Roots in Regulation

A 6-Week Regulation & Therapeutic Horticulture Program at Midwood Park

Just as a hive thrives when each bee tends to their role, our bodies thrive when we learn to sense, listen, and respond to what they're telling us. Roots in Regulation invites children into the living, serene earth of Midwood Park to grow their awareness of the living landscape within their own bodies, alongside the plants they tend- building nervous system regulation skills through nature connection, movement, and hands-on horticulture.

Co-led by a highly excitable pediatric occupational therapist and an unfathomably zen garden educator, each 1.5 hour session weaves together body-awareness practices, therapeutic gardening, and food nutrition exploration. In developing these skills, our kids feel more grounded and connected in their bodies, in nature, and in their community. Our regulation curriculum is rooted in the Powerfully You Self-Regulation Curriculum, a research and trauma-informed framework that builds self-awareness and regulation skills from the ground up- much like the garden itself.

Ages:

Children 6–11 years old

What We’ll ACTUALLY Root Into Each Week…

"We Are Better Together"

We are all different, each of us carrying unique gifts to this earth — and this world is more vibrant, more joyous, because of those differences. Together, we'll honor our uniqueness with an invitation to become body investigators, taking our very first steps in tuning into body sensations. In the garden, we'll harvest fall veggies and make stuffed cabbage leaves, learning to eat the rainbow along the way.

"Your Body Is Always Talking to You... You Just Have to Stop and Listen"

Our bodies are always speaking to us in a quiet language of sensation — we just have to slow down enough to hear it. We'll build that listening skill through the 7 sensory systems — sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, proprioception, and vestibular input — and bring it to life by making herbal tea from the garden, a practice in slowing down together.

“Nothing Is Wasted”

Even what we cast aside has a place and a purpose in this world. We'll explore trash, recycling, and composting with fresh eyes: What is waste, really? How can we reduce it, and use only what we need? We'll uncover creative reuse as a gift to the earth, and meet the tiny, tireless creatures of the compost pile through an introduction to vermiculture — proof that nothing given back to the earth is ever truly wasted.

"No One Is YOU, and That Is Your Superpower!"

There is only one you, and the way your body speaks to you is entirely your own. We'll tune inward to our internal body-sensing systems — hunger, thirst, breath, heartbeat, and more — honoring the quiet wisdom already living inside us. Hands in the soil, we'll plant garlic and taste the flavor it grows into, a small reminder that good things take root before they show themselves.

"If You Want to Give Light to Others, You Have to Glow Yourself!"

We can only offer others what we first hold for ourselves. We'll introduce whole-body sensations as an alert system, helping us notice when we're being our best selves — and honoring the moments we're not. In the garden, we'll explore companion planting: how different plants, like different people, aren't the same, yet thrive by supporting one another.

"Practice Makes Progress"

Regulation isn't a destination we arrive at once and keep forever — it's a practice we return to, gently, again and again. We'll bring everything together with the Activation Meter, learning to measure our body's activation and understand when it's a match (or mismatch) for the moment we're in — a skill, like tending a garden, that only grows with care over time.