A blog about what I hate about Christmas and Black Friday - from the waste our consumerism generates to the pressure on small businesses. The debt it drives up and the damage to the environment. A blog about supporting local businesses, spending more wisely and choosing more eo-friendly and sustainable gifts this Christmas in Ireland.
Read moreEco-Friendly Irish Christmas Gift Guide 2023
Eco-friendly Irish Christmas Gift Guide 2023
It’s Christmas and so naturally most of us will go and buy gifts for others, it’s a lovely thing, it’s admirable. But perhaps this year I invite you to do so with a little more care and thought for our planet and its finite resources. So here are my suggestions for some sustainable, eco-friendly Christmas gifts this year, all from Ireland. It features local, handmade crafts, books and activity suggestions for all the family.
Read moreRooting into Winter
As Storm Debi prepared to flex her power recently, I was finishing up our second last Seasonal Soul workshop of the year. With it fresh on my mind, I thought I'd share some of my musings with you…
Our theme was 'root'. We discussed reflections on winter, slowing down, and how we are feeling in this darker time of the year.
Seasonal Soul has been a really grounding part of my work and life for the last 2 years. We meet every 3 weeks or so during term time, taking breaks over Christmas and Summer and it's a way of connecting me to a more nature-inspired and connected life and way of working. It also offers a thread woven into a mycelium network of other women who also want to live life more intentionally. Walking a path that seeks to live more slowly, more mindfully, in harmony with nature; goes against modern societal demands and expectations. And I've learned it's definately not a simple switch over from one way of being to another. It's a meandering process of awareness, unlearning and experiencing. And like all walks into the unknown, it's best shared with the gentle support and encouragement of others.
As we seek to live more intentionally we ebb & flow on that winding trail, sometimes straying back into the frenetic, sometimes feeling very in tune. We discussed reflections on winter, this time of darkness, of quiet, of feeling peopled out(!). We live through winter every single year on earth, but often shun the dark, fearing it and avoiding it. Yet its a natural part of the cycle, as night is to day, the moon to the sun.
To give you a behind the scenes peak into the kinds of questions we consider in Seasonal Soul, I thought I'd share some journaling prompts with you, in case you might like to ponder them:
❄️In what ways are you currently preventing yourself from experiencing the wisdom of winter?
🌲This season I will embrace nourishing my roots by....
❤️What would it feel like to give yourself permission to spend some time in energetic hibernation?
Thank you for reading,
Maeve x
My Top 10 Winter Book Reads
Winter is my favourite season in which to read. Enjoy my top ten winter book recommendations. A mix of memoir, fiction and non-fiction and heart-warming tales, perfect for seasonal escapism. Enjoy on cozy winter evenings and nights by the fireside, or for rainy days curled up on the couch. Listen as audio books on winter walks, nestled on the sofa or tucked up in bed to help you fall asleep. Add them to your seasonal reading list, your winter book club recommendations and save to your favourites.
Read moreOíche Shamhna (Samhain or Halloween Night)
All Hallows Eve or Samhain on 31st October is an ancient Celtic festival, one of four important fire festivals held throughout the year. To our ancestors, Samhain was the beginning of winter and marked the death of the Celtic year. A blog about Irish Samhain rituals, ideas on how to honour the festival in your own modern day life and some journaling prompts to help you pause, slow down and reflect.
Read moreIt started with a promise to my dog
It started with a promise to my dog….
I promised my beautiful dog Molly, that she would be able to run free. I breathed my dreams into her velvet soft ears that one day when we had more space, she would have a brother or sister dog to keep her company. I swore I’d have more time for longer walks, that I’d choose to play ball over answering emails. That we would have a different life, one in which we wouldn’t feel like this was all there was.
Read moreHarvest Time in Ireland & Lughnasa Celebrations
Photo credit: https://beafordarchive.org/archive-image/untitled-3364/
The celtic festivals provide an opportunity to connect to spirituality in our modern day lives, to align with nature and her seasons and to pause and reflect on our own lives. Memories of the harvest as a child on a farm in rural Ireland and some modern day ideas on how to connect with Lughnasa or Lughnasadh in your own life today and mindfully celebrate the abundance in your life.
Read moreHow to slow down time!
It feels like summer time is flying by, the days slip away like sand grains from between my fingers. I can’t quite seem to catch it and hold onto this precious time as it eludes my grasp. Here are some of my latest blog ideas on how to slow down time, to savour the summer.
Read moreHow to mark the Summer Solstice in Ireland
Summer bonfire: Unsplash: Kimson Doan
The Summer Solstice on 21st June heralds the annual zenith of the Sun and there are the most hours of daylight and least hours of darkness of any day in the year. This is one of the power gates of the Wheel of the Year. It’s also the International Day of Yoga. Here are some ideas on how to celebrate and honour the Summer Solstice here in Ireland.
Read moreDoes what I do even matter?
