Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Loving me loving you- uh ha
Friday, 26 October 2012
Waldorf Song: Autumn Winds Blow Open The Gate
In almost every parenting book and early years book in the Waldorf world, there is a component on the importance of song. Songs for waking up, songs for blessings, songs for doing tasks. I grew up singing a lot of songs with my family. Mostly Raffi and Sharon, Louis, and Bram. There are some really beautiful songs that are part of the waldorf world. I loved the lyrics but had a hard time finding the tune. Many people just said make them up. Well, I have been singing for a while now so I could do that but at the beginning everything seemed to have the tune yanky doodle or row row row your boat. I decided to record Narina singing some of our favorites and feature them over the next few weeks.
This is a beautiful Autumn song. It fits right into Michaelmas but can be sung at any point during the fall.
`The Autumn winds blow open the gate
St. Michael for you we wait.
St. Michael for you we wait.
We follow you, show us the way,
With joy we greet this autumn day.
Good morning, good morning, good morning.
If the embedded link doesn't work for you, try this.
Don't forget to keep your eyes on Soulemama for our huge giveaway from Natural Kids Team. The dates of the contest are this Saturday and Sunday.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Soulemama Giveaway of $1000 Worth of Toys from the Natural Kids Team
This is such a big deal. Our team has been super busy getting this collection of toys ready for a lucky winner. Dolls, playsilks, wooden toys, open ended toys for kids of all ages. I am giving away a cashmere lavender angel. You can see all the gifts here. Go to soulemama.com on Saturday and Sunday to enter.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Foodwise
When I joined my friend Katherine in the organization of Steiner inspired talks at the Christian Community Church in Forest Row, Wendy Cook was one of the local speakers I was really hoping would join us. Our family is really into our cooking but, like anyone, I really enjoy the inspiration to branch out of our usual meals. A gathering of someone who has published books on biodynamic cooking would surely be inspiring, right?
Right!
Wendy was terrific. I was able to take some notes but I have the feeling to get the true essence of what I am going to share, it would be best to buy Wendy's book "Foodwise: Understanding What We Eat and How it Affects Us, The Story of Human Nutrition".
Here are a few of my notes. Wendy shared with us something an anthroposophical doctor shared with her recently. For every 1 kg of food we ingest, only 5g of it is assimilated. It is the essence of the plant that is of the most importance. Biodynamics, being the best quality of food for the earth, for our bodies and for our connection to everything around us. For a general understanding of biodynamic food, check out this easy to read article.
Wendy went onto talking about the three epochs of human consumption. It started in the Milk and Honey era, which is also used to describe the era young children are in. The magic of both milk and honey are that they are animal/ plant substances that never enter the blood stream so they are thought to have a lot of dynamic qualities. Most of us in the holistic world know about the benefits of breast milk and the healing properties of honey and Wendy's commentary about it was a furthering of that knowledge for me.
Then came the epoch called "Bread and Wine". It was when the "self" started to feel the need of separation and isolation. Ego and importance came into effect. What was once used for ritual and for sharing was being consumed more regularly to fulfill the self. Wendy writes:
"According to Steiner it was important for evolving humanity to become thoroughly awake to the importance of concrete existence, so that they could learn from it all that could be learnt. As long as the human being still experienced himself as a citizen of the spiritual world and considered physical life as only a small part of existence, he would not take the possibilities offered by earthly life seriously enough. Milk had had the effect of tying the human being gently to the earth, building nerve, muscle and kapha; bread really earthed him, and wine – initially used by priests in temple rituals – had the task of separating the human from his spiritual origins, encouraging a kind of forgetfulness. As a sacred ritual drink, wine was initially used with care and reverence, but the rituals became decadent."
"This concept of Steiner's, that wine was needed for its shrinking effect upon the spiritual part of the human being, is a hard one to grasp, but perhaps we know from experience that over-consumption of alcohol makes us forgetful, the next day, of what we did or said the day before. Although wine temporarily enlivens us, the fact remains that seeds will not germinate in it, indicating its 'mineralized' status (tamasic in the Ayurvedic system) and here is the clue to the life forces in wine."
The final epoch Wendy talked about was called "Mineralization". It, as you might imagine, is the path that started with salt being used in cooking to salt being so desired it was used as payment for the roman army. It is where gluttony and consumption became more pronounced. You can read a great article by Wendy here that dives into this a bit deeper than what I am going to do in this post.
