October Reflections & Halloween Recipes

Happy Hallow’s Eve! Halloween has always thrilled me and though I won’t be dressing up this year I am really looking forward to the festivities. Tonight I’ll be taking my two year old niece around the neighborhood for her second Halloween and I can’t wait to see her face as we come up to each door…I’m going to make these fun raw chocolate nut butter cups by Ashley Pitman so that we have some options for candy that aren’t full of refined sugar and won’t keep her up all night.
October seemed to fly by but at the same time I packed alot into it. It was a great month with a focus on self observation and inner/outer cleansing. I did my second round of the Yogi Detox with Cate Stillman and I have to say it was so much easier the second time making the whole experience completely joyful and nourishing. Cate gives the participants so much information, inspiration, and support that it is not a difficult cleansing experience by any means, but at the same time I can see how each time you do it it becomes simpler and simpler. Easeful.  Next spring I hope to get my family more on board, though this year my husband made the switch to morning smoothies with kale in them from black tea and granola bars for breakfast so that’s a start. And my son has given up dairy milk and cereal for homemade almond milk and sprouted buckwheat granola which is doing wonders for the chronic winter sniffles he seems to get each year.
As well October was Illumination month, which is a process I look forward to all year. For the last four year’s I have run an Illumination Series in some form or another and this year we had fifteen participants who really made a full hearted effort. In the Illumination Series we use daily meditation, yoga, journal work, and inquiry to help us illuminate our patterns and behaviours. It is a month of focused effort and self observation, and community support that we undertake in order to assist in making powerful intentions regarding our health and wellness in every area of our lives. I always get a huge amount of inspiration out of the Illumination Series and it prepares me to head into the winter season with clarity and renewed intention. This year was no different and I am excited to work on the projects that were inspired by this year’s work and to see what a winter of committed effort can produce. Keep posted for some exciting new offerings for 2012!
So now we are heading into November, which will be a quieter month for me in regards to teaching meaning I can focus on creative work for next year, and studying. I am one month in to my Living Ayurveda Course with Cate Stillman and loving it. Our first month of study focused on learning about the elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Ether) and the 20 Gunas of Ayurveda, as well as the Doshas. Now we are getting into Agni (digestive fire), and Ama (toxins, waste) and learning tongue diagnosis. I have always enjoyed the theory of Ayurveda as it is so congruent with yoga and am so thrilled to finally be getting a chance to dive deeper into it.
It is a glorious cold and sunny day here in Tofino and I’ve got to get back out to the beach so I’ll sign off now but here is a final recipe from Ashley Pitman again for a warm spiced Pumpkin Chai. I’m going to make a mug of it to take out trick our treating tonight for sure! Have fun.