Seize the Season: Week 3
Welcome to week 3 of Seize the Season! This week we will be exploring the Winter Solstice and some rituals and fun activities you can do to celebrate the beginning of the winter and the return of light.
After this week I will be taking a two week break from Seize the Season in order to dedicate quality time to my family during the holiday season, and to embrace the darkness and slow that this season bestows upon us. We will continue with regularly scheduled posts starting on Sunday, January 5.
This weeks prize is from Broken Tree Art, they are based out of West Des Moines, Iowa, and specialize in beautiful handmade wood pieces. Their creations are founded by adventure and have a story to tell. They are generously giving away one of their absolutely gorgeous flower presses! I seriously cannot get over how lovely it is.
Celebrating the Winter Solstice
Activities and Rituals
Image via NASA
The Winter Solstice (also known as Yule and Midwinter) is the day with the shortest amount of daylight and the longest night of the year. This happens when one of the Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt away from the sun. The Solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21, 2019. This marks the beginning of lengthening days and shortening nights, a welcoming of the light.
The Winter Solstice is celebrated by many cultures and religions across the world in various ways. There are numerous festivals, gatherings, rituals, feasts, and celebrations. You can create your own Solstice or ritual, or take part in an organized event in your community (see our events calendar below).
We have put together a list of activities and rituals for you to partake in this Winter Solstice Season:
Prepare a Solstice feast (see our Winter Feast Menu below) and eat by candlelight
Bake Solstice Shortbread
Make birdseed cakes to hang from your trees for our bird friends
Read a Winter Solstice book
Prepare a bonfire and burn a yule log on it
Go for a Winter Solstice Hike under the stars and the moon
Treat yourself to a Winter Solstice meditation and journaling session (See below)
Create a solstice spiral walk
Honor the Yule with this blessing from The Book of Blessings & Rituals by Athena Perrakis:
Great Spirit, Mother Earth, and Father Sky, as we celebrate this day of Yule, with its festive music, lights, and feasts, we honor the passing of our sacred winter solstice, and watch in awe as the Great Wheel turns toward winter. Through the longest nights, please help our bodies find rest in the stillness, our souls find wisdom in the silence, and our hearts find hope in the sky’s brightest star. Through the coldest days, as we call back the warmth of the sun’s bright light, may we rejoice in the year’s abundant blessings, and be grateful for the lessons embodied in our losses. For Yule is both a beginning and an end, the darkness and the light, our year divided in two. Our commitments for this year sealed, finished, our plans for the year ahead unfolding, becoming. Bless us as we heal within during the season of rest.
Get Outside This Week
Local outdoor activities and ideas to get you outside!
OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IDEAS
Each week we’ll give you five ideas to get you outside and moving, even in the colder temperatures.
An map image of the various Bird Conservation Areas throughout Iowa from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Go for a walk or hike and forage fallen evergreen branches then make your own foraged garland or boughs.
Go for a walk at night around your neighborhood and look at all the lights.
Visit a bird conservation area (BCA) and engage in some bird watching. Find out where to go and get more information about the Iowa BCA program here.
Go for a hike and take along a thermos of hot cocoa, coffee, or tea. After you’ve walked for awhile and your body has warmed up, find a nice log to sit down on to stop and sip on your warm drink.
Think of a place you can walk to that you normally would drive to. Perhaps, it’s the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread, or to the library to check out or drop off books.
WEEKLY EVENTS
We scoured the local events calendars to find some great outdoor, outdoor-themed, and winter wellness activities. If we missed something, send us an e-mail at hello@wanderwomeniowa.com and we’ll add it to the calendar!
December 16
Winter Floral Bough Workshop at Lavender Blue Floral
December 17
Women in the Woods with Wine at Jester Park Nature Center
December 19
December Pingora Social at Pingora Outdoors
December 20
Campfire S’mores Release at Confluence Brewing (not really outdoors, but S’MORES!)
December 21
Winter Solstice Sunrise Celebration at Hanging Rock Conservation Area in Redfield, Iowa
Light the Night at Jester Park Nature Center
Winter Solstice Bonfire at Whiterock Conservancy
December 22
Soul-Filling
Weekly Journal Prompt and Meditation
Every week we will provide you with a weekly meditation or reading and a journal prompt designed to help you slow down and get in touch with yourself during these colder winter months. Prepare a cup of tea, grab a cozy blanket, get your journal, and settle in for some soul-filling time. Take a moment to to take a few long, slow, and deep breaths before beginning. Release tension in your jaw, neck, and back. Give yourself permission to relax.
This week we found a guided Winter Solstice Meditation that encourages you to surrender to the dark and return to the light.
Journal Prompts
The solstice season is a great time to release what is no longer serving us while also honoring all that we are grateful for.
1. Reflect on the past year and write down all that you are grateful for. Perhaps, you can reflect on each month and write down the the good things that happened in each month.
2. Take some time to write down things that are no longer serving you such as habits, relationships, tasks, and thoughts.
Now that you have taken the time to recognize all that you are grateful for and all that is no longer serving you, you have opened up space to seed your intentions for the next year.
