Three easy but powerful ways to spring clean your brain.

It’s almost spring time. It is a great moment in the year to recommit to our 2019 goals and do some “spring cleaning” around whatever is standing in the way of having the best year ever. We all want to have more fun and freedom to be ourselves and the time and money we need to turn our dreams into reality. As I write this on the full moon in Virgo- it’s the perfect time to learn how to dig into those inner emotional and mental piles of stuff and use the Marie Kondo method on ourselves. (i.e get rid of anything that doesn’t give you joy!)

1. Create a morning routine that gives you some time to focus on self care.

Set a timer on your phone or watch and get up 30 minutes earlier than normal each day. Try 20 minutes of yoga or meditate for 15 minutes, or have a cup of tea and journal for 20 minutes. Keep it short enough that you can stick with it. It’s better to do 5 minutes everyday than try 90 minutes once and then give up. This little self care routine will ground you for your day and help you set an intention for having more joy. If you love it then build a little evening routine as well or a mid day tea break where you take time for yourself. Early morning does hold some magic for clarity and focus so it might be the easiest place to start. Go to bed earlier so you still get enough sleep! I now take 90 minutes each morning to journal and do yoga and it’s been a total game changer!

2. Journal Questions - To cleanse it out, write it out.

It’s always helpful to write down your thoughts so you can see them on paper. You might be surprised what you come up with! Most of our thoughts come out of an overstuffed storage unit full of old ideas, judgements, beliefs and emotions. When we write we are slowly emptying the items out of storage and checking them over to see if they still fit. If they no longer work for you then letting them go is the only sensible option- and it feels like a deep cleanse:) Here are some questions to get you started*:

• What do you want most in life?

• What do you want to have accomplished before you die?

• If you knew you had one year left to live, what would you fix or clean up?

• What are you ready to let go of- habits, attitudes, beliefs that no longer serve you?

• What would make life feel extra fun?

• What do you want to explore more deeply?

• What feels really nourishing in your life?

As you journal you will see themes emerging and often more questions. Note these and use them to guide you in step 3.

(*Questions adapted from the Dragontree Rituals for Life Dream book- highly recommended!)

#3 Do one nice thing for yourself each day and one nice thing for someone else

Practice the give and take of kindness and find balance in your own self. Often we feel we are out of time, energy, money or all three. We feel overwhelmed, stressed and depleted because we have lost our balance in these 3 ways. Here are some quick ideas to regain equilibrium.

Time: Experiment with the give and take of time by slowing down and enjoying the present moment for yourself. Breathe, relax, gift yourself a break. Even a 1 minute break of being fully present can feel like an amazing gift to yourself. Watch a bird in a tree or savor the feeling of sun on your face. You can also practice by giving someone else time. You can practice giving time in a conversation by not reacting, listening intently, holding space for a person to be heard and seen without needing to respond or question or judge. You will be surprised at what a precious gift that is in a world where we rarely feel heard or seen in everyday rushing.

Energy: Experiment with what gives you energy and what depletes it. (a good journal question too!) If scrolling through Facebook drains you then give it a rest and gift yourself a walk or some time with a good book, or playing with your dog. You can also lend the gift of your energy to another person each day. It is as simple as doing little unexpected things like bringing someone a cup of tea or sending a kind text. These small shifts of energy can go a long way towards creating a happier life.

Money: Money is energy- a conduit of manifestation. Use it to further your dreams and goals and not deplete them. if your goal is to travel around the world then start a travel savings or buy that guide book or tent or language app. The more you use the money energy towards what you really want with focus and intention- the sooner you will get there! This sounds obvious but it’s surprising when you pay attention to your spending where it’s actually ending up. Be intentional with your money flow just as you are with your words or your actions. You can also use money each day to support good causes or help someone fulfill their goals. This can be as small as a dollar but it does add up over time. Pay attention to where you send money energy and your goals will start to become reality. Once we get in sync with giving and receiving, the world will seem a more generous place.

If you have a moment - email me and let me know if this helped you and/or if you want to see more posts like this! I believe that a better future starts with all of us being joyful and more grounded in the present. It’s my dream to see my fellow big hearted creative folks living their dreams, helping change the world and being wildly abundant and happy doing it!

Stay calm and drink tea,

xoxo

Ginger

revolutionginger@gmail.com

Rainbows and Whales! The BNB reopens for the best season on the coast.

