Ahh its June and I hear myself cooing “It’s summer” and I smile. June is a time to splash, go barefoot, and walk with nature-all the colors, smells, the sounds and the felt sense of warmth on your skin. As you walk among the trees, and plants just allow all your senses to be present to the world around you. Take an extra moment of delight in the natural world and let your body breath you. Give yourself the gift of nature and joy as you touch into rebirth and the emerging growth of summer.

As you allow yourself to land in this time of sproating forth what is poking through the dirt in your life? What wants to be planted, nurtured, watered and weeded?

As you are able clear the busy thoughts and be with what is emerging take a moment to land with what is growing in you and wants ‘literally’ air time. Allow it to touch the rays of sunshine, water the new growth and allow transformation in big and small ways.

It’s December and we are moving toward many things this month. The end of the year, for some people it is the holiday season, for others it means snow and cold. As we sit with endings and new beginings in this month of shifting, patience and compassion may be tools to roll through this time with peace and ease. Drawing inward with breath and noticing the beauty this time of year can bring can help us pause and stay with gratitude for eachother and the natural world. Lastly don’t forget to play whatever that means to you, maybe its sledding, indoor pool time, or a quiet walk in the woods noticing nature and stillness.

This month take some time to enjoy quiet and reflect on what you are grateful for.

If you are in the north take a few moments to suit up, dress warm and go outside to be with nature and notice with all your senses the world around you.

Light a candle and let your body breath you as you move toward your next in this time on the planet.

This is the time of year when we can wake up to a chill in the air and the hummingbirds madly feeding at the feeder. I noticed the cats at the barn were a little more playful and rambunctious this past week and the horses were losing their short summer coat. All of nature feels the shift and at times we can fight the shift, laminate the cooler temperatures and just mourn summer. Or we can lean into the shift and be with the change and transformation of the seasons.

At this junction the days get a bit shorter with sunlight and the cooler nights call for outside fires, and light jackets.  It is the month I try to swim outside just a few more times.  The cold water tickles my skin and the glowing sun still warms my face as I float and look at the shifting skies. 

Enjoy this month and stay grounded as you welcome in fall and the joy it can bring.

Where in your life can you sway in the breeze and fall into your next?

Go outside and notice with all your senses the subtle shifts in the air, on the ground, and allow your body to just be with nature without having to do anything but witness.

As you hang out with the coming of fall what in your life can you let go of and allow nature to transform?

Thanks to Lisa Avaloz for the water pictures

As you are drawn into the stillness and depth of December notice the quiet nature brings. This invitation to slow down even in the hustle and bustle of holidays, time with family and friends can be a present! Go ahead and be with the trees, the cold air, the breeze and the sound of your feet on the snow or slushy ground. Take some time to walk with the stillness of earth and nature among the trees, maybe find a forest, a meadow, or a park to take a stroll. Take time to sit by a fire and absorb the smell of the wood, the sound of the crackling embers, and the glow of the fire. We invite you to notice your breathe as you exhale, let the cold chill warm your heart and touch your soul.

Some invitations to connect with yourslef and the natural world:

Allow yourself to take a moment and gaze out the window and be with all that you see in nature and be ‘with’ and part of the natural world.

Grab a friend take a walk, giggle, sing and maybe just listen to the sounds of the time of quiet, stillness, and low light.

Notice the barren ground and trees without leaves be with the stillness and while you notice remember there is not nothing going on—the trees and earth may be resting yet transfomation is always occurring. Be with the mystical in the natural world.

Hey wow hi its June 2024 and I am here writing another June blog-I feel very lucky.

Such a difference a year makes, last June I wrote about water and there was such a lack of it in our world in MN.  Now we have a literal overflow.  Nature, she chooses, and we are sometimes along for the ride. The green is spectacular in the trees, plants and grasses.  The smell and feel of rain helps me find my center in my soul.  

I am grateful for walking on squishy ground and soggy sidewalks.  As I notice the opposite, I am super smiley when I feel the sun on my face and soak up the rays of her warmth.  Summer brings all of this and more.  Opportunities to hear nature, feel cool breezes, hear birds chirping, and see some much life all around us.  

I have been lucky on my way to the barn at Hold Your Horses to watch eagle parents raise two babies in a big nest next to the road.  The last week I have seen the eaglets standing on the side of the nest looking out over the horizon.  I believe they are just fledging and learning to fly-I can’t wait.  Now they look like they just rolled out of bed with their bed head and funky feathers coming in.  I hope I can stand on the edge of my comfort zone each day and continue to learn to soar and fly with whatever life hands me.

What helps you to land deeper in your soul?

How do you relate to the sound of raindrops on your skin?

How can you keep flying even when the rain pounds hard on your skin?

In blessings for summer and each of you I offer you dewy rain that kisses your toes as you walk on the morning grass.

Molly

Happy new year, as I sit and reflect on 2023 it has zipped by. Last year I was enjoying a snowy wintery walk during this time in Northern Michigan. Now I look outside to green grass and bare trees. I am amazed always by mother nature. On a walk in the woods this morning I crunched on the leaves, noticed the faces in the trees and reflected on how each day brings unique gifts in the out of doors. I remember I am not in control of what nature will bring, I participate with nature and appreciate getting to walk on the planet each day and the rest shifts each moment. Please take some time to be with your own nature and know that the ground, the sky, the water and trees have your back and support each of you on your journey in the world. Enjoy the video taken last new years in the Petosky Michigan area. Please consider joining Lisa Shelly and I in our authentic restoration workshops and retreat in 2024. Our first workshop is Friday January 26th at camp Sacajawea in Aplle Valley, MN. we would love to see you then.

Molly

September blog:

Wow, the last time I sent out a blog was in June, and I was talking about swimming and the joys of looking forward to summer. Now it’s September and summer is almost behind us. I did get one last swim in last week at little Long Lake, one of my favorite spots. I enjoyed September as I was able to do a Amidst The Trees retreat at Crow Wing Cross Lodge in Akeley with Lisa and Shelly.  Co-facilitating with these two wonderfilled women is one of the absolute joys of my life.  It was so life giving to be around participants that are powerful women who are working to heal, connecting in nature, with the trees, the water, the air, and the Earth. It was quite lovely to be at Crow Wing Crest Lodge, the facilities and the owners are quite divine.  See the pictures below.

I wanted just to let you know that as I continue to do my own healing work through the power of time in nature, and with my professional work assisting others in experiencing their own healing grounding with the natural world I am so uplifted and blown away by the transformations that occur.  Our being with nature and of nature allows peace, mindfulness, and new opportunities to connect with our soul selves.  As we come into this season of letting go, turning inward and moving through to our next in life please find time to be outside, listen, and walk upon the earth.  

Please consider joining us for our one-day authentic restoration workshop on Friday October 13^th at Elm Creek Nature Center near Maple Grove.  Our focus for this day will be GRATITUTE.  Register at https://amidstthetrees.com/restorative-workshop-for-helping-professions/

Thanks for reading and nature on…….