Bios
Leslie Lekos is the founder and director of Wildroot Botanicals herbal school and product line. She’s been teaching herbal medicine courses since 2009 and began marketing products in 2004. She is known in her region for distilling hydrosols and is sought nationally to teach at conferences and for herbal consultations. Her medicines have reached folks locally and internationally.
In addition to herbal work, she’s supported parents as a doula, childbirth educator and prenatal yoga instructor for almost 20 years. She is co-author of the book, Yoga for Pregnancy and is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. Most importantly she is the mother of two sons.
Leslie believes wholeheartedly that the plants themselves are the best teachers and strives to support her students to grow their own relationships with plants and cultivate space for people to align with their innate inner knowing and connection to health. She believes herbal medicine is the people’s medicine and that we all have a right to know how to care for ourselves and our communities. In addition to courses taught at Wildroot Botanicals, she teaches for several local tribal communities and youth outreach programs.
Leslie has studied extensively with respected herbalists from across the country including Dr. Aviva Romm, Rosalee de la Foret, 7Song, jim mcdonald, Rosemary Gladstar, Matthew Wood, Dr. Tiffany Freeman, Thomas Easley, Margi Flint, Sam Coffman, Michael Tierra, Cathy Skipper, Dr. Florian Birkmayer, Sean Donahue, Yarrow and Angela Willard, Michael Pilarski and more. She has a B.A. from Fairhaven College, WWU in Holistic Health: Herbal Medicine and Somatics.
Janet Michel RN, Licensed Acupuncturist, Registered Herbalist AHG
Janet is a co-instructor in the Clinical Skills Program. She brings a wealth of experience and herbal knowledge that includes over 30 years of practicing clinical medicine in both western medical settings and private practice as an acupuncturist and herbalist. While focusing on women’s health, Janet has also worked with a wide variety of clients seeking treatment for a diverse range of concerns. After retiring from private practice, she now enjoys sharing her experience by teaching clinical skills to herbalists and continuing to learn about herbs, functional medicine and healthy ageing.