Black Girl Country Living

Hillarie Maddox
  • 5.0 (9)
  • WILDERNESS

BGCL is a monthly podcast that explores nature as a way to connect to self, community, and the living world. Each month we dive into a new theme with stories and interviews that center the perspectives and experiences of people of color. We believe that nature is for everyone and that the outside will guide you inward. Dive deeper into the themes in the monthly BGCL Magazine and spotify playlists: BGCL.substack.com bgcl.substack.com

  1. 09/03/2025

    BGCL is becoming

    BGCL began as personal healing project and has grown into a community learning practice. Today, Hillarie shares why Black Girl Country Living is evolving into Rewild Learning—and what’s next. In This Episode: - The five-year arc from city to country and what changed along the way - Why this season is about collective learning, not just personal healing - How Rewild Learning weaves community social work, systems change, and organizational learning - Upcoming community programs (mend & swap, breathwork, women’s health) and how to get involved RESOURCES & LINKS: ✍🏾📖 BGCL archive highlights: “Endings Are Also Beginnings,” “The Audacity to Dream,” “Spaces Where We Are Seen,” BGCL Magazine series: Slowly, Freedom, Light, Essentials, Belonging 📸🌿 Rewild Learning on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rewild.learning 🌬️🤝 Breathwork for Community Builders: get on the interest list! 📅🌱 Book a consult for a community learning project this fall/winter. 📰✨ Rewild Learning on Substack UPCOMING PROGRAMS: Fall Mend & Swap (Whidbey Island, Sept 7): repair what you love, trade what you’ve outgrown—family-friendly, with collaborators Nurtured Sprout Caregiving, The Collective, and Whidbey Menders. Breathwork for Community Builders (Online, early fall): renew, release, and re-enter the work with clarity; donation-based, small group—join the interest list. Cycles & Seasons of Women’s Health with Dr. Robyn White (Whidbey Island, October): listening sessions + community care. Dates coming soon. TRANSCRIPT: Read the article on Substack 👩🏽‍🌾 Hillarie Maddox is a learning strategist, community consultant, and founder of Rewild Learning. After years in corporate education, she now designs place-based learning spaces that connect people, land, and care systems. Her work centers on the belief that community-led learning is the pathway to collective transformation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    16 min

  2. 04/09/2025

    Closed Chapters and New Seasons

    Aligning with the cycles of the seasons means allowing the full winter to unpack and process before stepping into the new year. This episode, I am reflecting on a major transition over the past year in my professional life and the lessons that I gathered. I share lessons in rewilding as a way to learn out loud for personal and collective growth, and as a reminder that rewilding is a nonlinear journey. It requires ongoing reflection, challenging common narratives, and matching values with sustainable practices. Rewilding Reflections from the Episode: “All the healing work I had done to tame my ego, hold complexity and paradox, and find peace in my body seemed to evaporate. I knew that growth was uncomfortable, but learning in such a visible way stretched me beyond what I had imagined.” “In the midst of a big life lesson, it is hard to appreciate the wisdom and learning that is being woven into our being. The stretching creates new openings that rewrite our understanding of ourselves and the world, allowing for new connections and emergent possibilities.” “Each point of conflict created an opportunity to reflect on parts of myself that were hurt or broken. As I learned to be curious about the pain and the instinct to resist, I softened just a bit more. I saw something different in myself and the stories I told myself about this pain.” Links: Subscribe to the Substack: BGCL Newsletter Follow on Instagram: @blackgirl.countryliving Learn more on the website: Black Girl Country Living This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    15 min
  3. Rewilding Learning Community

    01/27/2025

    Rewilding Learning Community

    In this episode, I reflect on my journey in community building, rewilding my approach to education, and starting a nature-based learning community, Rewild Learning Co-op. In This Episode: * A grounding breathwork exercise to settle into the present moment. * Reflections on the importance of intentional community building and what it requires. * Insights from my personal annual review and the themes that emerged from the past year. * The evolution of the Rewild Learning Co-op and why we are building slow. Rewilding Reflections from the Episode: * “We need community right now, but not a whole lot of conversation about what that actually looks like in the day-to-day and what that requires.” * “Taking your time and building slowly is the surest way to make sure that you are building a solid foundation.” * “I want our older children to be given the opportunity to be leaders, guides, and mentors—and younger children offer a perspective of possibility and creativity.” Links: * Read the original post on Substack: Rewild Learning Co-op * Subscribe to the Substack: BGCL Newsletter * Follow on Instagram: @blackgirl.countryliving * Learn more on the website: Black Girl Country Living * Year Compass Tool: YearCompass This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    20 min

