Upcoming Special Events – 2026 Festivals – 2026 Retreats
Upcoming Special Events:
Lifelong Learning at Kellogg Community College: Wild Food Foraging with Katie
Wednesday, May 20, 10:30am-12pm at the Hastings Campus
Join our guide Katie for a wild food foraging class at the Hastings Campus of Kellogg Community College, in partnership with their Lifelong Learning Programs! This is a great class to take as a beginner forager, or if you’ve been joining us for a while, it’s an opportunity to test your ID skills and learn in a new environment. Learn more & register to save your spot via the ticket link below. We hope to see you there!
Registration: $30
Guided Shinrin-yoku: Relax & Reconnect in Nature
Thursday, June 11, 6-8pm at Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids
Join us as we breathe deep, relax, and explore the beauty of late spring at Blandford Nature Center (BNC)! We’re thrilled to be continuing our monthly Shinrin-yoku inspired programs at BNC, and as always, our program will start with a brief introduction to the background and research of forest bathing, how it differs from a hike, and why it’s internationally recognized as an effective tool for natural stress release. From there, you’ll be guided in a relaxing forest bathing session while exploring the beautiful woods and meadows at Blandford; helping you calm your mind, reconnect to nature, and experience your time outdoors in a new way. We hope you’ll join us as we slow down, find presence, and enjoy the wilderness of BNC through the lens of guided forest bathing!
Program Includes: a sit pad and blanket to use during the program, essential oils for meditation, wild foraged tea and a small snack
General Public Registration: $30
Blandford Members Save 20% and register for $25.60!
Foraged Green Powders Workshop at Gathered Botanicals
Saturday, June 13, 10:30am-12:30pm at Gathered Botanicals, Grand Rapids
Green powder supplements are a great way to boost your energy and nutrition, but the $30 price tag for store bought varieties can be a barrier to including them in your diet. During this workshop – led by Katie and inspired by her love of wild, foraged green powders – you’ll learn how to create your own powders at home using plants harvested from your yard, local forests, and meadows. We’ll begin with a plant identification walk at Highland Park to help you learn how to ID wild plants that work well in green powders, then we’ll walk back to the shop for tea and hands-on instruction, including how to dry and powder your harvests, how to maintain a rolling jar of seasonal greens on your countertop, and more. You’ll also get to create your own 3oz green powder blend to take home and try! We hope you’ll join us to expand your knowledge of Michigan plants and bring healthy green powders into your life.
Registration: $45
Upcoming Festivals
2026 Great Lakes Foragers Gathering
June 18-21, 2026, Frog Holler Farms in Brooklyn, Michigan
We’re SO excited to be a part of the 15th Great Lakes Foragers Gathering, hosted by Will Forage For Food in the beautiful Irish Hills region of southeast Michigan. This is an epic annual wild food weekend that we look forward to every year, with an abundance of classes on offer, hands-on learning, wild foraged food at every meal (meals included in your event ticket), and time to make your foraging friends. At this year’s gathering, our guide Katie will be leading a Mindfulness for Foragers session, where we’ll be exploring the natural connection we all feel outside and discussing some new perspectives and simple mindfulness techniques to help you expand your foraging skillset, enhance your habitat recognition, and deepen your connection to your food. Whether you are new to foraging or are a seasoned harvester, this is THE Michigan-based event to level-up your foraging knowledge. We can’t recommend it highly enough and we hope to see you there!
2026 Wild Zen Yoga Festival
July 17-19, 2026, Smiling Acres Festival Grounds, Trufant, MI
We’re looking forward to joining the Wild Zen Yoga Fest for the FIFTH year in a row! At the 2026 fest, our guide Katie will be leading a nature therapy experience centered around the festival’s ever-growing and changing community nature mandala. This is a wonderful and intimate festival, with a great community, beautiful nature, and a diverse schedule of offerings to help you explore not just yoga, but breathwork, cacao, mindful movement, sound, and more. Head to the Wild Zen Yoga page HERE to learn more and grab your ticket! We’d love to see you there!
Upcoming Retreats
Stay tuned for upcoming retreats!
Frequent Offerings
Learn more about our frequently offered events and workshops below and check out our Calendar & Events page to register for upcoming events!
$5 Community Gatherings
Join our $5 community gatherings to build your community, explore self-care in deeper forest settings, and nurture a new approach to time outside! We host two different gathering formats: Community Sit Spot Gatherings and Community Forest Gatherings. Both offer something unique and special, and are offered year-round, on a pop-up basis.
Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities via our class calendar HERE!
Yoga & Guided Forest Bathing Experiences
Originally one of our core classes, our yoga & guided forest bathing experiences hold a special place in our heart and remain one of our favorite pop-up classes to share in the warm weather months. During these 1.5-hr offerings, you’ll bring your mat outside and join Katie for a slow flow class in the living breathing forest – with time to explore the benefits of forest bathing and time off your mat, community connection, and more.
Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities via our class calendar HERE!
IYE Winter Wellness Club
Join us for our one-of-a-kind, three-month long Winter Wellness Club! This experience is hosted in select years over the course of the winter season, with special member’s only gatherings, opportunities to learn about winter nature connection techniques for self-care, weekly meditations, class passes, a chance to make new friends, and MORE.
Check back annually for Winter Wellness Club updates!
Guided Shinrin-yoku & Journaling in Nature Writing Workshops
Grab your journal and join us in the forest during these special 2.5-hr workshops, which blend journaling prompts and forest bathing techniques for relaxation, reflection, and connection to yourself and the world around you.
Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities via our class calendar HERE!