The big key points of dos and don'ts that I took home were to get the nightshade family out of kids diets asap. In our group we discovered that most of our kids don't like them anyways and that we are trying to find creative ways to sneak peppers or tomatoes into our kids. Then I realized that I do, in fact, cover potatoes with butter and cheese to get the kids to eat them when their bodies are really saying that they don't want them.
She mentioned that Steiner said that grains hold the most light and that if you look at our teeth and what they are made for, the most % of teeth we have are for the mastication of grains.
She said a balance of root- leaf- stem- fruit should be represented in each meal. (more on this in another post)
And she said it is important to be an intentional cook. Things like nightshades can be used in adult cooking if you know what you need to add to them to offset their harmful or undesirable traits. She mentioned that it is good to cook together, something I really don't enjoy, and so I am going to explore that idea a bit more when Dan comes back from work at some point.
So that's it for now. Well done you if you made it to the end of this post. Thank you Wendy for such an inspiring talk.
Right!
Wendy was terrific. I was able to take some notes but I have the feeling to get the true essence of what I am going to share, it would be best to buy Wendy's book "Foodwise: Understanding What We Eat and How it Affects Us, The Story of Human Nutrition".
Here are a few of my notes. Wendy shared with us something an anthroposophical doctor shared with her recently. For every 1 kg of food we ingest, only 5g of it is assimilated. It is the essence of the plant that is of the most importance. Biodynamics, being the best quality of food for the earth, for our bodies and for our connection to everything around us. For a general understanding of biodynamic food, check out this easy to read article.
Wendy went onto talking about the three epochs of human consumption. It started in the Milk and Honey era, which is also used to describe the era young children are in. The magic of both milk and honey are that they are animal/ plant substances that never enter the blood stream so they are thought to have a lot of dynamic qualities. Most of us in the holistic world know about the benefits of breast milk and the healing properties of honey and Wendy's commentary about it was a furthering of that knowledge for me.
Then came the epoch called "Bread and Wine". It was when the "self" started to feel the need of separation and isolation. Ego and importance came into effect. What was once used for ritual and for sharing was being consumed more regularly to fulfill the self. Wendy writes:
"According to Steiner it was important for evolving humanity to become thoroughly awake to the importance of concrete existence, so that they could learn from it all that could be learnt. As long as the human being still experienced himself as a citizen of the spiritual world and considered physical life as only a small part of existence, he would not take the possibilities offered by earthly life seriously enough. Milk had had the effect of tying the human being gently to the earth, building nerve, muscle and kapha; bread really earthed him, and wine – initially used by priests in temple rituals – had the task of separating the human from his spiritual origins, encouraging a kind of forgetfulness. As a sacred ritual drink, wine was initially used with care and reverence, but the rituals became decadent."
"This concept of Steiner's, that wine was needed for its shrinking effect upon the spiritual part of the human being, is a hard one to grasp, but perhaps we know from experience that over-consumption of alcohol makes us forgetful, the next day, of what we did or said the day before. Although wine temporarily enlivens us, the fact remains that seeds will not germinate in it, indicating its 'mineralized' status (tamasic in the Ayurvedic system) and here is the clue to the life forces in wine."
The final epoch Wendy talked about was called "Mineralization". It, as you might imagine, is the path that started with salt being used in cooking to salt being so desired it was used as payment for the roman army. It is where gluttony and consumption became more pronounced. You can read a great article by Wendy here that dives into this a bit deeper than what I am going to do in this post.
The big key points of dos and don'ts that I took home were to get the nightshade family out of kids diets asap. In our group we discovered that most of our kids don't like them anyways and that we are trying to find creative ways to sneak peppers or tomatoes into our kids. Then I realized that I do, in fact, cover potatoes with butter and cheese to get the kids to eat them when their bodies are really saying that they don't want them.
She mentioned that Steiner said that grains hold the most light and that if you look at our teeth and what they are made for, the most % of teeth we have are for the mastication of grains.
She said a balance of root- leaf- stem- fruit should be represented in each meal. (more on this in another post)
And she said it is important to be an intentional cook. Things like nightshades can be used in adult cooking if you know what you need to add to them to offset their harmful or undesirable traits. She mentioned that it is good to cook together, something I really don't enjoy, and so I am going to explore that idea a bit more when Dan comes back from work at some point.