  4. 10/29/2024

    Rest as a Lifelong Practice

    Welcome Wild Ones In this episode, I share a little new and a little old. I read my latest BGCL Substack post: Rest as a Lifelong Practice to explore my evolving relationship with rest and share a past post about why rest is essential in a world that values productivity over presence. I reflect on how rest has been a sacred part of my journey, reconnecting me to a deeper sense of self and teaching me that rest is a radical act of self-love and resistance. In This Episode: - A collective breath to ground ourselves during uncertain times - Personal insights on rest as an evolving practice that invites us to reconnect with what truly matters. - Reflections on how our culture’s obsession with productivity distances us from our right to rest. - Questions for reflection on how we can honor rest in our daily lives. Rewilding Reflections from the Episode: “Rest also taught me that I have value beyond my labor. That being present with myself is an incredible gift.” “Rest is the freedom from the things in our physical world that demand our time and attention. It is the disciplined pursuit of nothingness in order to connect to what is eternal.” “We forget that being is not achieved through a collection of space, but through a connection between all living things, past, present, and future.” Links: Read the original post on Substack: Rest as a Lifelong Practice Subscribe to the Substack: BGCL Newsletter Follow on Instagram: @blackgirl.countryliving Learn more on the website: Black Girl Country Living This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    12 min

  5. 10/16/2024

    Feeling the Earth in Our Bodies

    Welcome Wild Ones In this episode, I read my latest BGCL Substack post: Feeling the Earth in Our Bodies. I reflect on the earth’s grief and the ways it mirrors our own. As the planet responds to extraction and disconnection, we are invited to remember that we, too, are nature. We feel this grief deeply in our bodies, carrying generations of longing for connection and balance. In This Episode: • A grounding breathwork exercise to connect with our bodies and the present moment. • Reflections on grief as a response to the detachment from our natural selves and the world both individually and collectively. • A journey into rewilding and reclaiming our bodies as sacred vessels of wisdom and truth. • Affirmations and questions for reflection on how to reconnect with our bodies and each other. Rewilding Reflections from the Episode: “The earth is grieving. Beyond the sadness of this autumn season—she is hurting from the extraction, conflict, and suffering that is rampant across this world.” “I have come to refer to my body as my little slice of earth. It is my place for tending and nurturing. A place where I can create safety and seek out wisdom.” “We are collectively feeling a sense that we need each other. That what we have been doing is no longer working. Our bodies are telling us it is time to shift and come home.” Links: Read the original post on Substack: The Earth in Our Bodies Subscribe to the Substack: BGCL Newsletter Follow on Instagram: @blackgirl.countryliving Learn more on the website: Black Girl Country Living This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    14 min

  6. 10/01/2024

    Endings are also Beginnings

    Welcome Wild Ones In today’s episode, I read to you my latest substack post: "Endings Are Beginnings." This explores the cyclical nature of life, how seasons, systems, and organizations experience growth, decline, and renewal. Together, we reflect on how we can hold space for the messy, sacred transitions that pave the way for new life. In This Episode: - A collective breathwork exercise to center our attention and drop into the present moment. - Reflections on the autumn season and the beauty in embracing cycles of decay and renewal. - Insights from personal, community, and systemic perspectives on how endings make way for beginnings. - An invitation to reflect on how we move through our own transitions, honoring the natural cycles of life. Rewilding Reflections from the Episode: “Just like autumn, the releasing of the old is an invitation to reset. It is a beautiful, messy, raw, and sacred deconstruction of the past and an initiation of a new cycle of great potential.” “Nature never panics when autumn rolls around each year; it simply trusts that death will be followed by birth. I am learning to trust this process, to trust that every ending is simply part of the symphony of new beginnings.” “We are deep in our autumn season, releasing what no longer serves us. We are setting down ideas of separateness, dominance, and rigid hierarchy in favor of possibilities that honor our responsibilities to ourselves, each other, and the living world.” Links: Read the original post on Substack: Endings Are Beginnings Explore more about Just Transition: Just Transition Learn more about The Great Turning: The Great Turning Follow on Instagram: @blackgirl.countryliving Subscribe to the Substack: BGCL Newsletter + Podcast Check out the website: Black Girl Country Living This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    12 min

