TINCTURE

Dearest friends,

it has been quiet on here and there’s more sharing about to happen about the density of life I’ve found myself in recently. For now though, on this solstice day, I want to share a prayer with you.

An invocation to the sun.

(If you are coming to “Sacred Circle” tonight skip this one, as I will be praying and singing and drumming this one tonight for you over cacao ceremony.)

To the sun of the East

that rises anew every day

I ask of you to bring me a softening.

A sense of hope.

An immense allowing.

Just as you greet me on the horizon every morning I can soften into the knowledge that gentleness, tenderness and new light will find me on my darkest path

To the sun of the South

that stands high and bright, that burns with strength

I ask of you to bring me into my own power.

To speak my truths,

fully from my center, just as you fill the sky at midday.

I ask of you courage to let my fire burn and to let my light shine,

and not to shy away from the heat,

the density,

the complexity,

the possibility of my own life.

To the sun of the West

that falls, that sinks on the horizon,

but does so in beauty and in rosy goodness.

I ask of you trust.

Trust in my own understanding of things.

My ability to discern and look into all things deeply.

To trust that everything will be revealed to me in the appropriate time.

To the sun of the North

sun of the dark,

hiding,

resting.

I ask of you the willingness to sink deep into my own rest.

I ask of you patience on my path.

Patience to allow things to unfold as they will.

I honor that there is no light without shadow.

I honor that there is no day without night.

I honor that there is no expansion, without contraction.

I know that there will be no flight, without rest.

To the sun within

the light that is mine alone,

the fire that burns deep inside.

My inner flame that springs from my powerful heart.

I ask of you to speak freely to me.

I ask of you to be the clear voice and the open ear to receive all at once.

I ask of you to guide me, unfalteringly,

to live from my own light.

To the solstice sun

oh powerful, beautiful sun of the solstice,

as you appear to stand still in the June sky,

but are truly the sun of deep

transformation.

We planted our seeds in spring and now we enter the season of growing abundance - summer.

I ask of you to help me release anything that knocked me off balance.

To purify .

To burn away everything that no longer serves me.

To burn up in flame my limiting beliefs about myself.

To melt away my fears.

I ask of you to let me breathe life into my deepest desires,

to bite into the ripe fruit that is my life and let the rich juices drip down

my chin in delight.

I ask you for strength as I’m moving forward into the plentiful beauty of my life.

I ask you to let me savor the honey of my days.

I ask you to not let me miss the sensuality of every single day of my breathing life.

I ask you to let my soft body taste what it wants and feel what it craves.

I ask you to let me have my longings, as I could never have too many,

as I could never be too much for myself.

Sun of the solstice - as Rilke wrote

I have not grown old

and it is not too late to dive

into my increasing depths where

life calmly gives out its own secret.

Sun of the solstice,

my body is my altar,

my heart is offering,

and my spirit is my temple.

Let my fire burn.

The journey is the point,

MILK is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Dear friends,

full of gratitude I’m sharing my conversation with Kara Mears, Certified Nurse Midwife, mother of 3, and Pre/Postnatal Yoga Instructor.

I first came across Karas Instagram profile and was drawn in by there thoughtful texts and beautifully curated images surrounding motherhood and birth. Turns out the feeling was mutual and we started connecting more.

Sometimes you just know right away, who your people are and Kara is one of those virtual connections for me. I’m beyond grateful and thrilled that she will join me on my retreat this fall and I get to bathe a whole weekend in her beautiful presence.

Kara and I talk about

☾ Her path and her work to help women feel less afraid when they have their babies

☾ Where our fears stem from. We talk about the subconscious mind and the cultural narrative.

☾ How we all have stories we tell ourselves about our “birthing” no matter how peaceful the experience

☾ Her program the “Motherbirth roadmap”

☾ What it means for us to step into “guidance”. To unlearn. To remember. To be there for each other.

☾ What it means to embody the wild woman

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did and both Kara and I would be delighted to go deeper in the comments.

You can find more of Kara on her webpage and her Instagram.

