It is mid-September, and outside my window the tall grasses have browned, their golden seed heads waving gently in the late afternoon breeze. I can see the green of the aspen leaves beginning to change their colour, and fall to the ground. The days have been slowly shortening since midsummer, but it is always right […]
One of the very first Ayurvedic practices that I ever learned was the nourishing practice of abhyanga, or anointing the body with oil. This is a practice that can be done at any time of the year, but it is one that I particularly love to indulge in during the autumn season. The Ashtanga Hrdayam, […]
August breaks my heart every year. Its ripe beauty cracks me open without fail, for it is such an achingly gorgeous month. A time of heat and harvest, earth and fire. The beauty of this month goes beyond the superficial for me. It is not just the blowsy wildflowers and golden light that makes it […]
Summer is a glorious season. Who can deny the joy that long nights and warm days can bring? Who doesn’t love the abundance of bright flowers and riotous gardens? If you live in the Northern Hemisphere summer is a short and welcome season after a cold winter and often long wet spring. Yet summer has […]
The summer solstice will occur on June 20th 2017 at around 9:30pm PST (Northern Hemisphere), and marks one of the four major stations on the Earth’s yearly pilgrimage around the sun. The term solstice means “sun standing still”, from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere or sisto (to stand still or to stop). The name refers to the way in […]
The full moon of June 9th 2017 will occur at around 6am (PST) and you may see her rise in the night sky around 8:30 pm. This moon falls on a Friday, a day which has a long association with the Saxon goddess Frigg, and the Roman goddess Venus, or Aphrodite. Venus is the goddess of […]
Today we celebrate a new moon in Gemini. Gemini is a mutable air sign, ruled by the planet Mercury. When the moon is in Gemini practices such as storytelling and writing are enhanced, as is our desire to learn. Because a new moon (almost) always falls in the same sign that the sun is currently […]
Beltane is the name given to the pre-Christian Celtic fire festival that marked the entry into the summer season celebrated the fertility of the bright half of the year. The word itself likely comes from Old Irish roots and is said to mean “bright fire”, which is a beautifully evocative name for this cross-quarter fire […]
When the moon wanes my energy draws inward and I often feel overly sensitive. Practices that connect me to a sense of pleasure and sensuality always help me to maintain a connection between my mind and my body at this time and so I try to make space for them when I notice myself feeling […]
One of my favorite plants to gather in the springtime is the bud of the poplar tree. These resinous buds are rich in salicin, which your liver converts to salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. An infused oil made from poplar buds will reduce pain and inflammation and is excellent for sore muscles or rheumatic […]
