward furthering an evolving ecology of healing between humans and the natural world we are each an integral part of. The School teaches classes in traditional healing and lifeways with hands-on skills like herbalism and wild foods preparation as well as through profound personal tools such as practical shamanism and nature therapy.
A retreat here is a time for solitude or communing, introspection and reconnection, revealing and healing, long walks and magical moments… in a special place that quiets the mind, stirs the heart and nourishes the soul. An Animá Wilderness Retreat includes a lovely, primitive riverside cabin or camping spot, and wonderful woodstove-cooked feasts in the enchanted Sweet Medicine Canyon of Southwest New Mexico, a stunningly beautiful sanctuary and ancient place of power.
We offer many different kinds of Retreats, offering everything from Solitude or Couples’, Family, Animá, Healing, Magic Of Food, and Artists retreats to focus on healing, well-being, study or practice.
Envisioning & Creating – Developing & Improving Our Crafts
Writers and artists are invited to consider two week or longer retreats, for the purpose of inspiring, focusing and deepening their work. The natural lighting in the Gifting Lodge is ideal for painting, and both provide the perfect mix of solitude, quiet, ambience, scenery and energy for awakening and informing the creative process.