Slowing down, listening inward, and supporting your inner fire
For years, the holidays brought up something I didn’t want to admit:
I wasn’t excited. I was exhausted.
Everyone else talked about “magic” and “cozy family time,” and meanwhile I was running on fumes — overscheduled, underslept, and secretly bracing myself for the crash that always came afterward.
And I thought it was normal. Part of being a mom. Part of being a woman. Part of “doing all the things.”
But here’s the truth I wish someone had told me:
My body wasn’t failing me. I was failing my body.
The Year It All Fell Apart
There was one year I will never forget — not because it was special, but because it was the moment I realized something had to change.
I was:
staying up too late wrapping gifts
skipping meals
living on coffee
snapping at my kids
fighting the beginnings of a cold I didn’t have time for
and pretending everything was fine
And then Christmas morning came… and I felt awful.
Foggy. Inflamed. Like I might cry at any moment. I wasn’t able to enjoy any of it.
My kids felt it. My body felt it. My heart felt it.
And in that moment, I realized: This isn’t what I want to model. This isn’t the life I’m here to live.
The Missing Piece No One Talks About
When I finally found Ayurveda and seasonal living, everything clicked:
My exhaustion wasn’t a personal failure. It was a seasonal mismatch.
Winter demands:
warmth
slowness
depth
nourishment
quiet
rhythm
…while modern holiday culture demands the opposite.
No wonder so many women struggle with:
anxiety
low energy
sugar cravings
poor sleep
bloating
inflammation
feeling “off” in their bodies
Winter affects: digestion, hormones, immunity, mood, and the nervous system.
You’re not crazy. You’re not “too sensitive.” You’re seasonal — because you’re human.
What Finally Helped
Once I slowed down and aligned my habits with the season, everything shifted:
I stopped getting sick every winter
my digestion became stronger
my energy stabilized
my cravings eased
I became more patient, grounded, and present
holidays actually started to feel good again
And the biggest surprise?
Simple herbal remedies made a huge difference. Fire cider. Ginger-honey remedies. Warm, spiced drinks. Little daily rituals that stoked my inner fire.
None of it was complicated. All of it was powerful.
If you want to experience this too…
Tomorrow, I’m teaching a live workshop called ROOTED: A Seasonal Medicine-Making Workshop — where you’ll learn the exact practices that helped me reclaim winter in a whole new way.
We’ll make: 🍯 Fire Cider 🔥 Golden Fire Honey …and you’ll get a beautiful, printable winter workbook.
If you want weekly wisdom, monthly sisterhood circles, seasonal workshops, and a full winter library of support, you can join my Sustainable Wisdom Patreon tier for $33/month.
You’ll get: ✨ Weekly Empowered Wisdom Drops ✨ Monthly Sacred Sisterhood Circles ✨ Access to ROOTED + future workshops ✨ Ayurvedic guidance ✨ Community support ✨ A replay library
How to support your energy, immunity & hormones naturally this season.
TL;DR: You’re not tired because you’re weak — you’re tired because winter slows digestion, hormones, energy & immunity. Warmth + rhythm = everything. (Scroll to the bottom for the link to join my seasonal medicine-making workshop.)
Why does winter feel so heavy for so many women?
Even if you eat well, “try to stay healthy,” and take care of yourself… every winter, your body speaks.
Nothing is wrong with you — winter changes everything.
Your winter body isn’t failing. It’s adapting.
You might notice it every year:
Your energy drops
Your hormones feel louder
Your motivation disappears
Your digestion slows
Your immune system feels sensitive
Your mood gets shorter
Your body image takes a hit
Everything feels heavier
And then the self-doubt creeps in…
“Why can’t I handle winter better?” “Is this just aging?” “Why do I feel so emotional?” “Why do I get sick this time every year?”
It’s not you. It’s winter.
Your body is seasonal.
In Ayurveda, winter is cold, heavy, slow, and damp. Your physiology reflects that:
digestion slows
metabolism decreases
circulation cools
emotional sensitivity increases
hormones fluctuate
immunity shifts
This is not a problem — it’s wisdom.
But modern life demands the opposite
Winter asks for:
warmth
rest
nourishment
slowness
grounding
deep presence
Life demands:
late nights
overstimulation
sugar/alcohol
emotional labor
endless logistics
unrealistic holiday expectations
Of course you feel overwhelmed. Of course your immunity dips. Of course your body feels “off.”
