Sylvain Todd was born and raised in rural Québec, where he was fortunate to be able to explore and nurture his love of nature and the arts early on, forming a modest environmental aid organization in elementary school, and developing skills as a writer, an artist and musician.

After completing high school and hitchhiking back and forth across Canada for some time, Sylvain pursued a career in the provincial parks system in north Ontario, but when political shifts eliminated the funding for jobs in that sector, he transitioned into the world of agriculture, soon discovering permaculture and falling in love with regenerative land-care and ecological restoration. He spent years travelling, working on farms, designing edible residential landscape installations, performing music and participating in activism focused on a variety of environmental and humanitarian ends.

Another lifelong fascination - prompted in part by his own struggles with neurodivergence, trauma, depression and anxiety - has been mental health, and in his thirties, Sylvain returned to school and became a licensed counsellor, focused on treating complex trauma and neurodiversity in adults. This was fulfilling for a time, but the desire to focus more on his unwavering passion for environmental and societal change meant that the strict requirements of being a traditional therapist increasingly felt limiting.

Soon enough, the time came that Sylvain closed his counselling practice to turn his attention to Soul and Soil, a project that integrates the elements of personal development, environmentalism and creativity - a more holistic and authentic expression of his humanity, more aligned with the change we need as individuals, as communities, and in the world at large. This project is founded upon the core understanding that we cannot heal ourselves without healing the natural world, and that we cannot heal the natural world without healing ourselves.

Through Soul and Soil, Sylvain uses his skills as a writer, artist, educator, permaculturist, counsellor and coach to provide multi-dimensional support services to those who dream of creating a better world - a beautiful, integral, regenerative world where much of the unnecessary suffering and inequity we see today is eliminated through conscious and concerted effort, motivated by love, hope, and faith in the capacity for society to change..

Training and Qualifications

Horticulture Technician Diploma - Algonquin College, 2011

Permaculture Design Certification - Verge Permaculture, 2017

Life Coaching Certification - Rhodes Wellness College, 2021

Professional Counsellor Diploma - Rhodes Wellness College, 2022

Sylvotherapy Certification - Alma Oasis, 2022

Clinical Trauma Professional Certification - PESI, 2022

Complex Trauma Certification - PESI, 2023

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Training - PESI, 2023

Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist Certification - PESI, 2023

Food as Medicine for Mental Health Professionals Certification - PESI, 2023

Brain-Based Strategies for Anxiety Certification - PESI, 2023

Somatic Trauma Healing Training - PESI, 2023

Parts Work for Trauma Specialists Certification - PESI, 2024

Polyvagal Theory for Trauma Recovery Certification - PESI, 2024