Nov 16, 2026
5PM, Pacific, 8PM, Eastern
Every breath you take is doing more than you realize. Your lungs pull in oxygen, filter what you inhale, defend you against infection, and set the rhythm for your nervous system, your energy, and your sleep. Yet for a great many people, breathing is a quiet daily struggle: the cough that lingers for weeks after a cold, the seasonal allergies that arrive like clockwork, the chest tightness that comes with smoke or cold air, the wheeze that flares in the night, the sinuses that never quite clear, or the simple sense of being more winded than you used to be. Most people put up with these things. Most of them do not have to.
The good news is that lung and airway health responds remarkably well to informed care. Knowing what is actually happening when you cough or wheeze, understanding what the air around you and the habits you keep are doing to your lungs, learning what the world’s herbal traditions have used for centuries to open the chest and calm the airways, and knowing when a symptom needs a professional can turn breathing from something you worry about into something you can manage with confidence.
This friendly course was created for everyday people who want clear, honest answers about their breathing. No medical background is required, just a curiosity about your own body and a desire to breathe fully and easily. Come as you are, and bring your questions; nothing is too basic to ask here.
This course is ideal for anyone with a lingering cough, allergies, asthma, recurring chest colds or sinus trouble, or shortness of breath, and for anyone who wants to protect their lungs through allergy season, smoke season, and the years ahead.
This class is included in our Global Herbalism Academy Foundations Membership. Get access to this class PLUS our over 200+ classes and more for only $47/month!
Or just purchase this class for
$47.00
Nov 16, 2026
5PM, Pacific, 8PM, Eastern
This welcoming, easy-to-understand course is designed for everyday people who want to take better care of their lungs and airways, understand the common conditions that make breathing hard, and make more informed decisions about their respiratory health. The course translates complex medical information into plain, practical language that makes sense immediately, and it treats a subject that is too often ignored until it becomes serious with warmth, clarity, and candor.
We begin with the foundations: how the lungs and airways actually work, what a cough is for, why mucus matters, how the nose and sinuses protect everything below them, and what changes naturally with age. From there we explore the concerns people ask about most. We look at the cough that will not go away, and how to tell an ordinary lingering cough from one that deserves attention. We address seasonal and year-round allergies, and the herbs and habits that reduce the misery. We talk about asthma and reactive airways, what triggers them, and how natural approaches fit alongside, never instead of, prescribed inhalers. We cover recurring bronchitis, sinus congestion, and the chest that never quite clears after a cold. And we take on a subject that has become urgent for many communities: wildfire smoke and poor air quality, and what you can realistically do to protect your lungs when the air outside is bad.
Along the way we introduce some genuinely new ideas. Breathing itself turns out to be a skill that can be trained, and simple changes in how you breathe, through the nose rather than the mouth, slower and lower in the body, can measurably improve airway function and calm the nervous system. Research on the connection between the gut
and the lungs is reshaping how we think about respiratory immunity. And the old herbal categories of expectorants, demulcents, and antispasmodics are being examined with modern tools, with some traditional remedies holding up well.
This course uses the Global Herbalism approach. Rather than treating any one tradition as the whole answer, Global Herbalism draws on the best of the world’s great healing systems, the Western herbal and scientific tradition, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and places them alongside conventional medical understanding. You will learn how each tradition approaches the lungs: the Western herbalist’s classic chest remedies; Ayurveda’s long experience with breathing practice and with herbs; and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s detailed understanding of the lung as the organ that governs qi and defends the body’s surface, with its rich formulary for cough and wheeze. You will see where the traditions agree, what each does particularly well, and how to think about herbs and natural approaches, including what the evidence supports, what is traditional but untested, and where caution is wise. Clear visual illustrations bring each concept to life in a way that is immediately relatable and easy to remember.
This course is taught with deep respect for the questions that everyday people bring to their healthcare. The instructor, K.P. Khalsa, brings over 5 decades of hands-on clinical experience in herbal and integrative medicine together with recognized expertise across Western herbalism, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, the very traditions at the heart of the Global Herbalism approach.
Khalsa is a professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and teaches at two natural medicine universities. He holds credentials as an Ayurvedic Doctor, a state licensed dietitian/nutritionist, a nationally registered herbalist and holds the title of Yogiraj in Ayurveda.
As a widely respected educator and author in the field, he is committed to honest, trustworthy health education that is rooted in both current medical evidence and real clinical experience, and that is careful to distinguish the scientific from the traditional.
The aim is simple: accurate, balanced information, delivered without hype or fear, that genuinely empowers you to make good decisions and to know when to involve a qualified professional.
No medical background required. All are welcome.
What you will learn
● How the lungs, airways, nose, and sinuses work, in plain language, and what changes with age
● The lingering cough: what causes it, when it is nothing to worry about, and when it is not
● Allergies, asthma, and reactive airways: triggers, everyday management, and how herbs and natural approaches fit safely alongside medical care
● Recurring colds, bronchitis, and sinus trouble: strengthening the body’s defenses and clearing the chest
● Wildfire smoke and air quality: practical protection for your lungs when the air is bad
● Breathing as a skill: simple, evidence-informed techniques that improve airway function and calm the nervous system
● The classic lung herbs of the Western, Ayurvedic, and Chinese traditions, what each does, and what the evidence says
Who this course is for
● Anyone with a cough that lingers, seasonal or year-round allergies, or sinus trouble
● People with asthma or reactive airways who want to understand their condition and support their medical care naturally
● Anyone who gets more chest colds than they should, or takes longer than they should to recover
● People concerned about wildfire smoke, air pollution, or protecting their lungs as they age
● Anyone who has questions about the overwhelming and often conflicting information found online
● Family members and caregivers who want to understand and support someone with breathing difficulties
Get access to this class PLUS our entire Foundations Library (200+ classes!) for only $47/month. Members also get access to all new Foundations classes taught live every month!
