“You are not alone.” - The Face of Boe, Doctor Who
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Blog posts tagged in self care
And sometimes there’s nothing quite like the familiarity of a ritual you’ve attended every year, for half a dozen years, knowing that you’ll be attending the very same ritual half a dozen more.
I know that many will agree with me when I say that 2018 has been rough. As this year draws to its conclusion, I’ve been looking through old journals and have taken note of previous entries. 2016 was confusing and filled with alarm. 2017 was a fighting and frightening year. And 2018… Well. We’re just tired now.
“As candles burn and bells jingle, 
Remember the dark and the quiet.
They are the reason for the season,
And should be held as dear.”
—Kay Holt
As I have noted in other recent posts, the bustle of the winter holiday season often seems completely at odds with the natural inner pull towards quiet and stillness in the winter. December offers us a quiet invitation for stillness and contemplation.
How do you balance the twin pulls of the season? The go and do in the sparkling lights with the withdraw and hibernate in the dim cave?
One way I have been coping, perhaps counterintuitively, is by making sure I do things that I "don't have time" to do. Sometimes that sensation of not having time is the most reliable indicator there is that you need exactly what it is you are saying you don't have time for! Those are often the very things that replenish my spirit and leave me smiling.
How do you balance the twin pulls of the season? The go and do in the sparkling lights with the withdraw and hibernate in the dim cave?
One way I have been coping, perhaps counterintuitively, is by making sure I do things that I "don't have time" to do. Sometimes that sensation of not having time is the most reliable indicator there is that you need exactly what it is you are saying you don't have time for! Those are often the very things that replenish my spirit and leave me smiling.
I've continued to go semi-regularly to a yin yoga class in a nearby town. Even though I practice yoga by myself every 
morning and have for eighteen years, it is really nice self-care treat to go to this class.
morning and have for eighteen years, it is really nice self-care treat to go to this class. I have also been going to a weekend art circle facilitated by a good friend. At the second circle we drank homemade hot chocolate and colored pictures in a blanket fort. I even just laid flat on the floor on a pile of pillows in the blanket fort for a while doing nothing. It was so nice!
Breathe deep.
Stay open.
Expand.
Reach.
Feel.
Breathe more.
Return to your center.
Stay open.
Expand.
Reach.
Feel.
Breathe more.
Return to your center.
Let’s Check-in
Hey. How are you doing? Are you taking care of yourself? Are you feeling okay?
I apologise to Anne and the wonderfuls of Pagan Square for an absence of nearly two months. But it really has been a wild ride since the August eclipses. If you think that those living outside the US are not interested in the country's politics, prepare to rearrange your throughts.
My sister-in-law, who is living with 'no further treatment' cancer was glued to the Kavanaugh hearings in Northern Ireland. A friend in Birmingham, England apologised for not being able to PM, because she watching them on BBC Live. Basically, the women of the world were triggered by all the news emanating from the land of my birth in September and early October. So, too, were many men, who came out admitting their own sexual assaults on Facebook.On so many levels people experienced every single stage of grief.
...I touch the earth and offer gratitude
for this land I call home.
I reach towards the sky and offer gratitude
for sun, moon, and stars.
I place my hand on my heart
and breathe deep, offering gratitude
for all that I am and all that I have
and for the many blessings of my life…
As we reach the celebration of First Fruits, Lammas, on August 1 (or August 7), it is a beautiful time to reflect on the abundance in your life, the bounty around you, and that which you are harvesting or savoring.
