Root Systems: a 90 Minute workshop on creating the structures needed to stand tall in stormy weather.
TAUGHT BY TREES, SHARED BY ME.
For the dreamers, storytellers, organizers…those who know they have big work to do, those who know they don’t have the luxury of waiting for everything to calm down before they get started.
And for anyone looking at their life personally and our world collectively and wondering how they are even supposed to be right now.
Let’s gather and learn from the masters of holding strong amid turbulence.
This workshop was taught live on December 12th, 2024. You can now access the replay!
Have you ever stood at the base of a big tree, looked up, and thought about all the thunderstorms and snow banks it must have withstood to be the size it is today? The owls in its branches, the squirrels scampering along its trunk, the bugs that have lived their whole lives off of the bounty it provides?
(If you haven’t, you should. It’s a great meditation.)
The strength of a tree isn’t an accident, it’s the outcome of a strategic web of layers and networks that make sure it is flexible enough to grow, sturdy enough to hold its own weight, rooted enough to spread, connected enough to find what it needs in the earth and carry those nutrients all the way up to its furthest leaves.
Trees know that before they can be impressive, they need to be well-supported.
We would do well to follow their lead.
When we’re thinking of the impact we hope to make, the offerings we want to bring out into the world, and the steadiness we’re craving, our first thought should be about what would need to happen under the surface to carry and sustain the things we want to extend.
Especially right now.
Most of us don’t need to learn how to stay 60 feet tall during a blustery day…but we do need to figure out how to remain focused and effective during a decade of compounding crises and an attention economy that never stops pulling at our eyes.
And is that really so different?
In this workshop we cover:
Why the natural world is the most trustworthy teacher we could ever learn from
The rules the earth follows to sustain growth
The structures trees rely on to grow tall and strong over many decades
How we can apply those lessons - journaling prompts and practice suggestions to mirror every part of a tree’s support structure
You’ll leave feeling closer to nature,
closer to yourself,
clearer than ever on what you need,
and more confident than ever in your ability to provide for those needs.
But you don’t have to take my word for it!! Here are some things those who’ve already taken the class had to say about how it felt to them:
“I would definitely recommend this to my friends - the tree framework so clearly delineates how different aspects of our lives and selves come together to protect and support us. Learning about this framework feels like gaining such a clear and focused lens for my own growth”
“I have so many avenues to care for my growth!”
“This class gave me a new way of thinking about roots! I feel like I have been hesitant to establish roots in the last year or so because I conceptualised them as limiting me to a particular place/path/etc. I like this idea of ALSO thinking of roots as my way to expand and explore”
“I really appreciated this teaching and workshop so much and I’m going to replay at least twice. I feel like I could journal for 3 years with these prompts. 🌳”
All paid subscribers to my Substack get 20% off! Joining my Substack for $7 will get you access to exclusive bonus content AND save you $9 on this workshop!
I chose to have this throughout the holiday season for a reason. This is a time of year when the volume knob of the world is turned all the way up, and many of us have a calendar full of people and obligations that pull us away from what we need. Away from what we know to be true about ourselves.
As easy (and common) as it is to put healthy habits and tender self-awareness on the back burner to simmer until January, I believe this work is MORE needed at a time like this.
Showing yourself that you’re committed to prioritizing this work even when inconvenient will lay a powerful foundation of trust within you.
Who you’re hanging with:
My name is Frankie Simmons, and I’m a certified Texas Master Naturalist, a card-carrying member of my local nature reserve, a grateful Lexapro taker, and a Sunshine Hunter. I am very curious about relationships (with ourselves, with life itself, with the world around us) and how examining and tending to those relationships can offer us inspiration and healing. I don’t have any fancy credentials to share with you, and I don’t approach you as an expert of anything, but as a fellow seeker - just trying to feel my way through life without closing my heart or losing my center, just like you.
I have learned a lot about my practice of biomimicry from adrienne maree brown, whose work on this earth I’m endlessly grateful for!
I am not a therapist or a trained counselor, this space is not a substitute for mental health care, and not an appropriate support for those in active crisis. It is also not a space that will fix you, erase your grief, or magically make functioning in late-stage capitalism an easy thing to do. My hope is that it will offer you anchors, tools, and perspectives that will make staying close to yourself and clear on your work feel doable. And that you will continue to tweak and transform those tools to match your unique needs.