I'm going to share a top locals secret with you.  Summer is not the best season on the coast. Now don't get me wrong, the north coast summers have their appeal; (perfect 70 degree days, sparkling clean waters to swim in, gourmet ice cream from happy grass fed cows, overflowing gardens, fresh tuna steaks on the grill, epic wild berry picking, hiking beach trails, starry night surf camp outs…. It’s no secret that summers on the coast are pretty great!)

But unknown to the summer tourists, locals working like mad in the bustling summer secretly yearn in our hearts for the coming calm and beauty of the rain season (aka September- May). You can feel a collective sigh of relaxation as the mist returns, ocean squalls scrub the empty beaches clean, coho and chinook salmon move upriver, the crowds depart and the lines of traffic disappear. The coast returns to the way it has been in former decades: Peaceful, beautiful, overflowing with natural abundance and quirky small town charm. 

Here are some of the local secrets that are FREE and accessible all winter long!

Rainforests: The Oregon Coast is a rare temperate rainforest ecosystem. It has a unique balance of western red cedars, sitka spruce and hemlock that are only found here on our special coastline. These forests are designed to take in the 100 inches or so of rain the coast gets each season. Instead of dropping their leaves and being lifeless- the Oregon Coast rain forest is at its most flourishing in the fall and winter. Expect giant sword, lady, maidenhair and bracken ferns spreading under towering evergreen canopies bedecked with trailing mosses and lichens. Rushing creeks, waterfalls, misty blankets of fog, hidden lakes, sweeping ocean overlooks, abundant wildlife and more shades of green than you ever knew existed. All you need is a good light rain jacket and some waterproof hiking shoes and you are well on your way to becoming a rainforest explorer of the zillions of coastal trails all winter long. Here is a list of trails to get you going

Whales: Squeee! Nothing is more exciting than seeing whales up close from a coastal cliff. The grey whale migration starts in the fall and goes all winter long off the Oregon coast. You have to have luck and a bit of patience but on the right day you can see the spouting of whales and their giant backs rising and falling below you as you stand alone on a coastal outcropping of rock. At that moment you are being given a gift of whale magic and your heart pounds with excitement and the thrill of being lucky enough to witness these magnificent beings in the wild ocean. Oh, and there are barking sea lions, curious seals, loads of wheeling shore birds and incredible pounding surf hitting majestic sea cave filled cliffs as your consolation prize if you don’t see whales that day- it’s pretty much a win win! Here are some spots along the coast to watch for whales- although any point with a clear view is fair game.

Rainbows: OK- you can see rainbows in other places it’s true. But here on the coast there is a unique winter pattern of crazy rain being broken up by patches of clear sunshine as the weather rolls in untamed off the vast stretches of Pacific Ocean. Everyday there are rainbows, double rainbows, triple rainbows! It’s a rainbow-palooza as the weather changes it’s mind every 10 minutes. Black storm clouds with piercing rays of sunshine blazing behind them ignite cascades of rainbows over the green pastures and rushing rivers. Rainbows are one of those things you can’t help but smile when you see. They make you feel special like you won the pot of gold. Every little fishing village bedecked by rainbows takes on a fairy world appeal until suddenly the hail begins to pelts down and you run for cover into the nearest bar to eat chowder and drink local brews waiting for the next rainbow to appear. Yes- that is coast life in the winter. Here are some pics to prove rainbows really do exist!

North Fork 53 is once again renting individual rooms (as low as $65 per night) and we are the perfect launching pad for all your off season coastal adventures! Give yourself the gift of whales and rainbows or just a good book by the wood stove with a cup of tea. The magic of the Oregon Coast awaits!

When it Rains, I pour

Happy Fall everyone! After a long and hot summer full of smoke, fire and vegetables we are here in the rainy season once again. How was your self care this summer? Yeah, me too. I kinda lost track of myself amidst the piles of vegetables to bring in and the many folks coming to and from the retreat center. Autumn has always been my favorite season. For those of us who run on the stressful side of the spectrum, it is a yearly invitation to slow down, relax and pour a cup of tea. 

This little gem is one of our first herbal tea (tisane) crops! Rose hips for fall and winter tea gives us so much vitamin C that we don't need to take pills to ward off flu and colds. I will be posting a tutorial soon on making rose hip tea from scratch! Stay tuned!