Would you like to sit in circle or sauna with me and Kara this fall and go deep in conversation? We have 3 beds left for the Pause Retreat. See details below.

This fall we have a beautiful Itinerary that is centered around rest, enchantment and joy. Tying in with this conversation though, I am happy to announce that we will have a circle were we will learn to make a basket while also weaving our births into stories of powerful initiation.

Visit here to check out the full itinerary.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about this conversation!

If you or someone you know might be the perfect fit to be on “Milk & Bone” do not hesitate to reach out.

As always,

the journey is the point,

How would it feel in your body, to get away for a weekend, rest your mind, open your heart, eat the most amazing food and sit in circle with me?

To let things move for you.

Good?

Come to Maine with me. You can find all the details about THE PAUSE RETREAT here.

MILK is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber

(photo amy longstaff found on Pinterest)

Dear friends,

full of gratitude I’m sharing my conversation with Meagan Rose Wilson, mother of four, holistic parenting coach, waldorf education, systems thinking expert and gorgeous woman in her self-care era.

Meagan had me on her wonderful podcast “Rhythm, Routine and Reverence” last year to talk about slow living and hygge and I had enjoyed our talk so very much, which lead to me really following along her journey on the socials and staying in touch.

Recently, I had been noticing some shifts in Meagans appearance, work and embodiment and my curiosity was sparked.

I wanted to find out, why her content has shifted, how she makes room for her work and workouts, and to talk about the beauty that is ever-present when we allow ourselves to lean into the things that want to MOVE.

Meagan and I talk about

☾ MOVEMENT. Literally and metaphorically. The beauty that is physical movement and the allowing of letting ourselves shift into new directions

☾ how she built a sustainable workout routine and how that is possible for any of us

☾ the beauty that is our late 30’s and 40’s and how these years can be powerful shifts for us if we allow

☾ why it can make others uncomfortable to witness our metamorphosis in real time

☾ the healing of the sister wound

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did and both Meagan and I would be delighted to go deeper in the comments.

You can find more of Meagon on her webpage and her Instagram.

I am curious to hear what has been moving for you lately?

I would love to hear your thoughts about this conversation below.

If you or someone you know might be the perfect fit to be on “Milk & Bone” do not hesitate to reach out.

As always,

the journey is the point,

How would it feel in your body, to get away for a weekend, rest your mind, open your heart, eat the most amazing food and sit in circle with me?

To let things move for you.

Good?

Come to Maine with me. You can find all the details about THE PAUSE RETREAT here.

MILK is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber

Dear friends,

I’m excited to publish another beautiful conversation on my podcast. I have a whole list full of gratitude and names of women that I am going to have on this year and I am so looking forward to each conversation.

In this episode I talk to my friend, mentor, coach and beautiful human Mel Wiggins about the healing magic of circles; something so timely for me, as I transition into more and more circle work and really finding my calling there.

Mel helps brilliant women build courage and lead well. She has not one, but two wonderful podcasts and her wonderfully grounded and gentle coaching business.

We could have talked for many more hours, but in this episode we cover

☾ what business coaching can look like when we turn away from the “boss babe” hustle culture

☾ how being “nice” has cost us women so much

☾ the risk for us not to belong

☾ the meaning of place in our lives and Mel’s Northern Ireland heritage

☾ the healing nature of circles

☾ sharing to be known and listening to know

☾ a bit about our other projects and my retreat in Maine that is coming up this October (see more below)

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did and both Mel and I would be delighted to go deeper in the comments.

You can find more of Mel on her webpage, her Instagram, as well as her phenomenal podcast “Courage is calling”, which contains so much gold for any women doing business. In her other podcast project “Making an effort”, Mel is beautifully relatable and funny and together with co-host Gabby she talks about all the things she’s making an effort with or not.

If you are curious about sitting in circle with me this spring and you are local to Oklahoma consider joining me for this event:

I would love to hear your thoughts about this conversation below.

If you or someone you know might be the perfect fit to be on “Milk & Bone” do not hesitate to reach out.