There on my yoga mat, an existential crisis unfolded. What do I teach anymore? If this is considered yoga, is this what I want to be teaching? Does the yoga I teach leave my students “feeling it” on a physical level only, with just burning shoulders and a parched mouth to show for the hour on the mat? Do they leave feeling empty too? A blog about if yoga is simply stretching? And does what I do as a yoga teacher even matter?
Read moreThings I've learned (so far) from living in a forest
Things I learned from the forest
The sea has taught me about space and freedom, how to soothe my busy mind and to feel the rhythms of ebb & flow. When I opened the door to my new home, I had no idea I had yet to learn so much from the forest too.
Here’s what the forest has taught me so far…
A blog about nature, simple and seasonal living in Ireland.
Read moreWalk the fire break or burn-out...
The Power of Retreat: Do you ever feel the need to get away? To just go, escape, take a trip, get away from your busy life of demands for a while? I get this wanderlust urge a lot! I love the sense of escape and adventure going on holidays or taking a break if only for a weekend away.
It’s only in the last few years of working for myself and learning alot more about wellbeing and how vital it is to take care or myself that I really embraced retreating. A blog about the power of retreat and my upcoming yoga & journaling retreat in Tralee, Co. Kerry this spring.
Read moreA New York Minute Memory on Valentine's Day
I am reminded it is Valentines Day by the eye-catching red cards in shiny plastic wrapping at the local Lidl. I avert my gaze to my shopping list that guides me down the aisle to the safety of the green beans. I have neither made nor hoped for a fuss on February 14th of any given year, yet it’s often left me feeling disappointed. And perhaps this year, I am feeling a little more prickly about it. Love is not easily defined nor confined to the realms of romance. It’s the warm glow between old friends who know unspoken things that no one else knows. Love is in the effortless resumption of a conversation, as though time nor distance has not passed between. Today it is this love I nurture and share with you.
Read moreHealthy Pancake Recipe
I love this vegan pancake recipe! It’s healthy and perfect for winter or early spring mornings to help give you energy and keep you nicely full up! It makes 4 small thick pancakes. Enjoy!
Read moreJourney to the Heartwood - my story of buying my first home
Journey to the Heartwood
2022 was the year I bought my first home.
This is a tale of my journey to find a place I could call Home. And it’s evolved into a solo journey, because we chose not to buy a house together as a couple for reasons as tangled as a delicate gold chain tucked away for safe keeping at the bottom of a jewellery box. Precious enough to keep, too intricate and complicated to unravel at the time. That single, silver, jagged key to the front door finally rested in the palm of my hand some two years later than planned, but at exactly the right time.
Read moreThe Two Faces of January: Resolutions Vs. Rest
The Two Faces of January: Resolutions Vs. Rest
This week I feel like I’m in a tug of war, being pulled over and back. Some days I hold my ground, strong and steady. Then I’m yanked towards the line and in danger of falling flat on my face. Next I’m inching backwards, fighting with all my might, heels dug down, teeth gritted. This pull and push, back and forth, effortful, tiring, ah yes, I know for sure I’m in January. A blog about the dualing energies where new years resolutions battle it out with rest.
Read moreWhy I don't set New Year's resolutions
Why I don't set new year's resolutions! Research has shown that people quit their resolutions for the year by the second Friday of January, Friday the 13th this year! It’s even being called Quitter’s Day. I don’t really commit to mine until February as I find my energy is low in January and prefer to hibernate a bit longer until Spring. But in case you are bursting with January enthusiasm here are some of the top ways to maintain, achieve and reach your 2023 new year’s resolution goals & dreams.
Read moreMy 2022 reflections and into a new year
Perhaps it’s this sense of comfort and openness or the wide expanse of countryside and the wild, rugged coastline of Co. Clare that has given me the headspace to finally sit and pen a few words about 2022, my reflections on the year that was. I feel like I did nothing! My reflections on the year that was in 2022 and the magnitude of buying my first home. My battles with not feeling enough and the ups and downs of self-employment, the pain of loss and heart break. I share my highlights and look ahead to goal setting for 2023 and how I believe January is not a time for new year's resolutions.
Read more'Twas the night before Christmas...
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through my little white house, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. The room is lit only by firelight. Beside the Christmas Tree, I sink deeper into the softness of my armchair, my body relaxes and my mind begins to play a reel like an old picture house, of Christmas eves gone by… A memoir blog post about some of the Christmas Eves in my life and how they have changed over the decades.
Read moreMy Favourite Winter Books, Poems & Podcasts
Image credit: Manon
Reading is such a wintertime activity, and adapting to that energy is what seasonal living is all about! Rather than fight it, flow with it and get cozy! To help you pass the languid days over the festive holiday season, I’ve gathered my favourite Winter books, poems, reflections and podcasts to share with you. Perfect books for Christmas, a gift or to treat yourself as a little act of self-care this Winter. I hope they help you feel very hygge!
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