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Wider Roots

Wider Roots

Jeremy Blanchard

How can our social movement spaces create more opportunities for our internal transformation while we work for external change? Hosted by leadership coach Jeremy Blanchard, Wider Roots brings together wisdom teachers, coaches, and leaders who are wrestling with questions about how to bridge personal and systemic transformation. This show is for coaches, facilitators, and healers who want to explore approaches to personal growth that focus more on the well-being of the collective, instead of just the individual. It’s also for movement leaders who want to infuse the power of inner work into their changemaking. Our work for climate justice, racial justice, equity, and collective liberation calls on us to bring our best qualities forward. Join us as we explore how we can embody a more compassionate, resilient, and spiritually grounded way of making change. For additional resources and to connect with like-minded changemakers, sign up for our newsletter at https://WiderRoots.com
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Top 10 Wider Roots Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Wider Roots episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Wider Roots for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Wider Roots episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Wider Roots - Introducing: Wider Roots

Introducing: Wider Roots

Wider Roots

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01/27/24 • 1 min

In order to navigate the breakdowns we’re in, we need coaches and leaders who can help us bring out the best qualities of humanity and tap into our deepest longings for the future.

This podcast is my attempt to do “research in public” and explore the questions that have been in my heart for over a decade:

  • How can coaching skills and practices support changemakers and social movements working for systemic change?
  • How can social, political, and ecological realities inform the foundation of HOW we coach? (Rather than being de-politicized and individualistic.)
  • What does it look like to place our commitment to the well-being of the whole at the center of a coaching conversation/relationship?

This podcast is my quest to understand more about these questions. I hope you walk away with ideas, inspiration, and resources to coach in a way that makes a difference for the world we want to live into.

I invite you to join the newsletter where we'll be sharing additional resources, links, training opportunities and more: https://widerroots.com/

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Wider Roots - Why coaching + social change?

Why coaching + social change?

Wider Roots

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02/13/24 • 40 min

Welcome to the podcast! This episode is going to be different than our usual format because I wanted to take some time to lay the foundation for the questions we’ll be exploring on this show. Questions like “How can our movement spaces actively create more opportunities for deep, internal transformation while we work for external change?”

I invited my dear friend Jess Serrante (a long-time coach for climate leaders) to help shed some light on the purpose of this podcast and our hopes for justice-oriented coaches.

Check out the episode page for the transcript and all the resources related to this episode: https://widerroots.com/1

Make sure to subscribe through your podcast app: https://widerroots.com/subscribe

Timestamps

  • [00:32] - What this show is about
  • [08:26] - Intro to my conversation with Jess
  • [10:14] - Jeremy's coaching origin story
  • [14:24] - What would it be like if we all had these skills?
  • [18:40] - Who this is for and what we'll be exploring
  • [21:29] - Coaching industry & how we don't see ourselves in it
  • [26:03] - Why we find coaching so powerful in movement work
  • [31:52] - Being in community with one another as practitioners

Connect with Jess

Connect with Jess at JessSerrante.com or @jess_serrante. Sign up for her newsletter to get notified when the We Are The Great Turning podcast (with Joanna Macy!) is released later this year.

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Wider Roots - The inseparable link between inner work and outer change (w/ Staci Haines)

The inseparable link between inner work and outer change (w/ Staci Haines)

Wider Roots

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05/07/24 • 68 min

“There's no such thing as personal change outside of a social context. You actually can't separate a person from our social context. And that is just like, well, duh, how did they ever think we could do that?”

Check out the episode page for the transcript and the full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/8

In this conversation with Staci Haines, we dive into the intersection of personal transformation and structural social change. I appreciate Staci's commitment to holding these two aspects as inseparable - that true healing and justice require both inner work and outer change. We explore some challenging questions: How can we navigate conversations around Palestine and Gaza with our clients in a way that is grounded in compassion and truth? How do we ensure that transformational modalities don't inadvertently reinforce passivity in the face of injustice, but rather empower us to create change? What are the key distinctions between coaching and therapy, and how can we discern our realm of competency as practitioners?

Staci Haines is a pioneer in the field of politicized somatics and trauma healing. For over three decades, Staci has been dedicated to bridging personal and social transformation, guided by the belief that we cannot have one without the other. As the co-founder of generative somatics and a senior teacher at the Strozzi Institute, she brings a depth of wisdom and experience to her work supporting individuals and movements in healing trauma and embodying transformative change.

