Speaking
Sarah Spencer – Speaker, Trainer, Facilitator
Sarah is often asked to speak at events on a variety of nature-inspired, regenerative topics. Her style is practical, relaxed and entertaining. She prefers to get the audience involved, allowing them to have their own Ah ha! moments, whether that be online or at events.
She is based in South Derbyshire but is available to travel. She also presents online and at festivals, WI groups etc.
Sarah has the following standard talks/workshops but can adapt to the audience, and to the time available. Approximate time per talk is 45 mins – 1.5 hours
These talks are available online or in-person.
Suitable for:
- Festivals
- Events
- Workplace wellbeing
- Schools
- Colleges and Universities
- WI groups
- Holistic therapy/wellbeing groups
Think like a Tree
Unlock nature’s secrets to health, wellbeing and living a good life
Have you ever stood in a forest and marvelled at how healthy, resilient, and long-lasting the magnificent trees are? That’s no accident – millions of years of evolution have laid the foundations, and all living things share common principles that make them successful. People, by contrast, have been around a mere 100,000 years and, in our current way of life, just a few decades. No wonder we have a thing or two to learn from our giant cousins. Like how slow and small solutions make us more likely to achieve our goals; how bending with the wind rather than fighting our fears and anxieties makes us more resilient; and how planning time to rest and pause, like those giant oaks do each winter, allows us to make best use of the energy and passions that we have.
In this workshop we will explore some of the natural principles, and look at how they can be incorporated in a design framework that can help us take control of our lives, our health and our wellbeing. And to ensure that we are being ‘good ancestors’ to future generations of people and to the other living beings that we share our planet with. Like you, every tree in a woodland is unique, so this process allows you to find your own way, guided by natural wisdom…
Sarah Spencer, author of Think like a Tree: The natural principles guide to life and Inspired by Trees: creative workbook, is passionate about trees, has created a woodland and forest garden and studied permaculture. She lives with chronic illness and uses nature’s principles everyday, in every aspect of life, sharing the wisdom of nature through courses and workshops. A network of Think like a Tree facilitators now share nature’s wisdom throughout the UK.
www.thinklikeatree.co.uk
Facebook: Think like a Tree
Instagram: @thinklikeatree
Thriving in challenging times
What can nature teach us in an era of uncertainty and change?
We associate woodlands, forests and other natural ecosystems with growth, connection, adaptation and resilience, but often struggle to experience these in our own lives – on a personal level, in businesses, organisations and workplaces, in our societies and with regard to our uncertain and changing world.
In this interactive workshop we will explore principles derived from nature and how we can learn from them in a real and practical way for the circumstances we currently find ourselves in.
You’ll discover what trees and other ecosystems can teach us:
- how trees can re-grow after trauma
- how they can be moulded by circumstances but re-establish their own growth habits when freed
- how their resilience is increased by co-operating and working together
- how they ask for support, and offer it too
- how they bend with the wind
- and how they manage their energy effectively to allow them to face adversity
We will also explore how we can use nature’s wisdom to be part of the solution to the world’s problems rather than becoming paralysed in the face of uncertainty.
Suitable for:
- Festivals
- Events
- Workplace wellbeing
- Schools
- Colleges and Universities
- WI groups
- Holistic therapy/wellbeing groups
Suitable for:
- Businesses
- Not for profit organisations
- Government departments
- Universities
- Sustainability events
Introduction to regenerative business and organisations
Discover how an ecosystem-inspired approach can help our business thrive
We will explore essential strands of success for regenerative organisations and the key shifts needed to transition from the outdated paradigm of organisations as machines to the new paradigm of organisations as living systems.
Learning from nature will change the world
Why a regerative approach is the only solution to the world’s problems.
Our human systems are new and vulnerable whereas Iiving systems are the only systems that have been proven to work long-term.
By learning from the ways that ecosystems grow, diversify, stay health and are resilient, we can grow new human systems that will endure.
Discover what this means for our economies, businesses and agricultural systems, and for our societies, and our own wellbeing.
With case studies from existing businesses, organisations and projects, who are leading the way and demonstrating that the future is regenerative.
Suitable for:
- Festivals
- Businesses
- Not for profit organisations
- Government departments
- Universities
- Sustainability events
Sarah’s bio:
Sarah’s experience in business, organisations, charities, social enterprises as an entrepreneur spans decades. The common thread is the purpose-led nature of her work, for people and planet.
Sarah started her career working as a legal representative for refugees and asylum-seekers. From 1994 to 2010 she worked for the UK’s largest refugee charity, representing clients in appeals and managing a team of Caseworkers. The high-stakes work was incredibly rewarding and her clients taught her much about resilience.
After the charity folded in 2010, Sarah turned to her passion for nature, studied permaculture (she holds a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design) and discovered a whole new world about how nature solves problems and approaches change and adaptability.
She is a founder member of Melbourne Area Transition, seeking community-led solutions to the problems we face, initiating project such as school food gardens, food festivals and a solar buying group.
She is a founder member, former chair and lead permaculture designer of Whistlewood Common, a community woodland social enterprise in south Derbyshire. As director and chair, Sarah guided the community-owned Community Benefit Society through startup, two share offers, business planning and new legal and regulatory processes.
She is a trained Forest School Leader and Mental Health First Aider.
Sarah is a perennial student – devouring hundreds of books and courses on nature-inspired and regenerative solutions, constantly looking for the common strands and solutions to problems that are faced by individuals, businesses, societies and the planet.
If there’s one thing that keeps her busy it’s finding solutions to problems, big or small, and then sharing them.
Living with a lifelong chronic illness, she turned her passion for nature into a career when she founded Think like a Tree in 2017. The illness has given her a unique perspective on how to balance work and life, and ideally how to ensure you adore your work so it doesn’t seem like work and you still want to carry on doing it even on the difficult days.
If you ask her why she does what she does she’ll say “There are so many problems in the world, and I know the solutions are out there, so I couldn’t not do what I do, sharing them with others”.
She is the author of Think like a Tree: the natural principles guide to life. She lives in south Derbyshire with her family on their smallholding where they have planted woodlands, forest gardens, veg gardens, orchards, dug ponds and rewilded areas. Wildlife has rocketed in their 20 year guardianship of the land.
Sarah’s latest passion is her campervan, Woody (named after Woody Guthrie) which she has renovated in quirky style from recycled materials and takes to festivals, sharing Think like a Tree.
"I take the underlying patterns and principles from the complexities of LIFE – the secrets to nature’s (and our) success - and put them into easy-to-use packages – books, workshops, programmes and talks."