WELCOME TO the village

We are countering cultures of fragmentation and separation; experimenting with ways to find each other across divides and imagine a “world in which many worlds fit”
(Zapatistas)

the study & practice of self & communal care

Join the village

Here we engage in study and practice around the creation of care ecologies in embodied, creative and playful ways; in response to the mistrust, division and alienation rampant in Western culture. We are committed to building the muscle of relationship—to self, other, and our world through study, somatic practice, critical consciousness raising, and creative expression and activism. 

The spaces we offer will stretch and challenge us in ways that can make room for transformation, through a body-centered framework that promotes the experiential and soma as portals to the imagination and creativity that are a part of our reworlding. 

is a virtual gathering space that exists as study and practice space, and a watering hole for inspiration and expanding perspectives and imagination. Our virtual gathering space facilitates encounter with people and perspectives beyond our bubbles, so that they may inspire transformative experiences and possibilities for local connections and change. 

THE ROOTED VILLAGE

There is nothing more radical than friendship—a force capable of bridging divides and countering the dehumanization that keeps us locked in separation.

Our gatherings are an experiment in care on the way to community, a portal into radical possibility explored through sound, art, stories, play, collective inquiry, and nurturing creativity. These explorations are grounded in self-responsibility and the delicate dance between safety, resource, and relational risk. 

the study &  practice of care ecologies

Our monthly offerings are designed to facilitate opportunities to imagine possibilities of relationship across divides, and to cultivate the underground networks of care that do not rely on unstable institutional structures and attempt something different than what has been conditioned in many of us through harmful cultural paradigms. 

Join the village

watch

The Rooted Village founder, Karine Bell, shares about why weaving care is one of the most radical responses we can have in a world where trust and mutuality are so deeply challenged. Trust in ourselves and each other. 

We are committed to deepening self and communal awareness through somatic practice, creative expression, and liberatory movement. We create spaces for transformation through embodied practices and modalities, as well as spaces that foster celebration, cultural dexterity, and collective resilience through music, song, dance, and movement. Challenging conditioned models of learning, we embrace an emergent process of (un)learning inspired by Paulo Freire, illuminating ways to disrupt entrenched personal and cultural conditioning. Our monthly gatherings cultivate critical consciousness, relational depth, and creative reworlding.

You are welcome here—and we invite you to trust your wisdom in knowing when it’s right to be here.

Somatic & Liberatory practices

The Rooted Care Lab is an embodied co-research space exploring how we build relational trust, mutual care, and community through collective study, somatic practice, and creative expression. This journey responds to the challenges and divisions we encounter—scarcity, race, class, conflict, and other barriers to relationship—by engaging in movement, music, song, and experimental practices that expand our capacity for connection.  

It is not a classroom where answers are given, but a collective workshopping experience where we gather in inquiry, study, and embodied experimentation. Through self-reflexivity and bodily practice, we cultivate responsibility for the worlds that come next, bringing forth the unique contributions each of us has to offer in our virtual and local contexts.

the rooted care lab

Our Activities

Each month in the Village unfolds through a dynamic rhythm of offerings that invite members into deep study, creative expression, embodied practice, and communal connection. Our core gatherings center around the Care Lab—a spacious, reflective container for exploring spiritual activism, relational risk, and collective care—and the Creativity Incubator, where emerging impulses, ideas, and acts of contribution are nurtured.

Alongside these central spaces, members are welcome to drop into a range of other gatherings that support different layers of practice and presence: from contemplative spaces for grounding and reflection, to music and movement-based sessions that awaken joy and attunement, to somatic (body) and relational (between bodies) practices that deepen connection to self and others.

There are also spaces held with cultural specificity and care, such as those for people of the African Diaspora, as well as ongoing community touchpoints like our Co-Being space and the Belonging Ambiguity circle, which foster meaningful dialogue and relational experimentation. Together, these offerings create a living ecosystem of care where participation is flexible, invitations are spacious, and members are encouraged to find their own rhythm within the flow.

benefits of membership

live monthly gathering spaces

Our Main Monthly Gatherings in the village (twice per month)

Somatic Practice + Liberatory Spaces

This is a space for asking meaningful questions around collective care, and weaving ecologies of care. In this space, we dive into themes like radical friendship and love, care ecologies, transformative justice, and more. Together, we examine what it means to embody care in ways that disrupt patterns of disconnection and foster interdependence.

