In spite of the 70 degree weather here, I found myself fighting a head cold for a couple of days last week. No matter what the weather, that always has me looking for extra comfort- room in my schedule, warm blankets, my favorite tea, etc. I have been focusing on starting my days gently instead of in a mad rush and, since I have two kids who need to get to school on time, that isn’t always easy. Bringing a little more intention to my morning routine has helped a bit. I even moved my early morning runs to later in the morning so that I could get some sunshine. Typically I enjoy the sunrise time, but last week called for some warmth!

How did your week go?


Welcome to week 8 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Surviving the cold with warmth and comfort: Making a nest

When I left my corporate job to be home with my kids, I struggled a lot with the experience of never being alone. I had a baby and a toddler with me everywhere I went and could be woken at any time during the night by one or both of them. I felt as if my new job had zero time off around the clock and there were no periods of time, awake or asleep, that were mine only. To help ease my overwhelmed soul, I began to think of our master bedroom as our sanctuary. The room is decorated in relaxing shades of blue and cream and toys are no longer allowed in. It is a relaxing harbor in the sea of kid-crazy that engulfs the rest of our home and I so need that.


Challenge for week 8: This week I want you to build a nest! Think about where you sleep at night and consider what you might do to make it feel just a little more cozy. Are your sheets and blankets soft and comfortable? What about your pillow- is it time for a trip through the wash or to buy a new one?

Here are some more ideas to get you started on creating your cozy nest:

• Bedding: Sheets, blankets, and pillow covers should always be soft and comfortable! I prefer flannel sheets in the winter but you have to buy good flannel or else it pills and feels like sandpaper. Check Costco, Amazon, or Overstock.com for good deals. 
• Lavender: The fragrance of real lavender is soothing and can help to make your space extra relaxing. Over the holidays I made a simple homemade lavender linen spray (try this recipe) for gifts. I also love the lavender laundry bags from Trader Joe’s (or make your own refillable bags with muslin bags and lavender flowers)- I toss them in the dryer with our sheets…ahhhhh. Avoid artificially scented products as their fragrance can be a little strong (and possibly toxic).
• Light: I know that the good ol’ incandescent bulbs that I have lived with this far in my life are soon to be extinct due to their inefficiency, but there is nothing even remotely calming about fluorescent or LED lighting. Lights with a dimmer can be helpful as are natural candles if you don’t have an allergy to them. I know that there are many people who can’t sleep without blackout curtains or shades to make the room really dark. I love waking up to a sunny room, though, so that is not for me. Make it work for you- pitch dark or simple privacy curtains, follow your preference. 
• Screens: Turning off backlight screens (TVs, iPads, computers, phones, etc.) an hour before bed can help you to unwind and sleep better. If you really don’t want to give up your favorite on-screen activity for that hour, at least consider keeping them out of the bedroom. The more technology-free your room the better, in my opinion!
• Music: Music can energize or relax you. After a busy day, I tend to prefer quiet. Sometimes, though, soothing music can help me to relax in the evening. Music or nature sounds may be something that you choose to add to your space or you may prefer quiet- it is up to you!

Try to do at least one thing to make your nest just a little bit more cozy this week!

~..~..~..~
As we move through this project, I would love to hear about your survival skills, struggles, and success in the comments or by email (you can reach me at getnatured@gmail.com)!

Don’t miss out! Subscribe to receive free Get Natured updates so you can be included in The Winter Project. The weather outside doesn’t have to be frightful! xoxo

Other ways to follow along:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram


*Important note: I am not a licensed mental health professional. This advice is not intended to take the place of therapy or medications. Please seek professional care if you are suffering from depression or anxiety symptoms.

This has been the strangest winter. While some of the country is experiencing a “polar vortex”, California is in full-blown drought mode. The temperatures have been in the 60s during the day and no rain is falling. As I write this, there are clouds in the sky and a small chance of rain in the forecast. My fuzzy socks and scarves are on standby, just waiting for the temps to dip back into winter!


Welcome to week 7 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Surviving the cold with warmth and comfort.

