All lessons are hosted on a beautiful multimedia Year of Gaia website. Each module includes:

• 5–10 video classes & audio lectures each month

• Guided meditations & tea meditations

• Written content & downloadable handouts

• Optional 12 monthly live class lectures you can register for at a discount.

• Unlimited access to all course materials

• Recordings of all live sessions for future viewing

Our teachings combine traditional herbalism, ethnobotany, holistic healing, plant spirit medicine, and healing journeys with the spirits of Gaia. Lessons will include:

• Plant medicine journeys & guided meditations

• Herbalism lectures & plant profiles

• Holistic anatomy & physiology

• Medicine-making workshops

• Healing rituals rooted in traditional herbal practice

You can start this course anytime and move through the modules at your own pace, with unlimited access to all lessons and future updates. Each month, you’ll receive Sage’s mentorship through live classes, plant meditations, videos, audio recordings, and written content — and you’ll be able to ask questions and receive guidance via an online class group.

Monthly online plant medicine journeys and tea meditations are included, and students who wish to attend the optional live lecture series can register in the members area. If you enroll after the course has started, you will receive access to all previous class recordings.

Session One ~ Nourishing Herbs & Traditions of Herbalism

Welcome ceremony and guided meditations, offerings to the Earth & Spirits, and the Wise Wo/man Tradition (Tradition of the Elders). Plant allies and nourishing medicinal herbs, restorative herbalism, and plants covered include nettles, oatstraw, chickweed, burdock, dandelion, and violet. Making fresh herbal juices, daily nourishing self-care, and harvesting & preparing spring edible plants.

Session Two ~ Creating Sacred Space & Blessing Herbs

Spruce & pine resins, mugwort, juniper, sage, cedar, sweetgrass, frankincense, copal, dragon’s blood, myrrh, and others. Sacred plant conservation & cultural appropriation, traditions of our ancestors & sacred offerings, cleansing, clearing, protecting, and banishing herbs. Meditation, brain waves, and altered states of consciousness, consciousness-shifting herbs including mugwort, passionflower, blue lotus, kava kava, damiana, and blue vervain, along with Beltane & spring rituals.

Session Three ~ Plant Harvesting & Wildcrafting

Sustainable wildcrafting and local plant harvesting, offerings to the Earth, growing medicinals, plant communication & energy exchange, and gathering herbs in an ethical, respectful, and sacred way. Wild foods and edible plants of spring and early summer, endangered native plant protection & care, and summer solstice rituals.

Session Four ~ Ritual & Practice of Medicine Making

Hands-on folk herbal preparations, how to make tinctures, teas, infusions, and salves, and medicine making with the moon phases incorporating blessings and prayers. Herbal constituents, extracts, and methods, herbal energetics explored, herb safety levels, dosages, and tastes, along with Yin/Yang and Four Element Theory.

Session Five ~ Plant Spirit Medicine & Crown Chakra

Communicating and journeying with plant allies through guided journeys & meditations, working with spirit guides and ancestors, spirit/dream journeying, and communicating with earth spirits. Crown chakra & crown chakra plants including holy basil, elderflower, Egyptian blue lotus, rose, sage, jasmine, valerian flower, meadowsweet, and blessing herbs such as copal, frankincense, sweetgrass, juniper, and cedar, alongside Imbolc rituals.

Session Six ~ The Root Chakra & Immune System

Rebuilding, nourishing, and strengthening our roots, honoring our lineages & ancestors, and an immune system overview focusing on protection and boundaries. Herbs for healing and building the immune system, adaptogens, deep-immune tonics, and immune-stimulating herbs including astragalus, reishi, Siberian ginseng (eleuthero), schizandra, holy basil, ashwagandha, elderberry, and maca, with midsummer rituals.

Session Seven ~ Sacral Chakra & Plants for the Reproductive System

Sacral chakra healing, reproductive system overview, endocrine system & hormone balancing with phytosterols, and herbs for balancing androgens and estrogens. Herbal support for menstruation, fertility, pregnancy, and menopause, genitourinary herbal medicine, prostate health, and andropause, transgender herbal health care & support, and herbal aphrodisiacs & pleasure plants including red raspberry, white peony, red clover, vitex, motherwort, angelica, cacao, vanilla, and hibiscus, with fall equinox rituals.

Session Eight ~ The Solar Plexus & Digestive System

Healing plants for the solar plexus, solar plexus prayers, rituals, and healing practices, and a digestive system overview focused on holistic & herbal healing. Healing digestive organs & illnesses with plants, sacred plant medicine for confidence, joy, self-care, and self-love, and plants including ginger, turmeric, lemon balm, sweet & bitter orange, marshmallow, and dandelion, with Samhain rituals.