⭐ Key moments

  • 02:43 - Opening
  • 05:03 - Staci's roots: personal + systemic transformation
  • 12:32 - The power of somatics in social change work
  • 17:58 - How we're showing up for Palestine
  • 27:54 - How do we move beyond individualism in healing and coaching
  • 36:09 - Coaching to challenge the status quo, not to cope with It
  • 39:43 - Imagining new credentialing orgs for politicized coaching/healing
  • 59:25 - Staci's sources of joy
  • 1:04:22 - Closing

📚 Resources & Links


💬 Connect with Staci Haines


🎙️ Other episodes you might like


🌲 Follow the podcast


I’d love to hear how this episode resonated with you or any suggestions for future topics/guests. You can email me at [email protected].

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Wider Roots - Bridging Healing and Activism (w/ Noëlle Janka)

Bridging Healing and Activism (w/ Noëlle Janka)

Wider Roots

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03/12/24 • 40 min

“Healing doesn't look like getting back to the way things were before, the way things were before made you sick.”

Noëlle Janka is a politicized career and healing coach dedicated to supporting social change leaders. For the past decade, she has brought together her personal experience navigating chronic illness with her passion for social justice and transforming systems of oppression. Noëlle recently published her book, Rebel Healing: Transforming Ourselves and the Systems that Make Us Sick.

In this conversation, Noëlle shares concrete ways coaches can support social change leaders to reconnect with their bodies, intuition, and a sense of interconnectedness. We explore how coaching can help prevent burnout by focusing not just on doing more, but on what needs to stop. And Noëlle opens up about embracing her role as a healer within social movements and how she navigates the tension between one-on-one work and large-scale transformation.

Check out the episode page for the transcript and the full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/4

Key moments

  • 02:04 - The Root Cause: What inspired you to write Rebel Healing?
  • 06:41 - Doing work for justice with a more regulated nervous system
  • 13:45 - Preventing burnout: Coaching can be about doing less, not more
  • 17:23 - Healing: 30% repair, 70% transformation
  • 21:51 - Serving 1-on-1: Embracing the role of healer within social movements
  • 28:28 - Coaching Technique: Reconnecting with body wisdom and intuition in coaching
  • 34:25 - Noëlle's sources of inspiration
  • 36:52 - Closing

Resources & Links


Connect with Noëlle


Follow the podcast


I’d love to hear how this episode resonated with you or any suggestions for future topics/guests. You can email me at

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Wider Roots - Making space for imperfection in activist spaces (w/ Mazin Jamal)

Making space for imperfection in activist spaces (w/ Mazin Jamal)

Wider Roots

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02/13/24 • 51 min

“So how can we create such rich belonging, that there's room to challenge each other without fearing that we're going to be kicked out of the group?”

In this episode, we’ll be exploring that question and many other questions about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) with Mazin Jamal, co-founder of Holistic Underground. We dive into how we stay grounded as facilitators when we’re supporting groups to look at race, privilege, and equity.

Check out the episode page for the transcript and all the resources related to this episode: https://widerroots.com/2

Key takeaways

  • Bringing Levity: Use humor and lightness when dealing with weighty topics to help keep things in perspective. This allows the group to stay regulated and think clearly. [00:10:09]
  • Orienting Toward Love and Liberation: Come from a place of care and freedom rather than just fixing problems. This creates a generosity of spirit that is more sustainable.
  • Keeping Groups Regulated: Help everyone stay grounded and resourced rather than reactive. This allows for cooperation and completion of the necessary conversations. [00:15:08]
  • Grounding in Shared Vision and Values: Keep bringing it back to the “eyes on the prize” and the shared care. This connects to the deeper reasons people are engaged.
  • Living the Change We Wish to See: Model the kind of community we want to build in how we organize and work together. [00:21:25]
  • Making Space for Imperfection and Redemption: Have compassion for our own and others’ humanity. This reduces defensive othering when we all accept we are on a journey. [00:26:25]
  • Developing ancestral spiritual cleansing practices: Use techniques grounded in one's ancestry to energetically care for oneself when dealing with heavy topics over time. [00:37:14]
  • Helping People Find Their Niche: Support folks in locating the intersection of their experiences, skills, and passions so they can sustainably contribute over the long haul.

Resources & Links


Connect with Mazin


Follow the podcast


Connect with Jeremy on his coaching website.

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Wider Roots - How to bring our politics into a session: Coaching on Gaza (w/ Dara Silverman)

How to bring our politics into a session: Coaching on Gaza (w/ Dara Silverman)

Wider Roots

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02/27/24 • 41 min

“I think if people don't change by shame or blame or forcing them into things, I think they change because they have a vision of the world they want.”

In this episode, I get to talk with Dara Silverman, a white queer Jewish consultant, somatic coach, and trainer with over 20 years with organizations and movements for social, racial, economic, and gender justice. Dara was the founding director of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), an organization bringing together white folks working for racial and economic justice. She shares insights into supporting clients around the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We discuss how politicized coaches can hold the principle of “not having an agenda for clients” while still bringing in their political views. Dara also shares how white coaches and facilitators committed to systemic change can integrate anti-racism into our work for change.

Check out the episode page for the transcript and the full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/3

Key moments

  • 02:28 - Dara's background
  • 08:22 - Coaching clients around Gaza
  • 12:13 - Holding "not having an agenda" while being politicized
  • 21:03 - Relaxed, Dignified, and Accountable: Supporting white folks to show up for racial justice
  • 26:30 - The role of coaching in movement spaces
  • 33:28 - Dara's coaching growth area
  • 35:21 - Dara's sources of nourishment

Resources & Links


Connect with Dara Silverman


Follow the podcast


If you have suggestions for topics/guests, please email p...

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Wider Roots - Heartbreak, Hope, & The Wisdom of Joanna Macy (w/ Jess Serrante)

Heartbreak, Hope, & The Wisdom of Joanna Macy (w/ Jess Serrante)

Wider Roots

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04/23/24 • 71 min

“Uncertainty inherently means that possibility exists. Possibility for all sorts of things. For the darkest fantasies and fears that I have and for the most beautiful. And my life is a vote in the direction of a possibility, and I'm going to give myself to the one I want.”

Check out the episode page for the transcript and the full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/7

In this conversation with Jess Serrante, we dive into the teachings of Joanna Macy and explore how they can support us in our work for social change. I was particularly moved by our discussion on the role of heartbreak in activism and coaching. We asked, what if more healing modalities and spiritual paths helped us get in touch with our pain for the world as a catalyst for discovering our unique contribution? Jess shares powerful insights from her new podcast, "We Are The Great Turning," (including previews of unreleased episodes!)

We also grapple with the question of hope in the face of overwhelming challenges like climate change. When despair creeps in, what can we draw upon that's more stable than the fluctuations of hope? Throughout our conversation, we touch on the importance of grounding our activism in our love for the world, and how Joanna's teachings can help us do that.

Jess Serrante is a dear friend of mine and a longtime climate activist who has worked with groups like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and Sunrise Movement. She’s a coach, facilitator, and now a podcaster!

Subscribe to We Are The Great Turning on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Key moments

  • 03:02 - The dream Joanna & Jess had for this project
  • 15:39 - Heartbreak and honoring our pain for the world
  • 23:59 - Clip from Joanna Macy: What if my pain for the world overwhelms me?
  • 28:58 - Clip from Joanna Macy: Our pain is sacred
  • 35:34 - Heartbreak guiding us to our calling
  • 44:25 - Examining Hope (and other places to find our motivation)
  • 53:36 - Clip from Joanna Macy: Whistling in the dark to cheer ourselves up
  • 1:02:51 - Jess' sources of nourishment
  • 1:04:46 - Closing

Resources & Links


Connect with Jess


Follow Wider Roots

  • WiderRoots.com - Join the newsletter for more resources on personal + systemic transformation

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Wider Roots - Climate Change Coaching (w/ Charly Cox)

Climate Change Coaching (w/ Charly Cox)

Wider Roots

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04/09/24 • 42 min

“My starting point is less about agitating for change and more about empowering people to believe that they can be actors in their own lives. We fundamentally believe that everyone has a stake in climate change, that everyone can make, can affect change around it.”

Check out the episode page for the transcript and a full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/6

Today's episode features Charly Cox, author of the book "Climate Change Coaching."

In this conversation, Charly's approach to holding a systemic view stands out. She not only believes in our client's ability to change but also in the system's ability to change. Her coaching helps clients see their situation from this broader perspective. Charly shares her story about realizing that coaches don't have to be "neutral" and can bring their own values forward in their work.

Some background on Charly Cox and her work: She founded an organization called The Climate Change Coaches, which focuses on empowering climate leaders with coaching skills. Their climate coaching approach helps leaders and individuals find their unique role in addressing the climate crisis. It motivates them to take action and enact behavior change at the personal, organizational, and systemic levels.

Key moments

  • 01:39 - Charly Cox's Journey to Climate Change Coaching
  • 06:20 - Bridging Climate and Coaching
  • 13:48 - The Unique Approach of Climate Change Coaching
  • 20:26 - "Having an agenda" vs living your values as a coach
  • 32:39 - Charly’s sources of nourishment
  • 34:42 - Closing

Resources & Links


Connect with Charly Cox


Follow the podcast


I’d love to hear how this episode resonated with you or any suggestions for future topics/guests. You can email me at [email protected].

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Wider Roots - Spiritually Grounded Activism (w/ Kazu Haga)

Spiritually Grounded Activism (w/ Kazu Haga)

Wider Roots

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03/26/24 • 62 min

“Can we actually lead with fierceness and the vulnerability of saying, I'm not here because I hate you. I'm actually here because I love you. I'm here because I love the sanctity of life and beauty, and those things are being destroyed all over our ecosystem.”

Check out the episode page for the transcript and a full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/5

Today’s episode is with Kazu Haga, a nonviolence trainer in the lineage of Dr. King, based in Oakland who's been involved in social change movements since he was 17. He leads trainings for youth, incarcerated populations, and activists. He's the author of Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm.

In this conversation, Kazu and I explore how to bring more spiritually grounded practice into our social change movements. I appreciated his invitation for us to think about how we can bring an energy of opening things up, even if outwardly we're doing direct actions that are shutting things down. He also shares his perspective that much of the injustice we witness is actually a manifestation of unhealed wounds, both at the individual level and the societal level. And I particularly loved the part of this conversation where we talked about leading from heartbreak and vulnerability as a way to create connection, especially during conflict.

Key moments

  • 03:24 - Kazu's spiritual lineage and politicization through nonviolence
  • 07:51 - Opening things up spiritually while shutting them down tactically
  • 14:38 - Exploring trauma healing as a modality for social change
  • 22:43 - The necessity of deep practice in movements
  • 26:07 - Allowing messiness as we learn to hold conflict
  • 33:56 - Breaking up with "cancel culture" and creating deep belonging
  • 37:51 - We need skills to not only name harm, but repair it
  • 46:45 - Embracing complexity over black-and-white thinking
  • 50:08 - Anekāntavāda: Holding multiple truths
  • 53:06 - Finding beauty in challenging times
  • 54:55 - Nourishment: Hospicing Modernity & unplugged time

Resources & Links


Connect with Kazu


Other episodes you might like


Follow the podcast

  • WiderRoots.com - Join the newsletter for more resources on personal + systemic transformation
  • @WiderRootsPod - Follow the podcast on Instagram to get a peek behind the scenes
  • Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts to help others find this show.
  • Connect with Jeremy on
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Wider Roots - What’s the role of the coaching industry in collective liberation? (w/ Andréa Ranae)

What’s the role of the coaching industry in collective liberation? (w/ Andréa Ranae)

Wider Roots

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05/21/24 • 41 min

“My invitation is just to let ourselves feel the pain. That we don't have to have the shame on top of it. It’s painful to know that I have contributed to the harm of another person and that I had no idea. I don't have to hold shame about it. I can grieve that.”

Check out the episode page for the transcript and the full list of the resources mentioned in this episode: https://widerroots.com/9

In this conversation, Andréa Ranae and I explore some juicy questions: How has the coaching industry's engagement with social justice evolved over the past 8 years? What does it look like for coaches to recognize our collective power to shape the industry?

Andréa shares stories of the breakthroughs and challenges she's witnessed as her students become politicized. We discuss the importance of taking collective responsibility as coaches and healers. We also dig into the role of shame, and how it can serve as a wake-up call but shouldn't keep us stuck.

Andréa Ranae is a coach, facilitator, and singer-songwriter who has dedicated her life to exploring how we can live, work, and relate in ways that contribute to impactful social change.

⭐ In this episode

  • How has the coaching industry evolved in its engagement with social justice over the last eight years?
  • What were some of the key concepts and frameworks Andréa needed to introduce to coaches who were new to social justice?
  • What breakthroughs have coaches experienced as they became more politicized through her teachings?
  • How can coaches use their collective power to shape the industry and create systemic change?
  • What questions can politicized coaches ask themselves to work toward collective liberation?
  • How can shame serve as an indicator of change, and what role does it play in keeping systems of domination in place?

📚 Resources & Links


💬 Connect with Andréa Ranae


🌲 Follow the podcast


I’d love to hear how this episode resonated with you or any suggestions for future topics/guests. You can email me at [email protected].

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FAQ

How many episodes does Wider Roots have?

Wider Roots currently has 12 episodes available.

What topics does Wider Roots cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Podcasts, Self-Improvement, Education and Philosophy.

What is the most popular episode on Wider Roots?

The episode title 'Introducing: Wider Roots' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Wider Roots?

The average episode length on Wider Roots is 48 minutes.

How often are episodes of Wider Roots released?

Episodes of Wider Roots are typically released every 14 days.

When was the first episode of Wider Roots?

The first episode of Wider Roots was released on Jan 27, 2024.

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