Our Story
Hollow Reed
Hollow Reed began in a small room in the Winnipeg neighborhood known as Wolseley 25 years ago. Since that time it has had many incarnations, and Integrative Herbalist Chad Cornell has been supplying quality herbal teas, natural medicine, natural products, education, and consultations — both in person and online. We believe that staying connected to our roots is essential in these times, and we're happy to be part of the solution.
Our Store
The Apothecary
The Hollow Reed School of Healing Arts & Herbals is one of Canada's best sources for quality herbs, essential oils, premium supplements and much more. We believe healing involves the body, the mind, and the spirit — the body is a garden — and that true healing draws on both Western physiology and body chemistry and the folk healing traditions passed down through generations, which is why we teach integrative herbalism: the best of ancient and modern, East and West. Our herbalist and founder of Hollow Reed, Chad Cornell, has been supplying quality herbs for over two decades, and we have become a leading supplier of organic and wild-harvested products to those who recognize the importance of quality, ethical harvesting and the respect of our planet. We also offer a variety of finely crafted products ranging from unpasteurized honey and beeswax candles, to pure incense, therapeutic tea blends, natural skin and hair products, carefully selected books, and much more.
Hollow Reed is a family operation that has been built upon serving our greater community and developing time-tested relationships. Our product selection is the result of years of learning and feedback from our clients, family, and friends. Our intention is to support health and awareness while promoting local food and medicine security for future generations.
We are dedicated to providing you with an online venue source and local healing centre you can rely upon. We want to ensure that you, and those you care for, are receiving quality at all levels and truly gaining access to the best in mother nature's care. Along with high quality, we are committed to keeping our prices fair and competitive with the greater marketplace.
Thank you for visiting and supporting Hollow Reed Holistic. Please call or email if you have any questions and sign up for our newsletter to gain access to upcoming articles, newsletters and videos.
All the best from all of us at Hollow Reed School of Healing Arts.
Our Mission
The School
Hollow Reed School of Healing Arts & Herbals was founded by herbalist Chad Cornell to carry forward the living tradition of plant medicine. Since 2004 we have been growing capable, community-ready herbalists — teaching not only which herb to use, but how to think about the body, the land, and the long relationship between them.
Through self-paced study, live teaching, in-person intensives, and a flagship apprenticeship program, Hollow Reed meets students wherever they are on their journey with the plants — and helps them carry that medicine forward for the generations to come.
The Founder
Chad Cornell, Integrative Herbalist
Chad Cornell graduated from Wild Rose College of Natural Healing in 2003 and immediately knew his path would be one of teaching, community service, and deep relationship with the land. What began as a personal passion for plant medicine quickly grew into a grassroots school that has touched the lives of thousands.
Since founding Hollow Reed in 2004, Chad has built a practice that draws from four major traditions of plant medicine — Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Eclectic Herbalism, and Indigenous plant lineages — weaving them into a coherent, clinically rigorous approach that honors the wisdom of each tradition.
His teaching extends far beyond the school's monastery walls. As faculty at the University of Winnipeg's Ethnobotany program and former instructor to University of Manitoba medical students, Chad bridges the gap between academic science and traditional knowing. His work with Stony Mountain Institution and Kelburn Recovery Centre demonstrates his commitment to bringing plant medicine to those who need it most.
Chad leads the Integrative Herbalism Apprenticeship — a year-long immersive mentorship that produces confident, community-ready herbalists. He also runs Forest Medicine Retreats, taking students deep into Manitoba's boreal forests for experiential learning that no classroom can replicate.
Our Philosophy
Three Roots of Practice
Reconnection
Healing is the restoration of right relationship — between body and land, person and place, the old ways and the living present. We teach people to know the plants that grow where they live, and to remember that medicine is not a commodity but a relationship.
Local Medicine Security
A community that can grow, gather, and prepare its own medicine is a resilient community. We believe every region should have people who know its plants — the elder who can identify the yarrow on the roadside, the clinician who can formulate from what grows nearby.
Ethical Wild-Harvesting
We harvest with the future in mind — never taking more than a tenth of a stand, never picking rare or at-risk species, always leaving enough for the pollinators, the wildlife, and the next season. The forest teaches patience; we listen.
Sacred Ground
The Trappist Monastery
In 1892, Trappist monks from Bellefontaine, France established a monastery on the banks of the La Salle River in St. Norbert — choosing this quiet bend of prairie for a life of prayer, agriculture, and self-sufficiency. For nearly a century, they worked this land: baking bread, brewing beer, tending gardens, and keeping bees in the shadow of their limestone chapel.
The monks left in 1979, but the land held its contemplative character. The ruins of their chapel and workshops became the heart of the St. Norbert Arts Centre — a place where the old practice of quiet, purposeful work with the hands continues in new forms.
Hollow Reed found its home here in 2004. Our medicinal gardens grow among the limestone ruins, where stone walls shelter herbs from prairie winds and hold the warmth of the sun. There is something fitting about a school of plant medicine taking root on ground that has been tended with intention for over 130 years.
Credentials & Service
Teaching, Healing, Serving
Wild Rose College of Natural Healing
Graduate, 2003 — Foundation in clinical herbalism
Integrative Master Herbalist
Multi-tradition clinical practice since 2003
University of Winnipeg
Ethnobotany faculty — bridging academic and traditional knowledge
University of Manitoba
Former instructor — medical students herbal medicine curriculum
Stony Mountain Institution
Herbal medicine programming for incarcerated individuals
Kelburn Recovery Centre
Plant medicine in addiction recovery support
'Our Common Roots'
Presenter — documentary exploring the shared heritage of plant medicine
The Lineages
Four Traditions, One Practice
Ayurveda
Ancient Indian system of constitutional medicine — understanding individual prakriti and using herbs to restore doshic balance.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Energetic herbalism rooted in yin-yang theory, the five elements, and thousands of years of clinical refinement.
Eclectic Herbalism
North American tradition combining evidence-based practice with an appreciation for the whole person and their environment.
Indigenous Plant Lineages
Deep respect for the plant knowledge systems of this land — learning from and with Indigenous knowledge keepers.
Our Common Roots
Chad is the presenter of "Our Common Roots" — a documentary exploring the shared heritage of plant medicine across cultures and continents. The film traces the common threads that unite healing traditions worldwide and asks how we can honor that legacy going forward.
Learn More