COUNTERPLAN
A collective end-of-the-year planning practice that challenges extraction and reclaims balance from the systems that try to keep us unsteady & unwellBeginning December 2025
Facilitated by Toi Smith
I’ve been thinking a lot about what we can do during these times.And when I say these times, I mean now when everything feels so chaotic, brittle, and untenable.When exhaustion isn't personal, but structural, and we can't just wellness it away.When we’re asked to hold too much and move too fast, and to make sense of the world while it keeps coming undone.Most of us are doing our best to make a life inside systems never designed for our thriving. And yet we keep reaching for balance, for breath, for meaning.I’ve found myself wondering:How do we plan a life when the world feels like it’s unraveling?
How do we make choices rooted in care, not control?
How do we resist extraction without losing our sense of direction?That wondering is how Counterplan was born.
WHAT COUNTERPLAN ISCounterplan is a collective ritual and a planning practice. It's a way to slow down, reflect, and design a year that challenges extraction and reclaims balance.You may think, because of how unstable and ungrounded these times feel, that planning doesn’t matter. That it’s futile, or even naïve, to make a plan when the world keeps changing shape.I think the opposite is true.
Well, actually, I know the opposite is true.Planning matters now more than ever because it’s how we stay rooted when the ground shifts.It’s how we reclaim direction from chaos, and how we remember that our agency, care, and imagination still belong to us.When I say Counterplan, I mean it literally.The state and its systems already have a plan for us:
-to keep us working, consuming, producing, surviving.
-to keep our time bound to profit and our attention bound to crisis.A counterplan is what we make instead.
It’s the practice of refusing to move only on the state’s terms.It’s a quiet rebellion of design: to shape our own rhythms, our own care, our own resistance.That’s what this work is about.Over four sessions, we’ll explore what it means to live otherwise, not through the logics of productivity, but through the lenses of relationship, rhythm, and resistance.Each gathering becomes both a question and a practice:How do we reclaim our time?
How do we care for one another?
How do we resist while staying whole?Together, these explorations form your personal 2026 Counterplan. A living document that guides how you’ll live, work, care, and resist in the year ahead.
THE STRUCTURECounterplan is designed with learning and questioning in mind, but also with sense-making, alchemizing, and collective witnessing in mind.This is a live, participatory container.Each session is a 90-minute virtual workshop (via Zoom) where we gather in real time—listening, reflecting, and creating together. You’ll:⟶ Meet and learn alongside fellow participants
⟶ Benefit from the collective’s insight and support
⟶ Walk away from each workshop with a new, tangible piece of your CounterplanBetween gatherings, you’ll receive:⟶ An audio reflection to ground you in the theme.
⟶ A short syllabus with readings or videos/podcasts to guide your noticing and integration before we meet again.We move at a rhythm that allows reflection, digestion, and creation to coexist. Each session builds on the last, transforming awareness into design and design into embodied practice.
WHO THIS IS FORThis is for the ones who feel the chaos but still deeply believe in possibility. For those who sense that exhaustion isn’t failure. It’s evidence of living inside systems that were never built for your thriving.It’s for people who want to live differently in a world that keeps demanding their depletion. For those who are tired of measuring worth through productivity. For those who see that the constant pressure to optimize, earn, and perform isn’t personal... it’s deeply political.Counterplan is for people who know that capitalism is not neutral, that the state’s version of stability requires our overwork, and that patriarchy depends on our endless caregiving and self-denial.It’s for anyone ready to imagine and practice another way. One that resists extraction and centers care, reciprocity, and rest as forms of refusal.It’s for people who crave ritual instead of resolution, reflection instead of productivity, and community instead of isolation.For those who want to root their planning in resistance — to turn planning itself into an act of defiance and repair.Counterplan offers a collective pause. A space to remember that your time, your care, your energy, and your resistance are sacred.
ABOUT THE ONE TENDING THIS SPACECounterplan is created and tended by Toi Smith. A writer, mother, and facilitator devoted to the work of awakening, truth-telling, and rebalancing.I'm a Black single mother raising four sons, and my life, like so many of ours, has been shaped by the tension between care and survival, between what I dream and what these systems demand. Through that tension, I’ve learned that balance isn’t a state you find...it’s a rhythm you practice.
Over the years, I’ve guided people through spaces that ask hard questions about how we live, what we value, and what we’re building toward.My work is grounded in the belief that reflection and resistance belong together. That our inner clarity and our outer action are part of the same practice.I built Counterplan because I know what it means to live at the edge of too much, and to still long for something steady, spacious, and true.This offering is an invitation to slow down, to root, and to begin again....together.