Yes tea. My newest farming love has always been my go-to in terms of offering myself a moment of cuddling up with a great book or with my journal for self reflection. Unlike coffee, which is often fuel to "get er done", tea is the soothing friend that begs us to take a moment and nourish ourselves, to reflect, or sit and catch up over multiple steeps.

When thinking about  self care; plants, tea, books, travel and yoga featured prominently in my mind.  I started to think that combining them into a job might be a great way to go for 2018! Brigham and I are excited to announce the Oregon Coast's first tea farm- aptly named 53 Tea. We are still discussing (over tea of course) how it will all roll out and I look forward to sharing our journey with you along the way.

This autumn i signed up for a restorative yoga teacher training program that emphasizes social justice, with Sara Joy Marsh in Portland OR. The decision to send myself to yoga school was to benefit my beleaguered brain who had been waving a little white flag and asking for some support. Stress and "doing" were becoming habitual and I knew I needed to have some physical and mental guidance in order to retrain my thoughts towards peace and relaxing into my body. Sara Joy's book Hunger, Hope and Healing is an inspirational read for anyone of you who is looking for a fresh perspective in the realms of eating, yoga and mindfulness. 

 I am so grateful to be back on the blog and taking time to nurture my inner writer. I always welcome your comments along the way and look forward to sharing more of my personal self care and tea journeys with you this fall and winter.  Oh and we are building a cedar sauna at North Fork 53 too this winter- so you simply must come out stay for tea:) 

Fresh indigo grown at North Fork 53 this year was used to dye this silk banner. Our friend Brittany Boles at SeaFolk Artisans made a hand carved wood block for the symbol of tea to honor our new journey. She dyed this with fresh batch indigo! It's amazing what plants and people can do.

No need to go it alone

You have help. You have support. You have friends.

The Paczki. A Polish traditional food for Fat Tuesday and yeah- they are doughnuts. Sugar blasted and ready to cleanse!

This is my mantra as the first day of the spring cleanse begins. March 1st just so happened to coincide with the first day of Lent and my Catholic upbringing (although now a historical footnote in my life) raises the urge to do the binge and purge of Fat Tuesday followed by giving something up for Lent until Easter Sunday. If you believe there is power in numbers than why not jump on to the wagon with millions of others and do a great big group spring cleanse together! Some will give up smoking, some will give up video poker-  and I for the one millionth time, am giving up sugar. 

That number one millionth sounds like a lot. Well, I can tell you that's how many times it feels like i've given it up and failed. Sometimes I last a day- sometimes not even 4 hours. This Lent is 7 weeks long. I'm at the end of the first day. So far so good. The reason I have more confidence in my ability to stick this one out is because for 2017 I chose three words that would guide me to a happier life. Self care, Abundance and Friendship. 

I've already blogged about the first two and now it's time to talk about friendship.

There are lots of reasons that friendship made the list for this year.  Friends are the people in our lives who will stand by us when things go wrong, who will point out our faults when no one will, who give us perspective, a shoulder to cry on, a place to feel heard, seen and loved and they are not as complicated as our families or partners to deal with. Friends are fun. They are the connections we have to the world outside our homes.

My good friend Sarah who I've known for almost 20 years now. I don't think we even look much older than 20 so I'm not sure how that's possible! ha!

Through friends and community we learn about how to relate to ourselves and how to be good to others. When we stop making friends or stop making time to hang out with our friends we limit our support network. We become more isolated in our own habits and thoughts. We can start feeling like no one understands us or cares for us. We can put too much stress on our partners to supply us with everything we need instead of having friends as our release valves. 

What does this have to do with giving up sugar? Well even though I grow healthy food for a living, I still cling to the patterns I developed as a child. I use sugar to numb out when I feel overwhelmed. It is a coping mechanism. In my over worked farmer brain the lettuce is what I live on but the sugar is the reward- the band aid for the bad day or for the fact that I didn't give myself time to take a bike ride or journal or do yoga. My inner child demands justice and everyone knows sugar is an easy way to soothe a screaming kid. 

Two of my good friends! Randi Love is an amazing therapist and of course that makes her one of my best friends to talk with while walking my other Beast Friend- Roscoe T. on Manzanita Beach. I am so grateful to Randi for listening and providing me with her insights!

Where do friends come in?  I noticed that my need for friendship and for self care are linked. If I feel overwhelmed and make time for friends then I get the support I need and don't start the numbing out process. Friends remind me that I deserve to take time for myself. When I take time for myself I am much less likely to fall into the cycle of sugar numbing followed by shame and beating myself up for lack of willpower. 

