A harvest of nature’s remedies

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2025 (440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Whether it’s global politics, economic wars, climate change, crime or poverty, here or elsewhere, the news headlines these days have many of us yearning for serenity.

Worry, anxiety, insomnia and fear are not only often-used words but are affecting our mental and physical health in pronounced ways.

There’s no shortage of research to demonstrate that being grounded in nature provides innumerable benefits to our well-being.

The Hollow Reed School of Healing Arts and Herbals knows a thing or two about why it’s a good idea to step away from our devices and return to nature.

It’s been around for years, first in Wolseley, then on Corydon, and for the last few years at St. Norbert Arts Centre, on the grounds of the historic Trappist Monastery Provincial Heritage Park.

Specializing in organic and wild-harvested products, Hollow Reed has a considerable inventory of herbs, essential oils and supplements.

It also has lots going on in terms of opportunities to be with nature, including yurt camps, forest retreats, plant talks and walks, herbal medicine courses and workshops and consultations.

Since the beginning, Chad Cornell has been at the centre of it with a reminder of the vital importance of having a connection to the outer world, nature and traditional systems of healing.

Like many kids born in Kenora, he loved being outdoors. When he moved to the West Coast, he wanted a job where he could work outside and be in nature.

“I was trained as a wilderness guide in Vancouver, lived around there and loved it. I got a work placement in Queen Charlotte Islands and was a kayak guide. When I reached that wild and rugged edge of the world, I was exposed to a whole other lifestyle; people were living right off the land, harvesting, fishing, hunting. That was the culture, especially being an isolated island. With direct access to the land, I was around the Haida people and got to learn about medicinal plants.”

It was during this time that he saw firsthand the restorative qualities of herbs from the very people using them and sharing their knowledge. He decided to enroll in herbalism studies to become a trained herbalist.

In order to practice, Cornell moved back to Winnipeg, where he created Hollow Reed in 2004. For over two decades Cornell, who earned the title Integrative Master Herbalist from Wild Rose College of Herbal Medicine in Alberta, has worked with clients to find healing through natural methods, believing that imbalances of the mind, body and spirit can be addressed through holistic means.

Cornell points to the pharmacy Rx symbol of a mortar and pestle, noting that herbs have a long tradition in medicine. Integrative approaches to health are becoming more common, with herbalists working together with pharmacists and other health professionals.

“Plants give us the air we breathe, the food we eat, and they have even given us shelter and clothing for thousands of years,” said Cornell.

“It’s all part of what makes our connection to them so important, and why plants are considered to be sacred in so many cultures. Plants are miraculous gifts of nature, and they have been fundamental and essential for human survival throughout time.

“The body is not a machine, the body is made of the same stuff as the planet: water, minerals. We need to learn to garden our own bodies,” he continued, noting again the wealth of knowledge in Chinese, Ayurvedic, Indigenous and early European traditions.

When Cornell moved to the city he could feel the negative impact of the collective stress.

“I had to learn how to calm my nervous system. I learned to use specific plants like holy basil, like reishi mushroom, like you need water in a desert, and they helped me directly.”

As he worked with clients dealing with a number of ailments, Cornell knew he’d need to find ways to ensure he was always at his best to serve them.

“The people around me would be unsettled. I had to stay calm and grounded for them and for me and so slowly I started to use a form of meditation in most of my consultations. Like a manual we never got. How to breathe and how to ground, and if you add a nice cup of the right tea you feel so much better,” he explained, adding that since then he’s been busier than ever.

“I look at crisis as an opportunity. I look at reconnection as a necessity. No matter how high a tree grows it has to strengthen its roots. We have to stay connected in our roots. We are made of the earth; we have to stay grounded in nature as much as possible.

“Just like we keep a flashlight in the drawer, and an extra tire in the car, we have to know how to live, like our ancestors did.”

With a notable increase in demand for his consultation services, Cornell began to offer training in herbalism.

“When I first started you could hardly find natural products. I believe that people started to look for better solutions for their health challenges. Now people realize there are actually studies out there, there’s quality information. People have become more educated. It’s become more mainstream,” he said, noting that in his educational programs, his students have included nurses, engineers and professional athletes.

Cornell has been invited to help train medical students at the University of Manitoba and is hired annually by the University of Winnipeg to teach herbalism and plant medicines to students alongside elders in the Indigenous Ethnobotany Field School. He recently led a 12-week program at Stony Mountain Institution.

“I’m not exaggerating when I say they’re the best students: bright, present, sincere. There’s a gardening program there,” he said about working with inmates looking to change their lives.

Cornell has also been a key provider of addiction recovery education and holistic therapy at the Kelburn Recovery Centre, helping people understand body chemistry, the mind-body connection, the link between gut health and mental health and the benefits of meditation.

“I really believe that we have to carve out sanctuary moments in our day. We have to press pause and literally practise just being a human being rather than a human doing.”

city@freepress.mb.ca