This tea has adaptogens - herbs that help us adapt to changing circumstances. This could be changing relationships, traveling, new work, or letting go of substances that no longer serve us. It is also a great coffee substitute. - You can add coconut milk for an extra creamy flavor Ingredients: Reishi - 3-5 slices: fantastic during allergy season, a deep immune booster, and so many things an entire article could be devoted just to Reishi. Chaga - 2 TBSP Cinnamon - one medium

In aligning ourselves with the seasonal cycles, we are wise to take our cues from nature: The animals are in hibernation. The plants are goi

We are now entering the first days of winter - the time of the solar cycle when there is wisdom in slowing down to calibrate with nature's rhythms. According to Taoist medical theory, a huge cause of disease is a failure to live in accordance with the cycle of the seasons. As the planet rotates around the sun, it moves through progressive phases which invite corresponding shifts in conduct. Every two weeks, we enter a different qi node, or cycle. Each cycle invites us to shif

During autumn, our environment becomes more and more yin. As harvests are finishing up, a pleasant stillness arrives. It is the time of the

If progress has been successful since spring, one can get so eager it’s easy to forget there is a need to calm down, stop and rest. It’s won

Summer Solstice is the height of summer, the longest day of the year, and the time when the sun is the highest in the sky. It is the zenith of yang energy and the beginning of the end of summer. After the solstice yang begins it’s decline as yin is birthed as we head towards autumn and the days get shorter. In the winter, when yang is born inside of yin, we celebrate the time with candles, twinkling lights, and stories from various religions about the coming of the light. Rar

May 1st, or Beltane, marks the first day of Summer in pagan traditions. According to the Tong Shu, the ancient Chinese almanac, May 5th.

A healthy lifestyle includes living and acting in harmony with the seasons and the cycles of nature.

Happy Chinese New Year, Imbolc, and the First Day of Spring! This time of year, beginning with the last new moon in January has the potential for recalibrating our sense of life. There is a tremendous potential for renewal, inspiration, and freshness. It is like being a child young and new. Yang is returning and below the ground, some seeds are beginning to sprout. It is a fantastic time to let go of the old, break up habitual patterns, and move towards the people and things

How can we let the transformative quality of fire move through us in a good way? It is tempting to focus on the dramatic evidence of loss al

Making green pastes each week are an amazing way to get more greens into your body. You can use what is in season, in your garden, or at the farmer's market. These are some of the ingredients I like to mix and match from and adjust each time I make it. greens: cilantro, parsley, basil or spinach flavor: lemon, ume plum vinegar, turmeric, savory sage oils: avocado, sesame, olive, evening primrose, flax, borage variations: cucumber and avocado spices: salt, pepper, cumin or fen

​Nymue and I decided to go on a spontaneous world schooling trip to Bali for the month of May. World schooling is the idea that being in the world is an awesome way to learn. Kids, just like adults, learn from traveling, speaking new languages, visiting new places, and generally jumping outside of the box of a classroom or otherwise specially simulated environment dedicated to the concept of learning. This was our second trip to Bali together. Here are some highlights. Volcan

I have silently witnessed, with gratitude, and relief, the echoes of my experiences of sexual trauma in the words of my sisters. This is not my first attempt, by any means, to write about what happened over the years. My many attempts have given me even more respect for the women that have spoken up in the #MeToo movement. These women are fierce warriors of a cultural revolution. I am a white, immigrant women from South Africa. Women of color face a disproportionately higher

Naming our own matrilineal lineage is an initiation of our sovereignty and an invocation of our milk line. My daughter, Nymue, and I did not have the same last name for the first 5 years of her life. We both had the last names of our father, who had the last name of his father's father's father's father... etc. You get the idea. Nymue and I have been looking for a name we can share for a long time. It has been a big prayer of mine to shed an old skin that got too tight and em

Many things have reminded me of Liu Ming lately, using the tea pot I got from him, a certain incense smell, a moment in a ritual, and a remembering to calibrate my life with the cycles of the seasons and the stars. I have increasingly felt a calling to write about my time with him and to share some of his teachings as a way to keep them alive. Liu Ming was a taoist teacher, philosopher, and practitioner that heavily influenced my understanding of health and wellness. He taugh

Reiki impacts the world. Children love it. It is helpful for caretakers, healers, and change-makers. Most of us can benefit from integrating Reiki into our everyday lives. Here are nine ways I often use Reiki. I hope you find inspiration here to create a ritual or practice with Reiki and feel the difference it makes when you weave this healing art into your day. 1. Calming Children I often Reiki my daughter to help her calm down, go to sleep, or settle in the middle of the

Our recent unschooling adventures have been focused on the medicinal mojo of the ocean, plants and wildlife. We went to the Farallon Islands, which lie 32 kilometers west of the Golden Gate. It was cold, foggy, and breathtakingly beautiful, as well as utterly lovely to feel the quiet calmness settling in, surrounded as we were by the vast expanse that is mama ocean. The islands are home to a huge population of birds and ocean wildlife. The Farallon National Wildlife Refuge is

Last week, I was blessed with a visit from Ida Resi Alit, the High Priestess of Bali for a water ceremony. Ida is a Balinese priestess who, as a teenager, emerged from a near-death experience channeling mudras and speaking several ancient languages - none of which she'd had any prior experience with. This extraordinary woman then went on to be named High Priestess of Bali on her twenty-first birthday. To date, she is the youngest woman to hold the post, with her predecessors

I am experimenting with an unschooling path for Nymue. Unschooling is based on a philosophy that purports that when we trust in our children's innate curiosity for life, they will flourish in a constant state of learning. The path offers children the space to explore the world around them for themselves in accordance with the form and pace that feel appropriate to them. In his book, Learning All the Time, John Holt (who coined the term "unschooling") writes: Children, without

I'm slowly integrating an unforgettable adventure - an incredible opportunity to surrender to what is, emanate love, and embrace the unexpected as a path of transformation. Within the first 2 hours on the playa, I found myself in an ambulance on the way to the medic tent resulting in 7 stitches in my forehead. Soon after, the battery on my camper van died, my generator broke, and the propane tank leaked. Then to top it off, Nymue's babysitter didn't show up until the day befo