For the past two years I have been a pretty bad friend.

I focused so much on my new marriage and on the huge job of starting a new business that I felt I didn't have energy for anything else. I didn't want to go to parties or be in public. I became more and more aligned with my working and doing and lost my ability to remember how to just be myself and relax. That is until I crashed and I just couldn't "do" anymore. I stopped everything for January and over the last 2 months I have made it a point to make new friends and to spend time with the ones I already have. 

Friends in Astoria! Making time to hang out with folks further from my farm is a goal for me this year!

My friends are awesome people and so very few of them held it against me that I had been so out of touch for so long. The new friends I am making are like finding new parts of myself I haven't spent time with yet. Every person brings out a new aspect. Some are more bold, some soft, some brilliant, some funny. Instead of seeing new people as a burden I now see them as such wonderful gifts. You never know who or what will bring about the next steps into your future. 

I also have heard from many friends that they too are feeling the urge to reconnect. We are reaching out for each other for support and community, to remember what is true and good in our lives. At North Fork 53 I have begun hosting women's full moon circles which has brought me many new and interesting friends this year.  

Women in particular suffer without the ability to express and share with others. We socialize as therapy and even simple talking circles can fill big emotional needs. I am grateful that North Fork 53 can be a place for new friendships to begin and also to provide space for old friends to reconnect and spend time together.

Some days I think that the most important thing I might do in life is to be a good friend to someone and maybe the most valuable thing I have are those friends that will be there for me. 

 

Now a picture of beautiful salad greens as I remember to listen to the needs of  my oldest and truest friend- my body! Sugar is a fair weather friend but veggies will stand by you for life!

Early spring mustards, chickweed, arugula and tatsoi from our hoophouse

 

Are you are looking to make some more friend time this spring?

Join us at North Fork 53 on Wednesday March 8th for International Women's Day! We are having a gathering from 6-8pm along with a world wide coordinated event focusing on peace and solidarity with women everywhere. We will have a short meditation at 7pm and lots of time for sharing, socializing and meeting new friends. RSVP and learn more on the Face Book event page!

Keep an eye out for our Women's Self Care weekend

Coming up at the end of the Month! Spring break is a great time to relax and retreat on the coast with friends. We are planning a wonderful weekend of spring cleansing spa, yoga, art, gardening, hiking, cooking and more! Sign up on the email list below and get your invite!

Let's be friends! Sign up for my email list and get all the dirt on self care, healing, workshops, recipes, foraging & more!

Abundance vs. Fear

Open your eyes and what do you see? A world full of beauty, love and endless gifts or a world of danger, lies, and threats to survival. Maybe you see both. Maybe it depends on the day. The interesting thing is that the world isn't one or the other. What you see rests squarely with you and your perception of reality. Reality is up to you. To us. So why choose fear over abundance? 

Welcome to the next installment of the Self Care R-evolution! This week the political game has been surreal. What seems to be the only truth that anyone can say for sure is that no one knows the truth of what is happening. There seems to be seven different versions, and even more opinions, for each event that takes place washing around in the media. This is undoubtedly purposeful on the part of those in power but let us for a moment use it to our advantage as a tool for self care. If this week has shown us anything it is that truth and reality are subjective. What seems like firm ground is always in motion, ever changing and no one person ever experiences it the same way. We choose our realities although we often do it unconsciously. If seven different versions of a story are printed then which one we choose to believe and repost says more about our own minds than it does about anything else. Those that analyze such things are busy building "big data" banks from which they generate targeted media that even further plays upon our hidden insecurities and tendencies. For more on that read this fascinating and disturbing article here. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/how-our-likes-helped-trump-win

How does this have anything to do with Self Care? Well often we choose realities that don't really serve our highest happiness or peace. Why? For millions of valid reasons but none of them really are anywhere near as important as the realization that we have a choice. We can choose to open our eyes and see a world of abundance. It exists. There is Moonlight. Clothing on our backs. Clean water we can drink. Electricity that comes on. Friendship we can call upon. Oak trees, dark chocolate, hot baths, cute dogs, our favorite music and on and on. Especially in the 21st century and the In US we are awash in the level of abundance that is rare in the whole of history. Even if you have none of those things the Earth herself is abundance manifest. The dandelion flower does not produce one or two seeds it has hundreds- in fields of thousands. The law of nature, of life, is putting out more than is needed. Always a little extra just to be sure. Diversity and generosity are the strengths of every natural system (ahem- take notes here politicians!)

