A Return to September

A Recipe Celebrating Tomatoes and Some Nourishment for Your Nervous System

Hello Beautiful Beings,

The Full Moon is upon us and this coming weekend’s Fall Equinox will bring us fully into the season of Autumn. I love September.

September is one of the most beautiful months. The sunshine we have been blessed with makes it especially so. The quality of the light at this time of year is markedly different from high summer. It’s not as glaring, intense, blinding. The warm mellow tones of the sun colour everything with a deep beauty and presence. I want to drink it all in. I don’t want it to end. I want to savour every last golden drop.

I love the focus that September brings. Whether is is the return to routines with children back to school, or the inspiration to start a new project or commit to a new practice. We can feel the exuberant, expansive energy that was summer, begin to contract into the more focused calm that Fall can bring. I am very grateful for the change of seasons that we experience. I love how one season moves into the next. I love the ongoing dance of nature as she expands and contracts over the landscapes, in our bodies and in our being.

So I return to my writing table. Different than before. The summer was good for my soul. The freedom from the usual routines was renewing. Allowing me to see things in a new light. Welcoming the opportunity for a fresh new start. A new page.

How can I more fully bring to the table what my body and soul have learned and experienced? How can I integrate the knowing that rests at the core of my being? To slow down. To drop the mantra of productivity and surrender to place, to this place. To this moment in this place. To this breath. To this beauty.

Going forward I will drop the weekly schedule and instead show up in your inbox as I am inspired to do so. Whether that be to share a recipe, a write up of one of my favourite plants, or a health tip. Perhaps I will share an article, podcast or a link to an interesting event happening in our community. I have tended to keep my newsletters free from distracting links and rabbit holes in the past. I know that technology can be so disruptive of focus. I will try my best to keep the links as clean and meaningful as possible. I hope that the links I choose to share will foster growth, nourishment and healing for you.

Italy Vacation 2024

One of the gifts of my summer was the opportunity to spend a week in Italy. The beauty, the food, the culture, the people. I love Italy. The recipe I want to share with you, inspired by these travels is so simple that it does not in fact need a recipe. Bruschetta with Eggs and Greens. It’s an idea, an inspiration that has been with me over the past few weeks since my return and has ended up being my breakfast or lunch more times than I can keep track of. And it’s perfect for this time of year when tomatoes are at their peak.

NERVOUS SYSTEM RESOURCES

In the journey of my own healing and in the work of better understanding how to help facilitate healing with others, I love the framework of polyvagal theory. It is a beautiful lens through which we can begin to better understand our physiology, our “emotions” and the experience of being in our bodies.

In polyvagal theory we learn to “map” the states we move in and out of throughout our days. In this process we begin to better understand what brings safety to our nervous system and how we can begin to better nourish those states of being. We also learn how to foster those tools that allow us to move out of states that are not serving our well-being.

Last week someone shared a nice podcast with me (Thanks Liz!) that offered a beautiful description of this work. If you have heard me talk about polyvagal theory in the past and would like to dig in a bit deeper, you will enjoy this podcast Important Tools for Nervous System Management with Patricia Gipple.

One other resource I would like to share with you for soul nourishment is for some upcoming workshops that my dear friend Hilary Fair will be offering out of her beautiful space in Clinton. Hilary is a gifted healer, writer, visual artist, potter and psychotherapist. She will be offering writing workshops on Saturday afternoons once a month, coinciding with the New Moon throughout the Fall. These sessions will be sure to nourish your soul. If you are interested, let me know and I can forward more information to you.

May this coming season bring time for reflection and inner awareness, as we take stock and reap the harvest of all that we have put out in our lives and into the world over the last year. May you be blessed with recognizing how abundance is showing up in your life and may it bring trust in the process and peace to your soul. Till next time.

Much love 💜

Jacinta