COST TO JOINCounterplan is offered on a sliding scale to make it accessible to more people. When choosing your payment option, please base it on your actual financial resources rather than your feelings about money.“At the end of the day, the sliding scale thrives on trust. Trust is a pretty amazing thing. I trust you to be honest in your assessment of your economic reality.” -Alexis J. CunningfolkOption 1
$95 → Alumni Rate
For past/current participants of my 10-month study groups Deconstructing Motherhood or Uprooting CapitalismOption 2
$135 → Early Enrollment Rate
This early enrollment rate is available through Friday, 11/21Option 3
$175 → Regular Rate
This rate is the regular rate to participate in CounterplanOption 4
$255 → Redistribution Rate
This rate is for you if you have expendable income, are able to comfortably meet your basic needs, and want to join that is more aligned with your resource levelOption 5
Pay What You Can → Black Single Mother Rate
This rate is for you if you’re a Black single mother, AND all of the other options to join Counterplan are cost-prohibitive
FAQsDo I need to attend live?
The live workshops are the heart of Counterplan; it’s where we gather, reflect, and create the pieces of our 2026 Counterplan. If you can’t attend a session, you’ll still receive the audio reflection, syllabus, and a short reflection guide so you can engage with the material in your own time.You won’t miss out entirely, but the depth of this work happens in real time, in the shared energy of the group, where insight and connection unfold together.Will the live sessions be recorded?
No. The live workshops are intentionally not recorded. These gatherings are meant to be honest, present, and unguarded. A space where people can speak freely without worrying about being replayed later.By keeping the sessions live-only, we protect the intimacy of the space and honor the real-time nature of the work.What if I can’t make all four sessions?
Each session builds on the one before it, so attending live is the best way to stay connected to the flow of the work. That said, life happens. If you miss a session, you’ll still receive the audio reflection, syllabus, and a short guide of the guiding prompts so you can move through that theme on your own time.You’ll still be part of the larger arc of Counterplan, even if you can’t be present every time we gather.Will there be a community or discussion space outside the live workshops?
No. Everything happens inside our live gatherings. There’s no forum, Slack, or discussion group to manage. This is intentional. Counterplan is designed to honor your time and your nervous system. All of the connection and reflection you need will happen in real time, together.How much time should I expect to spend each week?
You’ll receive an audio reflection and a short syllabus for each theme. These materials are meant to support your reflection between sessions, and together they'll require about 1 hour of your time. The live workshops are 90-mins every other Saturday.Live dates: 12/20, 1/10/, 1/24, 2/7Do I need to have studied or read anything beforehand?
Everything you need will be shared through the audio reflections and short syllabi. You don’t need to arrive as an expert, just as yourself, willing to reflect and tell the truth.What if I’ve already done a lot of work around capitalism, care, and resistance?
Perfect. This space will offer you time to integrate, to slow down, and to reimagine your next year through practice rather than theory.Do I need to buy anything special for this?
No, you don’t need to buy anything special. You can complete Counterplan with whatever you already have at your disposal...a pen and paper, a notebook you love, or a document on your computer.That said, you can choose to create a small ritual around it. Maybe selecting a beautiful journal or notebook just for this work, something that feels joyful to use and that you can stay in relationship with throughout the year as your Counterplan evolves.Is this like setting goals or New Year’s resolutions?
Not quite. While most end-of-year planning focuses on goals, productivity, and resolutions, Counterplan moves differently.This isn’t about fixing yourself or striving harder. It’s about pausing to reflect, reorient, and design a life that resists extraction and honors your capacity. We’ll still imagine what we want for the year ahead, but from a place of awareness, rhythm, and care, not pressure or performance.What’s your refund or cancellation policy?
I invite everyone to enroll with intention. When you join Counterplan, your payment covers the full duration of the experience. Because this is a live, time-bound offering, I don’t offer refunds if you’re unable to attend all four sessions. Please look carefully at your calendar before enrolling.Refunds are only available until Friday, December 12th.
JOIN COUNTERPLAN
COUNTERPLAN
A collective end-of-the-year planning practice that challenges extraction and reclaims balance from the systems that try to keep us unsteady & unwellBeginning December 2025
Facilitated by Toi Smith
In Summary:Counterplan is an eight-week, end-of-year planning practice that challenges extraction and reclaims balance.
We’ll meet four times live (Dec 20 – Feb 7) for 90-min virtual workshops.
Before each session, you’ll receive an audio reflection and short syllabus to help you prepare.
Each live gathering includes grounding, writing, and collective sharing, and you’ll create a tangible artifact for your personal 2026 Counterplan.
You’ll finish with four artifacts — The Year Behind Me, Your Resource Map, Your Care Web, and Your Praxis Plan — woven together into a living guide for balance, care, and resistance.
All sessions are live and not recorded, but if you miss one, you’ll receive the reflections and guiding prompts to explore the material privately.
The experience runs from December 20th through February 7th, with a closing reflection the week of February 10th.
