Nourish & Flow

We thought we'd make the most of the sunshine today and go for a nature walk in the woods, close to where we live. We looked for insects and talked about different trees and flowers.  We also collected pine needles to make pine needle tea - Bear Grylls style. Here are some photos from our day. I always feel so much more relaxed and content when i'm surrounded by natural beauty.  Especially on a beautiful day like today.  It's also amazing how the sun shining can affect our moods so profoundly too.  I was sitting in the garden at 6am, meditating and listening to the birds singing.  There was no other noise, it was so peaceful.  I can't think of a more lovely way to start the day.

My oldest son Dylan will be 13 this weekend, and I was thinking last night about how he always follows his interests and learns as much as he can about the things he loves.  One of his main passions is formula one and cars and these are the things he has learnt over the years from this interest: Reading - he has lots of large encyclopaedias full of facts and has memorised them all. Writing - he makes up his own leagues and spends a lot of time writing them out. Geography - he knows every race track and which city and country it is in. Science - he has learnt a lot of facts about cars and aerodynamics, though i'm even sure what that is yet. Art - he has done sketches of racing cars. Creativity - he has created his own race tracks, drawn plans, drawn a large track and coloured it in. Music - well not so much music, but he has heard a lot of national anthems. This shows that when you are learning about something which you really enjoy, it is a fun and rewarding experience. ...

I realised over the years that how I start my day tends to influence how the rest of my day goes.  So I have gradually come up with a morning ritual that i'm happy with.  Obviously it doesn't always go according to plan but this is how I generally begin my days. 5:30 - Wake up and clean my teeth. 5:30-6:30 - Yoga and meditation. 6:30 - 7:00 - Reading whilst having hot water and lemon. 7 - 7:15 - Juicing, I make a juice for me and the boys. 7:15 -  Wake up Dylan, my oldest, he has his juice and breakfast whilst I make his packed lunch. 7:30 - Shower, using natural products, some home made. 8:15 - Dylan leaves for high school.  Luke usually gets up around this time.  We have our juice. 8:30 - I dry my hair whilst listening to relaxing music on my mp3. 9:00 - Luke and I have breakfast together.  Then the chaos of homeschool begins! If I start my days like this, I feel relaxed and happy. I've also found that the way i'm woken up makes a...