Building Breath: Wholistic Respiratory Support
A live Zoom class happening September 16, 2026 at 7:30pm eastern
Building Health: A 12-Month Lifestyle, Nutrition & Herbal Series
This is a 12-month class series designed to help strengthen health using realistic, accessible lifestyle practices, nutrition, and herbs as supportive tools. These classes are for anyone who wants to better understand their body, cut through wellness misinformation, and build healthy habits.
This series focuses on how health is built over time through daily practices, small adjustments, and systems that support one another. We will look at how sleep affects mood and food choices, how digestion influences energy and immunity, how stress shapes the body, and how simple, repeatable practices can create meaningful change.
Herbs are woven throughout the series as practical tools that help support healthy function when used alongside daily habits like sleep, food, movement, and rest. You’ll learn herbal categories (such as bitters, nervines, carminatives, and tonics), how and when they’re useful, and how to use them in a way that fits into real life.
In order to make this content accessible to everyone, the series is donation-based, with a suggested range of $0–$25 per class, depending on your financial situation. Each class can be attended on its own, but the series is intentionally sequenced. Attending (or watching) all of the classes will give you a much deeper understanding of how different aspects of health connect, reinforce one another, and build toward long-term resilience.
These classes focus on parts and physiological processes rather than gender, and are taught with the expectation of respect and care so that the space is as safe and welcoming as possible for everyone who chooses to attend.
This series focuses on how health is built over time through daily practices, small adjustments, and systems that support one another. We will look at how sleep affects mood and food choices, how digestion influences energy and immunity, how stress shapes the body, and how simple, repeatable practices can create meaningful change.
Herbs are woven throughout the series as practical tools that help support healthy function when used alongside daily habits like sleep, food, movement, and rest. You’ll learn herbal categories (such as bitters, nervines, carminatives, and tonics), how and when they’re useful, and how to use them in a way that fits into real life.
In order to make this content accessible to everyone, the series is donation-based, with a suggested range of $0–$25 per class, depending on your financial situation. Each class can be attended on its own, but the series is intentionally sequenced. Attending (or watching) all of the classes will give you a much deeper understanding of how different aspects of health connect, reinforce one another, and build toward long-term resilience.
These classes focus on parts and physiological processes rather than gender, and are taught with the expectation of respect and care so that the space is as safe and welcoming as possible for everyone who chooses to attend.
Class 8 - Building Breath: Wholistic Respiratory Support
Breathing is both automatic and deeply connected to stress, immunity, and overall health. This class explores how respiratory health is shaped by daily habits, environment, and nervous system regulation.
We’ll discuss supportive breathing practices, common respiratory challenges, and seasonal considerations. Herbs traditionally used for coughs, congestion, and irritation are introduced as supportive tools alongside lifestyle and environmental strategies.
This class is part of the Building Health series, though it can be attended on its own. Classes are donation-based, with a suggested range of $0–$25 depending on your financial situation. If you’re able, you’re welcome to pay it forward by donating more to help keep the series accessible. Online students will receive a donation link at the beginning of class. In-person attendees who will be attending at Forest and Meadow in St. Louis, please register in advance using the separate sign-up link HERE so we can get an accurate headcount.
Your Instructors
Thomas Easley, RH (AHG)
Thomas Easley, RH (AHG), is a Clinical Herbalist and the founder of the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine. With a passion for herbal medicine ignited in 1996, Thomas has dedicated his life to helping others through a unique approach that integrates Traditional Western Herbalism, Clinical Nutrition, and modern medical sciences.
Since opening his practice in 2001, Thomas has provided guidance and support to tens of thousands of clients. In 2010, he founded the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, which offers comprehensive clinical training. As a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild, Thomas continues to refine his clinical expertise by reviewing cases for his school’s free clinic and maintaining an active private practice.
Thomas is the co-author of The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine Making Guide and Modern Herbal Medicine. He firmly believes in the power of herbal medicine to transform lives and promote vibrant health. His approach emphasizes the importance of food as medicine and incorporates tailored diets, stress reduction techniques, nutritional supplements, and exercise to help clients achieve their health goals.
As a champion for evidence-based practices, Thomas strives to ensure that his teachings and methods are rooted in tradition, clinical practice, and sound scientific principles. He draws inspiration from the Eclectic and Physiomedical physicians of the 19th century, combining their wisdom with modern medical sciences to create a comprehensive and systematic approach to health and healing.
Since opening his practice in 2001, Thomas has provided guidance and support to tens of thousands of clients. In 2010, he founded the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, which offers comprehensive clinical training. As a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild, Thomas continues to refine his clinical expertise by reviewing cases for his school’s free clinic and maintaining an active private practice.
Thomas is the co-author of The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine Making Guide and Modern Herbal Medicine. He firmly believes in the power of herbal medicine to transform lives and promote vibrant health. His approach emphasizes the importance of food as medicine and incorporates tailored diets, stress reduction techniques, nutritional supplements, and exercise to help clients achieve their health goals.
As a champion for evidence-based practices, Thomas strives to ensure that his teachings and methods are rooted in tradition, clinical practice, and sound scientific principles. He draws inspiration from the Eclectic and Physiomedical physicians of the 19th century, combining their wisdom with modern medical sciences to create a comprehensive and systematic approach to health and healing.
Mel Kasting, RH (AHG)
Mel is a practicing clinical herbalist, educator, poet, and emergent facilitator. As Clinical Program Director and Free Clinic Manager, she helps clients to get the support they need while guiding students through the rigorous process of preparing for and participating in active clinicals.
Mel’s passion lies in both serving clients and empowering students to develop the essential relational health and clinical skills required to excel as herbal practitioners. Through her clinic work, art and class facilitation, she explores the intersections of herbalism, botany, society, and somatic experiencing to support plant-centered botanical medicine and celebrate the teeming diversity life has to offer.
In her private practice, she blends traditional western herbalism and clinical nutrition with somatic herbal practices. She recognizes the significance of addressing personal and societal traumas as an integral part of the healing journey. This profound understanding shapes her approach, as she guides individuals toward greater well-being and helps them navigate the complexities of their own healing processes.
Mel’s passion lies in both serving clients and empowering students to develop the essential relational health and clinical skills required to excel as herbal practitioners. Through her clinic work, art and class facilitation, she explores the intersections of herbalism, botany, society, and somatic experiencing to support plant-centered botanical medicine and celebrate the teeming diversity life has to offer.
In her private practice, she blends traditional western herbalism and clinical nutrition with somatic herbal practices. She recognizes the significance of addressing personal and societal traumas as an integral part of the healing journey. This profound understanding shapes her approach, as she guides individuals toward greater well-being and helps them navigate the complexities of their own healing processes.