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As I look out my window this early March afternoon, snow is falling for what seems like a resurgence of winter. We have about 2.5 feet of snow pack remaining and the forest seems to still be in a deep sleep. But we know that spring is just around the corner, and that the equinox is a couple weeks away. Before we know it, the forest will come alive with the critters and plants making good use of the time they have with the sun. The energy will soon begin to shift from the inner reflective season to the outer busy bustle season of summer that demands more of our physical body.

If you’re anything like me, the seasonal shift can be subtle day by day, and because of this subtlety, the season manage to catch you off guard. It’s sort of like a snowball effect where you start off with a tiny ball of snow and as you roll it, it gains momentum and speed. With spring energy, we see one sprout here and maybe we begin our spring cleaning projects. Then we see a patch of soil coming alive and we decide to prepare our garden. And before we know it, the entire season is in full swing…and it’s easy for us to get swept up with this new energy. 

In the past, I usually get swept into this energy to the point of overwhelm, where I feel like spring and summer are running me and I don’t really have control over the use of my own time. This overwhelm can impact our slow wellness path by making it more of a fast “try and keep up,” pace and not really a slow wellness pace.

If we think of the Slow Wellness path as sort of like a long and rewarding hike to a spot you’ve always wanted to hike to, then hitting the trail with summer overwhelm energy is going to make the hike arduous and not very enjoyable. It’s easier to approach every hike the same, with preparation, consistency and foundational principles, like some good hiking shoes. The same is true as we enter this uptick in energy with Spring and Summer. Approaching it with preparation and intentionality will help us to leverage this extra energy without it running our own energy into the ground.

I am so excited to share today's podcast with you. We've got recipes, we've got a spring body scanning meditation…

Today I’m going to be sharing some ways we can prepare ourselves for the coming seasonal energy of the sun so that we feel ready and trust our capacities to continue on our Slow Wellness path in health.

We are going to be using botanicals as well as lifestyle in this preparation.

My first offering in preparing for this shift is a meditation and journaling exercise.

Let’s take a moment to bring ourselves together. Start off by taking some deep breaths in and out. Whatever you’re doing while you listen, whether you’re running errands, working out or just sitting with a cup of tea, give yourself these breaths with me. Bring your breathing into your body awareness, noticing your breath but not changing or manipulating it. As you breathe, bring your attention to your head, eyes, ears and neck. Notice how they feel. Ask yourself, what is this shift in season going to need from my head that will be different from winter? Moving down to your torso, arms, hands, notice how they feel. Ask yourself, what is this shift in season going to need from my heart, my lungs, my arms and my hands that will be different from winter? Moving to your abdomen, your solar plexus, sacral and root chakras notice how they feel. Ask yourself, what is this shift in season going to need from my lower body that will be different from winter. Moving down your legs into the soles of your feet, notice how these feel, ask yourself, what is this shift in season going to need from my legs and my feet that will be different from winter. And if there is anything that is pulling you away from this time of preparing for the changing of the season, you can leave it resting safely on the Earth where she will keep it for you to pick up when we’re finished. Let’s take a few more breaths, noticing anything that comes up. You may want to take a moment to journal what you noticed in this body scan meditation and any answers you have for yourself on what will be different for your body in this coming season.  

This exercise gives us the chance to check in with our body at the end of winter and see how we’re doing. Maybe we notice that we have been in our head and our heart alot this winter and that summer will pull us more into our hands and our feet. Or maybe we are feeling a little deficient in certain areas and looking forward to the fresh local foods to help nourish us to getting back some nutrients we’ve been missing. For me this check in is like a de-brief with my body. You know when you work with a team or your family on something significant like an event it’s always good to debrief how the event went, maybe jot down some notes for next time of what worked and what needs some tweaking? That’s how I use this exercise. It’s my way of taking a moment with my body to ask her how winter was and what to be aware of as we move into summer.

We can use nature as our model for how to prepare for seasonal shifts. What is nature doing? The soil is warming and waking begins within. The same can be true in our own preparation for the season by waking and warming our roots. We want to activate ourselves while simultaneously maintaining our stress resilience so that we are not swept into overwhelm by the rise in energy of this transition to spring and summer.

I love the idea of using last summer’s plant medicine in preparing for this coming summer. Let’s make a spring herbal tea to nurture the capacities that we’ll need to meet the energies of the transitional seasons.

 In another podcast I will go over how to work with botanicals in your slow wellness journey but for now, be sure that you are sourcing ethically and sustainably. I try to get as many of my own herbs from local growers as possible. When I need herbs outside of local growers, I usually use Mountain Rose Herbs because they do a great job at researching their sources. 

