All posts filed under: Spirit

enjoy winter with ease

Published by openheartsclub

Some practical tips for enjoying winter 1. Dress the part When you engage in nature you will often find yourself rewarded by her beauty. Whether it be a sunrise, sunset, spotting a hawk, owl, or eagle. Nature is always blessing us with gifts. We feel whole when we are in nature, we feel happy and we feel the sense of connection. Do your sweet self a favor and find yourself in the cold slumber of winter. And of course the basics… Warm coatHatScarf or wool neck gaiterGloves Sunglasses Dress in layers, you build warmth through the air between layers, pretty cool, right 😀 I like to wear a pair of leggings or my smart wool base layer. Followed by my lined Carhart pants (I have had these for many years and they are really serving their purpose) Work with what you have and make note of what works and what doesn’t. I’ll wear a wool underlayer (synthetic or wool are best if you plan to be active in the winter) On top of my wool …

connecting to the spirit of winter

Published by openheartsclub

Leaning into winter It has been a process and it’s not always comfortable, but wow is it a beautiful way to pass the time as the sun sets early and we find ourselves spending much more time indoors. Being in the cold makes you feel alive. The cool air permeating your earth suit. You are immediately taken into awareness. You feel the cold in so many different ways and they’re all lovely, making you appreciate your home and it’s levels of “comfort” even more. As an avid nature love, I had always waited in anticipation for the spring…leading into summer and the fall. Three seasons I have always easily loved. Winter has it’s own sense of wonder. As a native Michigander, winter has been part of my life since my first year of life on this wondrous planet. I was born in the spring so I always said spring was my favorite season, the season I was born into, just after the start of spring on March 22. Bursting with life, just …

#CacaoEveryDay, A 7 Day Wellness Experience with Cacao Lab

Published by openheartsclub

I wanted to take a moment to share my personal participation with Cacao Lab’s 7 Day Wellness exchange starting Monday! In case you feel inspired to join along, please follow my journey. Cacao is rich, velvety, nourishing, earthy. She sings songs and whispers softly to my heart. Working with cacao is a beautiful and spiritual experience that has the ability to gently open the heart space, creating vulnerability and true tenderness. It starts this coming Monday January 24, 2022 and will be lasting for 7 days. It is a chance to explore the medicine of Mama Cacao, to create space for ritual, inquiry, growth and to dig deep into the places we sometimes neglect. Offering ourselves a chance to explore spiritual self care. The over arching theme of this exchange will be, How do we come back to ourselves during times of uncertainty? A few questions to contemplate or journal about related to this are: How do you create your sacred space? What elements need to be present for you to feel safe to …

Leaning into Yoga

Published by openheartsclub

I have been on my Yoga journey for a small period of my life but it has transformed me beyond my own recognition of myself. It was knocking at my spiritual door for many years and it was only recently that I decided to open that door and let that reconnecting with spirit in. This past summer, I decided to to delve into Yoga Teacher Training with Detroit Yoga Lab. This was actually the same studio I took my first real yoga class from. Let me take you back, I was a graduate student at Wayne State in the Fine Arts Department and my room mate invited me to sign up for a week of yoga. It was a great move for me at that period of my life and left a strong imprint in my memory. calm peacefulness noticing my body in space and time realizing that the body needs to be respected I felt so rested that I fell asleep during the class. As someone who has always been a high …

Ritual in a modern world

Published by openheartsclub

I used to think of ritual as something I wasn’t allowed to be apart of. I had often seen it as this highly sacred thing that maybe existed in past cultures, other countries and places of worship. It was never in my dialogue or understanding and to be honest it wasn’t something I knew a whole lot about. I am on that path of learning. The path of waking up, which I believe we all are. When one light shines, the others can’t help but to shine as well. So what is ritual and why in the world of technology and information would we need this? I have stumbled upon the use of the word through Youtube artist, Caro Arevalo, whom I adore. She makes incredible, thoughtful works that act as celebrations and love letters to the plant and animal and fungi kingdoms of our gracious planet. She is a Peruvian born artist and connects deeply with her roots. It was from watching her channel that I learned how integrates ritual into her everyday life. …

Learning to care deeper for this earth suit

Published by openheartsclub

I have been interested in herbalism longer than I realize. When I was younger my dad would slip in stories about his childhood, and sometimes I was able to listen. He’s an excellent story teller and would recount memories of going out into the field and collecting dandelion leaves with his mom and siblings. She would then take the dandelion leaves and either Sautee them or boil them or use them fresh for salads. Fast forward many years later, my husband and I move to Ann Arbor and start to catch wind of mystical things such as plant walks with Jim McDonald (the renowned herbalist) through the Michigan Folk School. It was thrilling. I was on the road to healthy eating and thinking more consciously about what I put into my body. I had never been one for traditional conventional medicine, something about it just seemed unnatural. I am so glad I had that tiny inkling of thought. I believe conventional medicine is a powerhouse and saves many lives but often conditions are blanket statements …

you’re beautiful just the way you are

Published by openheartsclub

In a world over saturated with information, products, influencers, etc. it can be difficult to create a sense of identity, and a general feeling of acceptance for ourselves. We are exposed to SO MUCH in any given moment and social media has the ability to expand or contract us. One thing we all need to practice is love for oneself and creating a self care ritual. Self care doesn’t mean going to a spa and spending 100’s of dollars. Self care can be as simple and nurturing as preparing a meal, curating the products you use, giving yourself a minute to do some breath work. For me it’s been all about curating the beauty/upliftment/enhancing products I use. I identify as a woman but have always been pretty simple. I grew up in a household of women and a wonderful beautiful mother who had a huge caboodle of make up. Our bathroom was embedded with countless beauty products. It was a fun setting to grow up in, wearing my mom’s make up and trying all the …