Now that we are all settled in and back to “normal” days, I have been thinking about how I tend to think of the cold season as time that I just want to get through quickly. It can be easy to forget the pleasures that can be found during the winter in favor of thoughts of warm island vacations and swim-up bars. One thing I know for sure is something that I wrote about when I reflected on turning 40 over the summer. That is this:

Some days will make you smile so big that you laugh out loud. Some days will break your heart. The days in the middle, the seemingly boring ones, are the currency of life. We spend them in our routines. They go by unnoticed. They are the place and the time we are living. They are Mondays and Thursdays and laundry days and grocery days. The repetition of them keeps us comfortable. Spend them all well because they matter more than special occasions.  

So, what pleasures are to be found in winter? How do we spend our days well and soak up joy even when it is cold and wet out?

My thought is that we create warmth and comfort in our lives. Everyone needs a little TLC and a little goes a long way when the small, happy things we do for ourselves accumulate in our hearts.


Warmth and comfort ideas:

• Create a ritual for greeting the day with self-kindness. It can be as simple as slowly making your favorite hot beverage and watching the sun come up while the house is quiet, going for a walk or run, making a healthy delicious breakfast, lighting a candle and choosing an intention for the day, or using handmade soap in a favorite scent to cheer you up in the shower. The point is to find a happy habit that you look forward to when you wake up.
• Soak: in an epsom salt bath, a hot tub, a mineral spring…whatever you have access to. This place is weirdly fantastic if you’re anywhere near Southern California or Las Vegas and up for a road trip!
• Find a good yoga class. Many classes are held in warm (if not hot) rooms. 
• Treat yourself to a massage or facial if it is in the budget. 
• If you can, sneak away from your normal work area and head to a coffee shop or public library reading room to work for part of the day. Find a cozy spot by a window if you can. 
• Have you made the Magic Mineral Broth that I keep mentioning yet? Here’s the 2.0 version with extra garlic- yum! Make it. Sip it by itself or use it for a big pot of nourishing soup. Your warm body will thank you. Bonus points if you also make homemade bread! This is a great one.
• If you’re going to be outside, don’t suffer through it- layer up! It is amazing the difference a soft scarf, hat, warm boots, and gloves can make. Stick to soft fabrics- itchy things are not comfortable!
• Flannel sheets...I don’t think anyone should live without them! 
• Just as you may have started the day with a wake-up ritual, try to close your day gently as well. Sip a hot drink or enjoy a square of good chocolate while watching your favorite show or reading a book by the fire or under a soft blanket. Choose something simple that you can look forward to at the end of the day.  

Challenge for week 7: Consider how you start and end your days and think about how you might make those times something that you look forward to. Think about what brings you warmth and comfort and add more of those things into your life.

Doing what you can to be comfortable when it’s cold out can make it possible for you to spend your winter time well. All of the little things that you do add up!

What is your favorite way to get cozy when it’s cold out? 

Happy New Year! 

Did you make any resolutions for 2014? I am all about simplifying my life by getting our home organized this year. We have closets to purge, digital photos to sort, and all things in between. When my home is neat, my brain feels it too.

How about last week’s challenge- did you find a little more movement? Start anything new?


Welcome to week 6 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Welcome to January!

This month's theme for the Winter Project is “Surviving the cold with warmth and comfort”.

To begin experiencing “warmth and comfort” in this time of mid-winter, it is important to do your best to support your physical health. Physical health and mental health are tightly connected and, for me, feeling rested, well-fed, and worked out makes all the difference in the world for my happiness.

We are back to our normal routine as of today. The kids are back to school and I have no more excuses for eating pie for breakfast! After the winter holidays, I always crave sugar and comfort foods more than I want to admit and I feel like I need to go into “detox mode” to reboot my system.

Challenge for the week: Ease some healthy foods back into your life. Start each day with a healthy breakfast (maybe a smoothie with a handful of spinach or plain oatmeal doctored up with fresh fruit and nuts). Try planning your meals for the week (at least for dinner), drop the sugary treats, brown-bag nutritious leftovers for lunch, and work on staying hydrated.

