About Andrea

Andrea Prazmowski is Ottawa's first Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide. She earned her certification in 2017 with the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy (ANFT) and has served as an ANFT mentor and trainer. She has a journalism degree and has worked as a freelance writer and editor as well as facilitating learning groups and community partnerships of various kinds for more than 25 years.

Andrea facilitates a regenerative practice called the Work That Reconnects with Heart Land. She is a graduate of the International School of Storytelling (Emerson College, England) and has certifications as a Hike Leader (Hike Ontario), in Wilderness First Aid, Permaculture Design and as a Reiki Master. Andrea volunteers with the Birch Path Healing Forest, Soul Space, Healing Pathway, and with the "Wild Spirit" outdoor gatherings she co-leads in the Ottawa area.

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Connect with Andrea

I look forward to hearing from you. Whether it's on a public walk, a personalized private walk, or corporate retreat, I am happy to be your guide to Nature and the forest.

Please use the form on the Contact page to reach me and I will reply as soon as I'm back from visiting with the forest!

I have been to a number of walks with Andrea. I loved the spontaneity of her invitations and the thoughtfulness she put in to make sure the participants felt safe and free to explore the forest. It's time well spent. - Edmond K., a participant of Forest Therapy Ottawa

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I feel whole and most alive with the trees, the birds, the rivers and winds.
(And the blueberries. Don't forget the blueberries. )

One of my earliest memories of bliss is plunking myself down in a patch of blueberries on top of a hill we called a "mountain", near Barry's Bay where my family camped during many childhood summers. I'm about 5 years old. The fat blueberries spill out of the little bucket at my side and my mouth is a sweet smear of blue. I can hear my mother nearby, chatting with my godmother.The sun shines, the butterflies flit, and I feel on top of the world.

Now, I close my eyes and return to that moment. It was all there. Adventure, family, peace, and the sweet gifts of nature. Many similar moments of contentment and belonging are alive in my memories and my cells: paddling a canoe with friends and family, hiking, cross-country skiing, doing yoga on a dock on the Ottawa River, walking my dog in a nearby park.

I've been blessed with moments of profound insight and healing in nature, through the ups-and-downs of life. It gives me great joy to help open that door for others.

From a dugout canoe in the Okavango Delta in Botswana to the incredible Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest Territories, to sitting on a rock outcrop beside the Ottawa River, times immersing myself in nature have both stretched me and enlivened my soul.

I look forward to walking with you and guiding you in partnership with the more-than-human world!