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 healing, helping individuals navigate loss and re-encounter life through the power of words. With over 15 years of experience, she integrates poetry into healthcare settings, leading therapeutic workshops that foster emotional and relational awareness.

This episode delves into Hayley’s unique approach to poetry therapy, her personal journey through grief, and the deep insights she gained from our Earth Medicine Grief Tending retreat earlier this year.

Register now for next year's slow study Deepen Your Roots.

The music in this episode is by the wonderful Bonnie Medicine, with tracks accompanying Hayley's poems by Ojhro.

Hayley will be offering some poetry practices for our patron community, along with her powerful article about her motherline.

If you would like to gift your music to the show, please reach out to us.

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‘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 before recorded, and given them new life in the present.

The result of three years of research and work, his debut album ‘Dilyn Afon’ (Following a River) is distinct in its concept and ambition. From talking animals and tragic train journeys – to the musings of star-crossed lovers, farm workers and lonely vagabonds, the album provides a unique window into the past and to a vibrant oral culture of story and song – it moves, probes and reveals forgotten aspects of the tradition, whilst raising questions around our modern malaise of disconnection and rootlessness.

As any of you who have listened to the podcast for a while now will know, belonging is a big theme within our work at Rooted Healing, and yet Owen roots belonging back into the true sense of Cynefin and discusses themes worth sitting with at a deep level.

Owen questions our responsibilities in the protection and revival of diversity, in the broadest ecological sense that involves culture, language and story, which is big theme that we are exploring in our online course ‘Deepen Your Roots’ and at our upcoming gathering ‘Ancestral’, which is the 23rd-28th July in Eryri, North Wales. So it is especially joyful to bring Owen onto the show as we approach this time in community on home soil.

Intro music by the wonderful Bonnie Medicine.

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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 experiences and nature connectedness motivate pro-environmental behaviour and regenerative leadership, which - 10 years on - remains relevant today more than ever. Insights from this research and his publications have informed several global initiatives and university curricula. Matthew is Programme Director with the Kwendalo Institute and Research Fellow with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University. He lives in South Africa with his family and finds happiness and healing in exploring intertidal life above and below the surface along his local coastline.

Accompanying this episode, Matthew has gifted 2 PDF books to our patron community: Cave and the Contemplator, which he wrote in 2015, and Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Nature in Protected Areas (edited by Bas Verschuuren and Steve Brown).

For more on Matthew’s past research visit eyes4earth.org and for current endeavours, see earthcollective.net . See also https://bio.site/drmattz.

If you’d like to learn more about our work at Rooted Healing, you can head to rootedhealing.org and join us at our ceremonial nature-led gatherings or online courses in animistic deep ecology.

We have a very special gathering coming up this summer in Eryri, North Wales, called Ancestral, where you can join us and embody ancestral village life, full of songs, ancient stories, craft and ceremonies, all to bring us closer to our early ancestors and our role for the next generations to come, to the land and to our more-than-human kin.

The music in this episode is from Bonnie Medicine.

Receive additional resources via patreon.com/rootedhealing

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