Session Nine ~ The Heart Chakra & Circulatory System

Plant allies to support the heart and circulatory system, heart chakra prayers, rituals, and healing practices, and a heart & circulatory system overview focused on holistic & herbal therapies. Herbs for grief, love, and compassion including linden, rose, motherwort, hawthorn, wild cherry, rhodiola, and ginkgo.

Session Ten ~ Respiratory System & Throat Chakra

Holistic therapies to restore respiratory & lung health, throat chakra prayers, rituals, and healing practices, and a respiratory system overview focused on holistic & herbal therapies. Strengthening plant allies for the lungs and sacred plants for channeling, expression, & breath including the mint family, sage, elecampane, mullein, angelica, calamus, pine, and evergreens, with winter solstice rituals.

Session Eleven ~ Nervous System & Third Eye

Awakening the dreaming mind, herbal medicine for nourishing and supporting the nervous system, and holistic healing for stress, depression, and anxiety. Adaptogens, nervines, herbal pain relief, & muscle relaxants, brain tonics for memory and cognition, supporting left & right brain communication, and third eye opening, dreamwork, & dream herbs including oatstraw, skullcap, peach, blue vervain, heather, sage, butterfly pea, gotu kola, valerian, and St. John’s Wort.

Session Twelve ~ The Sacred Wheel & The Medicine Path

Guided journeys & meditation with our plant allies, offerings & thanks to our plant teachers, and the Sacred Wheel / Medicine Circle in healing and magic. The four elements and directions—Earth/North/Winter, East/Air/Spring, South/Fire/Summer, West/Water/Fall—journeying with the spirits of the wheel, gathering medicine, connecting with allies, and journeying with our elders while continuing the self-care journey.

Flower Essences
Meditations & healing with flowers. Flower essence making and storing, dosing flower essences, and communicating with the spirit of flowers. Exploration of our favorite flower essences.

Fall Roots & Seeds
Harvesting roots and root medicine making. Preparing, preserving, and processing root medicine and food. Harvesting medicinal herb seeds, seed saving, and gathering your apothecary from the year’s harvests.

Tree Medicine
Communicating with tree spirits through guided meditations and connecting with tree allies. Medicinal uses and lore of trees, wildcrafting, and medicine making from trees. Outdoor tree walks and identification of Black Birch, White Pine, Spruce, Cherry, Peach, Willow, Elder, Hawthorn, Ginkgo, and Linden. Coming soon.

Spellcraft & Magical Herbalism
Exploration of sacred plants of the witch and ritual magic for healing and transformation. Working with the spirits of plants and the earth, and using poisonous plants for protection and banishing. Coming soon.

This course includes monthly tea meditations via Zoom. We use this time to connect to the plants we are working with each month, feeling their effects, and listening to what we receive. Tea meditations allow time to quiet the mind and feel each plant’s energy and medicine more deeply.

Dates will be sent via e-mail in advance. Alumni (current and past students) are always welcome to join tea meditations.

First Meditations of 2026:
Scheduled on Tuesdays or Wednesdays

• 1-3 pm EST, April 21, 2026

• 1-3 pm EST, May 26, 2026

• 1-3 pm EST, June 23, 2026
  

A Year of Gaia includes optional live lecture series you can sign up for at a reduced cost, consisting of 12 monthly zoom lectures (3 hours each).

Each month we will journey through the theme of that month’s module - focusing on plant profiles, systems of the body, and chakras. Students who want to attend the live lecture series for this course can register in the members area after enrolling. All classes are recorded for future viewing.

For those looking to go deeper into this course, join monthly live course lectures for the special rate of $300 for current Year of Gaia students. Students attending the lecture series can also sign up for the Certificate Track.

First Lectures of 2026 (Following dates will be sent via e-mail in advance):

Wednesdays, 1-4pm EST

• April 29, 2026

• May 20, 2026

• June 17, 2026

Alumni who wish to continue attending live lectures for a second year are welcome to join our Monthly Live Lecture series.

