Meet your guides

therapeutic. soul-nourishing. Awakening.

Introducing: our guides and guest hosts.

We are united by a common thread: to nudge you into the wondrous world through creative practices, reflection, mindfulness and communing with the world around us.


  • Founder

    I am, at the very foundational level, a writer, a creative mystic and a listener. Pretty much everything I do stems from that identity. I write and facilitate learning at the intersection of writing/creativity and healing. The work is one part emotional excavation, one part mental exercise, a lot of stalking wonder and trust in something we can’t see. [Hint: That’s where the mysticism comes in.]

    That’s a mouthful of words that basically mean that I help people use their creativity and stories to heal.

    I think anyone who walks the path of creating with their heart first will agree that there is healing intrinsic to the process. I support people to walk that byway.

  • Conspirator

    Pamela J. Kowal, MS, LMFT Emeritus + Healing Practitioner. Pam has been in the healing arts since 1996, as a licensed therapist, teacher, facilitator, energy healer, an ongoing student of earth medicine + tarot, as well as an editor/writer + creator. She builds networks of people and resources, and is committed to sharing what she has learned so that others can be inspired to remember + take action from their own truth. You can see her work at www.pamelakowal.com

  • Guide

    Heidi Barr is a writer and wellness coach whose work is founded on a commitment to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet. She is the author of several books of creative nonfiction, including Collisions of Earth and Sky and Woodland Manitou, and co author of 12 Tiny things. In addition to her latest, Just Wild Enough, she’s also authored two other poetry collections, one cookbook, and is editor of “The Mindful Kitchen,” a wellness column in The Wayfarer Magazine. One of the inaugural Poets of Place for the lower St. Croix Valley, her poetry has been featured in numerous publications, including the St. Paul Almanac and South Dakota in Poems. She lives with her family in Lindstrom, where they tend a large vegetable garden, explore nature, and do their best to live simply.

    If you'd like to work with Heidi individually around topics discussed in this course and/or take your rewilding and wellness practice to a deeper level, she has limited wellness coaching spaces available. Send a message to heidi@heidibarr.com to inquire and schedule. From $200/month


  • Magic-Maker-in-Chief

    Gwen (Gwennie) Ratermann has been a wordsmith her entire life as a daily journaler, blogger, author, and professional speechwriter. Over her 25-year career in health care policy she advocated for the needs of the underserved in Missouri.

    In her spare time, she relied on the guidance of the tarot to illuminate her life’s journey. As she immersed herself in the study of the tarot, she has done countless readings for friends, family and work colleagues.

    Gwen is a way shower, creative mystic, and spiritual intuitive.

  • Guides

    Spark & Soul Wellness consists of Pam and Kathy, best friends of 30+ years who’ve led retreats and taught empowering + inspiring material together and individually. Spark & Soul Wellness is a space where we bring full circle what brought us together in our friendship: our creativity, our ability to inspire, and our capacity to empower ourselves and one another to lead lives of deeper meaning and soulfulness. Kathy is the creative designer bringing over 30 years of experience in the learning and development space, and Pam shares the content + wisdom that she has accrued in her 27 years as a licensed therapist + healing practitioner in multiple modalities. They believe that living in alignment with our souls creates more meaning and deeper satisfaction with Life.

    You can find them on instagram @sparkandsoulwellness.

“Is sorrow the true wild?
And if it is—and if we join them—your wild to mine—what’s that?
For joining, too, is a kind of annihilation. What if we joined our sorrows, I’m saying. I’m saying: What if that is joy?”
— Ross Gay