On December 21, we move through the longest night of the year, and on this day we welcome back the sun by celebrating the Winter Solstice [Yule]. In this final episode of 2023, I talk through the ways you can slowly, intuitively, and creatively celebrate this seasonal transition. Happy Winter Solstice, moonflower!

Rituals Mentioned [links provided]:

Build a seasonal altar

Watch the sunrise

Pine bath ritual

Yule tarot card spread

Feed the land with bird & squirrel feeders

Make Wassail

Cook a Pizza Bun Wreath

Lemon rosemary shortbread cookies

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Here is a conversation with the author of one of my favorite reads from this past year: The Halfling Saga. There are currently two books out from this amazing series, and the third is soon to be released. If you haven’t read these books yet, they will soon be added to your TBR after listening to this conversation with Melissa Blair. 

In this conversation we do absolutely talk about Melissa’s books, her inspiration, and some foundational aspects of the stories, but we also talk about what it’s like to navigate being a creative person, and even more specifically what it’s like to also live with depression. Melissa is super honest, vulnerable, and real in this conversation, and I felt incredibly honored by what she shared and the practical advice she offers listeners. I personally got A LOT out of this conversation, and I know you will too. 

About our guest:

Read The Halfling Saga!

Check out Melissa on TikTok

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Cozy Gaming as a form of self-care! This conversation is for you regardless of if you’ve never played a video game in your life or you’ve already an avid gamer. I 100% believe that cozy gaming is a wonderful addition to anyone’s self-care toolkit, and in this episode you will quickly learn why.

Iona and I talk about:

- How cozy gaming can actually be a healthy form of self-care

- How Iona practices self-care in her own life

- How to get into cozy gaming as someone who’s never played before

- Below you’ll find the list of games we talk about

- Watch the Cozy Gaming Explained video on Youtube

Cozy Game List:

A little to the left

My time at sand rock

The watermelon game

Fae farm

Disney dreamlight valley

Coffee talk

Unpacking 

Fire emblem three houses

Animal crossing

Any RPG on easy mode!

About our guest: 

Iona is a queer chaotic Brit who loves cozy games, and all things Nintendo. She started her channel because she couldn’t find many other women talking about Nintendo games on YouTube, so she just decided to become that person instead. And fun fact, she also have a PhD in chemistry!

Subscribe to her YouTube Channel 

Check her out on Twitch

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Recently, a member of this community said "I've made it a priority to make 'cozy' a way of life", and I thought: YES! That is it. That is a core component of the way we like to lead our lives over here in these parts, and it's time we talk about it.

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I've made the challenging but necessary decision to put The Moonflower Path Community Space into hibernation mode for an undetermined amount of time. Listen to this episode to learn a bit more about:

- The "why" of this decision (since I'm still in the messiness of it, this is a brief share, and in time I will open up more)

- What to expect from The Moonflower Path as a whole

- What's happening in the podcast (it's not going anywhere)

- How you TOO can take radical breaks, moonflower

Stay tuned for how I'd like to gather with you, December, to end our collective chapters, together.

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This is a 10ish minute meditation to come to when you're need of a dose of rest. You might put this on before bed to help you sleep or mid-day as a restful reset. Get comfy and let yourself remember: you are worthy of rest and you are enough in simply BEing.

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I just came back from being away on vacation in Greece for two weeks with my family, and I brought with me my little traveling self-care toolkit. I thought it would be fun to talk you through my process in creating it, how it serves and supports me, and how you can create one for yourself! 

✨ See photos of the kit by clicking on the latest blog post on our website: https://www.themoonflowerpath.com/podcast

Prompts:

Why do you want to create a self-care toolkit? What needs and desires do you see it serving?

What are your values? How might your self-care toolkit help you live out by those values?

Where and how do you foresee yourself wanting to use your self-care toolkit? Will it be something that supports you more in practice or on-the-go? Or both? 

In the situations answered in prompt 3, what do you find you need or want the most support with?

Resources mentioned:

Every Body Self-Care Toolkit

Self-Care Categories

Dear Creative Mind | Creative Gathering

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How do you care for yourself (and others) when you're grieving? What even IS grief?

In this conversation with Queer Counsellor, Mady Harber, we talk about:

This is a very tender and vulnerable conversation, and I feel so honored that Mady felt comfortable to share as she did, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it, no matter what your relationship with grief is.

🍂 Join the workshop: Gently Grieving

About our guest:

Mady (she/her) is a registered social worker, counsellor and the Clinical Director of Burn Bright Counselling. Burn Bright Counselling is a queer affirming counselling practice specializing in supporting the LGBTQ2S+ community. She has lived on unceded Lekwungen and WSANEC territories (otherwise known as Victoria, BC) for the past 10 years. Mady is also a daily griever. It is through her intimate relationship with grief that she has been able to understand what an important part of healing, growing and living that grief plays. Mady seeks grounding and stability in time by the ocean, in the forest and on her skates (playing roller derby!).

Burn Bright Counselling | Website

Burn Bright Counselling | Instagram

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Eco-anxiety it very real, very present, and I'm here to help support you through it. In this video I share some somatic self-care tips to help navigate the emotions that come along with being an earth-loving soul who feels the grief with the state of the climate right now, but don't want to let the anxiety paralyze you from doing something about it.

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