welcome
Rooted We Rise: A sanctuary retreat for changemakers & cycle- breakers
2nd-4th October 2026 - Domnu Valley, Devon
Rooted We Rise is for activists, change-makers, and community builders who are challenging systems of colonial oppression, and can feel those same patterns showing up in their own lives and work - burnout instead of reciprocity, isolation instead of support, and disconnection from the living earth.
If you're taking a stand for change and need a more grounded, connected, and life-giving way to sustain the work, this space is for you.
Rooted We Rise is a soulful collaboration of activists, creatives, and healers forging a culture of rebellious resourcing.
As Audre Lorde put it back in 1979, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."
The world we're building has to be created from a different place than the one we're resisting - and if we're going to be in it for the long run, we need to root deep and build capacity from the ground up.
Tending to our nervous systems is not a luxury. It is vital movement-building work.
We are living through the long afterlife of colonial systems that taught us to extract rather than relate, to override rather than listen, and to separate ourselves from land, body, and community.
Those patterns don't just shape the world we're resisting - without a conscious effort, they can also show up in the way we organise, pushing us into burnout, isolation, and disconnection.
Rooted We Rise begins with a different question: ‘What needs to change in activist culture if we are to stop reproducing the very systems we are trying to dismantle?' We work with earth, body, and community as the ground of that inquiry, exploring what shifts are needed to create an activist culture that is truly sustainable, resourced, and life-serving.
This isn't just a wellness retreat weekend away - it's a chance to be part of building something the world desperately needs: a more connected, resourced, and sustainable way of doing activism.
The revolution is regulated. Come root into earth, body, and community, and help seed what comes next.
Discover the innate healing power of your body and breath
It’s my mission to give you the space, support and skills to build a relationship with your body and breath and come home to the wisdom within.
By creating environments of safety, non-judgement and compassionate witnessing, together we will use the ancient and modern somatic healing techniques of breathwork and TVM™ to we tap into your body’s innate capacity to heal and transform, regulate your nervous system and uplevel your life.
“Working with Pip was truly life-changing for me. Her guidance helped me identify moments when I was stuck in a fight or flight response and provided effective methods to recalibrate my nervous system, helping me regain comfort in my own body.”
Taylor R.
“I can feel a lot more calmness in my nervous system. I also feel like I'm able to 'respond, not react' with more ease. It helped me gain more awareness of my body which in turn will help me be more in tune with its needs and will guide me in taking decisions that are in tune with my true self. That is precious!”
Thierry A.
“What an experience. It felt like I was able to breathe for the first time since I was a very young girl. It felt like bliss. Honestly incredible. I feel so different I can’t even put it into words, it makes me well up to know that there’s a way out.”
Stef E.
What is somatics?
Somatics is all about reconnecting with the body—tuning into the physical sensations, emotions, and memories that live within us. It’s a practice of slowing down, of becoming deeply present to what our bodies are holding, and using movement, connection, breath, and awareness to release, heal, and transform.
It’s not just about understanding with the mind; it’s about feeling with the body, trusting its wisdom, and allowing it to guide us back to a sense of balance, ease, and alignment. Think of it as a way to come home to yourself, where the body becomes both the teacher and the healer.
How does somatic therapy help heal trauma?
Trauma occurs when the body enters a survival state—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—but doesn’t find its way back to safety and connection. Without this return to a regulated state, the body stores these survival memories in the fascia, a network of connective tissue, as a way of preparing for similar threats in the future. This is the body’s adaptive response to help you survive.
However, when these trauma imprints become ingrained, the body can misinterpret everyday situations as dangerous, triggering a survival response even when you are actually safe. This is the essence of nervous system dysregulation—your body remains in a state of hypervigilance or shutdown, unable to relax. Over time, this constant state of hypervigilance or shutdown can lead to symptoms like chronic fatigue, muscle tension, anxiety, and difficulty establishing authentic, balanced connections with others, to name just a few.
In our work together, we will gently teach the body that it is safe again, using body-based techniques to release stored trauma and re-establish a sense of calm, safety, and connection.
Hi, my name is Pippa and I’m a somatic therapist, breathwork facilitator, spaceholder and educator from the UK.
I’m passionate about creating spaces for courageous curiosity - through one-to-one sessions, group work, retreats and trainings - for you to come home to your body, heal your traumas and meet your most authentic empowered self.
Drawing on my own experience of trauma, healing and spiritual growth, my work is grounded in the science of somatics with a deep reverence for the power of spirituality of healing and transformation work.
Thank you for being here, for following your intuition and the calling from within that tells you another way of being is possible and within reach.
Having personally experienced the benefits of both TVM™ and breathwork for trauma healing, its my honour to share these lifechanging tools and walk alongside you on this journey of befriending your body and coming back into alignment with your healed, authentic, and empowered self.
Whether its through one-to-one sessions, online sessions, festival workshops, or retreats and trainings, I’m looking forward to working together!