When you work with the season instead of against it, everything changes.
Your winter body needs support, not pressure.
When you honor the season:
digestion strengthens
immunity rises
hormones stabilize
energy becomes steady
emotions soften
inflammation decreases
you feel grounded, present, and warm
Winter can either pull you into overwhelm… or guide you into deeper nourishment.
Here’s the part most women never learn:
When you support your inner fire — digestion, immunity, hormones, circulation — winter becomes easier. Your energy rises. Your mood stabilizes. You stop catching every cold. You feel grounded instead of overwhelmed.
And you don’t need 20 supplements or complicated protocols. Just seasonal medicine. Seasonal rhythm. Seasonal nourishment.
This is what we’ll be doing together inside ROOTED.
Join me for ROOTED: Seasonal Medicine-Making Workshop
This Saturday at 2 PM EST • (Replay + Workbook included)
Together, we’ll make:
🔥 Fire Cider (digestion, immunity, circulation) ✨ Golden Fire Honey (inflammation, mucus, hormones + sluggish winter energy)
You’ll also learn how to:
support winter digestion & metabolism
strengthen immunity naturally
work with seasonal rhythms instead of against them
Ayurvedic women’s wellness practitioner, herbalist, yoga therapist, and founder of Sacred Wisdom Wellness.
I help women reconnect to their bodies, balance their hormones naturally, live seasonally, and cultivate a rhythm of life that supports their energy, digestion, immunity, and emotional wellbeing — without hustle or overwhelm. This winter season is a powerful invitation back into warmth, nourishment, and presence. I’m honored to walk this path with you.
Discover how aligning with nature’s rhythms can unlock energy, balance hormones, and restore vitality—without quick fixes or crash diets.
Do you feel heavy, sluggish, or out of sync as the seasons change? It’s not just in your head—it’s your body’s way of asking for a RESET.
What You’ll Learn…
The ancient science + modern wisdom behind cleansing
Why cleansing is essential for longevity + vitality
Why most “detoxes” fail—and what actually works long term
The keys to cleansing safely + successfully
What to avoid so you don’t end up exhausted + depleted
How to support your body’s natural detoxification process
Simple, practical steps you can start using right away
As a holistic health guide rooted in Ayurveda and women’s wellness, I’ve seen how seasonal resets can bring women back into balance. This isn’t about restriction—it’s about renewal.
For me, Autumn has always carried with it an air of nostalgia. Once the leaves start turning and the air feels crisp, memories start to surface. Smells of pumpkin, apples, and cinnamon come alive and I’m reminded of so many yummy things — my Grandma’s pumpkin roll, apple butter, and warm toasted nuts, among others.
It’s good to know that so many of the things we crave at certain times of year are actually your body’s way of telling you what it needs! Winter squash, pumpkins, root vegetables, more pungent spices, nuts, and hot teas are all good things to be incorporating right now to counter the cold, dry qualities that come naturally in fall and winter (depending on where you live).
Here are 3 tips for living in a healthy way this Autumn…
1) Prioritize a mid-day meal! In other words — don’t skip lunch! If you’re looking for a good meal to take to work, I recommend this One-Pot Kitchari. It’s EASY and quick and works well in a thermos. 2) Drink warm water instead of cold. Fill up an insulated water bottle with warm-to-hot water and sip at least 2 ounces every 15-30 minutes. Warm water hydrates your cells better! 3) Go to bed early. This time of year the daylight keeps dwindling until we get to the winter solstice (the shortest day and longest night of the year). Your body’s biology is being called to take more time for rest. Earlier sleep will pay you back in many ways – you’ll feel more rested when you wake, and your body will do more natural detoxification while you sleep if you go to bed before 10 pm.
I hope these tips are helpful! If you’re curious about what I’ve been up to lately, check out this post on Facebook (or on Instagram).
🍎 I made my first apple pie a couple of weeks agoand I’m about to attempt a batch of apple butter for the first time — wish me luck!
Want more tips about how to live a naturally healthy life?
I created a simple workbook to help bring more harmony and healing into your everyday life and it’s free! Essential Ayurveda for Every Woman has 5 essential tips that anyone can benefit from (men too! 😉).
A few weeks back I was over my limit with anxiety around the current school/work/life circumstances, and I know I’m not alone. One of the things I’ve been consumed with lately is what will our new “normal” lives look like as we enter the 2020/21 school year — specifically how to balance the extra time and energy that’s needed for homeschooling and/or facilitating schooling at home via a distance learning program along with work, household duties, and personal time.
If you are also feeling panicky, I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to feel this way.
The best thing you can do is to TAKE a BREATH (several) and let yourself settle into the fact that (as annoying as it is to hear and see this phrase in government propaganda right now…) we ARE, in fact, all in this together. Hopefully you have close friends with which you can gather — either in person, or virtually — so that you can feel held by a family of others that are also feeling fragile, anxious, and worried. There is so much to be gained from being in circle with one another right now. We need to voice our worries and hold onto one another, because together we can do anything and we need each other more than ever before.
The fact is, that whether you have children, or not, we all have something staring us in the face right now — be it job security, financial hardship, sickness, or the emotional roller coaster of being alive during this unprecedented time in our history on earth.
As we move into this new phase of life on earth, I feel very clear about one thing — the old model wasn’t sustainable and I’m not interested in trying to get back to it.
As a single mama of two young boys and an entrepreneur in the holistic health field, I felt like I was constantly swimming upstream and almost never had the calm presence with my children that I had imagined I would as a mother.
Ayurveda offers us some very timely wisdom — to attune with the deepest, soul center of ourselves, to listen to that wisdom and follow it, as opposed to going along with whatever happens to be the “norm” in popular culture at any given time. Ayurveda also teaches us to align with the seasons and the natural world around us. Have you noticed how disconnected we are, in general, to the natural rhythms happening all around us every day, every month, every year?
I would venture to say that most Americans are more tuned into the seasonal displays being marketed to them as consumers at the grocery store than to what’s actually going on outside of the technological bubbles we all live in.
What about the moon? What about the rhythms of the sun and the seasonal intricacies that are happening daily all around us?
When we tune into these bigger rhythms, instead of the artificial ones our culture creates for us, something very significant starts to happen. We become more present in our bodies and in our lives. Our focus moves to sustainability of our own energy, our relationships, our planet, and we experience more pleasure in the moments of our lives. We also experience positive shifts in our health, and greater awareness of what’s life-giving for our human beings vs. what’s definitely not. This is important, because it’s the very beginning of the journey to health and healing on every level – physical, emotional, mental, relational, sexual, planetary, etc.
I’m going to spell out some potent Ayurvedic medicine for all of us right here — for our season and this is for our time in the span of human history.
The human being is more, much more, than a body and a mind. We are capable of sensing, intuiting, moving energy, healing ourselves and others, and experiencing a bliss-filled life of love and interconnectedness with all other beings and all of Nature. We are all connected. Regardless of skin color, religion, sexual orientation, or status, we all matter equally and we are ALL one big family that comes from the same Divine source of all of life. YOU MATTER. What you say matters. What you think matters. What you do with your money matters. How you treat your fellow humans, animals, plants, and planet matters. Everything is energy and everything matters. We cannot ignore anything, because it all matters. This is the basis of all understanding.
Connection by Alex Grey
NOW…we must step out of the box of popular culture and stand up for ourselves. We must be rebels now, more than any other time, because our culture is so far from what is natural and good and life-sustaining.
The “how” is much simpler than you might think. It starts by listening to your own intuition and paying attention to how you feel in your body, as well as emotionally. This might seem like a tiny step but it’s HUGE. Next, start arranging your days around the sun, the moon, and the seasons. Then, plan out a rhythm that honors these natural rhythms and your individual self and family.
Right now as we begin to move into Autumn, it becomes important to slow down and establish a steady routine. Each family member might have a slightly different routine, due to schedules, but there’s a way to make it so that for the most part you are all in sync with one another. Mealtimes and bedtimes are the most important to begin with and keep.
Autumn is governed by Vata dosha, which is composed of the elements of Air and Ether (Space), so it tends to be cold, quick, and drying (like wind). Therefore, we employ the use of its opposites — warmth, moisture, and a healthy dose of…s.l.o.w.i.n.g…d.o.w.n. Another thing that shifts when we live by the seasons is our food choices. We can start to eat heavier foods that balance the lightness of fall, like nuts, root vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and meat.
One of my favorite teachers, Mary Thompson, always says “shop for the season, cook for the dosha”. If you’re familiar with Ayurveda, you most likely know a little about the doshas — Vata, Pitta, and Kapha — because they tend to get the most press, and even though we do all have our own individual make-up of the elements and the doshas (and therefore need to pay attention to what foods are better/worse for us) it’s even more important to eat according to the seasons. For instance, in the fall and early winter (depending on your climate where you live), most people are going to do much better with eating mostly cooked, not raw, foods, regardless of constitution.
Below you’ll find a list of steps to take to reclaim your rhythm and start living a healthier life today. If you’re interested in learning more, you can come to my free talk “Reclaiming your Rhythm to Thrive: Ayurvedic Medicine for Anxiety, Autumn, and this School Season” at 6:15pm on Wednesday, September 23 at Hawthorn Healing Arts Center in downtown Bend where I’ll be giving even more practical tools as medicine for anxiety and upset during these uncertain times.
Steps to Reclaim Your Rhythm + Start Living a Healthier Life Today…
Spend time alone in meditation/silence every day (preferably early morning before anything else)
Start to notice your feelings and their accompanying sensations and locations in your body.
Spend time alone in contemplation in Nature as much as possible.
Make time to acknowledge the sunrise, sunset, and the phases of the moon DAILY.
Plan your days around the sun — waking with sunrise (or before), winding down as the sun is dwindling in the sky.
Use less artificial light in your home, and when you do, keep it in sync with the light outside. As the sun dims, use less lights or dimmer ones. Don’t use LED lights on the blue light end of the spectrum (or any screens — phones, computers, tvs, etc.) at least 3 hours before bed.
Eat your biggest meal between 10am and 2pm when the sun is at its height and your body is most capable of digesting and assimilating what you ingest.
Eat a light supper at least 3 hours before bedtime.
Choose intimacy over electronics! Make evenings about connecting with those you love.
Go to bed by 10pm — at the latest!
Come enjoy another Ayurveda Talk, a warm beverage, and Q&A with ME!
Reclaiming Your Rhythm: Ayurvedic Medicine for Anxiety + Uncertain Times
Live + Virtual — Wednesday, September 23 at 6:15pm at Hawthorn Healing Arts
You can attend from anywhere in the World!
*Use the form at the bottom of the page to get details on how to join virtually.*
LOCALS ONLY — you have the option of being in-person. Since we can only allow a total of 10 participants, please call the Hawthorn office to sign up — 541.330.0334
Ayurveda is a beautiful and rich system of healing. It not only gives us an incredibly detailed science of the human being’s magnificent multi-layered self, but it also gives us a picture of the entire universe and how we fit into it. As such, being aligned with Nature is critical to our overall health and ability to heal.
Simply put…if we are out of sync (misaligned), we cannot thrive.
In practical terms, being ALIGNED with Nature means paying attention to the world around us and arranging our lifestyle choices around the circadian rhythms of our planet. Our Grandparents and Great Grandparents did this naturally, because several decades back we humans were more connected to the rhythms of the earth in our daily lives. Nowadays, we have the ability to eat any food in any season, to watch anything online at anytime, to completely disregard the internal and external rhythms around us for the sake of desire and convenience.
What is this disregard doing to us? It’s part of the cause of a whole slew of epidemic problems in our modern civilization — like obesity, type 2 diabetes, insomnia, and so so many different autoimmune issues, like fibromyalgia, allergies, eczema, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid problems like Hashimoto’s, and a ton of different digestive issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Crohn’s disease. And in case you weren’t aware, this is a very small list of all of the autoimmune diseases that are plaguing so many in “modern” cultures. What I wish everyone knew is this…
Autoimmune dis-eases and so many other health diagnoses can be cured with the Circadian Medicine of Ayurveda.
Circadian Medicine is living in tune with Nature. It really doesn’t get anymore uncomplicated than that, which is why it might be looked over in our modern day and age.
This simple wisdom can easily be lost in a culture that puts more faith in technology and the initials that come after a name, than intuition, nature and the individual’s power to heal.
So, without further ado, I’ll get straight to how you can start today, by getting in tune with the season we are in…Summer!
Sacred Wisdom Wellness - Ayurveda, Natural Medicine, Holistic Health, Embodiment, Essential Oils, Health Freedom, Bend, Oregon, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 