Treats you can Eat!

Many of us are no longer willing to sacrifice our health in exchange for eating sugary treats during the holidays. But what do you do when you attend a party or gathering and know that desert will be served? I have this trick up my sleeve I will share with you! Four ingredients for a delicious and healthy sweet treat you can eat (and everyone else will LOVE too!) My friend Heidi gave me this recipe several years ago and it's been a favorite ever since, and it's super easy to make.
Ingredients:

3 Cups Coconut (shredded)
1 Cup Raw Cacao (powder)
1 Cup Agave Syrup (I substitute 1/2 Cup honey and add 2 TBS Coconut Oil)
3/4 Cup Coconut Oil

Directions:  Warm the coconut oil to liquid while sifting the Cacao powder. Mix the shredded coconut, cacao and agave/ honey with the oil until it is a thick paste and all ingredients are blended. Form into bite sized balls with your hands and put on wax paper covered cookie sheet. Place in freezer until firm. Remove from freezer 1/2 to 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!

The Darkest Night

As the rain steadily fell yesterday during the most drenching storm in recent history, I heard of yet another dear client whose soul had suddenly departed this earth. As I wished his spirit restful peace and eternal comfort, I became overwhelmed by the power of this time of year. I do not think it is a coincidence that beginning mid-November and ending sometime in January I hear of more grief, more death, more depression and more internal struggle than any other time of year.

I myself have recently been extremely challenged by intrusive thoughts and fears of illness and death. I think it is incredibly difficult for some of us to cope with the darkness that we both see and sense in our world during this season. Indeed, our culture offers very little guidance in this area, insisting we continue to press onward and outward with social gatherings, celebrations, traveling and consuming  massive amounts of resources as we give expensive gifts and eat rich foods. It is no wonder that more of us get sick, feel sad and depressed and even lose our lives during this time. It is as if we are walking without a flashlight along a dark mountain path rimmed by precipices.

I have always wondered  what would  happen if we honored our natural inclinations to focus inward, stay home in rest and contemplation or even experiment by going a day or two without using much artificial light. Instead of pushing against it by all means possible, we could be reveling in the long dark night, using the time to ask ourselves what we may be called to create in the coming days.

There was a time in which I very intently observed the Winter Solstice for precisely these reasons. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, occurring around December 21st.  This holiday has been observed by many cultures and religions since ancient times, and some scholars believe that Christmas and Solstice actually overlap in history and meaning.(source here). For me personally, I found that ritually observing the darkest night of the year and the return of the sun  helped me to make sense of, and even welcome, all of the long dark nights leading up to it. Those darker days sometimes naturally include a sense of confusion, uncertainty and even sadness as we reflect on the events of the past seasonal cycle. And if we are mourning  a loss as many of us are,  this darkness is even more dense. Observing the seasonal cycles reminds us that the light always returns and even the deepest darkness is replaced by new resolutions, ideas, hopes and dreams.

Recently, while at a 5th grade parent meeting at Live Oak Waldorf School, I was reminded of the importance of the Solstice and introduced to the concept of the Twelve Holy Nights (the original 12 days of Christmas, perhaps?)  It is said that the nights of December 25th to January 6th are a time when the veils are the most thin between the spirit world and human world, and very powerful times to go inward in prayer and mediation. While researching this I came across a resource I'd love to share with you.  Lynn Jericho, founder of Inner Christmas, helps guide people through these Holy Nights with daily messages of peace, renewal and purpose.  She has graciously given me permission to share these meditations with you this year!  Please make sure you are following me on Facebook  to receive these shares.

Meanwhile, remember that your inner awareness is your candle and that the darkness simply gives it an opportunity to shine. That is the gift of this time of year.

 

You darkness, that I come from,

I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes
a circle of light for everyone,
and then no one outside learns of you.

But the darkness pulls in everything:
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them!-
powers and people-

and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me.

I have faith in nights.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Image Credit: Piotr Pawel