Wintering
Monday Mettā
A new + beautiful way to experience Mondays.
I am at ease with myself. I am at ease in my surroundings.
You, and all people, are not only allowed, but it is your right to feel at ease with who and where you are. Say it and breathe it. I am at ease. I am at ease. I am allowed to be at ease.
You have the right to feel that relationships are generally easy.
You have the right to feel safe and comfortable at home.
You have the right to trust and love your body, skin, and all that’s in it.
Sometimes, that stuff that feels impossible starts with a deep breath and a whisper to yourself.
I am at ease with myself. I am at ease with my surroundings.
So glad you’re here.
Intuitive Tarot Card Reading
Use your intuition to guide you to a specific card below. Choose the card with the crystal on it that calls to you.At the end of this newsletter, you’ll see the cards flipped over, with a reading for each one. The card that you choose here will have your reading for the week.
Card 1: Amethyst Choose this card if you’d like to get rid of some toxicity.
Card 2: Peach Quartz Choose this card if you’d like some advice on your social life.
Card 3: Red Jasper Choose this card if you’ve been feeling apathetic.
Wait to scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter until you’ve chosen your card!
🕯Annual New Year’s Day Retreat
Let’s honor 2022 and 2023 together.
In a few weeks, time turns and we mark the beginning of a New Year.
My annual New Year’s Day Retreat is happening again. It will be held on Sunday, January 1 with experiences from 9:30-4, and asks nothing of you except for an internet connection and comfy clothes. The schedule is varied, with eight offerings, and is designed so that you come and go as you please. Let’s float our way to 2023 together ❤️
There will be:
yoga (three different options!)
mettā meditation
aspirational journaling
visualizing your year
intuitive tarot reading
There’s something for everyone. And this year, Leonor Daley, educator, yoga instructor, and Mindful Schools practitioner, will join me.
Retreat Payment Options:
$20 for one offering
$35 for two offerings
$50 for four offerings (If you want a box of goodies mailed to you for $5 extra, let me know when you RSVP!)
$100 for the full day (including is a box of goodies delivered to your door! Just RSVP by Wednesday!)
*all options include Tea & Smiles 🫖 ☺️
If you’d like to discuss a discounted rate, please connect with me!
Yoga Classes:
No class this week- see you next week!
Follow this link to book a 1/2 hour yoga (or breathing, or meditation, or all of the above) with me. You can book a class almost instantly, or weeks in advance. It’s all up to you.
Do you very specifically live in Door County, WI? If so, come to my Yoga and Meditative Journaling class on January 21st at 10:00am!
An Excerpt fromWintering by Katherine May:
Below, you’ll see an excerpt from Katherine May’s bestselling book, Wintering, which I am returning to (I posted this excerpt last year as well). She has beautifully and accurately described what it feels like to “winter” within one’s own body and mind, and how it is not only “normal” to winter, it is natural.
What is not natural is the way we view wintering.
Consider how do we as a society look at and talk about people who winter, who take their time off when they know they need it, their time to themselves, their time to hibernate and heal? It’s similar to how many of us see trees as they change from green to brown. We often see those trees as defeated, moving from brilliantly colorful and shady to drab marks on a landscape. Instead, Katherine May offers another perspective:
The dropping of leaves by deciduous trees is called abscission. It occurs on the cusp between autumn and winter, as part of an arc of growth, maturity, and renewal. In spring and summer, leaf cells are full of chlorophyll, a bright green substance that absorbs sunlight, fueling the process that converts carbon dioxide and water into the starch and sugar that allow the tree to grow. But at the end of the summer, as the days grow shorter and the temperature falls, deciduous trees stop making food. In the absence of sunlight, it becomes too costly to maintain the machinery of growth. The chlorophyll begins to break down, revealing other colours that were always present in the leaf, but which were masked by the abundance of green pigment: oranges and yellows, derived from carotene and xanthophyll. Other chemical changes take place to create red anthocyanin pigments. The exact mix is different for each tree, sometimes producing bright yellows, oranges, and browns, and sometimes displaying as reds or purples.
But while this is happening, a layer of cells is weakening between the stem and the branch: this is called the abscission zone. Gradually it severs the leaf from access to water, and the leaf dries and browns and in most cases falls off, either under its own weight or encouraged by wintery rains and winds. Within a few hours, the tree will have released substances to heal the scar the leaf has left, protecting itself from the evaporation of water, infection, or the invasion of parasites.
Even as the leaves are falling, the buds of next year’s crop are already in place, waiting to erupt again in spring. Most trees produce their buds in high summer, and the autumn leaf fall reveals them, neat and expectant, protected from the cold by thick scales. We rarely notice them because we think we’re seeing the skeleton of the tree, a dead thing until the sun returns. But look closely, and every single tree is in bud, from the sharp talons of the beech to the hoodlike black buds of the ash. Many trees also display catkins in the winter, like the acid-green lambs’ tails of the hazel and the furry grey nubs of the willow. These employ the wind or insects to spread pollen, ready for the new year.
The tree is waiting. It has everything ready. Its fallen leaves are mulching the forest floor, and its roots are drawing up the extra winter moisture, providing a firm anchor against seasonal storms. Its ripe cones and nuts are providing essential food in this scarce time for mice and squirrels, and its bark is hosting hibernating insects and providing a source of nourishment for hungry deer. It is far from dead. It is in fact the life and soul of the wood. It’s just getting on with it quietly. It will not burst into life in the spring. It will just put on a new coat and face the world again.
-Katherine May, Wintering
With Gratitude,
There are three beautiful ways you can support my work writing and teaching!
Make a micro-donation, either through Buy Me a Coffee (or in my case, a love note), or after you’ve listened to one of my meditations on Insight Timer.
Come to my New Year’s Retreat, book a personalized yoga class or contact me for a Tarot or Akashic Records reading.
Forward this newsletter on to anyone who might want a little love! Ask them to subscribe! Tell them you love them!
Thank you thank you!
Much love and gratitude,
Rachel xo
PS- I love hearing about the cards you pick and your related experiences. Please email me or comment below to share what came up from your card reading this week🔮
Your Tarot Reading, Revealed!
Card 1: Amethyst // Eight of Swords
This card shows up when you are finally ready to get rid of confusion, stagnation, and unhelpful repetitive thoughts. The Swords, all about the intellect, are a reminder that sometimes the toxicity is coming from inside the house! In order to move away from depletion and fear, you must become quiet. Reflect on what’s causing toxicity in your life and how it is holding you back. Then, ask for guidance… from yourself. If that feels too hard, imagine you are your own best friend. What would your best friend tell you, if you asked? You may find that you receive the clarity you are looking for.
Card 2: Peach Quartz// Queen of Pentacles
The Queen of Pentacles is generous, honest, nurturing, and passionate. She embodies abundance at all levels. She is an earthly queen! The next time you walk into a party, work event, or date, imagine yourself an earthly queen. Move with passion. Speak with honesty. Act with generosity. Interact as a nurturer. People will gravitate towards you and match your grounded, earthy calm.
Card 3: Red Jasper // The Star
The Star encourages us to strip down and look at ourselves fully. In doing so, you get to experience a new perspective of who you are and what you really want. Apathy can sometimes come from two many, or not enough, choices. Instead, make a list of what you most value—get to the core of who you are. After making your list, step back. Are you making choices that enhance your values? If not, this may be a great place to start.
✨intuitive tarot inspired by Sarah Greenman, who was in turn inspired by Chris Corsini, because inspiration is contagious✨