Rooted: A Podcast About Nature & Wellbeing

Susan Morgan Bailey
  • 5.0 (8)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

We ARE nature. Our disconnection from it leaves us feeling incomplete. Rooted explores how connecting with nature helps us feel whole again—without leaving the lives we're living. Host Susan Morgan Bailey, a former science teacher and transformational coach with 25 years in organizational wellbeing, brings her expertise in ecosystem thinking and culture transformation to peer-level conversations with practitioners, researchers, and people who've found their way back to wholeness through nature. Each episode explores different pathways to nature connection, the wisdom nature teaches us, and how to integrate this essential foundation for wellbeing into modern life. From forest guides to researchers studying nature's impact on mental health, from rewilding educators to transformation stories—these conversations address root causes of disconnection, not just symptoms. If you've tried every wellness approach and still feel exhausted, if you sense something fundamental is missing, if you feel more yourself outside—this podcast is for you. No wilderness required. No dramatic life changes needed. Just curiosity about what might happen when we remember we ARE nature. New episodes release Wednesdays

  1. 5D AGO

    Walk with Ryan Conklin: Grief, Initiation, and Being With What Is

    I expected this conversation to be about coaching and vision quests. It became something else entirely. Early on, Ryan said something I couldn't move past: There is grief in the gap between who we say we want to be and who we are becoming. What followed was a grounded, honest exploration of grief—not as something to fix or move past, but as something to be with. Ryan is a transformational coach and wilderness guide who leads vision quest experiences—modern rites of passage that invite people to step away from their daily lives and listen more deeply. In this conversation, we explore: What it means to "be with" your own experience Why modern life leaves so much grief unprocessed The role of nature as a container for reflection and transformation How initiation and rites of passage create space for real change This is not a conversation about escaping your life. It's about learning how to be more fully present within it. Walk with us.

    1h 3m

  2. APR 22

    Sit with SMB: Coming Home to Earth (An Earth Day Meditation for Any Day)

    Today is Earth Day. And while this practice is offered in honor of this moment, it's not limited to it. This is something you can return to any day you feel the need to slow down… to reconnect… to remember that you are part of the living world. This guided walking meditation is an invitation to pause and remember something easy to lose in the rhythm of modern life — that we are not separate from the earth. We are part of it. Through breath, imagery, and sensory awareness, you're invited to feel the ground beneath you, reconnect with your body, and experience the quiet steadiness of the living world around you. You can listen while walking outside, sitting on a porch, or even indoors. The connection is still there. This is not about doing it perfectly. It's about noticing. If you've been feeling tired, disconnected, or like something is missing beneath the surface of daily life, this practice offers a way back into relationship — with the earth, and with yourself. You can come back to this practice anytime — not just on Earth Day, but on any day you want to feel more grounded, more connected, and more at home here.

    23 min

  3. APR 15

    Walk With Cory McGowan: Nature as a Mirror for Leadership and Self

    What happens when you step out of the environment that shaped you — and into one that reveals you? In this conversation, I sit down with Cory, a leadership coach based in rural Japan, whose work brings individuals and teams into nature not as an escape, but as a catalyst for clarity. After years in Tokyo's corporate world, Cory found himself living and working in the mountains of Minakami — a place of shifting rivers, deep seasonal rhythms, and what he describes as a quiet "homecoming." What emerged wasn't just a lifestyle change, but a different way of working with leaders. We explore how nature acts as a co-facilitator in leadership development, why many of us "armor up" to function in modern environments, and what becomes possible when that armor starts to loosen. This conversation also holds an important tension: not everyone is meant to leave their life behind. The real work may be learning how to live more fully where you already are. If you've ever felt the pull of nature — or wondered what it might reveal about who you are — this episode offers a grounded place to begin.

    57 min

  4. APR 8

    Walk with SMB: Conditions Shape Everything

    As the seasons begin to shift, it's a reminder that change doesn't always come from trying harder — sometimes it comes from changing conditions. In this solo walk episode, Susan reflects on how much our wellbeing is shaped not just by what we do, but by the environments we're part of. Drawing on both nature and her experience in organizational wellbeing, she explores a different lens: what if feeling "off" isn't something to fix within ourselves, but a signal about the conditions we're operating in? This episode invites a simple but powerful question — what are the conditions you're living in, and how are they shaping how you feel?