In a world of abundance why would we choose to see fear? We wake up stressed out. We don't have control of anything and nothing we do makes a difference. The problems of the world are too big to handle. We don't know what to do. We are sad, overwhelmed, afraid of what tomorrow might bring. Yes- this too is valid. If we look at the problems they are manifest. Huge. Complicated. We dive in and as hard as we swim we will never reach a safe shore. We feel exhausted and afraid. We are vulnerable and alone. There isn't enough resources for us all. Sound familiar? This is the news we listen to everyday. The media love fear. The worldview given to us through movies, books, television, social media is that we are at a constant war with some force or another (crime, drugs, terrorists, cancer, hunger, other nations etc) and that our chances of losing are good. In this view the law of nature is dog eat dog- survival of the fittest and better watch your back. Here is of course where most of us live in our heads and why we feel so depleted and helpless to effect positive change in our lives or in the world around us. 

Here's the Good News! You can choose. Choose the world you live in. Choose what you pay attention to and what you give energy to. I'm not saying to drop out of reality- I'm saying to change your reality. It is the most powerful and empowering thing you can do for yourself and by extension everyone around you. This is free. It's absolutely within your power because you are the only person who can do it. You are the super hero who can save your own world from all the enemies in your head. Simply choose to live in abundance. See it everywhere. See it even in scary scenarios that would normally seem evidence of the other fear based world. Generosity exists everywhere. Love exists everywhere. It's on full display as long as we are looking for it. Look for it. Expect it. Foster it. Encourage the abundance you know is the basis of our planet and our beings. I promise you that when you are looking for it that it will be a constant delight to meet the next person or take on the next challenge. It is excellent self care too because living in abundance means that there is enough time, enough money, enough peace to go around. We can ease up. Relax. We can stay present in our bodies and start enjoying this amazing beautiful life we have been gifted. When we expect abundance it arrives in piles and heaps. Smiles, new friends, new experiences, open minds, beautiful vistas suddenly appear everywhere. The fear and hate mongering no longer have a hold of us. We are not tired because we are receiving all the energy we need. 

Now I hear some rumblings from the old fear based world that this is not practical- this is only something rich people can afford to do- only something privilege allows you to do. The real world is dangerous, hard and scary and we need to be on the defensive at all times. This is born out of experience and so it must be true. To this I say it is true. But truth is what we make it to be. There really is no risk here of choosing abundance. What have you got to lose? If you want to fight the powers that be this is the most revolutionary way of all. You just step out of the reality in which they control your experience. Free your mind and the rest will follow. I am not suggesting we ignore the problems of the world, I am suggesting that we see and respond to them with a completely new awareness. I would also suggest that anything else but this just reinforces the fear reality (no matter what story you choose to believe within it). 

So easy but not so easy. Changing your reality is uprooting some deeply held perceptions. This is the undoing of habitual thought. We are also hardwired through our limbic (our primal) brain for fight or flight survival instincts- just like any smart animal. It takes practice. Becoming happy when we are used to being stressed takes letting go of what we think makes us who we are. We define ourselves by our ability to fight, to be strong, to make it, to push, to succeed etc. This is what our culture hands out metals for- what wins trophies. Being happy and at peace is not something we have good role models for is it? That's because to be happy you just need to drop out of fear and you realize that you don't have anything to prove or to struggle for. You receive your life as your divine right and not as something you need to earn. It's pretty radical. My hope is that everyone starts practicing radical self care and abundance as a political strategy. The power of the people to change the world starts in our realization that world is not in need of changing- our own heads are. 

How? Choose meditation whenever you can. Choose positive affirmations daily. Listen. Observe your thoughts and slowly you can start to adjust them from fear based ones to ones that based in wonder, gratitude and happiness. Stay in the present moment. Notice what is going on right now. Slow down. Appreciate your food. Take time to do kind things for others. Stay checked into your body and treat it with respect. Trust that life is what you make of it- so make it awesome! Now go forth with your new super power and see how much happiness you can manifest for yourself today! Seeing you shining will remind me to remember abundance too. We are all in this together. Inspire each other to see our way clear of delusion and embrace this gift that is life.