It is our belief that we must develop and nurture healthy relationships with ourselves, each other and the planet if we are to build a better world. There is a tenet in Transformative Justice that says there is a core self in all of us and that core self is good, wise and powerful. This self cannot be taken away or removed. It exists in EVERY BEING, beyond any emotion or action, and is the source of all dignity. This is our inner light.

The harsh realities of the world, however, often cause that light to become covered, dimmed or hidden.

Without a daily recognition of that light and practices to bring the core self out into the open, it will likely remain in darkness. When this happens, our potential is minimized as is the world’s. Because without each of our lights, we are less capable of living our purpose and of creating a world that is full of safety, belonging and possibility.

Return to the Roots reminds us that the light is there and there are ways of bringing it back out into the open again.

How do we do this? Through Transformative Movement Practices, Deep Connection to Nature, Storytelling + Theater, + Restorative Justice.

Return to the Roots creates spaces for healing through movement, nature connection, restorative justice and the honoring of voices that have long been silenced.

Ways to Access the Light

Transformative Movement + Deep Connection to Nature

Movement helps us come home to ourselves and build a relationship with our bodies, intuition and our internal voice/light. It turns down the mental noise and allows us to access a purer knowing.

Whether through Nia, Qoya or other modalities we offer, our movement experiences are inspired by forest pathways, flowing water, deep roots, and open sky and are designed to help us attune, process and metabolize a range of emotions and enhance feelings of groundedness, aliveness, joy, and transcendence.

Founder Brighid O'Shaughnessy is also currently completing her certification in Nature and Forest Therapy, deepening her practice of guiding people back into relationship with the living world as a source of healing, nervous system regulation, reciprocity and belonging.

• “Guided using nature-based imagery, breath, rhythm, and intuitive flow.

Storytelling + Theater

We then move towards Storytelling because by sharing our truth with others, we let both our light and our darkness be seen. This way we can be heard, held and related to by others instead of hidden away.

At Return to the Roots, we honor lived experience as sacred knowledge and center voices that have often been erased, silenced, or marginalized. Understanding healing as relational, embodied, and collective, justice lives in how stories are held, whose stories are told, and whose pain is not turned away.

Topics have included: Women's Health, Disrupting Racism and Segregation through collaboration with MacArthur Genius Award Winner Tonika Lewis Johnson and her Folded Map Project, and now Challenging Adoption Mythology with new documentary theatre pieces like Twisted Motherhood.

Restorative Justice

We are all part of systems — whether that is our family system, the schools we work at or have our children at, or the health care we must use to meet our needs.

Inspired by her own family's challenges with the school and health care systems, Return to the Roots’ Founder, Brighid O’Shaughnessy, grew a passion for addressing larger-scale opportunities for healing and transformation. She has worked in Chicago area public schools for the last 6 years as a trauma-focused social worker and Restorative Justice Coordinator, Coach and Consultant. She is especially passionate about working with neurodivergent youth, youth with disabilities, and those with complex trauma histories.

Through this work, Return to the Roots facilitates practices that help both youth and adults access their inner light, build healthy relationships, address harm when it happens, and engage in daily work to create spaces of safety and belonging.

Contact Us

Rooted in story, body, land, and justice.

We are located in the Chicagoland area.