Medicina Tropical: An Herbal Immersion Retreat
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medicina  tropical

herbal retreat

Julia Onnie-Hay

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Julia is a certified herbalist, body positive yoga teacher and professional nonprofit program administrator who created Bless Botanicals in 2012 as a vehicle for her community service around reconnecting people to the healing forces of plants. Before diving deep into her study of herbs, she earned a B.A. in cultural anthropology from New College of Florida in 2005 and a graduate certificate in holistic health counseling from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2008.

Julia has studied folk healing traditions in the Peruvian Amazon, Ghana, Jamaica, and throughout the United States, including the Big Island of Hawai'i, northern California, North Carolina and Florida. She earned her certification as a Family Herbalist from the Florida School of Holistic Living in 2012 and is a lifelong student of herbalist elders and the plants themselves. Julia has studied with herbalists such as Don Juan Tangoa Paima, Madrinha Maria Alice Campos Freire, Emily Ruff, Susun Weed, Rosemary Gladstar,  Juliette Blankenspoor, 7Song, Lorna Maurney-Brodeck, Bevin Clare, Susan Marynowski, Andy Firk, Bob Linde, Alicia Sirkin and Willow LaMonte. She's a teacher with the South Florida Branch of the Florida School of Holistic Living and a regular teacher at the annual Florida Herbal Conference. In 2013, Julia earned her 200 hour yoga certification from 305 Yoga & Outreach and also became a certified Curvy Yoga teacher. Julia combines her love for yoga and herbs with her Plant Spirit Medicine Yoga practice.       

In addition to her studies and service with plants and yoga, Julia works full-time making good things happen as a nonprofit program administrator. She has over a decade of professional experience in the out-of-school time (OST) field,  leadership development (youth and adult), food justice issues, drug policy reform and wellness policy development. An enthusiastic life-long learner, Julia also hold certifications in working with flower essences, nonprofit management, permaculture design, teaching yoga to at-risk youth, and as a birth doula. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and on the small island of Salt Cay in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Julia is based in Miami, Florida in the Little River neighborhood. Lately, she's enchanted by tropical medicinal weeds, making tinctures with aguardiente and singing hymns to the ocean.



Monique Moyer

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Monique’s journey into the world of plant medicine started with a desire to live sustainably and have access to resources to keep herself and her community healthy.  Using herbal remedies for her own health and sharing that information with others was beyond empowering.  She began to study plant medicine over 15 years ago in both informal and formal settings.  

In 2007 she studied with 7Song at the Northeastern School of Botanical Medicine in Ithaca, New York. She learned an immeasurable amount of information during this 6 month intensive course, ranging from botany, to wildcrafting, preparing herbal medicines, materia medica and how to practice in a clinical setting. She also experienced setting up and working a clinic during this time.

She has worked with plants in various regions of the US, Central America and the Caribbean and studied with many other knowledgeable western herbalists.  Being born and raised in South Florida, Monique has a special love for the native and tropical plants in the area.

Monique is also a full spectrum doula, offering support for a wide range of reproductive related experiences.  She helps guide her clients to safely and supportively using herbs during these times when desired. 
She teaches herb classes ranging from Herbal Support for Pregnancy to South Florida Superfoods and incorporates her passion for social justice in all she does.


Paula Díaz

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Paula is a practicing herbalist, community educator, gardener and seed steward. She was born in Venezuela and has been living in Miami since 1998. Her family is from Maracaibo and Paraguachoa (Isla de Margarita). The plants are her most respected teachers and primary mentors on this path. She loves helping people feel empowered, fall in love with plants, and tune into the healing capabilities of their own body and spirit.

Paula is interested in decolonizing education and reclaiming the native healing sciences of her ancestors. She has a background in teaching useful plants and gardening from an indigenous permaculture perspective. Since 2012, she has facilitated fun plant walks at local parks, on private land, and wild weedy places in South Florida. Paula has been practicing Usui Reiki healing since 2013. From 2014-2016 she received specialized training as a clinical herbalist at a western herb school, under David Winston and other AHG professional herbalists.

Paula's consulting practice is rooted in deep listening, prayer, rituals and offerings, and ancestral healing work. She enjoys supporting  people with improving their health, particularly women and those with long standing health imbalances. Contact her through her website to book an appointment. She hosts workshops, skill shares, and healing circles about herbal medicine and related topics for private groups and organizations in south Florida and around the country.


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  • Home
  • Offerings
  • Guides
  • Schedule
  • Plant walk
  • Register
  • Contact