"A Year of Gaia - The Gaia School of Healing & Earth Education and Sage L. Maurer is something extraordinary. I have learned so much about the plant world and myself. This is something of a magic carpet ride where you are fully supported and loved and cared for. Sage is the gatekeeper and the ancient wisdom holder. She does not just teach you facts, she encourages you to develop a relationship with the living world around you, especially with the plants… and from there on supports you in your individual journey. Even though it is online you really become an apprentice and you are given so much support. Witnessing Sage's relationship with the plant creates safe haven for you to ease into everything that comes naturally once you open your heart towards the plants. The support material, the videos, the playlists, the book recommendations, and the calls are really something that allows individual development. You can go as deep as you wish. So many people have asked me about my plant journey and I wouldn't recommend any other course than this." - Amy Neuman

“The Gaia School of Healing and Earth Education's year-long course was a life-changing one for me. I do not usually enjoy online courses, but this material was delivered in such an interactive, self-paced, and beautiful formate that I was deeply absorbed in the material from start to finish. I had heard about the in-person course for years from many herbalists I know and admire, and had long dreamed of accessing this material, so registered immediately upon finding out that it was available online. Then COVID-19 hit, literally right before the first month of the course. I found myself becoming friends with the plants in my area: wild-harvesting nettles along the creek half an hour away with my nine-year-old son, wild-harvesting mugwort by the ocean at my sweetheart's home, scavenging huge trash bags of calendula flowers my friend had pulled from her garden as unwanted weeds and was eager to get rid of. I harvested elderberries along the nature preserve behind my home. And with all of this, I made healing skin salves, face oils, tinctures, cordials and other immune-supporting gifts for my friends and family. I've now devoted an entire area in my home to preparing, making, and storing herbal medicines. Sage also offered supplementary zoom calls -- recorded for those who could not attend -- which I have returned to time and again. Just tonight, I was rereading all of her notes on herbs for COVID-19 and sorting through the seeds I've ordered during this class, to be sure I will have a garden full of anything my friends and family may need in the uncertain months ahead.”

“I feel so deeply grateful for this course. I had a background working in natural food and herb stores, and had dabbled in gardening and in making some of my own skincare products in the past. But this course was so comprehensive, and so deeply addressed not only the mechanics but also the deeper body-mind-spirit issues so intrinsically essential to working ethically with plant medicines, that I learned more about plants this year than I have in the past 20 years. Sage's expertise and generosity with her knowledge are unparalleled by anyone in her field. Not only did I learn myself, but I became part of a thriving online community of budding herbalists who shared their own creations throughout the course. A lively dialogue ensued on the group's private Facebook page, and many meaningful friendships were forged. The plants in my area have now become my friends. I look forward to when they are up to be harvested, and have also begun to teach my children about the many powerful medicines growing all around them all the time. I feel deeply empowered to care for myself and my loved ones in a new way. And I am forever changed. Thank you Sage!” - Ellen Katharine Anderson

“The Gaia School of Healing came into my life as the most beautiful gift from my guides and the universe! To be honest I was not looking to be an herbalist and my guides were leading me on a journey to know my soul and awaken to who I truly am. Sage and the students are so open and welcoming creating a safe and welcoming environment. In Sage’ s presence I can feel her love for the Earth and us as students.  Her knowledge about the material flows through her and is truly beyond description.  The style and method of the way the lessons are designed and implemented surpassed my expectations. Sage guides us through ritual, meditation, and wisdom on how to connect with the spirits of the plants, the Earth, the land, our guides, our ancestors and so much more. The Gaia School of Healing has taken me on a healing journey I never expected and am so grateful to be on.  Since I started the courses in July the way I live and perceive the world has shifted! I wake up every morning and do a blessing ritual, go on a nature walk and talk with the spirits! I am connecting with the spirit of the plants through infusions, teas, and tinctures. Sage, I am so grateful for you and the experiential learning you have created through your school! Words cannot express my gratitude. Thank you from my soul!” - Cynthia Taylor

“This has been by far the most comprehensive class I have taken since graduating from college. Anyone who is interested in learning more about plants and plant medicine will get an outstanding education. There is so much valuable information here that I will be going through the course again to absorb all of the information. I appreciate that Sage provides so much information as well as tangible information (such as physiology, astrology, etc.) so that I get a holistic and world view of what I'm learning. Doing the certificate path was the right move for me because it helped me retain and learn more. Sage also brings a sensitivity to all beings and walks of life that you rarely find these days. What has been most incredible and profound for me is the healing that I have received doing this course. I am new to plant medicine and have found that I have a connection to the plants that has delighted me. I know that I will use plants in my tool box to support others. I feel confident with the materials that Sage has given me to go out in the world and do no harm.” - Julie Coraccio

“I experienced "A Year with Gaia 2020" as a profound soul journey to connect with the plant spirit world, expertly guided by Sage Maurer. Sage's depth and breadth of knowledge truly held the group beautifully. She shared so much of herself in this course with such ease and grace, teaching us with her patience and ability to navigate the technical landscape without stress. Sage is a rare selfless connected Spirit Guide and she has generously shared her insights in this course. It is an honor to sit in meditations and private zoom calls with her. Each session is filled with stories, teachings and embodied wisdom. I am truly grateful for her guidance.” - Lee Yen Anderson

