Rooted Healing

In this seasonal immersion with Isla Macleod , we arrive at the luminous threshold of Summer Solstice, a time of abundance, celebration and ripening. Together, we explore Litha as a living invitation into collaboration, creativity and deeper intimacy with the web of relationships that sustain us. These special seasonal episodes move between reflection, story, myth and gentle ritual invitation. At...

D. Firth Griffith is a writer, teacher and land-based practitioner whose work sits at the intersection of ecology, myth and lived relationship with the natural world. He is a father, horse handler, sacred butcher and leather tanner, as well as an award-winning independent author of books on kincentric ecology, mythology, fantasy, horror and language.  His writing has appeared in publications inclu...

In this seasonal immersion with Isla Macleod , we step into what it means to meet this fertile, abundant, eros-filled threshold where the land has fully awakened, and something in us stirs awake alongside it. Together, we explore Beltane as a living field of relationship, one that invites us into deeper intimacy with our bodies, our creativity and the more-than-human world. These special seasonal...

Sima Basel is a Palestinian-Ukrainian therapist and the co-founder of Grassroots Village , an emerging eco-village in the mountains between Oman and the UAE. We spoke about multiplicity and what it means to hold different lineages, different histories, different griefs in one body, whilst rooted to the land we find ourselves in. About the quiet, often unnamed longing for belonging that so many of...

Spring Equinox greetings dear ones, In awe of the sun’s return, I’ve been marinating in the gusty sea breezes moving across the farm. Gentle wind with the occasional passionate gust has always felt like Spirit talking to place or talking to me. We named our lost baby Awel, which is the Cymraeg word for such a breeze as this. The air of spring is the kind that seems to rearrange our thinking as muc...

After another long pause, this episode arrives from a place shaped by profound loss. A convergence of grief has moved through our lives, and for those subscribed to the Rooted Healing newsletter , you’ll already have some sense of what’s been unfolding. It is a true honour to welcome back the wonderful ceremonialist I sla Macleod . Isla returns now with something entirely new: an immersive, season...

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 repa...

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 wit...

“We are rainforest people living on a rainforest island… and the greatest challenge is truly remembering that.” In this episode, we sit down with Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, a rainforest guardian, author, conservationist and founder of the Thousand Year Trust - exploring the healing potential of restoring Britain’s ancient temperate rainforests. From his home at Cabilla , a sanctuary on Bodmin Moor wh...

In this episode, we welcome Maile Kalokura , a Somatic Educator, Shamanic & Evolutionary Astrologer and founder of Kalokura Astrology & the Golden Rose Temple .  With a passion for deepening self-awareness and activating a sense of aliveness in the body, Maile guides us through the art of softening - into presence, authenticity and embodied truth . She shares her personal journey of confro...

Mairead, the creatrix behind Bonnie Medicine , is a singer, song weaver, and medicine musician from the ‘Bonnie’ isles of Scotland. Rooted deeply in her Celtic heritage and a profound connection to story and place, her music is a prayer—an offering of freedom, unity and truth, inviting us into remembrance and harmony with all beings. Over a year ago, Mairead’s music became a core thread of the Roo...

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 conti...

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 ev...

In this rich and winding conversation, we are joined by Dr. Andy Letcher — Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter, former Programme Lead for the MA in Engaged Ecology at Schumacher College, and author of Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom . With doctorates in both Ecology and the Study of Religion, Andy is a singular voice in contemporary psychedelic research, animism, and the r...

In this episode, we dive deep into the mycelial network with world-renowned educator and ethnomycologist Darren le Baron . Known for his transformative Shroomshop Masterclasses and groundbreaking work in mushroom cultivation, Darren shares his journey from growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms to pioneering the UK's first accredited Mycology and Mushroom Cultivation course for schools and a...

Hayley Frances is a poet and poetry therapist from Birmingham. Her debut collection, Administer the Laughing Gas (VERVE Poetry Press), is a raw and unfiltered exploration of grief, trauma and body autonomy, offering profound insights into the human experience. As the first Poet in Residence for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Hayley’s work bridges the worlds of creative writing and hea...

‘ Cynefin ’ (pr. kuh-neh-vin) is the creative vision of West Wales native folk musician, Owen Shiers . Fascinated by music and history, it aims to give a modern voice to Ceredigion’s rich yet neglected cultural heritage. Starting from his home village of Capel Dewi in the Clettwr Valley and travelling through the local musical landscape, Owen has unearthed seasoned songs and stories, some never be...

Dr Matthew Zylstra is a systems ecologist passionate about deepening the human-nature relationship for the healing of people and planet.  He has 20 years of international experience in social-ecological research and outdoor education. With an MSc in Environmental Science and PhD in Conservation Ecology & Sustainability Education, his doctorate research explored how meaningful nature experience...

Mercury Prize-nominated folk singer, conservationist, song collector and activist, Sam Lee , plays a unique role in the British music scene, breaking boundaries between traditional and contemporary music and the assumed places and ways folksong is appreciated. Sam's voice has helped challenge what old songs hold for us today.  His latest critically acclaimed album S ongdreaming comes out toda...

Founder and executive director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Osprey Orielle Lake  works internationally with grassroots, BIPOC and Indigenous leaders, policymakers, and diverse coalitions to build climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralised, democratised clean-energy future. She sits on the executive committee for the Global Alliance...

Imbolc Blessings! It is Isla Macleod ’s deepest wish to inspire and support a remembrance of what is sacred in our lives, guiding us back home to the natural world.  She is a renowned ceremonialist and the author of the beloved book ‘ Rituals for Life ’.  Through offering a container for transformation, held with the deepest love and respect, Isla helps others access forgotten treasures and their...

Dr Saskia von Diest is the founder of Ecofluency , an organisation that offers consulting, teaching and facilitation in the science, art and practical magic of Nature communication worldwide. She has a PhD in plant pathology and has held two international collaborative postdoctoral fellowships to research intuitive farming.  Ecofluency also promotes other human voices in the broader field of Natur...

Seth Hughes is driven by a determination to remind humans of their intrinsic relationship with the natural world.  He believes passionately that the modern human is both lost and disempowered, suffering from a kind of collective amnesia about their roots - but that they have an opportunity now to reconnect with the knowledge - and the simple joy - of our indigenous ancestors. Seth's professio...

In this episode, I am joined once again by grief worker, speaker and founder of The Grief Space , Nici Moon. Building on our earlier conversation, we explore the relationship between personal and collective grief, the liminal qualities of deep sorrow, and the ways grief intersects with altered states, ceremony and healing. Together, we discuss how grief can deepen our connection to ourselves, one...

This episode focusses on the cultivation of belonging through bioregionalism, a life-way that Ben Stopford has explored on a deep level in North Wales.  Ben is a facilitator, gardener and gatherer, offering the creation of wild-culture gardens and the pollination of foraging for food, medicine and connection to place.  He holds a PGDip in Sustainable Food + Natural Resources and is the founder of...