Root Therapy

11/18/2025

Text messages, laundry piles, news headlines. With so much pulling at our attention, no wonder we’re overwhelmed and distracted.

Even our language - we pay attention, have attention deficits - quietly suggests that attention is costly, and we are overdrawn.

But maybe we could approach this all a different way.

What if attention were less like a budget and more like an expansive field? What if your own body, voice, and creativity could guide you towards a different way of attending?

Join us for The Field of Attention an immersive, two-part series to explore attention through embodied writing. Over each 5-week session, we’ll combine gentle movement and breath exercises with writing prompts and (optional) sharing in a small-group setting to tend to your attention, your writing, and your inner unfolding.

We’ll meet weekly on Mondays from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. in the beautiful upstairs space at in Portland, Maine. Link in bio ✨

09/03/2025

When I visited dear at her beautiful ranch to experience one of her horse workshops, I knew it would be joyful (it’s Bri, that’s a given ;) but I didn’t know how transformative the encounter would be - enriching my understanding of horses but also of connection, relationship, and nervous system care (and also, isn’t Lu horse such a beauty?)

Just 2 spots remain in Intuitive and Free, the equine embodied writing retreat that Bri and I will be offering Sept 19-21 in Northfield, NH. I’m so excited to share the deep magic of both these practices with you. Details in bio, feel free to DM with questions. ✨🐴📝

08/18/2025

https://open.substack.com/pub/johannafranzel/p/nine-and-a-half-things-im-learning?r=aid4h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

08/08/2025

So excited for this upcoming retreat! Join me and divine for Intuitive and Free, a weekend equine immersion and embodied writing retreat at Driftwood, a beautiful 140 acre horse ranch in Northfield, New Hampshire.

We’ll explore the deep teaching horses offer in nervous system care, felt sense, and intuition. We’ll take this learning into language through the gentle, joyful practice of embodied writing.

Alongside these explorations, we’ll enjoy yoga, delicious meals, and the natural beauty of mid-September in the countryside.

Practice reconnecting with voice, intuition, body, and trust in a small, supportive group setting. Link in bio. 🐴📝🪄✨

06/21/2025

Over the moon to share this exciting news!! Writing Home will be arriving in 2026, thanks to extraordinary editor Francesca Walker and the kind folks at and angel agent Isabelle Bleecker from Nordlyset Literary Agency. I’m so excited to share this work with you! ✨🩵

03/07/2025

Join us for Awakening the Senses, a nourishing half-day embodied writing retreat in Portland, Maine.

Combining gentle movement and breath practices with writing prompts and (optional) sharing, we’ll engage our creative practice through the rich portal of the senses.

We’ll embrace this reawakening season by leaning into textures, scents, foods, and sights that delight and ignite our writing and feeling.

Sunday, April 6th, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the beautiful in Portland, Maine. Assistance from the wonderful . Hearty snacks provided. $115. Link in bio ✨

03/03/2025

Looking to the animal world for models of how to navigate this time, and stumbling (by way of my very adorable mum) on a distinctly human way through. Link in bio with bonus audio of Swedish delight. (Photo: William Rainey).

01/16/2025

Consider for a moment how often you use the word good. It’s one of those common placeholder words that cuts a wide swath of meaning (“You good?” “All good!”), but it’s often invoked in contrast. If the mind is running the show, we look outward to tell us what’s good. But down here in the body? A whole different channel.

On Substack, the importance of learning what good feels like to you, including a somatic writing practice to get you started.
https://open.substack.com/pub/johannafranzel/p/what-good-feels-like

12/13/2024

In my Swedish family, opening presents only begins *after* we've all read Tove Jansson's The Fir Tree (every. year). How fantasy woodland creatures (and the wisdom of Katherine May) gesture towards a different way of occupying time, and a somatic writing practice to bring it all home.

Moomintrolls & a somatic writing practice for the (true) season.

12/04/2024

Join us for Following the Creative Breath, an immersive, two-part series in creative embodied practice through somatic writing. We’ll meet weekly at the beautiful in Portland, Maine.

Over each 5-week session, we combine gentle movement and breath exercises with writing prompts and (optional) sharing in a small-group setting to tend to your creativity, your voice, and your inner unfolding.

You’re welcome to register for one or both sessions:

Session I: Exhalation. Monday nights from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. January 6th - February 10th, 2025
In this session we practice embodied writing in the key of deep winter, exploring practices that support going inward, rest, and tending the inner sanctum. ❄️

Session II: Inhalation. Monday nights from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. February 24th - March 24th, 2025
Following the subtle energetics of earliest spring, we’ll listen for the nascent movements that come from readiness, resource, and authenticity. What does unfurling look like when it’s expressed from organic ignition? ✨

Your breath holds a creative blueprint for navigating these wild times. And these spaces of collective care and creativity feel more vital and necessary than ever. Info in bio. ❤️🕸️

11/08/2024

On election night I received a portal message from my gastroenterologist at 10:04 p.m.

Consider that this kind doctor chose looking at pictures of a colon over watching the presidential results come in. Perhaps we were both thinking,

Anything, anything but this.

Full post on Substack: https://johannafranzel.substack.com/p/gutted-and-grounded

10/17/2024

Join us for Autumn Reverence, an 8-day self-guided course to explore the rhythms, insights, and lessons of the season through gentle movement and writing prompts.

Each day you’ll receive an autumn-inspired somatic writing practice, delivered right to your inbox. A short audio meditation for the season accompanies the course.

And! For the first time, Reverence has been designed with an automated schedule, so you can sign up to begin the course at anytime. Details below.

https://subscribepage.io/autumnreverence