I don’t know about you but I feel like this has been the longest Spring I’ve ever encountered. It’s been rainy and mildly cool days and nights. I was looking for grounding on a particular misty day and decided to forage some newly bloomed white clover buds. I grabbed a basket and headed out to the backyard under my maple for cover and started my tedious task of picking.
I picked for an hour or so and got a lot of clover flowers. I decided to dry them and create a nice, refreshing glass of tea…in a few days. LOL!
Update: I never finished my post!
White Clover tea is delicous and tastes like honey and sweet flowers. I highly suggest it cold with no extra sweetener. I hope you remember to find some the next time you’re enjoying Spring in nature. Just make sure it’s away from car exhaust and animal or people pee.
Top: The clovers are washed, spin dried, and placed on a clean towel to dry a few days. Bottom: My dried clovers and tea💖 This is the most refreshing non caffinated tea. Oh yeah! There’s also added medicinal benefits😃
I have been struggling! This weather has been chilly, rainy, gloomy and I’m feeling it in my soul. Yes, I do agree one day of hearing rain hit the swollen puddles, the overcast sky void of sunrays is inviting to stay inside and pull out a good book. I can only take so many days of gray hibernation. My bones are sad.
Exiting home and exploring is my sanity.
After many months of exploring and getting to know myself, I find that doing the opposite of my dosha, Kapha, I will be balanced and able to stay active and happy.
Rain, rain, go away…. but thank you for nourishing my beautiful plants.
First, I find being by myself exhausting because I am a needy, easily distracted person. I need other people around me and working from home kind of misses that attraction. I will get out of the house and see my friends. Even if for a few hours of chatting over tea or going to lunch. I need to vent or listen to my friends vent, I love human interaction and feeling my serotonin release 🙂 I’m telling you there is nothing like feeling the love you have for someone and knowing they feel the same and makes you attentive to the care you put in those relationships.
High tea with my bestie!
I do love being outside and find myself working on my back deck most afternoons enjoying the sun’s rays. I love to sit and meditate surrounded by the sounds of the bird joyous songs. I just adore the wind blowing its energized currents through my hair and enveloping my body with Earth’s pranayama. I feel so loved and cared for by the beauty of life available for free. This my friends, is true oxytocin release. Explore your nearest tree and sit, total game changer.
She was bragging, hanging in the sun rays while I worked last year.
This is weird to write and even worse to know that I enjoy it, but I explore my hunger. So, when Kapha is high outside, like right now because it’s spring (think cool, wet, damp, ew) I tend to want to explore hunger. I will typically skip breakfast unless my stomach noises are hurting me. They usually don’t on these days, so I’ll eat my lunch at noon – 1pm. It’s really not that bad as it sounds. I do listen to my body and have so much respect for it, I’ll test its limits though. But, at lunch time I will make it a taste sensation. I utilize all six tastes: sour, sweet, pungent, astringent, salty, bitter. I look forward to my lunch and when it contains all 6 tastes you will feel satisfied and an added bonus of dopamine.
The quickest way for me to get all my nutrients is to wrap it up and dip it.
One of my last Kapha balancing techniques is yoga. Yes, my favorite self-healing practice. So typically, the last thing I want to do in this sad weather is move and groove. What I want is not what I need. So, I will get out of my head and get onto my mat. I need a challenge and challenge I will get. I yoga stretch, twist, chaturanga, bend my way into endorphin euphoria. I find myself always getting better in positions and strength which brings me such a release of endorphins that keep me going into the next pose.
My daily grounding practice.
These are my most healing practices to help boost my brain chemicals and keep me sane. It’s been raining constantly for 3 days, and I do not feel like being mean to people or feel like staying in bed and pouting. I am feeling useful, healthy, and balanced. I would suggest you explore your world and use it as medicine to heal. We have exactly what we need, right where we are, the first step is exploration and curiosity. I’m so blessed to be here in a safe place and with the best headspace during these rainy days. Stay blessed, friends!
This was created 5/7/22 but in my pending file😅 I’m not 100% sure where I was going with this. Maybe a week in the life? Enjoy❤️
Tuesday was the day I began my new morning yoga practice and practice I did! Post meditation. I started with exploring slowly sun salutations. I connected fully and held the positions for 5 breaths. I pushed myself to all edges even beginning in mountain pose (standing pose). I spread each toe and meticulously placed them down in perfect formation. I could feel each ridge in my foot and felt completely grounded and ready to begin my practice.
Mr. Baby loves yoga.
I allowed myself time to practice shoulder stands, plow, headstands, crow pose. I’m definitely loving the time I take to explore each pose. I do find if I record myself, I have something to help guide me into the correct alignment if I’m doubting myself or at least away from hurting myself. Safety is number one always. Especially when you are by yourself.
Idk about you but I always love to make time for a long savasana. I do love to meditate either guided or silent but it’s such a great intunement time. I appreciate lots of opportunities to meditate, especially in the morning. I am blessed to enjoy a free symphony of birds in my backyard. They serenade me while eating their seeds.
It’s Wednesday and I didn’t do a morning yoga session. I instead walked my dogs by the river and let them frolic in the tall grass. They literally had smiles the whole time. They really love being dogs. I was going to get my paddle board out and float at the lake with my dogs but I had some things around the house I needed to get accomplished and there will be a whole season devoted to such days 🙂
I found myself studying my herbalism lessons and organizing my kitchen. There were lots of little tasks to complete and I’m proud to announce they were all completed. This was definitely an accomplished day for me, and I was able to stay grounded and focused on my goals.
It’s crazy how fast Thursday showed up, but it was another day of no yoga. I’m kind of lost on how to begin my journey into Ashtanga. I have a book, “The Power of Ashtanga Yoga” by Kino MacGregor, that I love but I need to reread it to get me motivated on how to start. I can also pull up a practice on YouTube. A full Ashtanga session is 90 min of amazing breath practice and amazing human forms. So beautiful!
After dinner, I had to work on my weekend farmers market plan and measurements on how much to prepare. I’m also exploring ways to utilize my lemon and limes after I squeeze them besides composting them. I feel like it’s a waste to just compost them when they have such good medicine left. I can’t wait to see how this turns out!
Fun in the sun 🙂
My last day of the typical work week, Friday, is among us. I had to wake up early and begin juicing my lemons. I decided to soak my lemons in vinegar to create an amazing kitchen/bathroom spray. I love the benefits of vinegar which disinfect and clean with no streaks and then to combine with my used lemon carcasses and added extra scent and antimicrobial benefits with thyme and rosemary. I literally cannot wait! I juiced 20 lbs of lemons this morning. Winning!
Self-Diagnosed Yogi 