Several years ago I had a kundalini awakening. The serpent uncoiled at the base of my spine and took me for a ride that would shape the rest of my life. It was exciting, scary as hell, and beyond earthly description. And, this ride lasted two years with me integrating it for the past 15 years.

Being a scorpio who loved sexuality and was actively practicing the mastery of my sexual energy I foolishly jumped on this enormous force and rode it for all it was worth throwing caution into the wind. Not only did this foolish unguided approach to a kundalini blowout almost blow out my circuits but the fear it caused from the sheer power of this energy shut me down. I became afraid of my sexual energy. Too big, too scary. It took me years to recover, but I never forgot what it taught me about our existence and interconnectedness with all there is.

When I finally got dropped back down to Earth I was immediately guided to go through schooling in the Taoist 5 element nutrition. I recognized the similarity of the teachings they received from nature with the experience I had. Everything is self similar-a fractal of it all.

I recognized the sexual life force energy that moved through the Earth’s body as self similar to our own. And I was shown how necessary it was to ground ourselves on this wave of energy at a manageable daily voltage.

Believe it or not the seasonal foods in our environment grounds us on this creative, transformative wave of energy that runs through the Earth’s body. Aligning with it supports us to clear blockages, heal and transform. I found it a critical piece in being able to ride out the intensifying energy that is coming through as we go through this collective transformation. It supports us to do our own personal transformation that is connected to the collective in a bite size piece, that is ours to heal. Not having this grounding and structure can easily create a tendency to leave our bodies and merge with a much bigger, more intense experience that is not manageable. It can easily put us on overwhelm and paralyze us.

The nourishment piece in our lives when aligned with the creative force of the great Goddess Mother Earth supports us to own ourselves in our entirety, transform and let die off what no longer serves us, and give birth to the new consciousness of our journey bite size piece at a time so we can integrate and embody her wisdom.

When we go through menopause, this life force energy rises like the wave through the Earth’s body. It moves through our own body as a fractal of hers. When we are blocked we have many discomforts, such as hot flashes as this wave of energy tries to clear the passage so we can embody her wisdom. Without obstructions we become the keepers of this wisdom, sharing this wisdom in its purity. This is why the elder women were so revered at one time and considered the true wise women.

When we live by this seasonal map and have allowed these obstructions to be dealt with as we dip into our shadows, just as nature dips into her winter, heal, restore, and create we are prepared for when the energy rises for our initiation into cronehood.

In the weeklong retreat Anyaa McAndrew and I will be offering April 8th-15th near Asheville, NC I will share more about this and support you to connect with the self similar reality, and how to ground yourself in it with how you nourish yourself. We will also address the self rejection that has transpired and keeps us from feeling worthy of self care, nourishment, and honoring of our own self similar wisdom. The map nature provides us, the nourishment the Earth offers us throughout the seasons is mastery of the Goddess, and she is asking us to bring her forth through us as she imbues us with her love. The time has come for us to feel worthy of receiving it starting with giving it to ourselves. Check out more details on Anyaa’s web site at www.goddessontheloose.com. if this interests you.

Seasonal eating runs deep and wide in our lives when we look beneath the surface.

I was at a gathering of women the other night. There was a sharing about how it looks and feels for the Divine Feminine to be showing back up in the world now on a collective and personal level. Each woman shared how she was breaking through in her own life. There was a theme of having to do the shadow work and clean up all the old stuff so she can emerge out of the shadows free from the wounding of a patriarchal era.

We discussed the need to embody the Divine Feminine in our lives grounded in her Earthly energy. This is where she is needed. This is where she is. She is not just an archetype in another dimension, she is the Earth herself. Her wisdom, and integration of the vastness of the Divine Feminine is who we are returninmg to, reclaiming, and honoring.

The movement to “save” the Earth is a noble one. However, it is still laced with the flavor of the patriarch. Women are becoming more empowered each generation. The fantasy of being saved by the white knight as we swim in our damsel in distress is rapidly becoming an antiquated fairy tale. It is no longer the desire of women to be saved. We have moved beyond that. We are saving ourselves through honoring ourselves.  We have moved into a recognition that to create balance and union we must have our wisdom honored. We are self similar to the Earth goddess. We are all made up of her very body. It is also true of her.

The Earth is not a damsel in distress waiting to be saved by those who separate themselves from her. It is quite the contrary. If we want to save ourselves we need to honor her wisdom. She is the one that will guide us through and open the door. She is reflecting back to us just how to do this with her seasonal map. All we need to do is pay attention to what she is offering seasonal course by seasonal course.

I have found that healing a collective wound that is carried by us all that keeps us trapped in a belief that we are unworthy runs parallel to nourishing ourselves by this wisdom. When we honor ourselves we honor the Earth, and when we honor the Earth we honor ourselves. The first step is taking the time to nourish ourselves aligned with her wisdom.

This winter has been an enormous gift for myself and many around me to do some deep shadow work. And as true to nature we are rising in spring to give birth to ourselves free from much of the unconscious behaviors from old wounding. Each winter us another opportunity to dive in and heal what we can. I so love how the seasons support us to heal while we nourish ourselves.

If this resonates with you and you would like support in this collective and personal journey, not just in recognizing the wisdom of nature in nourishing yourself, but also the internal shadow work needed to heal old wounding, consider my book as a support guide that is designed to do both.

