Rooted & Resilient Reset Walks: Grounding, Releasing, and Building Resilience Together

During one of the most challenging seasons of my life, weekly intentional walks in nature became a turning point in my healing from depression. Giving myself just 30 minutes to breathe, move, and reconnect with the present moment helped regulate my nervous system, quiet overwhelming thoughts, and restore a sense of clarity and hope. From this experience with my background in education, healing work, and attachment-based practices I created Rooted & Resilient Reset Walks, a gentle community offering guided by my ROOT Method: Regulate, Observe, Outlet, and Transform. These walks are designed to support adults and families in building emotional regulation, resilience, and secure attachment — even when those experiences were not modeled earlier in life.

How the Walk Works

Each 30-minute session intentionally supports both nervous system regulation and relational connection:

5 minutes — Regulation & intention setting

Grounding breath and settling the body into safety

10 minutes — Silent present-awareness walking

Observing breath, body sensations, nature, thoughts, and emotions

12 minutes — Reflection & sharing

Providing a healthy outlet for processing and co-regulation

3 minutes — Gratitude, closing, and optional donations

Age guidance: Children ages 6 and up are encouraged to participate fully in the silent awareness portion. Younger children are welcome to walk alongside caregivers, noticing nature and learning through modeling and co-regulation.

Why Nature-Based Regulation and Release Are So Effective

Research consistently shows that intentional time in nature calms the nervous system and reduces the mental patterns associated with anxiety, trauma, and depression.

Spending time in natural environments lowers stress hormones and improves emotional regulation (Bratman et al., 2019; Detweiler et al., 2015). Nature exposure also reduces rumination — the repetitive negative thinking linked to anxiety and depressive disorders — while improving mood and cognitive clarity (Berman et al., 2012; Marselle et al., 2021).

For individuals with trauma histories, nature-based practices help shift the body out of chronic fight-or-flight states and into parasympathetic regulation, creating the physiological safety needed for healing (Bratman et al., 2019).

This is the Regulate foundation of the ROOT Method.

Observing and Releasing Through Mindful Movement

Healing happens through both the mind and the body. Somatic-focused practices that combine awareness with gentle movement support emotional processing, reduce stress responses, and allow the nervous system to release stored tension (Payne et al., 2015). When individuals move while maintaining present-moment awareness — as in mindful walking — the body learns safety, regulation, and release simultaneously.

The Observe portion of ROOT teaches participants to notice thoughts and feelings without judgment, while the Outlet portion provides space to safely express and process what arises through reflection and connection.

Mindfulness in Motion: Interrupting Anxiety and Overwhelm

Mindfulness-based movement practices have been shown to:

• reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms

• improve emotional regulation

• increase psychological resilience

(Zou et al., 2018; Marselle et al., 2021)

Silent awareness walking strengthens attention to breath, sensations, and emotional patterns — helping participants experience thoughts without becoming overwhelmed by them. Over time, this builds greater capacity to respond to stress with clarity and calm.

Building Secure Attachment and Resilience for Parents and Children

One of the most powerful elements of Rooted & Resilient Reset Walks is

co-regulation in community.

When parents practice regulation, reflection, and emotional awareness alongside their children, they model nervous system safety in real time. These shared experiences support the development of secure attachment — even when caregivers did not experience it in their own childhoods.

Neuroscience and attachment research shows that repeated moments of attuned presence strengthen emotional regulation, trust, and resilience across the lifespan (Siegel & Bryson, 2012).

Through these walks, families learn to:

• slow down together

• regulate stress through nature

• observe emotions safely

• express feelings with support

• build connection through presence

The ROOT Method in Action

During Rooted & Resilient Reset Walks, we gently practice:

🌿 Regulate

Settling the nervous system through breath, movement, and nature.

👀 Observe

Noticing sensations, thoughts, and emotions with compassion.

🍃 Outlet

Sharing reflections and releasing stored tension safely.

🌱 Transform

Building clarity, resilience, and aligned forward movement.

Together, these steps support:

• emotional healing

• nervous system balance

• trauma recovery

• relational safety

• long-term resilience

A Gentle Invitation

Whether you’re a parent seeking deeper connection, an adult longing for emotional reset, or a family wanting to build resilience together, Rooted & Resilient Reset Walks offer a nurturing, research-backed space for healing through nature and community.

Join the Rooted & Resilient Reset Walks on:

📅 Wednesdays from March 18 – May 13

⏰ 5:00-5:30pm CST

📍 Dayton Bluff Preserve, 2997 IL-71, Ottawa, IL 61350

💛 Free / donation-based. These walks are free or donation-based and open to all.

References

Berman, M. G., Jonides, J., & Kaplan, S. (2012). The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1207–1212.

Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., & Daily, G. C. (2019). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(28), 8567–8572.

Detweiler, M. B., Self, J. A., Lane, S., Spencer, L., Lutgens, B., Kim, D., Halling, M. H., Rudder, T. F., & Lehmann, L. (2015). Horticultural therapy: A pilot study on cortisol, PTSD, depression, and quality of life. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 21(4), 36–41.

Marselle, M. R., Irvine, K. N., & Warber, S. L. (2021). Group walks in nature and well-being. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), 5890.

Payne, P., Levine, P. A., & Crane-Godreau, M. A. (2015). Somatic experiencing: Using interoception and proprioception to regulate the nervous system. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 93.

Siegel, D. J., & Bryson, T. P. (2012). The whole-brain child. Delacorte Press.

Zou, L., Yeung, A., Li, C., Wei, G. X., Chen, K. W., Kinser, P. A., Chan, J. S. M., & Ren, Z. (2018). Effects of mindful movement on anxiety and depression: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1931.