I feel whole and most alive when I'm 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 bald "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 am on top of the world.

I close my eyes and remember, and I return to that moment. It was all there. Adventure, family, peace, and the sweet gifts of nature. So many moments of contentment and a sense of belonging are alive in my memories and my very 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 an Ottawa park.

I've been blessed with moments of profound insight and healing in nature, through the ups-and-downs of life.

It gives me incredible 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, times immersing myself in nature have both stretched me and enlivened my soul. And I hear that same invitation, every day, here in the woodlands and waters of the Ottawa Valley.

I look forward to walking with you and guiding you in partnership with the more-than-human world!
                                              - 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 a mentor and trainer with ANFT. 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 has certification as a Hike Leader (Hike Ontario), in Wilderness First Aid, Permaculture Design, Reiki and Healing Pathway. She also facilitates a regenerative practice called The Work That Reconnects and recently piloted a "Forest Church" project in Ottawa.

With my favourite hiking partners on the Bruce Trail. This was in 2010, right around the time my sons started outpacing me. Now I celebrate going slowly!

"Forest Therapy,
as ably taught by Andrea,
refreshes the soul." 
- from a first-time participant