3. Write down a word or phrase that you can return to as your mantra for the year ahead. This word or mantra will serve as your anchor-point that will allow your seeds of intention to germinate in 2020. It might take some time for your word or phrase to come to you, and that’s okay. Journaling about what you want might be a helpful way to discover it. If you are feeling compelled, you can create art using your word or mantra. Return to this word or phrase regularly.
Weekly Winter Wellness
Seasonal recipes & wellness tips
This week we’re going to change things up a bit and provide you with an entire meal idea that’s perfect for a solstice feast! Beth from Nourished DSM provided us with a dessert recipe for decadent avocado cookies.
One of my favorite cookbooks is The Forest Feast Gatherings by Erin Gleeson. Not only is this cookbook filled with easy and delicious vegetarian recipes, it’s also visually beautiful. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection. We’re sharing the recipes from her Winter Feast menu this week. You can prepare this feast for your friends and family to celebrate the Solstice, or just make one or two to enjoy on a smaller scale.
Eat your feast by firelight and consider saying the Yule blessing (see above) before beginning to eat.
Winter Feast Menu from The Forest Feast Gatherings cookbook
Clementine Cocktails
Baked Garlic with Brie
Sweet Potato Chowder
Crispy Kale with Paprika & Truffle Salt
Clementine Cocktails
4 c clementine juice (or orange juice)
4 c seltzer
8 oz bourbon
Angostura bitters (about 15 drops)
Mix all ingredients in a small punch bowl or large mixing bowl and serve with a ladle. You can create a sugar rimmed glass by rubbing the glass edge with a half clementine, then dip it in sugar. Garnish with a straw pushed though the center of a round clementine slice.
Baked Garlic with Brie
4-5 heads of garlic
1 baguette
A wedge of triple cream brie
Cut the tops off 3-5 heads of garlic & peel off excess skin. Place in foil & drizzle with olive oil. CLose foil & bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until garlic cloves are soft (can be baked the day before).
Slice a baguette diagonally. Drizzle with olive oil & salt, then broil on a baking sheet until golden (about 2 minutes).
Serve the garlic warm or at room temp. Let guests top their own baguette slices with garlic, brie, and salt. A fork works well to remove & mash the garlic cloves.
Sweet Potato Chowder
1 large onion, diced
6 sweet potatoes, unpeeled and cubed
2 c unsweetened coconut milk
4 c vegetable broth
1 T curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
Saute onion, curry powder, garlic, and olive oil in big pot for 5 minutes. Then add sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and vegetable broth. Simmer on med/low for about 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Use a hand blender (or transfer to blender) to carefully puree the whole pot. You can garnish with Greek yogurt, pomegranate seeds, and chopped scallions, if desired.
Crispy Kale with Paprika & Truffle Salt
2 bunches of kale, chopped (remove thick stem ends)
2 T olive oil
1 t smoked paprika
1/4 t truffle salt (or regular salt)
Spread the kale out on a baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil, paprika, and salt. The less the pieces overlap, the crunchier they will be. Roast at 425 degrees for 5-8 minutes (watch closely!).
Decadent Avocado Cookies from Nourished DSM
These decadent, fudgey, rich chocolate cookies are pretty sinful… except that they are made from avocado so they can’t be that bad, right?
I love this recipe because you can use the “base” and then make it your own. I have made these cookies using the recipe I will post below, I have made them vegan, I have made them using Cinnamon and Cayenne pepper for a Mexican Chocolate vibe...all open to your own interpretation. This is also a great way to use up those avocados before they go bad.
The Particulars:
Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. This batch makes roughly 35-45 cookies
6 Very Ripe Avocados
6 Eggs (or 6 Flax eggs for Vegan)
3 Cups Coconut Sugar (or 2 cups Organic Cane Sugar)
3 tsp Baking Soda
3 Cups Cocoa Powder
2 Cups Chocolate Chips (or Vegan Chocolate Chips)
In a blender, blend the avocado, eggs, sugar, and baking soda together till smooth.Next, add the Cocoa Powder and blend again till smooth (you would also add spices in at this step if so desired). Place batter in a large bowl and fold in the chocolate chips. Using a spoon dollup dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-18 minutes (depending on how small or large you go with your cookies.) Let cookies cool on a wire rack. VOILA!! Enjoy!
Animal Messages
Weekly messages from our animal friends brought to you by Kara Simons of Joyful Resonance
This week Kara from Joyful Resonance is delivering us a message from our friend the chameleon.
You might say a chameleon wears its heart on its . . . skin. While its ability to change colors can serve as camouflage, the primary purpose is actually mood expression. It also helps with temperature regulation since darker colors absorb more heat. Chameleons simply direct a variety of tiny pigment bean bags just under their transparent skin to expand or contract as required to reflect the feeling or message of the moment. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, they also have 360 degree vision, thanks to eyes that can look different directions at once. Not to mention that lightning quick tongue lasso!
As the Winter Solstice approaches, Chameleon encourages us to EMBRACE a full circle view of ourselves. We can hold an aspirational, conscious, intentional view of who we are and what we desire to be—while simultaneously acknowledging any growing pains. Allow yourself to witness whatever surfaces without shame or fear. And keep the other eye fixed on your North Star to guide the way forward.
Chameleon says: “Be who you are. Wear all the messy, beautiful colors of life as they arise. Seeing yourself from all sides gives you something important: more information. Then reach out and go after what you want!”