ABOUT
Jennie Akse-Kelly | Forager – Forest-Walker – Herbologist – Yogi
Jennie Akse-Kelly, mother of two, is a wild-foods forager, herbologist, and outdoor guide and maker of It’s a Wild Thing herbal products as well as an established yoga and wellness practitioner, specializing in the healing powers of the breath and the essential connection of human to Nature.
Jennie entered into the lineage of traditional medicine and wild food when she began studying medicinal and edible plants as both a student and apprentice of North Carolinian herbalist Will Endres, and with extensive solitary time in the woods of Southern and Central Ontario. She has been a passionate leader of immersive, hands-on walks, talks, classes and workshops in both the urban and wild places of North America and Europe since 2007.
Jennie gathers wild food with the utmost attention and respect for nature’s delicate balance and the healing and wisdom they bring to us. Her years of training and first-hand knowledge of wild plants inspire her line of herbal teas, salts and other wild-crafted products. Her desire to share her wisdom with other lovers of nature, health and fine food is what gave birth to It’s a Wild Thing, and everything she does is an expression of her love of family, community, food, nature, and what it is to ‘live wild’.
Yoga has taken Jennie across the world since her first class in 1998, including a year spent in India where she studied the philosophy, pedagogy, therapeutical applications and science of yogic principles. With an E-RYT 500 teacher’s certification from Yoga Alliance awarded in 2005, she has been immersed in a variety of yoga lineages and meditation. She’s taught in the Netherlands, North America, Sri Lanka and Thailand — experiences that have all deepened and broadened her gentle and intuitive approach, which she shares joyfully with her students.
Jennie is a wild foods and medicinal plant forager, yoga instructor and outdoor guide with over 15 years of experience. She has been influenced by healing modalities from many teachers, including as apprentice to Will Endres; as a year-long student of yoga, yoga philosophy, science and pedagogy in India; and additional study under Esther Myers Yoga, Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health, Sivananda Yoga (Canada, India), Amy Weintraub, Rodney Yee and Nischala Joy Devi.
Jennie is a visionary of our time. She immerses us in wisdom on how to connect to real health, to real joy, and to a real and lasting bond with Mother Earth.
Jennie has brought a profound awareness and compassion back into my life. I cannot look at plants the same way ever again – I now see every plant as a friend, a potential teacher, a life-master.
I thought I knew how to breathe, but Jennie showed me what true breathing really is, and how it affects every particle of being. Breathing in her classes – indoors or in the woods – is an opportunity not to be missed. You will leave feeling relaxed, calm and joyful and can integrate everything she teaches into your daily life.
Follow Jennie’s wild food journey on Instagram @realwildthing and see what’s in season to collect for your kitchen or medicine chest!