So that's it for now. Well done you if you made it to the end of this post. Thank you Wendy for such an inspiring talk.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Upcoming Forest Row Event: Wendy Cook Nutrition and Children
I feel so luck to be part of this next event. A few years ago my sister in law gave Dan a wonderful book for Christmas called The Biodynamic Food and Cookbook; Real Nutrition That Doesn't Cost the Earth. With a lot of rich information and delicious recipes, this book is on our most used cooking shelf.
Wendy has recently moved back into the area and has offered to give a talk about Nutrition and Children as part of the Christian Community's lecture series that I am helping out with. If you are in the area, this is not to be missed.
Wendy has recently moved back into the area and has offered to give a talk about Nutrition and Children as part of the Christian Community's lecture series that I am helping out with. If you are in the area, this is not to be missed.
Monday, 8 October 2012
Saturday, 6 October 2012
Being thankful
This weekend is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. It has been so long since I have celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving but I always love the reminder to take a toll of all that is good in my life. It is especially timely this week for I have been going a bit mad with single parenting two kids who have gone off the deep end during the day and are wanting to tell me about it all night. These are some of the things I am thankful for this week.
*my husband having a few mornings off with us here at home. We are now nearing the halfway point of his absence and it has been so good to have naps, long showers, reprieve from insane moments, not be the only one doing the clean ups and have some support and appreciation.
*the collective consciousness I experienced at my yoga classes this week. I have been craving a group setting of women sharing, loving and mothering like this from the moment I last felt it. When I was 20 in a woman's circle in Massachusetts.
*my new yoga teacher. For being gentle and compassionate. For being body wise and heart wise. For helping me find ways to be in her class.
*for the songs Narina belts out at the top of her lungs from school. I love hearing how she doesn't know all the words but she sings loud anyways.
*for Esben's new found freedom of movement. Never a dull moment now, but it swells my heart to see him crawl after what he wants.
*for local storytellers
*for fresh yeast that costs pennies.
*for the mothers I have met in the last few months where co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, alternative education, and no tvs are the norm not an anomaly.
*for the mothers in my life who aren't co-sleeping, breastfeeding, and watch lots of tv. For your acceptance of me even though I am not the norm.
*for old friendships, best friendships, sisterhoods.
*for having the money to receive treatments on my pelvis and back and for having the skill and talent of a choice of practitioners to help me achieve my goal.
THANK YOU.
and thank you for reading.
*my husband having a few mornings off with us here at home. We are now nearing the halfway point of his absence and it has been so good to have naps, long showers, reprieve from insane moments, not be the only one doing the clean ups and have some support and appreciation.
*the collective consciousness I experienced at my yoga classes this week. I have been craving a group setting of women sharing, loving and mothering like this from the moment I last felt it. When I was 20 in a woman's circle in Massachusetts.
*my new yoga teacher. For being gentle and compassionate. For being body wise and heart wise. For helping me find ways to be in her class.
*for the songs Narina belts out at the top of her lungs from school. I love hearing how she doesn't know all the words but she sings loud anyways.
*for Esben's new found freedom of movement. Never a dull moment now, but it swells my heart to see him crawl after what he wants.
*for local storytellers
*for fresh yeast that costs pennies.
*for the mothers I have met in the last few months where co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, alternative education, and no tvs are the norm not an anomaly.
*for the mothers in my life who aren't co-sleeping, breastfeeding, and watch lots of tv. For your acceptance of me even though I am not the norm.
*for old friendships, best friendships, sisterhoods.
*for having the money to receive treatments on my pelvis and back and for having the skill and talent of a choice of practitioners to help me achieve my goal.
THANK YOU.
and thank you for reading.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Mama's got her craft back.
Finally.
I am not caught up on my custom orders and can start preparing for the winter festive season ahead. With a few Steiner fairs to attend, I have a lot of gnomes to make, let alone dolls. I love the creative rush at this time of year. Below are some of the more recent projects.
I am not caught up on my custom orders and can start preparing for the winter festive season ahead. With a few Steiner fairs to attend, I have a lot of gnomes to make, let alone dolls. I love the creative rush at this time of year. Below are some of the more recent projects.
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| Toddler Cuddle Doll |
 | |
| Full sized limb doll with the softest hair EVER! |
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| My little gnomey gnome modelling a gift for her dear friend. |
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| My flower gnome in her special cashmere hat. |
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| Rose Angel |
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