Rooted Healing

Veronica Stanwell

Rooted Healing heals and connects inner and outer landscapes through courses, gatherings, ceremonial retreats and our podcast. Our intention is for these conversations to nourish and heal with stories that weave us closer to our wild and inter-relational nature. Learn more at rootedhealing.org and receive a free workshop in embodied deep ecology when you sign up for our roughly-monthly nourishing newsletter. rootedhealing.substack.com

  1. Palestine as Teacher: Politicised Somatics with Zeena Ismail

    10/26/2025

    Palestine as Teacher: Politicised Somatics with Zeena Ismail

    In this powerful conversation, Veronica sits with Zeena Ismail - a Palestinian somatic practitioner, trauma educator and writer - to explore what it means to belong, to heal and to stay rooted in the midst of ongoing displacement and collective trauma. Zeena’s work weaves politicised somatics with land-based practice and systemic literacy, inviting Arabs and diaspora communities into embodied repair through her six-month bilingual programme, Where Do We Begin. They explore the intersections of trauma, resistance and reclamation - how bodies hold the weight of occupation, and how safety, grief and aliveness can coexist. This episode invites us to look beyond ideology and into the body as a site of truth, where liberation and safety must include everyone. Rooted Healing’s year-long programme, Deepen Your Roots, is now enrolling for its third cohort. Acting as an incubation ground and compass toward a more beautiful world, Deepen Your Roots invites participants into a year of embodied exploration through place, body, spirit and calling - nourishing leadership and participation in the Great Turning. This cycle leans more deeply into participatory, relational learning, with co-created practice, small-group inquiry, ritual and embodied exploration, and a renewed effort to gather elders and living-tradition keepers whose presence anchors the work toward humility, continuity and intergenerational wisdom.  Learn more and join the next cohort at rootedhealing.org/deepen and use the code ROOTED10 for 10% off. . Support the show Get full access to Rooted Healing at rootedhealing.substack.com/subscribe

    56 min
  2. The Ecological Self with Deep Ecologist John Seed

    05/27/2025

    The Ecological Self with Deep Ecologist John Seed

    In this rich and timely conversation, we sit down with legendary rainforest activist, eco-philosopher and elder of the Deep Ecology movement, John Seed. For over four decades, John has stood on the frontlines of ecological protection -spearheading rainforest-saving campaigns, offering experiential deep ecology workshops, and co-creating the powerful ritual known as The Council of All Beings with Joanna Macy. We explore the concept of the Ecological Self - a radical shift in identity that sees the tree, river, stone and storm not as separate from us, but as expressions of a shared being.  As John puts it, “I try to remember that it's not me, John Seed, trying to protect the rainforest. Rather, I am part of the rainforest protecting itself. I am that part of the rain forest recently emerged into human thinking."  From blockades and biodiversity to reEarthing rituals and the resurgence of ecological consciousness, this is a conversation that bridges inner transformation with outer action. This episode is an offering for all who are seeking deeper relationship with the Earth, and it speaks directly to the heart of our work at Rooted Healing. If you're drawn to this path, you may also wish to explore our year-long programme, Deepen Your Roots, which weaves together deep ecology, animism, and community ritual.  Join us at a gathering or on a course at rootedhealing.org.  We have a space left at our signature Earth Medicine psilocybin retreat this September... You can access our free hour-long workshop in Embodied Deep Ecology here. The music in this episode is from Mae Bird, Eric Idle & John Seed, and Bonnie Medicine. Thank you Niamh Murray of Enviromentality for sending John Seed this way. Support the show Get full access to Rooted Healing at rootedhealing.substack.com/subscribe

    55 min
  3. Exploring African Animistic Spirituality with Philiswa Makhaye

    02/17/2025

    Exploring African Animistic Spirituality with Philiswa Makhaye

    In this episode, we are joined by Philiswa Makhaye, a traditional Zulu healer from South Africa. Initiated as a Sangoma at the age of 12, Philiswa has dedicated her life to ancestral communion, intergenerational healing and ancient earth-based spiritual wisdom. This conversation offers a rare glimpse into animistic spirituality, free from the limiting frameworks of non-animist worldviews. It continues a thread of enquiry explored in a recent episode with Dr Andy Letcher, who highlighted the animistic discourse as one of the most disruptive to the reductionist Western paradigm. Through Philiswa’s insights, we delve into the deep relationality between the land, the ancestors and the healing traditions that have traversed across generations and cultures. Philiswa’s presence at this year’s Medicine Festival left a lasting impression, particularly during a powerful collective ceremony for peace, where wisdom keepers from around the world offered prayers from each cardinal direction. Her songful prayer, graciously recorded for this episode, is woven into the conversation - a gift to carry in your bones. For those who wish to experience the full, uninterrupted recording of Philiswa’s prayer, it is uploaded on our patreon, available for all listeners.  Additional meditations and resources are also available for those who wish to support the show.  We have recently launched a free hour-long workshop on embodied deep ecology.   Bookings have now opened to join us at Earth Medicine, our signature ceremonial retreat. Support the show Get full access to Rooted Healing at rootedhealing.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 5m
  4. Marina Delamar's Healing Encounter with a Lost Emperor Penguin

    01/18/2025

    Marina Delamar's Healing Encounter with a Lost Emperor Penguin

    In this heartfelt episode, we are joined by the wonderful Marina Delamar, an artist, educator, and ceremonialist who explores life through the twin lenses of death and beauty. With a lifelong connection to the natural world and its more-than-human kin, Marina creates installations, shrines, and environments that invite transformation, reflection and storytelling. Drawing from her background in event management, outdoor education, animal husbandry, and animist principles, Marina collaborates with communities to co-create ceremonies and educational offerings that honour life, death, and the in-between. She is currently working at a nature school, while apprenticing as a death doula and funeral celebrant. Marina is also a beloved participant of our 2024 Deepen Your Roots cohort and will be returning this year as a community tender to support the next circle of participants. For those new to Deepen Your Roots, it is our year-long, life-affirming programme in embodied deep ecology, Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, and an animistic, folkloric exploration of the ecological Self. Together, we weave belonging and relationship to place as a healing response to the uprootedness and disconnection many feel in modern life. Learn more at rootedhealing.org/deepen and enjoy a 10% discount with the code ROOTED10 as a thank you for being part of our listening community. In this conversation, Marina shares her personal mental health journey, a mystical encounter with a very lost emperor penguin, and how moments like these with the natural world can guide us back to belonging and offer healing amidst the rising tide of disconnection in modern life. We’ve also added Marina’s full story, written beautifully, along with photographs of her encounter, as a free offering for all listeners at our patreon page. For our patrons, this year we’re introducing new meditations every moon cycle alongside our guests’ offerings, making a truly nourishing time to support this show.  As always, we begin by inviting our guest to root us into the lands that shape them and to call in a being or beings in spirit, opening the door to a broader, porous sense of self and connection. Learn more: Deepen Your Roots: rootedhealing.org/deepen10% Discount Code: ROOTED10Music in this episode is from Bonnie Medicine and Nathalie Nahai Support the show Get full access to Rooted Healing at rootedhealing.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 13m
5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Rooted Healing heals and connects inner and outer landscapes through courses, gatherings, ceremonial retreats and our podcast. Our intention is for these conversations to nourish and heal with stories that weave us closer to our wild and inter-relational nature. Learn more at rootedhealing.org and receive a free workshop in embodied deep ecology when you sign up for our roughly-monthly nourishing newsletter. rootedhealing.substack.com

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