    7 min

  5. APR 1

    Walk With Jessica DeAngelo: Finding Clarity, Creativity and Yourself Outside

    Jessica DeAngelo joins me for a conversation about what happens when we step outside, move our bodies, and give ourselves space to think differently. After a pivotal moment with her young daughter, Jessica began a simple experiment: 30 minutes a day in nature, without technology. What followed wasn't a quick fix, but a shift — from scattered attention to clearer thinking, from constant input to something more grounded. In this episode, we explore how movement and time outdoors support creativity, why stepping away from screens can help us refocus on what actually matters, and how a consistent, accessible practice in nature can change the way we show up in both our work and our lives. This conversation is for anyone who feels mentally full, stretched thin, or stuck — and is curious what might open up with a little more space, movement, and time outside.

    55 min

  6. MAR 25

    Walk with SMB: Imaginal Cells & the Messy Middle

    On a morning walk, three blue jay feathers stop Susan in her tracks — a small moment that opens into a deeper reflection on change and possibility. In this solo episode, she shares the story of imaginal cells — the cells inside a caterpillar that carry the blueprint for a butterfly. During transformation, the caterpillar doesn't simply change form. It dissolves completely before something new begins to organize. Through this lens, Susan explores how periods of uncertainty in our own lives may not be signs that something is wrong, but part of a natural process of reorganization. She reflects on what it means to speak what feels true, how connection is created through that honesty, and why paying attention to what's quietly emerging matters — even when it's not fully formed. If something in your life feels undefined or in transition, this episode offers a way to hold that space with a bit more curiosity.

    15 min

  7. MAR 18

    Walk With Jay Maddock | The Science Behind Time in Nature

    Nature is often treated as a luxury — something we visit when we have time. But public health researcher Jay Maddock has spent years studying something different: what actually happens in the body when we spend time outside. In this conversation, Jay shares the research behind what many of us intuitively feel. Within minutes of stepping outside, blood pressure drops, mood improves, and our nervous system begins to reset. Over longer periods, time in nature may even strengthen immune function. Jay's work sits at the intersection of public health, behavioral science, and environmental psychology. From leading the Center for Health and Nature at Texas A&M to helping launch the Nature and Health Alliance, he is helping build the research infrastructure behind what many people already sense: nature isn't an escape from life — it's part of how human health works. Susan and Jay explore micro-doses of nature, weekend "macro doses," nature prescriptions in healthcare systems, and why the biggest shift often comes simply from moving from no nature to some nature. The conversation is both scientific and practical — a reminder that even small moments outside can have meaningful effects on how we feel and function. In our conversation we explore: • Why even 10 minutes outside can shift how we feel • The idea of "micro-doses" and "macro-doses" of nature • Research linking greener neighborhoods with better mental health • The growing movement of nature prescriptions in healthcare • How nature can help restore attention and reduce burnout One of the most important insights Jay shares is simple: The greatest benefit from nature often comes from moving from no exposure to some exposure. Small moments outside may matter more than we think.

    51 min

  8. MAR 11

    Walk with SMB: The Three Environments We Live In

    What environments shape your day? In this walk episode of Rooted: A Podcast About Nature & Wellbeing, Susan explores a simple but powerful idea: most of us move through three environments every day — the natural environment, the built environment, and the artificial environment. Nature surrounds us with living systems that regulate and restore. Built environments provide the structures that organize our lives. Artificial environments — screens, platforms, and digital tools — increasingly hold our attention. Each environment serves a role. But they operate in very different rhythms. Through reflection and the story of the alder tree, a species known for quietly strengthening the ecosystems around it, Susan considers how these environments influence our attention, energy, and sense of grounding. Rather than offering prescriptions, this episode begins with a simple practice: noticing the environments we move through and what we experience in each one. Sometimes the first step toward feeling more rooted is simply paying attention. 🌿 Reflection for listeners: Over the next few days, notice the environments you move through. When are you in the natural environment? The built environment? The artificial environment? What shifts in how you feel as you move between them?

    20 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

We ARE nature. Our disconnection from it leaves us feeling incomplete. Rooted explores how connecting with nature helps us feel whole again—without leaving the lives we're living. Host Susan Morgan Bailey, a former science teacher and transformational coach with 25 years in organizational wellbeing, brings her expertise in ecosystem thinking and culture transformation to peer-level conversations with practitioners, researchers, and people who've found their way back to wholeness through nature. Each episode explores different pathways to nature connection, the wisdom nature teaches us, and how to integrate this essential foundation for wellbeing into modern life. From forest guides to researchers studying nature's impact on mental health, from rewilding educators to transformation stories—these conversations address root causes of disconnection, not just symptoms. If you've tried every wellness approach and still feel exhausted, if you sense something fundamental is missing, if you feel more yourself outside—this podcast is for you. No wilderness required. No dramatic life changes needed. Just curiosity about what might happen when we remember we ARE nature. New episodes release Wednesdays

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