You may need to digest it one small bite at a time as you go through the possible resistance in the beginning of the journey of looking beneath the surface at what drives your life. But if you give yourself time to step back, reflect, and do the work, it will be a great guide that will support you.  It will also give you seasonal practical guidance in how to nourish yourself according to the Earth’s wisdom while you heal and reclaim your hidden treasures.

I have followed the energy of nature for years. I live in the woods surrounded by nature. She is up front and very present in my life. She is my teacher.  And I have known that winter is a time for rest and gestation of the seeds of our creations. However, even though I know this, and have lived it to the best of my ability, there has always been a nagging voice that made it impossible to rest at the depth I have needed my entire life. No matter what I was doing to nourish myself and rebuild my energy I listened to this voice telling that I should be doing something else more productive. If I didn’t I wouldn’t survive. Drove me nuts!

The experience I had recently supporting my friend to leave this world had a more profound effect on me than I realized. I am experiencing winter at a depth that I am actually witnessing nature doing in her sillness all around me. I am resting at a depth that I could reach only when I no longer feared “Madam Death.” She is the side of the great feminine that no one wants to embrace.

Ironically, I am discovering something quite the opposite is appearing as a result of letting go of this gripping fear that if I don’t keep moving, and producing I won’t survive. This level of rest, relaxation has softened my grip to the point of being open to receiving. Madam Death stood at the doorway. Making friends with her is giving me life without the worry, struggle, unnecessary “what if” fear. My white knuckle fist that has been so normal it was undetectable is loosenig and opening into a receptive trust. Making friends with the death of my body, the death side of the yearly cycle, winter, is givine me life with a new foundation to build upon free from the terror of this young inner child whose needs were not met. After giving her the nurturing she needed so badly this child is now showing up infusing my winter seeds with her creativity and inspiration.

I have discovered that my survival is dependant on my ability to receive the gifts coming my way that not only assures my needs are met, but my life’s destiny road is traveled. If I am unable to feel the stillness and peace that comes from this open handedness I miss the gifts, and they just float on by unnoticed. The gift I received in my recent experience that forced me to meet the so called “Dragon” within that I was constantly running from was truly guarding the treasure chest I was longing for, just like in the fairy tales. Ahhhh, winter, I love it so!

If you have read the first excerpt of my book on this site you know that I am rather fond of spa days. The weather has recently turned cold and my skin needs extra nourishment. So I decided to have fun with the herbs I dried from my summer bounty and create some facial delicacies for the winter months. I found a few easy food based recipes on the internet that I would like to share in case you want to bring this self honoring ritual into your life during the cold months that quietly try to seduce us into slowing down and deeply nourishing ourself. Following is the line up of my recent spa day with friends. You can use different combinations on a daily basis.

We started with cleansing our skin with Thyme Fennel Cleanser

2 sprigs fresh thyme, crumbled, or 1/2 TBS dried

2 tps fennel seeds, crushed 1/2 cup boiling water

juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix the thyme and fennel seed in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Add lemon juice and steep for 15 minutes. Strain. Apply with a cotton ball.

After cleansing we applied Ambrosia Honey Almond Scrub

4 TBS almond meal

2 TBS almond oil

4 TBS raw honey

5 drops peppermint essential oil

Just stir well. Apply about a tsp amount onto the face. Mix with a little water while you gently massage your skin. (Don’t add water to the jar of almond scrub) Be very gentle and don’t scrub the soft under eye skin. Remove with a warm washcloth.

We then moved onto the Avocado, Carrot, Cream Mask

I am doing this mask regularly through the colder months.

1 avocado

1 cooked carrot

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 egg

3 TBS honey

Place in a food processor and whip the ingredients into a nice smooth paste.

Spread this on you face and neck and hang out having a cup of tea. After about 15-20 minutes we removed this with a warm washcloth and applied:

Ambrosia Kelp Firming Mask

3 TBS plain yogurt

1 tsp organic kelp powder

1 tsp honey

Mix well and apply to your face and neck. Massage you skin lightly. Hang out some more, maybe have a snack, or exfoliate your hands with a blend on strawberries, almond oil and course salt. I used strawberries I froze from my garden.

After we removed the kelp mask with a warm washcloth we spritzed out face and necks with a toner I made by making a strong infusion of dried spearmint from the garden and spring water. I added a little apple cider vinegar. It’s very refreshing.

We then smeared an herbal moisturizer I made with an oil infusion of several herbs I gathered either from my garden or in the wild and dried, such as calendula, chamomile, rose buds, chickweed, nettle leaf, comfrey leaf, lavender, and lemon verbena.

It is a deliciously nourishing time to spend together, especially combined with a nice seasonal meal. I refrigerate these concoctions and use them throughout the colder months. If you make small batches they are alive and fresh and it makes a difference in how your skin responds to the nourishment. They are so easy you can just keep making them, applying them, and enjoying them. Not to mention the money you save from not having to buy expensive beauty products. Enjoy!!!

Seasonal eating and living is a necessary step toward healing our relationship with our Mother Earth. It restores our recognition and gratitude for her wisdom in how to nourish us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Both her and humanity have suffered greatly because of our lack of relationship. On-demand food that is shipped long distances and eaten out of season is one of the results of this disconnection—and it is making us all ill from undernourishment on all levels.