Mid-Winter Flowers

Mid Winter Flowers

Yes! This bunch of flowers have been picked just for you!

It seems a little odd to think of fresh flowers during these deep, dark January days. Unless you have a Birthday or particular celebration, flowers are not very seasonal this time of year. Even at the famous Pike Place Market here in Seattle, most of our local flower farms are selling dried stems that have a beauty all their own, but do not hold the scent and look and feel of fresh ones.

However, this is probably the time of year when we need a bouquet the most. I know Valentine’s Day is around the corner and the flowers will be pricey and in demand, but the quiet, slow, deep winter days where no flowers are to be found let alone thought about feels like the perfect time to treat one’s self or to pick a few stems for a friend or even plant a bulb inside your warm home.

Something about the flowers and their beauty can brighten an otherwise mundane day and remind each of us that the days are lengthening and that spring is not far away.

If a bunch of real flowers are simply not possible, you can definitely create a bouquet in your visual journal. Clip out all the flowers you see in your magazines and make the most beautiful arrangement of flowers you have seen. This is a simple yet wonderful way to dwell in beauty as you use your creativity and intuitive sense of what you are naturally drawn too.

Overall, flowers are alive and can be present with us throughout the days and seasons. It may be an upside down idea to have flowers in January, but that’s what makes it precious!

Book Review: Forest Bathing

Forest Bathing

A professor of mine mentioned one day that she was off on a Forest Bathing adventure with some friends one weekend last year. My ears immediately perked up! What is this Forest Bathing. I had no idea, but the idea sounded delightful.

Basically she explained that she did not know much about it either, but that she and her friends were going to the woods and be with the trees. So, she was not going to actually take a literal bath out there, but rather become immersed in the forest, i.e. in the natural world.

This idea was on my mind when I ran into this book:

Now here was an interesting book that seemed to know all about the subject. I bought it given all of my intrigue over the concept. First, it is a gorgeous book full of calm pictures of forests and trees that immediately relaxed me.

From there, I was amazed at the many different ways to be with the trees in nature, as well as how we bring ourselves to the forest. Much of the book incorporates meditations and mindful activities to practice when among the trees, which seeks to help people incorporate practices that will reduce stress, anxiety, and depression by sharing time with the natural world.

This may just be another gimmick in the realm of uber self-care practices, but I believe the notion of Forest Bathing can just allow us to be present to ourselves and nature when we are in it and also make it a priority to spend time there. I know for myself, I always feel rejuvenated to be on a hike in a forest – perhaps I will find more time in 2020 to Forest Bathe.