Embody Wellness with Brenda

Happy Thanksgiving week!

The mere mention of Thanksgiving sends my brain into a nonstop loop of things I need to do: buy, make, clean, organize, decorate...and it needs to be done, like immediately! Oh well, so much for peace and gratitude.

I recently started the demented craft of baking sourdough bread. You could say it's a bit time involved. Maintaining a starter and baking regularly is a lifestyle investment. I'm not sure why I felt the pull to start this now, because I don't think I would have, had I known it's long been compared to having a child or bringing home a new puppy!

But, as I ate a slice of warm bread with a smear of butter at midnight last night -- because the bread dictates when it needs to be baked---something about the experience connected me to the ancient world, through a methodical, hands-on process. The rhythmic actions of mixing & kneading is calming, & the process of nurturing a starter and watching the dough bubble & grow gives a tangible sense of accomplishment. It's a connection to an ancient tradition, and the smell of a fresh loaf in my kitchen is grounding and comforting.

So with the holidays in mind, I named my starter... (because that's what you do) Ru-doughlf!!

Life is a moving process: we are always flowing, whether we chose the direction or not.

I celebrated my birthday in Colorado last week, hiking several days through RMNP. Another year older and I’m feeling pretty grateful to still be in this body and enjoying all the splendor of this beautiful world!

While hiking, my focus often went to the scraggly old trees & shrubs with their gnarled branches and twisted trunks, half eaten by bugs, mis-shaped by fire or avalanches, or erosion from hikers.

These beauties radiate life, and the dead ones too seemed to dance for me in the sunshine with their bare branches and hollow trunks. With their unique shapes and textures, evidence of their challenges and resilience, reminding me of how every stage of my own life tells a story.

When I look at trees, I wonder why we humans are so caught up in chasing the illusion of perfection for ourselves, yet appreciate the visible signs of adversity, trauma and resilience in nature.

Nature is a profound and humbling teacher, always right there, offering wisdom to our own life's rhythms.