  7. 09/10/2024

    A New Season of Rewilding

    Welcome Wild Ones The Black Girl Country Living Podcast is back! After a year away, I’m excited to jump back behind the microphone to share reflections on rewilding, liberation, and finding the magic in the messy middle. This episode is an invitation to explore how rewilding shows up in all areas of life—from how we mother to how we build community, to how we define success. In This Episode: * A breathwork grounding exercise to bring us into the present moment. * The rewilding journey and how it’s shifted my ideas around perfectionism, accountability, and liberation. * Reflections on the messy middle of life, from career choices to community building and parenting. * An open invitation to join me on this evolving journey—whether it’s through listening, sharing, or starting a conversation. Rewilding Reflections from the Episode: * The garden and the land reflect back to me the ways I was, and was not, trusting myself. It showed me the dissonance between my values and my actions, inviting me into a deeper conversation about who I am and how I move through life. Rewilding, for me, has been about embracing that sacred mirror. * Rewilding is not about arriving anywhere; it's about living in the creative, messy process of liberation. I’m learning to sit with discomfort, knowing that growth comes from these in-between spaces, where nothing is certain and everything is still in motion. * How do we keep one foot grounded in this world and one foot in a world of potential and possibility? The systems we live within try to keep us small and confined, but rewilding is about finding the courage to step outside of those limits, even when the way forward is unclear. Links: * Follow on Instagram: @blackgirl.countryliving * Subscribe to the Substack: BGCL Magazine * Learn more on the website: Black Girl Country Living This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    22 min

  8. 11/28/2023

    A Season of Letting Go

    Living in connection with the seasons is a core part of rewilding, and the fall season is all about letting go. While it sound simple, learning to actually release and make space is a practice that takes time, and this year I discovered that letting go is connected to my ability to be grateful. On the show today, I share some difficult things I released this fall and what releasing made space to invite in. Upcoming Events: Rewilding Workshop: Balancing Being Most of us were handed somebody else’s definition of a good life, and we never considered what we wanted for ourselves. It’s time to change that. All are welcome for this 2-hour online workshop to learn fresh perspectives and embodied rewilding practices to move towards a new vision. Join us: November 29th, 3pm - 5pm PST or December 10th, 2pm - 4pm PST As a thank you to my newsletter audience, use the code rewild for 50% off the ticket price! I appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you there. Coming 2024: Rewilding Breathwork The rewilding journey requires deeper awareness of our bodies—to feel the emotions, engage with the senses, and learn the language it speaks. It requires us to know through experience, not through logic or reason. Our breath is a powerful place to begin this work and I am excited to share a tool that has helped me stay rooted in the present and grow my capacity for navigating the complexity of our world. More to come! ABOUT BGCL Podcast: Black Girl Country Living Podcast explores how we create meaningful lives through healing, unlearning, and connecting to nature. Listen in for ideas on finding ourselves, reclaiming Earth wisdom, building community, and more. Follow on IG: https://www.instagram.com/blackgirl.countryliving/ Subscribe to the magazine: bgcl.substack.com Inquiries and more about BGCL: https://www.blackgirlcountryliving.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bgcl.substack.com

    14 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

BGCL is a monthly podcast that explores nature as a way to connect to self, community, and the living world. Each month we dive into a new theme with stories and interviews that center the perspectives and experiences of people of color. We believe that nature is for everyone and that the outside will guide you inward. Dive deeper into the themes in the monthly BGCL Magazine and spotify playlists: BGCL.substack.com bgcl.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Hillarie Maddox
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rewild Learning / Black Girl Country Living
  • Show Website
    Black Girl Country Living