This is a good time to take another look at basic needs and make changes where there are struggles. I need to work on getting to bed at a decent hour and easing the sugary treats out of my evenings. I find that adding healthy foods back into my meals helps me to ease out the junk.


It doesn’t take much to convince me to wimp out on cooking dinner in favor of take-out at the end of a long day, though. Planning quick and easy (but healthy) meals helps to keep me on track.

My plan: I am not planning a “cleanse” or other common January detox diet. Instead, I have planned a week of healthy meals and will put a little extra time into cooking so that we have healthy, homemade foods. Eating and serving my family real food is intensely important to me so the extra time investment is worth it. This may not work for you- find what does. Whatever feels good to you is perfect.

Some ideas for making healthy food fast:

• Make a large pot of soup for dinner one night. Pour leftovers into individual serving containers like these (affiliate link) for grab-and-go lunches or dinners.
• Double recipes that can be frozen and put an extra pan in the freezer for another day (e.g. lasagna, pizza dough, enchiladas, casseroles, etc.)
• Use the same ingredients in multiple meals (e.g. tacos become taco salad or enchiladas; butternut squash can be roasted as a side dish, stuffed as a main dish, or pureed into a sauce; leftover roasted veggies make great tofu scrambles, frittatas, or can be used as pizza toppings).
• Make extras when cooking lentils, beans, rice, sweet potatoes, etc. These things can be put together for quick and easy salads or rice bowls.
• Double crockpot recipes and place extra portions in freezer bags. This makes for quick crockpot meals from the freezer.

I will also be putting some extra focus on getting more sleep and staying hydrated. In spite of the spring-like weather in California, I still don’t feel like drinking cold beverages.



Warm ways to hydrate:

• Green, white, rooibos, or herbal tea (maybe one of these homemade versions).
• Ginger tea (pour boiling water over grated or sliced fresh ginger. Let steep for 10 minutes or so then strain and drink. You can add honey or other sweetener or lemon juice to taste.)
• Homemade broth (try the Magic Mineral Broth) or clear soup. 
• Hot water with lemon and honey (or sweetener of choice), add a dash of cayenne for extra warmth.
• Homemade detoxifying mint tea (recipe here).
• Raw hot chocolate (this is natural but does have a high sugar content from the dates. Use sparingly as a treat! Recipe here.)
• Turmeric tea (bonus points for this one as the turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory! Recipe here.)
• Warm almond milk steeped with chai spices (use your favorite milk).

Remember, happiness is cumulative! Find what works for you to nurture your physical health and know that whatever feels right to you is just perfect. xo

~..~..~..~
As we move through this project, I would love to hear about your survival skills, struggles, and success in the comments or by email (you can reach me at getnatured@gmail.com)!

Don’t miss out! Subscribe to receive free Get Natured updates so you can be included in The Winter Project. The weather outside doesn’t have to be frightful! xoxo

Other ways to follow along:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram


*Important note: I am not a licensed mental health professional. This advice is not intended to take the place of therapy or medications. Please seek professional care if you are suffering from depression or anxiety symptoms.

How have you nurtured your basic needs over the last week? Are you finding ways to get the sleep and care you need? It can be extremely difficult to keep up good habits this time of year. Do your best to eliminate what is working against you (lack of sleep, junk food) and add in things that will help you build joy (exercise, nourishing foods).

Keep up the great work- all of the good you do adds up!


Welcome to week 3 of The Winter Project!
(What is The Winter Project?)

Finding joy in the holidays: Leisure time

In spite of the modern conveniences that are designed to make us more productive, we have less and less time to simply relax these days. All of our things need to be maintained, cleaned, insured, stored, checked, updated, etc. The more “conveniences” we have, the less we have of what we really need- time.

With all of the extras on our to-do lists this time of year, it is easy to start feeling anxiety about having only fragments of time to do anything at all. When you finally do get a moment or two to yourself, you may find that you have forgotten how to relax or that you spend all of your downtime trying to decide what you want to do! Having an idea in mind that sounds deliciously restful can help you to make the most of your time.