You also want to be sure and check with your primary care provider to make sure that any herbs you consume are safe for you and not interfering with your health and any medications you might be taking.

For my spring equinox tea we will use a few herbs that offer attunement or deep immune and hormone activation and balancing:

You’ll want 2 Tbs of astragalus, 2 Tbs of siberian ginseng root or eleuthero root, 2 Tbs marshmallow root, 2 Tbs licorice root, 1-2 Tbs Ceylon cinnamon bark, 2 Tbs stinging nettle, 2 Tbs Oat straw tops. You can dry mix these in a bowl and store in an airtight container. To make tea, take a handful and combine with 32 oz of water and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain over a cup and add some cream or honey to taste. I like to add a Tbs of aloe vera gel to mine sometimes as well.

  The days are getting longer, so again, if we look to nature as our guide in our daily nutrition we look for nutrients that sustain our light and that pollinate our health. For my “follow the seasons” guide to nutrition shoot me an email at sandra@womanactivated.com. By syncing our wellness to the seasons we offer our body the variety it needs; and the connection to the seasons awakens our connection to nature. I’m a big proponent for eating all the nutrient density as opposed to restricting things that are low in nutrient value. It’s a mind shift even though it might end up being the same thing. My husband always encourages us to say things in the positive, so instead of saying, “Don’t forget the keys,” say, “Remember the keys.” I like to use this in nutrition as well. What are all the yummy things we can fill our plate up with—as opposed to what do we need to avoid? Spring activation is about light, awakening and pollination. The foods that offer this to us are things like carrots, spinach, brocollig, asparagus, cilantro, cucumbers, green beans; blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, mango, avocado, bananas; Pepper, cardamom, chia, sunflower, cinnamon, chilis and chili powder, thyme, oregano, basil; Eggs, fiish, chicken, beef, turkey, shrimp, garbanzo; Healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, seed butter like sunflower seed butter or almond butter, ghee. Olives.

One of the ways I’ve found to make nutrition easier is to make some staple herbal emulsifiers. Emulsifiers can be used for so many different things, you can use the same emulsifier as a salad dressing that you might also use to marinade your protein. You can use an emulsifier to flavor a snack like dipping carrots into that you might also use to flavor your breakfast bowl. Emulsifiers are where it’s at for making healthy food taste good but there’s also a lot to be said for the nutritional value of an emulsifier. The base is a healthy fat, offering us the omega 3’s and maybe some 6’s in things like sunflower seed butter. Then there are the herbs. Culinary herbs can pack in as much nutritional value as our vegetables, giving us things like vitamins A, C and K. But what I find fascinating is that culinary herbs also help us to get the most out of the foods they are flavoring by helping us break down and absorb the nutrients of our foods. This is partly why spice and herbs go hand in hand with different cultures–not just for flavor but for their health benefit as well. Finally, emulsifiers usually have some sort of acid, whether vinegar or citrus. Citric acid helps metabolism and with the absorption of minerals and vinegar has an antioxidant effect.

Here is a simple emulsifier recipe that I’ve made based on one our family uses in our family restaurant:

½ Cup olive oil

1 lemon

1/2 Cup organic fresh parsely 

½ cup fresh Lemon balm (from your neighbor, your garden or the farmer’s market)

2 Tbs fresh organic dill

1 Clove of organic fresh garlic

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Chop parsley and lemon balm. In a bowl Squeeze the lemon and slowly drizzle olive oil while whisking. Season with salt and pepper. Add the herbs and garlic, whisking with a fork to saturate. Use a mortar and pestle to make it the consistency you like.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge and use on salads, protein bowls or as a marinade. This would be excellent on fish or over roasted spring vegetables such as asparagus. I love brightening a dish up by garnishing with lemon balm flowers when they’re in season. You could also use fresh dill flowers.

Let's sweeten this up and make ourselves a sweet drizzle to flavor some snacks, porridge or yogurt.

This takes ½ cup maple syrup mixed with ½ cup dried chamomile flowers, 1 Tbs lemon juice, ½ tsp lemon zest and a pinch of cinnamon to taste. In a saucepan, add syrup and chamomile and bring to a boil, turn down heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add lemon juice, zest and cinnamon until mixed. Store in a jar in a cool dry place. Drizzle over yogurt, chia pudding, oat groats or teas. This would also be excellent over berries. Garnish with fresh or dried chamomile and lemon zest.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Slow Wellness podcast. Future episodes are going to include observing Spring Equinox and Alban Eilir ceremony, herbal spring cleaning and maintaing our sleep wake cycles through the summer season. 

Until then, blessings on your slow wellness journey.