Through collective study, somatic practices, storytelling, and collaborative exploration, we practice showing up—with curiosity, humility, and openness to transformation—asking: **How can we build ecologies of care that hold us in our shared humanity while honoring our differences?**

These gatherings are held on the second Sunday of each month from 11am-1pm ET/5-7pm CET

How do ideas take root and flourish beyond the spaces that first inspired them?

This initiative supports participants in bringing emergent practices into their own communities, creating ripples of care and connection. It offers scaffolding for what has already been unfolding organically—illuminating patterns, sharing insights, and fostering learning from lived experience.

In a time of renewed focus on local contexts, the Creativity Incubator bridges global inspiration with grounded, actionable steps, empowering folks to cultivate meaningful change where they are.

Together, we nurture creativity, share skills, and explore ideas that can be activated in our local communities, recognizing that global transformation begins with grounded, practical love in our immediate surroundings.

These gatherings are held on the third or fourth Thursday of each month from 11am-1pm ET/5-7pm CET

SE+AM (Somatic Experiencing + Authentic Movement) is a body-centered practice focused on deepening relationships—both with ourselves and others—through movement and witness. At its heart, SE+AM is about rediscovering the intelligence of impulse and the ways it connects us to our humanity beyond egoic identities and labels. In our fast-paced, disconnected world, this practice offers a space to strip away habitual responses, allowing participants to move beyond the survival mechanisms of “protect” and “connect” into a state of creative aliveness.

SE+AM takes place monthly on a Monday from 11:45am-1:30pm ET/5:45-7:30pm CET

A celebration of cross-cultural music and song, exploring the world’s diverse traditions. This space highlights the healing and connective power of music—moving us beyond words to deepen our relationships within and between.

ReSounding Joy takes place every other month on a Wednesday from 12-1pm ET/6-7pm CET and a Friday from 5-6pm ET/11-12am CET

Afrorhizomatic dance is an offering within that explores the music of the African diaspora, where we move in our bodies while exploring how the creativity within the African diaspora has given birth to unique styles, genres and artists!

Afrorhizomatic Dance takes place every other month from 12-1pm ET/6-7pm CET and a Friday from 5-6pm ET/11-12am CET

The Diasporic Hush Harbor is a space for kin of the African diaspora. A space of marronage where we can grieve what wants to be grieved and cultivate access to parts of ourselves longing to be re-assembled. Perhaps from such vantage, we can start to see what new worlds want to be created for ourselves and the generations. This is a long journey, but let us begin and/or continue together.

Beginning in Spring 2025, the Village invites you into an embodied communal study in the DHH of *Survival is a Promise*, Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ luminous meditation on the life, work, and legacy of Audre Lorde. Guided by the principles of DHH (Diasporic Hush Harbor) practice—listening, slowness, reverence, and the cultivation of deep presence—we’ll explore what it means to *feel* Lorde’s legacy through our own bodies.

Together, we’ll enter into a sanctuary space to:

- Read and digest the text in community, moving at a reverent and deliberate pace
- Engage in somatic, creative, and ritual-based practices that echo and respond to the book’s themes
- Reflect on survival not just as a reactive act but a radical promise to the future
- Center tenderness, anger, softness, power, and the erotic as sacred knowledge


This group is for those who long for deeper integration of thought and flesh, who want to move beyond analysis into felt connection, and who believe that reading Audre Lorde’s words—especially through Gumbs’ poetic channel—is an invitation to transform the way we live and love.

Whether you’re new to Lorde’s work or have carried her words for decades, this is an invitation to join a circle of deep listening—to yourself, to each other, and to the ancestors whose words pulse through these pages.

