December, 2024
GROUNDING OURSELVES IN WINTER
I could write the same December newsletter every year, and if I’m honest with myself, I probably do. Some version of:
“WOW – the holidays are alot – how are you grounding yourself this season – and can we let go of all the performative holiday stuff to be better able to enjoy slowing down and being present to what really matters???”
So consider that done.
(But really – how are you grounding yourself this season? And can we let go of the performative holiday stuff? Can we slow down? Can we be present? And what really matters to you during this season anyway?)
A few years ago, I decided to let go of doing anything for the holidays that didn’t bring me joy, that caused me resentment, or just wasn’t fun. Decorating my house with my daughter? Love it. Sending holiday cards? It varies year to year. Jury is still out for this season (I know, it’s getting late). Hosting a holiday party? No thank you. Getting on a plane and dealing with the holiday airport craziness? Not anymore. I will drive 2 states away to see my sister, but no hectic airport travel.
You know what I really do love during the holiday season? That sacred space between Christmas and the end of the year, when there is really nothing to do. I try to keep the holiday stuff up to that point light, joyful, and low-stress. Then gratefully settle into that liminal, restorative space where the opportunity is simple being rather than doing. Reading, lounging, eating, watching movies, hanging out with my family, going for walks? That’s heaven for me.
In the meantime, I am doing, planning, and juggling like you might be too. But I am trying to keep re-grounding into now. There have been some walks in nature – close to the water or in the forest. We have a hot tub and some configuration of my family gets in it almost daily in the colder months, and I rest my head on the edge and float and look up at the sky. Touching into nature helps me reconnect with myself and slow down, no matter how fast things feel like they are going. I hope you can find some time to do the same.
At Source Yoga, we will enter 2025 with several ways to help you reconnect with yourself and ground into winter.
- Join me for a special winter one day retreat January 26th in Indianola, WA. Water, Earth and Sky: Grounding Ourselves in Nature. Through awareness practices, we remember the truth that we are of nature.
- Please help me welcome a longtime local teacher, Jeni Martinez to the Source Community. Jeni is one of the cofounders of Three Trees Yoga in Federal Way, has been teaching for 35 years, and has been recently moved to Tacoma after a few years living in Spain. I am so happy to welcome her to our teaching staff. She will be offering a 6 Week Series beginning in February, Movement, Meditation, and Mantra: A Series for Creating Wholeness.
- Join us for Karen Laura Peter’s once monthly Friday evening Restorative Yoga and Live Music. These sell out, so sign up early! First one after the new year is January 10th.
- Our schedule is now posted January-May, so check out and sign up for your classes!
Erin Joosse | she/her
Source Yoga | studio directorPS: Stay tuned for our annual holiday gift certificate sale! Share the gift of yoga with someone you love (or nudge someone to buy a gift certificate for YOU). More info coming soon.
