About Carolyne Marie​

For much of my life, I have been asking a question:

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Is there a more thoughtful, connected way to raise our children, approach our relationships, and live our lives?

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That question has taken me through classical education, homeschooling, psychology, newborn care, Eastern philosophy, and Conscious Parenting.

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It has challenged beliefs I inherited, changed the way I understand relationships, and taught me that even the most powerful wisdom means very little until we begin to live it.

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I'm Carolyne, and this is the journey that brought me to Roots2Leaves.

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A mother, an educator, and a lifelong seeker

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In 2000, I began homeschooling my son. What started with kindergarten grew into a K–12 educational journey and some of the most meaningful years of my life.

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Classical education became a passion. I explored the Great Books, Charlotte Mason, Thomas Jefferson Education and different approaches to learning, always searching for ways to honor curiosity, individuality, and a child's natural desire to understand the world.

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I was willing to question conventional education because I believed there could be another way.

But parenting taught me something that no curriculum could.

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We can spend years learning how to guide our children while overlooking the expectations, fears, and patterns that shape how we respond to them.

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Our children have an extraordinary way of revealing us to ourselves.

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When my homeschooling years came to an end, I continued working with young people through college counseling, tutoring, and mentoring.

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In 2015, I also began supporting families through overnight newborn care. Those quiet hours gave me another perspective on parenting: the vulnerability of new beginnings, the pressures mothers carry, and the importance of helping parents trust themselves as they get to know their babies.

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Each chapter deepened my interest in the same question: What helps people grow into who they truly are?

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The discovery that changed my direction

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In 2020, I discovered Dr. Shefali Tsabary's work.

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Her teachings brought together two areas that had long interested me: Western psychology and Eastern wisdom.

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They also challenged me to examine something much closer to home.

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I had spent years searching for better approaches to parenting and education. Now I was being invited to look more deeply at the person doing the parenting.

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What was I bringing into my relationships?

Which expectations were truly mine, and which had I inherited?

Where was I confusing love with control?

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And what might become possible if I could recognize my own patterns before reacting from them?

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I completed Dr. Shefali's Conscious Parenting Institute certification in 2021 and returned for additional training in 2024. Her work became an important foundation for Roots2Leaves, alongside my background in psychology and my ongoing study of the Tao and other philosophical traditions.

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But perhaps the most important lesson was this:

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Finding wisdom is not the difficult part. Living it when life becomes uncomfortable is.

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And I am still practicing.

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500 books. One hope for mothers.

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For years, I have wanted to share what I was learning with other mothers.

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While supporting families through newborn care, I began giving mothers copies of Dr. Shefali's books. I personally shared 250 copies with clients and eventually purchased 500 books to continue putting this wisdom into the hands of mothers.

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I wasn't simply trying to introduce a parenting method.

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I hoped that a passage might help a mother feel understood. That it might invite her to see herself or her child differently. That it might open a conversation she had never had before.

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I also created two Words of Wisdom to Mothers videos, drawing from The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family. My husband composed the music that accompanies them, making these projects especially personal to me.

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But over time, I came to understand that handing someone a powerful book is only the beginning.

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We need spaces where we can question what we read, explore what resonates, talk honestly about what challenges us, and learn how to bring new understanding into everyday life.

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That realization helped shape the Roots2Leaves you see today.

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The books are still part of my journey. Now, they are also an invitation into conversation and connection.

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Why Roots2Leaves exists

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Roots2Leaves first took shape in 2020, bringing together my work with children and families.

As I grew, the meaning of the name grew with me.

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What happens beneath the surface affects what eventually grows.

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In parenting, the behavior we see is often only part of the story. Beneath it may be fear, unmet needs, inherited expectations, or patterns we have carried for years.

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The same is true in our adult relationships.

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When we begin to understand what is happening beneath our reactions, we create room for a different response.

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Today, Roots2Leaves brings together Conscious Parenting, relationships, and community through free book circles, focused workshops, eight-week intensives, and private coaching.

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My role is not to tell you what to believe or how to live. It is to offer perspective, ask meaningful questions, challenge assumptions when they deserve to be challenged, and create a supportive space in which you can discover what is true for you.

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We begin with awareness. We deepen through practice. And we grow through connection.

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