Challenge for the week: Make a list of your favorite ways to spend downtime. They can be big or small- the point is to find ideas that give you energy just thinking about them. Looking forward to your favorite things can help you make the most of leisure time. Try to find a little time each day this week to rest, recharge, and reflect. It doesn’t need to take hours- even a few minutes can help press the reset button. Since happiness is cumulative, even little bits of time to exhale and take a break can do wonders for keeping the peace in your mind.

My list of juicy, winter downtime goodness:

My plan for the week: I will be making homemade (hands-on) Christmas gifts, watching holiday movies, reading a daily Advent book, listening to a serious page-turner of an audiobook while I’m doing chores and walking the dog, having a massage, and taking a family walk under the full moon.

What about you? What makes your heart smile?

~..~..~..~
As we move through this project, I would love to hear about your survival skills, struggles, and success in the comments or by email (you can reach me at getnatured@gmail.com)!

Don’t miss out! Subscribe to receive free Get Natured updates so you can be included in The Winter Project. The weather outside doesn’t have to be frightful! xoxo

Other ways to follow along:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram


*Important note: I am not a licensed mental health professional. This advice is not intended to take the place of therapy or medications. Please seek professional care if you are suffering from depression or anxiety symptoms.

How are you doing with connecting with the season? Have you found any new joys?

Welcome to week 2 of The Winter Project! 
(What is The Winter Project?)

This week we are going back to basics!

Finding joy in the holidays: Nurturing your basic needs

We are all familiar with the concept of the hierarchy of needs. We must do basic arithmetic before we learn calculus; food and shelter before fancy cars and trips abroad. Consider these basic needs in your life and think about how fulfilled you feel in each of these areas.

Don’t forget, happiness is cumulative! These things work together to keep you healthy and happy.

Consider these basic health needs and areas where you might need a little more focus:

Questions to ask yourself: Overall, how do you feel? Which areas are difficult for you to keep in balance over the holidays?

My plan: I will focus in getting to bed early enough to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep. I’ll keep up with my exercise routine and not let workouts drop over the holidays. I’ll make sure to take a few yoga classes too. I’ll support my immune system with healthy clean food including a few new and old favorite things: magic mineral broth, green smoothies or juice, big ol’ salads, and soups like this immunity soup.

How will you nurture yourself through this season? 

 ~..~..~..~
As we move through this project, I would love to hear about your survival skills, struggles, and success in the comments or by email (you can reach me at getnatured@gmail.com).

Don’t miss out! Subscribe to receive free Get Natured updates so you can be included in The Winter Project. The weather outside doesn’t have to be frightful! xoxo

Other ways to follow along:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

*Important note: I am not a licensed mental health professional. This advice is not intended to take the place of therapy or medications. Please seek professional care if you are suffering from depression or anxiety symptoms.

It is no coincidence that Pinterest and other social media outlets start to fill up with posts about pumpkin recipes in the fall and summer bucket lists in June. Tying our rituals and traditions to the seasons connects us to the world around us and brings new joy all through the year. Every season has its own routines, in the world and in our homes. I do my best to make my favorite seasonal things traditional and spend plenty of time in nature to observe the natural change and pace of things.

Don’t forget, happiness is cumulative! 

Try these ways to embrace the season and keep your joy bank topped up:

1. Food: Make something delicious but healthy, with warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or cayenne. Think about using fresh seasonal ingredients like cranberries, squash, root vegetables, or mandarin oranges. Try:

*More recipes here, here, here, here, here.


2. Nature: Bundle up and spend some time outside. Explore with each of your senses noticing smells, sights, sounds, feelings, and the taste of a hot drink. Go big and go skiing, snowboarding, sledding, or snowshoeing or simply take a walk around your neighborhood. Some playful things to try:

3. Crafts or projects: Handmade holiday gifts are my favorite thing to give and receive and the decorations made by my kids are hands-down the most precious on our tree. This month we will be making gifts as well as ornaments for our Christmas tree. I am also using an advent calendar with daily holiday fun ideas that I wrote so we stay connected to the joy of the season. In addition to gifts and decorations, we also make sun catchers this time of year: