Join me as I share some wonderful + simple entry points to a holistic way of living; full of ideas to help you simplify your day to day, make space for well-being, and to find the joy that your life has for you.

These are all basic and attainable ideas, but often overlooked, so regardless of how many years you’ve been crafting a holistic lifestyle, these ideas might be a reminder of something long forgotten. Look at it as a gentle nudge to re-invite these ideas into your daily rthym. Oh, and an added benefit is the things mentioned in this post don’t cost any money to begin (however, I will mention products when necessary to be helpful to those who are currently unable to embrace the original suggestion)….let’s get into it!

1. Rise and set with the sun’s daily/seasonal rhythm

This is by far my favorite way to begin walking out a holistic lifestyle and remembering our ancestral rhythm. This is also the fastest way to begin attuning yourself to the seasons. As we navigate a modern era, we learn to get in routines aligned with the 24 hour clock cycle, regardless of the time of year. This is detrimental to many of our body’s systems and causes many health implications. Living seasonally can be very difficult, especially if you work a 9-5 job or your children are in public school and after school activities. But with some intentionality and creativity, this can be attainable. While this will look different for everyone, here are some ways that I design our family’s daily rhythm, and I encourage you to think of how you can incorporate these ideas or tweak them to fit the current needs of the season of life you are currently in (and revisiting them as those seasons of life change).

• Rising with the sun: After daylight savings in the Spring, this is no problem! We “spring back” on the clock and that seems much more attainable (at least for me). However, the Winter months often provide the most challenge when the sun doesn’t rise until much later than when most people need to be awake for work and/or school. Here is where we can embrace the advantages of some modern creations, such as an alarm clock that wakes you up with a gentle ambient glow that mimics the sun rising up as it gradually glows brighter and brighter. I do not have one of these, but there are many out there to fit your budget and needs. If you live a work from home/homeschool/home centered life, then I encourage you to rise with the natural sunrise throughout the seasons, living with the sun as your “time clock”. You may be surprised to find that many ailments fade away or you manage your stress load better. Oh, and please do not torture your nervous system with a blaring alarm clock, starting the day in fight or flight mode. Instead, put your phone in the other room and pick an alarm that slowly and gently wakes you up with a peaceful sound that gradually goes up in volume. Again, we have tools in this technology abundant era, utilize them when necessary, avoid them otherwise (haha, only slightly joking!)
• Winding down as the sun goes down: this is by far my favorite part of our daily rhythm, I’m the most intentional here and our whole family participates in this routine. Since I am writing this in the middle of January, I am starting with our Winter evening routine: On our forested mountainside, the sun starts working it’s way down behind the crest of the hill here much earlier than say my family who lives in the plains. So for us, around 3pm (in the winter) is when we shift from overhead lights to eye-level or below lighting. We use alot of salt lamps and non-LED lamp lighting that has a yellowish or orange glow to mimic the sunset lighting. I turn on our essential oil diffusers with different oils to support us in however we are feeling, or just oils that encourage relaxation and peacefulness. We then go out and tend to the animals and wood boiler, tucking in the homestead for the night. After that, we come in and make something warm and nourishing to drink while shifting to more low energy tasks, such as folding laundry or tidying up the house from the day. Sometimes, we simply do more relaxing activities or hobbies, which might look like being in the sauna, stretching/yoga/somatic exercises, reading or working with our hands in dong leatherwork, sewing or working on a puzzle. In the winter it gets dark here around 5pm, so this is where we rely on the low indoor lighting to get by until our bedtimes. During the summer, we enjoy the longer days and I do go to bed as it gets dark which is after 9pm during the longest days.
• An added note and personal preference: In this season of life, we do not participate in any extra curricular/enrichment activity that takes us away from the home in the evening during family time, so for us our cutoff is home by 4pm. We are very protective over our family culture and daily rhythm and as a homeschool family we are able to do enrichment activities during the day. If we were not a homeschool family, I would still hold to this boundary and simply move to doing enrichment activities on the weekends. I undertand this is not easy to do and limits the amount of options available, but honestly, limiting the endless options of this era is a blessing in disguise.

2. Find/create a community of like minded women/mothers

If you want to quickly work towards an ancestral way of doing community, step away from social media and step into actual gatherings with like minded individuals. This could be through a local church, nature group, exercise class, or simply meeting up at a park with other mothers while the kids play. Build your tribe, sister! This can be a painfully slow process, but I promise you, your people are out there and they are searching for this as well. I have met some of my favorite people at my daughter’s homeschool nature groups and our church. The point is to get around actual people and share life with them, it’s so important for the mental and emotional aspect of our health and well being.

3. Grounding

In process….check back soon!