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How to create a personal Winter Solstice ritual
The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of sunlight and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s also the official beginning of winter! This day and the surrounding days are marked by celebrations around the world, reflected in the traditions of many cultures. Christmas is, of course, just one of the many celebrations that center around honoring light, nourishing ourselves, and being with loved ones. The strings of lights and candles that fill our homes are beautiful reminders that even in the darkest times, we each carry a light within ourselves. From an Ayurvedic perspective, the Winter Solstice is the height of Vata season. Vata energy, which is cold, dry…
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Sutika: existing in the space between life and death
There is a sanskrit term, sutika, that describes the time when the veils between this and other worlds are thin. Death is a time of sutika, as well as birth. A woman is said to enter sutika when she begins labor, and stays in that state for several weeks up to a year after her baby is born. In this state, she is less affected by the mundane aspects of reality. She has had a glimpse of the mysteries on the other side. In nature, fall is the season of sutika. It is in this transitional time when the fields are bare and the trees are shedding their leaves that…
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Sleep deeper: 8 Ayurvedic tips for a blissful bedtime routine
There is a heavy emphasis on morning routine in Ayurveda, but having an evening routine is also important. How we spend the last few hours of the day can have a big impact on our sleep, which is our body’s chance to clear toxins, restore and renew. Creating an evening routine shouldn’t be complicated. In fact, you probably have some kind of evening routine already. For example, making dinner, bathing, brushing your teeth or washing your face. If you do these things at a similar time every day, you may notice that your body starts to get sleepy as you go through these evening tasks. A good evening routine is…
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An inside look into my step-by-step Ayurvedic morning routine
A daily routine can be a lifesaver. It can also be something that adds unnecessary stress if we take it too seriously or follow it too strictly! Throughout my life I’ve fluctuated between having no routine and keeping to a very specific schedule. As an artist, there have been times in my life where it felt impossible to follow a routine – for example when I was working 12-hour days on film sets: some days the call time would be at 7pm and other days at 5am! However, over time I’ve learned that for myself, when my work is irregular and unpredictable, it’s even more important that I create some…
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How to create a Summer Solstice ritual
The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of sunlight, and the official beginning of summer. Traditionally, this day is celebrated in many cultures with fire ceremonies, dance, and rituals of fertility and abundance. Personally, I like to use the Summer Solstice as a time to both honor nature, and to turn inward and spend time with myself. For several years I’ve been setting my “New Year’s” intentions on the day of the Winter Solstice, and the Summer Solstice is a good mid-year check-in point to reassess and reconnect. From an Ayurvedic perspective, we always want to look at the qualities that we see showing up in nature, and try to…
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Align with the moon to find your most productive monthly routine
Something that’s come up for me a lot lately during the past few months of “home quarantine,” is figuring out how much rest I need, how much to push myself, and when to let it all go. With less external obligations, it’s actually been a beautiful opportunity for me to connect with the cycles of nature and live more in line with my own body’s energy. In last week’s post I wrote about how the energies of the doshas cycle through a 24-hour day. This week we’re taking a slightly broader view and looking at how the doshas cycle throughout the month, or through one lunar cycle. This post…
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How tuning into the natural rhythms of the day can support creativity
This week I want to give you another tool to support your workflow and creative process. Just as the doshas are present in different ways in each of us, the energies of the different doshas “rule” different times of the day. If we can work with this natural cycle of energy on a daily basis, rather than against it, we can start to feel like our work is unfolding naturally, rather than something we always feel like we’re pushing against. Before getting into this, I have to make a confession. I am one of those people who is obsessed with scheduling, and I always have it in the back of…
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Finding enlightenment in a time of quarantine
I’ve been thinking about what to say in these strange times of social distancing and self-isolating to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. I’ve found comfort in online communities and virtual gatherings in the last couple days, and I’m grateful we live in an age where all of this is so easy to do. But as important as it is to find ways to stay connected, this time is also asking us to isolate, and there is beauty in isolation, too. As an introvert, I’ve been finding a silver lining in the extra time alone. I am someone who is energized by time spent in my own company, and am…
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Are you brave enough to stand still?
This year started with an epic month-long cold that would not let up. I found myself struggling to balance the enthusiasm of wanting to jump on the 2020 bandwagon of goals and to-do lists with the needs of my body. I spiraled into a depressed and anxious state, overcome with frustration and doubts about my own worth. In the middle of this time, I wrote this journal entry at the top of a page: “Are you brave enough to let yourself rest? Are you brave enough to do only one thing at a time? Are you brave enough to listen to your body? Are you brave enough to stand still…