Planting Seeds of Change: A Journey from Burnout to Regenerative Growth
Seeds of change, Artwork @annataws
Something is shifting.
We feel it in our bodies.
In our workplaces.
In the soil of our everyday lives.
Many of us have been working in ways that feel increasingly unsustainable — fast, fragmented, disconnected. We’ve been trained to optimize, to push through, to deliver. But beneath the surface, something quieter calls:
A longing to slow down.
To tend to what matters.
To grow something that lasts.
The Ache of Disconnection
A few years ago, I found myself depleted.
My work life — though externally “successful” — had become dry soil. Nothing meaningful could take root.
Eventually, I could no longer keep up — not just with the pace, but with the lack of nourishment.
When I stepped away (or was quietly pushed), I didn’t yet have a vision.
Just the faint recognition that something needed to grow… differently.
That was the turning point.
In small, steady steps, I began planting seeds of change — exploring coaching, permaculture, and regenerative leadership.
Each seed offered something essential:
Air to breathe.
A new way to see.
A deeper sense of belonging.
And slowly, with care and time, something began to sprout.
A Summit in the Mountains
Earlier this month, I joined a regenerative gathering, Pinecone Leadership Summit in the mountains of Norway.
It wasn’t the kind of summit filled with keynote speeches and strategy decks. It was something much more elemental.
We gathered in circles. Sat by fires. Walked in the mountains.
We talked about the future, but also about grief, soil, the river, ritual, and rest.
And in between the group moments, I found myself alone — in silence, with fire and moonlight, not seeking answers, but listening to the knowing carried by the wind, the river, and the mountain itself.
This was not about productivity.
It was about remembering.
The experience supported and strengthened something that has lived in me for a long time — an unwavering commitment to the regenerative path.
And a deeper calling:
To gather people around the fire.
To ignite transformation.
To be part of lighting the regenerative movement from within.
This is my purpose.
This is the spark that will set lasting change ablaze.
In that stillness, it became clear:
We don’t need to scale harder.
We need to belong deeper.
What Is Regenerative Leadership?
Regenerative leadership is about growing from within.
It’s not a quick fix or a set of KPIs.
It’s a way of working with the cycles and intelligence of living systems — including our own.
It’s about asking:
What are we planting?
What are we feeding?
What are we harvesting?
In regenerative organizations:
People feel connected — to themselves, each other, and purpose
Wellbeing and trust are part of the strategy, not side notes
Leaders cultivate empathy, presence, and systems awareness
Learning becomes relational, emergent, and values-based
This is the soil where new culture can grow.
How I Support This Work
My work now is to help individuals and organizations plant and tend seeds of regenerative culture. To create space for rooted, real transformation.
The Inner Sustainability Game
A playful, powerful experience for teams to explore inner development, values, and regenerative thinking.
It sparks conversations that stick — and plants seeds that grow far beyond the session.
“It opened up a completely new kind of conversation in our team.”
Workshops, retreats & Regenerative Circles
Custom-designed gatherings around themes like:
Inner capacities for navigating change
From burnout to belonging
Psychological safety and cultures of care
Purpose, values, and future readiness
Each workshop is a garden bed: we prepare the ground, plant ideas, and let real insight take root.
Train-the-Trainer & Integration Support
I mentor internal changemakers to grow this work from within.
Together, we nurture the soil of culture — with practices, tools, and rituals that support long-term, living change.
This Isn’t a Pivot. It’s a Homecoming.
This work is not just what I offer — it’s how I live.
I grow herbs. I walk barefoot. I listen deeply.
And I hold space for others who are ready to reconnect with what truly matters.
I’ve traded performance for presence.
Hustle for wholeness.
Burnout for belonging.
Real transformation isn’t forced.
It’s cultivated.
And it begins when we slow down enough to plant something new.
Let’s Plant What Wants to Grow
As I share this, we stand at the threshold of the Spring Equinox — a moment of balance between light and dark, rest and action, reflection and renewal.
In nature, seeds are stirring beneath the soil.
And in us, something new is also ready to grow.
If you or your organization is feeling the quiet ache for something more —
Let’s begin. Let’s tend the soil.
Let’s plant seeds of change together.
Explore regenerative leadership, culture transformation, and team learning that connects people to purpose and to life.
🌿
With warmth and wild hope,
Anna
