A verse of Gratitude

I get comfort from my daily rituals. My daily yoga practice keeps me grounded, my morning tea gives me comfort, my evening bath nurtures me, evening reading time with my kids makes me feel connected. Without these rituals I would feel scattered and ungrounded. Rituals are a daily necessity for well being. For these reasons our daycare children experience daily rituals. Lighting a candle before meals is a great example of this. The flame of a candle is warming and magical, it's light is a reflection of the light that lives within all of us.
Before each snack and lunch we light a candle.

To begin we start with this verse:
"Little candle shining bright, share with us your golden light".

We always show gratitude with blessings for our food.
This months blessing goes as follows:

Children hold hands around the table

"Thanks to the Earth,
thanks to the sun
thanks to the rain
for all they have done
to bring me my food
so strong I will grow
and loving in life
From my heart I will
show.

Blessings!!!
we raise our hands to the sky :)

Please share with me your favorite rituals. The ones that nourish your soul and keep you steady on your feet.

Going Within

Leaves are falling, the earth is getting colder and the days are getting shorter. It's that time where we get warmth from hot tea, soups and cozy sweaters. In this time of change there is a feeling of going within and self introspection. In many traditions this time is reflected by opening a space for letting go of something unwanted. In the dark months of winter we work on this intention until Spring where we work on bringing something towards us. I've been thinking a lot about what I intend to work on for this cycle. As of late I have been feeling a strong pull towards being present with the little people in my life. When I am present to their emotional needs they are more grounded, things are calmer, they flow freely and more peacefully. So in this time of change I choose to let go of my stresses of the future and my stresses of the past and come into the moment and give birth to a new me in the present. I understand that when I am present to others and myself it is a true gift of love.

Gratitiude

Life is precious.
There is a pulse within.
Close your eyes, feel, breath and observe
that space of infinity.
Open your eyes and feel that
same infinite pulse that surrounds us all.

Pumpkin Muffins

The air is getting cooler and the urge to bake has been strong. It's pumpkin season and I have been using these great big orange fruits to bake these wonderful, yummy muffins for the little ones. This recipe was given to me by my dear friend Michelle which was passed on from her grandmother.

2 cups flour (I use spelt)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup cooked pumpkin (or any kind of squash)(puree for best results)
1 cup sugar (or 3/4 cup of honey, maple syrup or fruit sweetener)
1/2 cup milk
1 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup of chocolate chips, raisins or nuts

Bake at 350

Feeling Alive and Well

If you can recall my summer post about swimming you know that I love the act of jumping into a lake. Well it's the beginning of October and I am still relishing the lake water against my skin. At this time of year the water is refreshingly, shockingly cold. I love the feeling of aliveness it brings to my being. The ritual of running towards the water and jumping makes me feel alive. As I run and jump in, I let go of my fears and allow the sensations to permeate through me. As I walk out of the air which was cool now seems warm and my extremities tingle with warmth as blood rushes to my extremities.
I love it!

Felted Balls continued

Between keeping up with daycare, nurture my own children, teaching yoga and my other endeavors I have managed to felt about 10 balls. Not the 15 I wanted but hey nobody's perfect.
After needle felting them I always wet felt them to give them that extra strength. Kids love playing in water so I figured why not do it as a group activity. They loved it!!! They loved squeezing the water out and so did the balls with every squeeze the fibers got stronger :)

They still need to go in the washing machine for yet some more strengthening :) So stay tuned for the end result :)

Pine cones

Nature provides us with many things such as food, air to breath and also craft supplies!!! Last week we went on a nature walk and under a great pine tree found pine cones nestled onto pine needles. We soon collected a basket, gave thanks to mother Earth and promised to make good use of them.

Our first project has been getting out the paint brushes and paints to paint our tree like friends.

A few days later I cut some lengths of felt and glued them to our decorative treasures. They now hang from our seasonal wreath which hangs over our kitchen table. When the children noticed their pieces of art hanging above they exclaimed in excitement and were very proud!