DHH takes place monthly on Mondays from 1-3pm ET/7-9pm CET /www.rootedglobalvillage.com/dhh-book-study


This is a space of connection and exploration for multicultural (multiracial) folks in the Village. A place to grapple with what is in the field of our bodies, between us as we encounter what arises in Rooted and in our lives. We explore from a communal lens what it means to belong or not belong, living in a racialized world, and recognizing the complexities within us. 

BA takes place monthly on a Monday from 12-1:30pm ET/6-7:30pm CET


Like a co-working + body-doubling space, but extended! Twice monthly, we open up a space for folks to be together. Some folks working from their office or home, others might be decluttering a space, crafting, playing music or art-making, and still others might be organizing or even taking a nap!  We have lyric-less musical accompaniment and the offer of non-verbal compansionship. It’s incredible what a sense of accompaniment can do for focus.

Co-being takes place twice monthly from 11am-1pm ET/5-7pm CET

Rooted has grown through years of shared inquiry, celebration, and deep study a vast collection of enriching offerings.

As a member, you’ll have access to a library of mini-courses drawn from past workshops, festivals, and special series. These are available on our Circle platform to engage in your own time & pace — watch or listen from anywhere, whenever it fits your rhythm.

Course Bundles & On-Demand Learning

Weave beyond the village

The Village isn’t just a place to attend events — it’s a space to be in they practice of building the muscle for relationship.

You’ll find opportunities to connect with others (in-person or virtual) in between live sessions through discussion threads, shared practice, and possibly projects initiated from within the Village. 

We evolve in relationship not just through content, but through the practice of connection and care.


Join the village

Spiritual
Activism & Critical Consciousness-Raising

Experimentation/
Relational-Risk

Becoming Creators & Cultural Producers

our Ethos

Spiritual activism is the practice of weaving inner transformation with outer action, recognizing that justice and liberation begin in how we relate—to ourselves, each other, and the world.
It refuses the false divide between spirituality and social change, calling us to cultivate the courage, humility, and presence needed for deep, lasting transformation.
In a world fragmented by disconnection and hyper-independence, spiritual activism invites us back into right relationship, reminding us that healing is both personal and collective, and that our liberation is bound together.

Experimentation and relational risk invite us to step beyond the familiar, disrupting patterns of fear, control, and certainty in favor of curiosity, play, and possibility. They remind us that transformation isn’t theoretical—it’s lived, felt, and practiced in real time.

Taking relational risks means daring to show up differently, to engage across difference, to trust without guarantees. It’s the art of being with the unknown, loosening the grip of perfectionism and control so that something new can emerge. In a world that teaches us to fear failure and retreat from discomfort, this is radical work—because change requires the courage to relate, experiment, and stay in the mess of becoming.

"To bridge means loosening our borders, not closing off to others. Bridging is the work of opening the gate to the stranger, within and without. To step across the threshold is to be stripped of the illusion of safety because it moves us into unfamiliar territory and does not grant safe passage. Effective bridging comes from knowing when to close ranks to those outside our home, group, community, nation—and when to keep the gates open."

—Gloria Anzaldúa

Creation flows through each person. We begin with the assumption that we are all creative beings—whether we fully recognize it or not—and that many of us are yearning for ways to step into that power. To create is to participate in the birthing of worlds, to bring forth something that only we can offer, and to do so in relationship with others.

This work is grounded in love—centering non-judgment, mutual regard, and support for what each person might wish to bring to life. It is about collective creativity and imagination, about incubating ideas, seeding local projects through collaboration and mini-grants, and promoting skill and resource-sharing to build capacity and connection.

LEARN MORE

Spiritual
Activism & Critical Consciousness-Raising

LEARN MORE

Experimentation/
Relational-Risk

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Becoming Creators

our ethos & dedication

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LEARN MORE

LEARN MORE

Spiritual
Activism & Critical Consciousness-Raising

LEARN MORE

Experimentation/
Relational-Risk

LEARN MORE

Becoming Creators

our ethos & dedication

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim 

LEARN MORE

LEARN MORE

Spiritual
Activism & Critical Consciousness-Raising

LEARN MORE

Experimentation/
Relational-Risk

LEARN MORE

Becoming Creators

our ethos & dedication

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim 

LEARN MORE

Spiritual
Activism & Critical Consciousness-Raising

our Ethos

Spiritual activism is the practice of weaving inner transformation with outer action, recognizing that justice and liberation begin in how we relate—to ourselves, each other, and the world.
It refuses the false divide between spirituality and social change, calling us to cultivate the courage, humility, and presence needed for deep, lasting transformation.
In a world fragmented by disconnection and hyper-independence, spiritual activism invites us back into right relationship, reminding us that healing is both personal and collective, and that our liberation is bound together.

Becoming Creators & Cultural Producers

Creation flows through each person. We begin with the assumption that we are all creative beings—whether we fully recognize it or not—and that many of us are yearning for ways to step into that power. To create is to participate in the birthing of worlds, to bring forth something that only we can offer, and to do so in relationship with others.

This work is grounded in love—centering non-judgment, mutual regard, and support for what each person might wish to bring to life. It is about collective creativity and imagination, about incubating ideas, seeding local projects through collaboration and mini-grants, and promoting skill and resource-sharing to build capacity and connection.

Experimentation/
Relational-Risk

Experimentation and relational risk invite us to step beyond the familiar, disrupting patterns of fear, control, and certainty in favor of curiosity, play, and possibility. They remind us that transformation isn’t theoretical—it’s lived, felt, and practiced in real time.

Taking relational risks means daring to show up differently, to engage across difference, to trust without guarantees. It’s the art of being with the unknown, loosening the grip of perfectionism and control so that something new can emerge. In a world that teaches us to fear failure and retreat from discomfort, this is radical work—because change requires the courage to relate, experiment, and stay in the mess of becoming.

"To bridge means loosening our borders, not closing off to others. Bridging is the work of opening the gate to the stranger, within and without. To step across the threshold is to be stripped of the illusion of safety because it moves us into unfamiliar territory and does not grant safe passage. Effective bridging comes from knowing when to close ranks to those outside our home, group, community, nation—and when to keep the gates open."

—Gloria Anzaldúa

"To bridge is to attempt community, and for that we must risk being open to personal, political, and spiritual intimacy, to risk being wounded. "

—Gloria Anzaldúa

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rooted sponsor
$45/month

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rooted supporter 
$35/month

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Rooted Friend
$25/month

membership options

Please choose the option below that best meets your financial & situational needs.  If you are in a position of relative economic advantage, please pay what you can, as your contribution goes to support our ability to offer these activities.

how to Join us

All levels of membership receive equal access to all of Rooted's activities in the Village and within the Rooted Care Lab. We are most interested in folks joining who appreciate what it is that we are trying to do here.

Work-Trade: We'd love to welcome you no matter your current financial limitations. The Village relies on the financial contributions of our members, but if your finances have been impacted for any reason, or, please consider the Work Trade (aka the "contributor") option.

Work-Trade includes a couple of hours per month doing something that aligns with your skills and interests. There are many possibilities, including community tending, video editing, writing an article/blog, outreach, administrative skills, etc.

Please use this form to indicate interest. 



Rooted membership has been simplified to make joining the village and its adjacent Care Lab more accessible in a difficult economic climate and across global geographies and currencies. 


You are welcome here. 


International membership: Our sign up links are for people anywhere in the world to join. However, if USD currency makes it cost prohibitive to join us based on your local currency, please click here to join us via a reduced international membership. 



You wish to practice self-care and self-responsibility, calling forward your wisest and most intentional self into collective study and practice.

You wish to engage in ongoing personal and collective (embodied) study, but have no plans to go "back to school".

You're exhausted by the binary choices of our culture is fraught with, and seek alternatives.

You feel ready to engage in relational experimentation, entering ‘brave space’, and vulnerability to reach across divides and weave friendship. Knowing that friendship denotes care and mutual regard for others.

You seek to challenge systems of isolation and alienation.  Valuing the individual while re/membering our interdependence and the unique and important contributions we each can make to social change. 

You are interested in how radical love and collective care could look and feel.

You want to know how what your unique contribution to the world could be, and nurture that spark with others. 

THE VILLAGE IS FOR YOU IF...