As always,

in wild belonging,

Eva

How would it feel in your body, to get away for a weekend, rest your mind, open your heart, eat the most amazing food and sit in circle with me?

Good?

Come to Maine with me. You can find all the details here.

MILK is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber

Dear friends,

I’m excited to publish my first conversation under the new podcast name “Milk & Bone”.

Laura, is an Avalon priestess, cacao ceremonialist and cacao facilitation coach, as well as retreat host. I found Laura’s work online, after browsing for both Avalon and cacao ceremony. How serendipitous! We immediately connected and I’m thankful that I get to share this conversation with you.

We could have talked for many more hours, but in this episode we cover

☾ what Avalon is both geographically and spiritually

☾ what the “mists” or “veils” of Avalon represent

☾ why the Arthurian legends are still relevant today

☾ sovereignity

☾ Arthurian archetypes

☾ how Laura came to work with mama cacao and share her powerful medicine

☾ cacao, cultural appropriation and discernment

Along the way we discovered synchronicities based on our native culture and how being German living in an english speaking country has both affected us.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did and both Laura and I would be delighted to go deeper in the comments.

Laura is also offering a “cacao dieta”, a spiritual immersion with cacao ceremony this month that I will be part of and that I’m very much looking forward to. If you feel called to use cacao medicine to open your heart you should have a look at her letter Kakaozauber | Cacao Enchantment . If you become a founding member two dietas are included, which is a very generous offering.

You can also find Laura on Instagram and through her webpage.

In light,

As I have entered a new phase of personal growth, I started to feel that the name Milk & Coffee is too safe, too tame. It is beautiful, but it felt like it is too small of a container for what I try to bring into this world and all the things I want to be inspired by and inspire in return.

So in this episode - let me introduce to you MILK & BONE and what my hopes are for this new format.

In light,

Eva

you can support this podcast through signing up to my newsletter on substack,

AND we are now booking for the new Pause retreat

As always, you can find me on

www.evamariasmith.com and

on Instagram @eva.maria.smith

You are a poet, mother.

A gentle conversation with poet Kat Farrell Davis on poetry, motherhood and how to integrate the two.

You can find Kat’s beautiful work

on Instagram @katfarrelldavis

on Substack “Tending the Depths”

https://katfarrelldavis.com

If you would like to support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber on substack

This episode is meant to be a gentle reminder for you to lean deeply into your moons this year. To honor your menstrual cycles as much as the seasons outside. 

To know when to rest and when to play.

To lean into the seasons with grace and awareness.

Every season of life and every season in nature has its magic. Every month the moon grows fuller and hangs heavy in the air, before it slowly disappears once more. Everything in nature is cyclical, and we are nature, and we are cyclical beings, too. To live linear lives is constantly creating resistance against ease and flow. 

So embrace living with your moon seasons.

If you want to support my work as a mother artist you can become a free or paid supporter of my substack newsletter “milk”.

or join me on instagram

@eva.maria.smith

In the last episode of 2023 I want to send you off with an invitation to deeply rest. To hibernate. To take a true winter. What would this season be like for you if you allowed yourself to winter? A time of prioritizing rest, to shed what is dead and to prepare our hearts for the new growth. A time to release your jaw, release the grip and trust that stillness is nothing to fear. Nothing to feel guilty of. Amongst reminders of how to slow down during Christmas I’m sharing ways to reflect on what was and to invite what is to come in the New Year ahead.

Instagram @eva.maria.smith

Substack

In todays episode I share a bit about what I do in my house to infuse my days with Christmas time hygge. A beautiful reminder to relish the little moments, versus waiting for the big magic of the season to knock on your doorstep and then feeling disappointment when it never arrives. so grab a cup of something warm and comforting and get cozy with me.

Listen:

My Christmas Spotify playlist “Hygge Jul”

Read:

Milk & Coffee years

my substack advent calendar

Winter papers

One Day in December

Watch:

3 wishes for Cinderella

Hjem til Jul / Home for Christmas

Over Christmas

Holiday Secrets

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR MOTHERS

“Milk & Coffee Years” book