“I have followed the school for a while but do not live local so I was so excited when it came available for online this year. While this year has had the very known widespread challenges of a pandemic, this was also the hardest year of life changes for me personally. I started this coursework broken hearted, disconnected, and unaware of my own magic. Each month I have found connection, to Mother Earth, to myself, I have found myself inspired, worthy, strong, and completely full of love. I have gained so much knowledge of plant uses, participated is beautiful rituals and ceremonies, and now a full, life changing library of books recommended throughout this course. More than anything, I have found true healing of the body, heart, mind, and soul. I couldn’t be more in love with this process, this course, Sage as the beautiful guide, and all the women who partake and share their experiences. Thank you.” - Issa Travino

“The Year of Gaia Online Course was so amazing for me. I have to admit that I haven't kept up with all the material, because Sage offers so much!! There are riches here for the mind, body, and soul. And Sage is so generous -- I will always have access to this course material. So, that's great. I can enjoy what I need in the moment. Some months, I just needed the tea meditation and to check-in. Some months, I dove deeply into everything I could read, and I feel the shifts happening. For me, Sage is a dear friend and a once-in-a-lifetime teacher who points the way to your own relationship with the Plants and your own healing and learning path. This course is a very personal program. Sage gives a lot of herself to her students, you get to know her heart for teaching and for the Plants. Thank you, Sage!!” - Rachel Heerema

“Taking a Year of Gaia is one of the best decisions I have ever made. The plant wisdom and healing spirit that Sage offers in this class will nourish me for a lifetime. The monthly modules of healing, plant medicine, shamanic journeys, and chakra attunements filled me to overflowing. Her classes are extremely well thought out and comprehensive, the website interface is easy and elegant, and there is pure beauty on every page with Sage’s poetry, journal suggestions, and stunning photographs. There is so much technical plant information I will be re-reading for years to learn it all. I have been a plant person for 35 years, and my plant life just got a whole lot richer and deeper this year, as well as my understanding of the physical body and it’s systems. Sage is a master teacher and healer and she not only teaches the brain stuff, but offers spiritual transmissions throughout her classes, so that you will find yourself evolving and opening into the radiant being that you are quite rapidly in her course. She also tirelessly shares her incredible community building skills on facebook and the zoom meetings so that you feel held and loved the whole year! I don’t know how she does this actually, but I’m humbled from it.  I could go on and on. What a gift to the world! Thank you Sage, keep teaching, keep writing, keep sharing your pure wisdom spirit!” - Beth Lenco

“In the uncertainty of the world right now, one thing for sure is the certainty of Mother Nature’s cycles of life and how we intertwine with her seasons. A Year in Gaia online program gives you the tools you need to tune back in to the earth’s rhythms and truly explore and understand the world around you. You can truly make this experience what you need it to be for your own journey, and that’s what I love SO MUCH about this opportunity! I have reclaimed my sovereign power; my overall personal confidence and the ability to rely on myself has drastically changed my life for the better. Not only has my personal growth been noticed but the improvement of communications with others and relationships have benefitted from it, as well. I am so thankful for the knowledge, guidance, patience, and love that Sage provides with everything she does in this course from how the class unfolds to zoom calls to nurturing our souls with books, playlists, and meditations that allow us to dig in deeper with ourselves and understand how we can heal from within. “Choose your own adventure,” is how I like to describe this course to people who ask me about it because you can truly take this in the directions which greatly interest and resonate with you the most! Sage and the other teachers are with you every single step of the way. You will be able to make new connections and friends that may last a lifetime too! It’s all up to you! So what are you waiting for? Gaia is calling you home.” - Maria Gigante

”There is so much to learn and when you take the time to really be with yourself; to be in this body, this form, and under your own skin, you realize that there is SO MUCH to be excited about and it is a great gift to be here ~ despite all of the difficult things that come with being a human being. The Year of Gaia program is more than learning about plants. It is about honoring yourself, your being, about remembering lost dreams and finding new ones. It is an invitation to move in this world in a new way, to see the plant beings as teachers and guides that have always been with us, it's just a matter of letting their whispers in. Once you meet the spirit of one plant, it's hard to ignore the spirits of everything that surrounds us. You will be amazed and see your heart and imagination as a portal to everything. Plant medicine is amazing and magical, but it is also practical. There are so many ways you can learn to heal yourself with plants ~ teas to drink for headaches and grief, teas to bring out your own inner lion... This course is broken out into different modules that teach you about the practical methods of the plants and the science and systems of your own body. Sage is an incredible teacher, she channels the wisdom of the plant spirits and is also incredibly smart, funny, and overall a wonderful being. I cannot recommend this course enough.” - Kim Tateo

Gratitude to our incredible Gaia family!