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Struggle against Winter and she will deplete you;
flow with Winter and she will heal you
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On ancient Medicine Wheels and the Yin/Yang,
the importance of Winter is clear:
this is a time of quiet restoration, of completion,
of emptying out in order to be refilled.
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It is as necessary a balance to the activity
of Spring and Summer
as a good night's sleep is to a busy day.
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But in our loud, bright, busy, mind-centric modern lives,
the innate healing potential of quiet, dark, slow and
body-centric Winter has been disregarded and forgotten.
This powerful season has been recast as an obstacle
to our best lives, as something to endure
on our way to someplace better.
artist unknown- if you know, please drop me a line so I can credit!
Do you sometimes feel like you're playing an
endless game of whack-a-mole with symptoms and treatments- natural or not- and wonder if you'll ever get ahead?
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Are you susceptible to fears about viruses, germs or other invisible threats and wish that you weren't?
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Have you been told that you're incurable-
or even un-diagnosable?
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I've been there.
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Since 2012, I've been managing shingles,
Lyme, chronic fatigue
and hormone imbalances with only
herbs, diet and mindset.
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The Winter Protocol is a collection of humble practices that heal slowly and deeply.
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Like other healing programs, there are recommended actions and foods.
But unlike other healing programs, you are the ultimate decider of which foods and practices are best for you and you certainly aren't 'bad' if you don't follow them.
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There are no failures here and this isn't the place for people seeking rules and abuse.
External dictates make it almost impossible to listen to our bodies and listening to our bodies is the only way to give them what they need.
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Giving them what they need
is the only way to heal.
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Combining elements from Ayurveda,
Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Traditional Herbalism, Plant Spirit Medicine
and Indigenous American (Turtle Island) healing practices, we will expand our understanding of our own bodies/minds/spirits as microcosms
of the natural world and heal from there-
from the ground up
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It's a customizable, fluid, never-arbitrary routine built on tenderness and sensitivity to the self and the ever-changing world
that self inhabits.
Concurrently, we will examine the roots of modern medicine, how we fit within that system, and how to become more empowered, more conscientious consumers
and self-advocates.
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Now, when I say herbs, I don't mean
exotic or expensive supplements-
the herbs that have been my greatest support
would mostly be classified as weeds.
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When I say diet, I don't mean rigid
plans like keto or vegan.
I definitely have my junk-food moments,
but now my body tells me when to pull back.
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And when I say mindset, please don't imagine
that I have 'risen above' or meditated my way
out of normal human dramas.
I'm a single mom and life is m e s s y!
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But my illnesses- and learning to dance
this spiral path between them and wellness-
has truly deepened my sensitivity to life.
It's deepened my laugh and my wrinkles too!
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Though I've been blessed with many wonderful teachers, it is the healing powers of Winter, the Fertile Void,
that has taught me the most.
In this six-week course, we will:
explore, from an ancient point of view, the energetics of wellness, of illness and, crucially, of our unique selves.
compare our yearly season of Winter with the 'little winters' of menstruation, postpartum, sorrow and brief illness and the 'great winters' of grief, chronic illness and old age. Winter is the underworld.
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begin to learn the language of our own body and disengage from disempowering, power•over systems.
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learn to recognize the mythical terrain of our Winter journey with a weekly medicine tale.
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come face to face with our shadows
be introduced to principles and tools of Ayurveda,
Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Herbalism and
Plant Spirit Medicine.
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take down the walls between physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, societal and environmental wellness.
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create relationships with Nourishing, Nervine and Adaptogenic plant healers.
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surrender our ideals and 'shoulds' and practice shameless acceptance of where we are now
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radically nurture our connections to Self, Spirit and Earth.
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radically nourish our
immune and nervous systems.
Why Winter?
In many ancient healing philosophies, the energies of Winter- cold, dark, damp, contracted, quiet- are paralleled in human states like chronic illness, lack of energy, grief and depression, fear, loneliness, and old age.
Menstruation and postpartum are also less severe 'cold states'.
These are all conditions that our modern medicine
struggles to comprehend.
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I realized profound healing by following the simple, humble, accessible Winter Protocol for several years after a diagnosis of chronic fatigue, mercury toxicity, myriad hormonal imbalances and
possible Lyme (I had the co-infection Babesiosis).
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Though your journey may be shorter or longer than mine,
Winter is the time to begin.
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Winter is the time to unlock the secrets of Winter.
Modules 1&2
nourish root
and
what would be most nourishing right now?
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medicine is everywhere- when you know what you're looking for- and in these two weeks we will sink deep into the abundance of gifts that surround us.
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nourishing herbs/ your dosha/ models of healing/
self-care/ anatomy of the yin-yang
Wednesday
11.25
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lecture
I
Wednesday
12.02
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lecture
II
Saturday
12.05
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live circle +Q&A
Modules 3&4
unwind decompress
and
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you are held.
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the nervous system is the mother of the immune system and in these weeks, we will dive into both~ and challenge both
by facing our darkness in modulated doses.
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nervine herbs/ oxytocin and cortisol/
reverence and trauma/ the medicine wheel
Wednesday
12.09
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lecture
I
Wednesday
12.16
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lecture
II
Saturday
12.19
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live circle +Q&A
modules 5&6
adapt emerge
and
illness is a mystical experience.
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when will it be spring? reentering the atmosphere of the light half of the year and navigating life with one foot in each.
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adaptogens/ waxing and waning/ hormones/
the karpmann triangle/ interlocking cycles
Wednesday
12.23
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lecture
I
Wednesday
12.30
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lecture
II
Saturday
01.02
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live circle +Q&A
included in this course are:
~ weekly classes to watch and read (go at your own pace)
~ a live circle and q&a every other week
~ worksheets and journal prompts to deepen each week's theme
~ weekly self-care assignments
~ recipes
~ articles and recommended book list
~ access to 1:1 support at a special rate
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Materials
for this course, you will need
~6+ weeks supply of one or more nourishing herbs
(nettle, comfrey, dandelion root, burdock root, oatstraw*)
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~4+ weeks supply of one or more nervine herbs
(nettle, lavender, chamomile, oatstraw, passionflower, skullcap*)
~2+ weeks supply of one or more adaptogenic herbs
(schisandra, reishi, holy basil, rhodiola, eulethero, cordyceps*)
*I will send a more detailed list before the course begins
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