Wild (adj.)
living in a state of nature and not ordinarily tame or domesticated; not subject to restraint or regulation; going beyond normal or conventional bounds.
Wayfarer (n.)
A person who travels from place to place, especially on foot; a person who goes on a journey.
Way (wei; meaning an opening, passageway, or direction) + farer (Faer; meaning a journey, road, passage, or expedition.)
Way (wei; meaning an opening, passageway, or direction) + farer (Faer; meaning a journey, road, passage, or expedition.)
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Wild Wayfarer embodies the exploration and interaction with the wild. Journeying—whether within the realm of our own wild minds, through expressive movement, or by wandering through the uncultivated spaces of nature—generates intimacy with the wild. It also brings about the opportunity for radical growth. Walking the edge of our comfort zones, wandering into the unknown, and embracing the wild and untamed parts of ourselves has tremendous potential to cultivate self-discovery and authentic self-expression, rekindle the nature-human connection, and promote human and environmental health.
In simple terms, it summons our most authentic selves, and brings us into balance. It guides us home. |
Photo by Alex Dukhanov
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"The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door. if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If your yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door”
- Clarissa Estes, The Women Who Run With Wolves
I'm JacquelineMy unique niche as your re(nature)ship coach is in tuning into the rhythms of the natural world, and bringing the wild into practice.
With an academic background in Environmental Studies, a professional foundation as a wilderness guide and teacher, a body and mind shaped by outdoor athletics, a lifestyle rooted in herbalism and Ayurveda, an inspired pursuit of nature-based therapeutics, and a decade-long journey with yoga, I have forged a path that weaves together the themes of environmental and human well-being. 
Photo by Janna @drishti_photo
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 Photo by Lindsey Shea @lindsey_shea
My story is not linear, but few are. For as long as I can remember, I have seen Nature and humans as inseparable. The core value which I return to again and again, in all aspects of life, is wildness. My courtship with nature began as soon as I could climb the tree in my back yard—which, in my case, was almost before I could walk. It began with that mulberry tree, my first true friend. Then it was the summers spent at the lake, falling in love with the water. Then came the camping trips and fishing with my father, when I learned to hold the life-death-rebirth cycle in the palm of my hand. As a teen, long-distance running on desert trails transformed my life—providing me my first truly spiritual experiences with my environment. I followed the thread, pushing myself to the extremes of ultra running and diving deeply into the world of rock climbing in breath-taking natural places. All the while seeking more and more depth into wild places and the wild me. Always circling back to reconnection, always with a hidden agenda to touch the soul of the Earth with my own. I succeeded in things I never thought were possible—I climbed challenging routes in the mountains; I placed in 50k races that spanned across the deserts of the southwest; I became a mountain guide. Yet in the wake of my societal successes, I felt a tug at my heel. A deep knowing that the amount of time you spend outside does not equate to the depth with which you are connected with nature or yourself. And at the end of the day, I couldn't run off into the mountains and ignore that what matters more is how you go into the mountains... and what wisdom you bring back with you. Similarly, my ever-present yoga practice means little when the yoga stays on the mat—or worse yet, it is practiced without soul. So I circled back, to the value that has always been in the driver's seat: Wildness. Nature's dance is why I love yoga, why I love the mountains, why I studied the environment in college and why I study natural health, nature's rhythms, and soul today. |
There is a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn't change.
People Wonder about what you are pursuing.
you have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can't get lost.
Tragedies happen, people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time's unfolding.
You don't ever let go of the thread.
"The Way it Is," By William Stafford
On Wildness
"Wild" is inherently an abstract word. It is thrown around haphazardly, and in the modern surge of environmentalism, land preservation, and new-age soul-searching, the word has taken on an array of confusing and sometimes misleading meanings. The wild is not a place that humans visit when they want to escape their structured world; wilderness boundaries and land designations in themselves contradict the very meaning of the word. Wildlife parks are ironically occupied by the caged and spade versions of beings that were once, but no longer, wild.
Rather, wildness is a state of being that exists within each person. It is the sate in which we were born, and the forces which birthed us. Wild people and wild environments are, in essence, inseparable. The wild is the undomesticated, barefooted child that plays in the crevices of every adult's psyche. The living, breathing land that humanity was born into. The rivers that are dammed, and the inner creativity that is likewise stifled by the same institutions.
The wild of the world is diminishing, and humanity is beginning to feel the loss. Wild places are being converted into shopping malls and ski resorts, humans are roaming further and further from our natural state and the land that feeds us, and we are losing touch with our inner wild psyche. It is time to re-evaluate our trajectory, question our habits, and re-wild our lives.
"Wild" is inherently an abstract word. It is thrown around haphazardly, and in the modern surge of environmentalism, land preservation, and new-age soul-searching, the word has taken on an array of confusing and sometimes misleading meanings. The wild is not a place that humans visit when they want to escape their structured world; wilderness boundaries and land designations in themselves contradict the very meaning of the word. Wildlife parks are ironically occupied by the caged and spade versions of beings that were once, but no longer, wild.
Rather, wildness is a state of being that exists within each person. It is the sate in which we were born, and the forces which birthed us. Wild people and wild environments are, in essence, inseparable. The wild is the undomesticated, barefooted child that plays in the crevices of every adult's psyche. The living, breathing land that humanity was born into. The rivers that are dammed, and the inner creativity that is likewise stifled by the same institutions.
The wild of the world is diminishing, and humanity is beginning to feel the loss. Wild places are being converted into shopping malls and ski resorts, humans are roaming further and further from our natural state and the land that feeds us, and we are losing touch with our inner wild psyche. It is time to re-evaluate our trajectory, question our habits, and re-wild our lives.