Welcome to Nourished Root

Welcome to Nourished Root

DECEMBER

Theme of December

Miracles in Darkness

Winter is the season when Nature is guiding us into the fertile darkness of winter’s deep restorative rest and magick. 

This is the lunar time of the year with the most yin energy. The nights are the longest of the year. Everything slows down including our metabolism and the growth of plants around us. The Earth may be covered by a blanket of snow, and in the soil, seeds dream and plants conserve their vitality in their roots, waiting patiently for the quickening
  of Spring before extending their energy out once more.

By practicing what Winter is modeling, we learn to cultivate deep, restorative practices such as yin yoga, meditation, shamanic journeying, dreamwork. 

The herbs that can support us in this time are consciousness-shifting herbs, nervines and herbs for sleep, relaxation and dreaming so our brain waves can slow as we sleep deeply, repairing and rejuvenating our bodies.

We may have healing work to do in these months as many of us have been conditioned to attribute our self worth to our productivity. Notice any resistance or anxiety that comes up around your rest practice and lovingly lean deeper into it. It is time to unravel the old stories of modern culture that capitalize on our sense of urgency and not enoughness.

You are enough. There is nothing you need to do. You can rest. Rest is sacred. Like the Earth, there is a time when we need to lay fallow. Our creativity needs the darkness of the void. Our culture needs us to say no. Our Earth needs us to slow. Our souls bloom when we can just be.

In these months, we realize that rest is a revolutionary act. That rest is a form of resistance against capitalism. That rest is also non linear and poetic. That rest is physiologically healing and spiritually renewing.

While this is our time to push past the resistance and go into the darkness, we must also be aware that our guiding lantern inside needs not be forgotten. This small light in the dark is illustrated in the symbol of the yin yang, in the thin sliver of a crescent moon or a starlit dark sky, in the flickering candle that illuminates the dark. We balance the yin energy by staying warm and supporting our circulation with daily, gentle movement, sauna, dry brushing, etc. Winter is a time we can go into stagnation and depression if we do not feed the flame inside and connect to the light outside of us. As we descend into the roots, we connect to our ancestors.

Imagine life for humans without modern appliances -- while for our minds that reality feels far away, our bodies remember laying on fur, our hands crafting, our souls storytelling and dreaming. Imagine how precious the fire was that kept them warm, how present they were to keeping the coals hot through the night. Imagine what would happen if they let their fire go out!

Winter is a potent time for ancestral healing, shadow work, storytelling, crafting, dreaming and self care.

To embody and master these energies, we strive to mimic the Winter season every night by tending to our sleep and every month by going within and deeply focusing on rest during the dark moon.

When we are asleep in this world, we are awake in another

 - Salvador Dali

MIRACLES IN DARKNESS

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MIRACLES IN DARKNESS 〰️

RECIPE: Chamomile Comfort Warm Mylk Tea

This simple and delicious recipe is a staple in my house. It feels like a warm, creamy, sweet hug of peace, protection and love. I love to drink it as an after dinner sweet and relaxing drink. The Chamomile supports digestion, relaxes the mind, eases worry and anxiety, opens the heart and supports self love. This is also a wonderful drink for children, helping them go to sleep and calm down especially if they are wound up, sad or anxious. It is so soothing. 

Ingredients:

  • 1Tea bag of chamomile tea (or)

  • 1 Tablespoon loose chamomile flowers

  • Optional: pinch of lavender 

  • 1 cup milk of your choice

  • 1 teaspoon local raw honey


To make:

Brew some chamomile tea very strong. 1 tea bag for ½ a mug. Or, if using dried chamomile flowers, infuse 2 tablespoons in an 8 oz clean jar with hot water from the kettle. The jar acts like a teapot and keeps the hot steam in for a better extraction. Optional: add a very small pinch of lavender flowers to the chamomile as it infuses. 

After 10-20 min of steeping, fill a mug halfway with the steeped tea. Fill the other half with equal parts warmed milk of your choice and a teaspoon of honey. Froth, garnish with lavender or rose flowers, enjoy. 


Watch the December Visual Spell

Join the December Plant Spirit Meditation

Join us for a relaxing and profound morning meditation led by Steward Viviene Zehr Benjamin with White Sage. 

Prepare your White Sage/Salvia Apiana (can also use Garden Sage) by steeping 1-2 fresh leaves or a tsp. of dried leaves in nearly boiling water for 7-10 minutes then straining into cup.

Strain and be sure to discard the used plant material by giving it back to Mama Earth. 

Watch the Recording of December’s Plant Spirit Meditation

Decembers Movement Practice

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