Blog – Page 2 – Holistic Living

TIME FOR REST

One year ago, roughly, the world changed. The immensity of seeing something impact people across the globe was, + is, almost incomprehensible. A collective trauma. Stripping bare so many inequities that have always been there, but which have been so easy to not see or pay attention to. The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it's been broken into a million pieces. Robert James Waller Social media can be so toxic. But I've seen more posts in the past year than ever before that are able to articulate feelings + thoughts that are rattling around + feel hard to give shape to…about body positivity, racism + white supremacy, privilege…+ specific to this lil' email, about the processing of all the experiences + feelings of…

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Gratitude is Necessary for your Self-Care

gratitude, keep it simple, live with intention

Once upon a time...as far back as yesterday...I've struggled with the ebbs + flows, nay the tsunami peaks + valleys, of emotions. Sometimes, they are intense. + persistent. Man, they can be big to process. It's literally been a life journey, + will continue to be. I want to share things that have helped, because I know I'm not the only one who's been tasked with these life lessons. I'm so hopeful for the youth of today, who I think, I hope, will have a better tools, + understanding, + acceptance to support their inner workings. It's hard when you're learning + accepting some of these lessons into your 30s [+ beyond...]. It's never too late to learn something new, to adapt the way you think + process. Evolution, friend.…

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values + priorities

be the change, keep it simple, live with intention

Not to sound repetitive...but I keep coming back to this... What do you plan to do with your one wild + precious life? Here's why it's a motto of sorts for me; it helps to narrow down + distill the things that are the most important things in life. Values. Priorities. Which help keep me on track for what I want to have filled my life with when I get to the end + look back. I've briefly touched on this subject before, right here, but this month I want to dive into it a little deeper. So what is important to you? How do you make decisions for what goes on in your days? We're deciding on our future, our experiences, + even our memories whether we're intentional about…

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THIS TIME IN WHICH WE FIND OURSELVES

be the change, community, family, grow heal love, home, keep it simple, live with intention

Parents. We're stressed about the choices we have to make. Back to school? Stay at home? Have to work? Tough choices. But let me try to relieve one part of this burden from your shoulders. Your children's future will not be messed up because of this year or two of un"normal" school. I say this as a parent of a kiddo going into grade 2, having registered him to return to class, watching local Covid numbers daily to see how they're trending, + also putting plans in to place to home school while also working from home. I say this with the perspective of having experienced the public school system, home schooling, starting at new schools three or four times, including starting at a new high school for my last…

by Mackenzie 1 Comment

ALL ABOUT FOOD

be the change, community, environment, family, home

Guys, this one is a long one. I'd grab a cup of something. Give yourself about an hour. + give it a start. You might want to come back to it. Or just browse through looking for something useful specifically for you. This isn't about food like you might think it's going to be about food...I'm not going to be talking about anything related to diet. Rather, I'm going to talk about how our family has been doing food + food planning for the past bunch of years, + where we're going to be headed in the next few. I'll dig more into this 'why' in the next section, but in brief there's my holistic view of how our relationship with the growing, production, + processing of what we consume…

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FREEDOM

be the change, community, grow heal love

Freedom. What does this mean to you? I see more + more people + posts shouting that their freedom is being infringed upon. That their right to do what they want is being taken away. Most specifically because people are being asked + required to wear masks when going into public spaces +/or stores. @Costco You have hit a new low... you are an American corporation with an obligation to support our American values, dictating face mask for your workers is one thing but forcing this on your loyal members who paid for a membership is a complete abuse of power. #boycottcostco— Eric Torres May 6, 2020 And here we go.... I guess I won’t be shopping at Costco. It is MY choice to wear or not wear a face mask.…

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EASY, GREEN, CLEAN

environment, essential oils, home, keep it simple

I have to tell you, I'm actually a little surprised this isn't something I've written about before, because easy green DIY cleaning is something we've been doing for a good long while in our home. It's been on my mind more these days as I think about how we're looking to dive even deeper into the realm of simplicity + self-sufficiency. + as I learn, I will share with you. GREEN CLEANING! Why green cleaning, you ask? It lowers your exposure to toxic synthetic chemicals. In most cases [or all, as I've found], it's cheaper.+, most importantly, IMHO, it's easy. Why is this important right now? Well, friends, we're housebound. Job security might not be so secure. Our earth is calling us to do a better job of how we…

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WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER

essential oils, gratitude, grow heal love, live with intention

How is everyone doing? This is a stressful, anxiety-inducing time. Uncertainty looms large. + the support network found in our community we would usually turn to - visits, coffee, dinner out - has been largely cut off. How can we manage? Personally, + I think this is true of many people, it's intentionally choosing how we manage our mindset. Even during "regular" life, I need to have a solid practice in place. Now it's more critical than ever. So here is what I do, and I hope it's helpful for you too. GRATITUDE I journal five things I’m grateful for first thing in the morning, + last thing before bed. Feeling thankful in the core of you, shifts your mindset almost instantly, + practicing it regularly shifts your mindset pretty…

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YOUR BEST DAY STARTS WITH YOUR BEST SLEEP

essential oils, family, live with intention

Sleep! So important! Stay tuned below for a wealth of info on all the Ws of sleep. + most importantly, the 'How' of getting enough good quality sleep. When Aaro was a baby we joined a mom+baby group. They hosted a sleep expert one week + it changed the way I thought about sleep, not just for my babe, but for me as well. There's so much necessary benefit we gain when we sleep, but we generally put sleep last on our priority list because there are so many seeming priorities during the day. + sometimes we just need some time + space to mindlessly scroll on social media. For me that alllllways happens at night. Usually right before I get ready for bed. It's a bad habit, because at…

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THE ART + PRACTICE OF JOURNALING

gratitude, grow heal love, live with intention

I journal almost every day. It's both proactive + prescriptive for my mental + emotional well being. I'll journal topics or questions that come up as I'm doing life. I journal affirmations - pages + pages of affirmations - about the person I'm becoming + the life I'm creating. But whatever form it takes, it's incredibly necessary. It's become an anchor in my self care. An anchor in mindset, intention, gratitude, + presence. I notice a clear shift in how I'm feeling if I miss too many days of journaling. Ritual is such a necessary part of our existence . It is an anchor of identity + belonging. It helps centre us + connect us - to ourselves + to each other. One of the affirmations that I've been incorporating…