Mama Renew

Day #1 was a success!  We heard from women around North America making a commitment to:

stretch, read, study, drink water, hike, drink less wine, go to the salon, clear clutter, tweeze eyebrows, pray…

Sounds like a good day to me!

Interestingly, the #1 self-care intention y’all shared was to drink more water. It’s so simple, isn’t it?   You know the feeling.  You’re thirsty, but you’ve pushed the sensation aside in favour of making school lunches or getting out the door on time. 

We’ve been working with mothers long enough to know that moms are really, really good at delaying that metaphorical sip of water. We’re good at talking about our desire for self-care, our longing for balance, and the challenges we’re facing, and not always so good at taking steps towards change. The busy nature of family life too often takes precedence, and our needs are set aside.

In a breakthrough moment in a Mama Renew group last summer one woman declared water, sleep, and daily exercise to be the absolute core of self-care.  If these are in place, she pondered, perhaps the deeper levels of self-care such as asking for help and knowing when to say no will come more easily.   Let’s find out, shall we?

So for day #2 of the Back to Self Challenge, let’s start with Water.   Lots and lots of water.  Like 8 – 10 glasses today.  & tomorrow.  & the next day!

Follow our Mama Renew facebook page to join the challenge!

Having just completed a 3 day intensive workshop on Regenerative Nutrition with the wondrous Nadine Ijaz, Clinical Nutritionist and Registered Herbalist, I am going through our kitchen with all the fervor of a convert.  Testing grains and oils for rancidity, reading ingredient labels, checking for grain moths, questioning the role of Peanut Butter in our family life…

Seven women, one experimental kitchen, and three full days of talking about food – good food, bad food, and good food gone bad.  All the things I kind of understood, I now know with a new depth of comprehension and commitment.  Fats and oils, sugars, grains, dairy… each element of our family diet has been deconstructed and examined.

I admit to feeling an odd mix of excitement and terror going to this workshop.  Sometimes it’s easier just not knowing.  Still, for every moment of resistance there were two more of revelation and integration. I’m ridiculously excited to be soaking grains, baking sourdough bread, and making beet kvass.

I am, of course, in the midst of the classic transition from “retreat” back to “real life”, and am not entirely sure how to make these grandiose plans work within our busy life as a family.  I also am a firm believer in the 80/20 principle, and have in no way said a permanent goodbye to white sugar.  Time will tell what form these new ideas and practices will take within our life as a family.

Still, I feel like I have taken some significant steps towards a new way of eating, and my primary motivation right now is one of pure discovery.   I figure as long as I’m having fun and feeling creative in the kitchen, I’m on the right path!  Here’s a recipe to get you started:

Toasted Nuts

Soak 2 C raw nuts in water with 1/2 tsp sea salt for 7 – 12 hours.  Drain and place in warm oven (no more than 150 degrees) on a cookie tray until dry & crispy (12-24 hours).

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