Refunds are available until Friday, December 12th. After that date, all sales are final and no refunds will be issued once Counterplan has begun. Please enroll with intention and clarity.
At the end, you’ll walk away with your personal 2026 Counterplan.
If you're a Black single mother who would like to enroll at the pay-what-you-can rate, please email me here: [email protected]
Alumni! Welcome!
Thank you for choosing to journey with me again.
COUNTERPLAN
A collective end-of-the-year planning practice that challenges extraction and reclaims balance from the systems that try to keep us unsteady & unwellBeginning December 2025
Facilitated by Toi Smith
In Summary:Counterplan is an eight-week, end-of-year planning practice that challenges extraction and reclaims balance.
We’ll meet four times live (Dec 20 – Feb 7) for 90-min virtual workshops.
Before each session, you’ll receive an audio reflection and short syllabus to help you prepare.
Each live gathering includes grounding, writing, and collective sharing, and you’ll create a tangible artifact for your personal 2026 Counterplan.
You’ll finish with four artifacts — The Year Behind Me, Your Resource Map, Your Care Web, and Your Praxis Plan — woven together into a living guide for balance, care, and resistance.
All sessions are live and not recorded, but if you miss one, you’ll receive the reflections and guiding prompts to explore the material privately.
Refunds are available until Friday, December 12th. After that date, all sales are final and no refunds will be issued once Counterplan has begun. Please enroll with intention and clarity.
At the end, you’ll walk away with your personal 2026 Counterplan.
THE JOURNEYCounterplan is designed with learning and questioning in mind, but also with collective sense-making and alchemizing at the core.The way we do that is through a rhythm that allows reflection, digestion, and creation to coexist.Each session builds on the last, helping you transform awareness into design and design into embodied practice.Here’s how it unfolds:
Pre-Work Begins: Week of December 15, 2025You’ll receive an audio reflection and a short syllabus to begin orienting to the first theme: The Year Behind Me. This pre-work invites you to start slowing down and reflecting before our first gathering.
Session 1
Sat, Dec 20th | 3–4:30 PM ET
Theme: The Year Behind MeOur first live gathering takes place on the eve of the Winter Solstice, a natural moment of stillness and turning inward.Together, we'll reflect on 2025. We'll reflect on what sustained us, what we're ready to release, and think about how the year shaped us overall.You’ll leave with the first artifact in your Counterplan: The Year Behind Me.Then we pause for the holidays, time for rest and integration.
Session 2
Sat, Jan 10th | 3–4:30 p.m. ET
Theme: The Economy of Your LifeWe’ll examine how your time, labor, and resources are organized and valued, and begin redesigning their flow to reflect your real capacity and values.You’ll create Your Resource Map, the second piece of your Counterplan.
Session 3:
Sat, Jan 24th | 3–4:30 p.m. ET
Theme: The Web of BelongingWe’ll explore connection and reciprocity. How care moves through your life and what relationships keep you rooted.You’ll design Your Care Web, the third piece of your Counterplan.
Session 4
Sat, Feb 7th | 3–4:30 p.m. ET
Theme: The Work of Resistance & PossibilityChange doesn't happen in thought alone or without a plan. We’ll look outward, identifying how you want to engage in activism, disruption, creative defiance and possibility in 2026.You’ll craft Your Praxis Plan, the final piece of your Counterplan.
Integration: Week of February 10th
You’ll receive a closing audioreflection and gentle ritual prompt to anchor your Counterplan and carry it forward through the year.
What You Can Expect in Our Live WorkshopsEach Counterplan gathering is a live, virtual workshop where we make space for reflection, writing, and collective sense-making. You can expect a rhythm that feels both spacious and alive...part ritual, part conversation, part creation.Our time together usually includes:Grounding: We begin with a short grounding practice to help us arrive. Sometimes with a poem, music, or a moment of quiet.Reflection & Writing: I’ll guide you through prompts that help you explore the theme for that session. You’ll have time to write and create your artifact right there in the session.Collective Sharing: You don’t have to share out loud, but I’ll invite those who wish to reflect or speak, because listening to each other often opens something deeper for everyone.Integration: We close with a brief check-out or reflection to help you transition gently back to your day.You can expect a space that is grounded, creative, and real.
A space that honors both quiet introspection and collective wisdom.
You’re In.
Welcome to Counterplan.
Take a breath.You’ve just said yes to slowing down, reflecting deeply, and daring to imagine another way to live inside (and against) these times.Counterplan is a collective end-of-the-year planning practice that challenges extraction and reclaims balance from the systems that try to keep us unsteady and unwell.You’ve joined a circle of people who are choosing to plan as an act of defiance, reflection, and care.A welcome email with all the details is already on its way to your inbox.
If you don’t see it soon, check your spam or promotions folder.See You Soon,
Toi