Volume 11: Celebrate Your Life!

Hello Everyone:

Welcome to Women's Weave, the MUSE-LETTER from the Women's Quest staff

Our goal is to provide motivation to help you continue on your quest for health and balance. Each issue includes practical tips and inspiration for the body, mind and spirit. See http://www.womensquest.com/ for a description of our programs. We look forward to seeing you at one of our retreats in 2004!

We're eager to show you the loveliness of winter in Colorado. Great cross country ski trails in the Rockies... See below for details.

Winter Wonderfest
February 4-8th in Winter Park, Colorado

Come ski under the February Full moon with us!

The snow is falling and the magic of winter is settling down around us.
This blanket of white allows us to go deeper within ourselves, to rejuvenate and replenish ourselves, to reflect and be still and also become more aware of our senses.

Carve out time for yourself this winter to renew your Body and Spirit with Women's Quest. This time will be well spent in one of the most spectacular skiing havens in the world. This will be a time to "rekindle your kid" and play in the snow like we did when we were children. You will gracefully glide (slip and slide) on your skies, tromp around through Aspen groves on snowshoes, stretch your body every morning with yoga and dance your dream awake in the afternoon.

This is a very special retreat limited to 18 participants. To find out more about the Winter Wonderfest check out our website...www.womensquest.com

The topic of this issue of the newsletter is Celebrate Your Life!

WOMEN’S WEAVE: vol. 11 - Celebrate Your Life!

Contents
1. Winter Wonderfest
2. Celebrate Your Life!
3. Tuscany "La Dolce Vita"
4. Give and Take
5. Recipe

Celebrate Your Life!

"Bear in mind that you should conduct your life as at a feast!"
Epictetus

You deserve to enjoy each and every moment of your life as a feast for your senses. You are Alive and all around you are miracles just waiting to be noticed. All it takes is one moment of Gratitude for all these miracles to come to life!

Here are some ways to keep the Thanksgiving holiday spirit of major feasting and celebrating alive each and every day.

1. Sense of Community / Family / Friends
Make contact with your family or friends you have not spoken to in a while. Form a community of supportive friends around you. Maybe make a "girls night out" or a book club, take time with your friends
- It heals the soul!

"There is no house like the house of belonging."
-David Whyte

2. Laughter / Joy / Stories
At a feast everyone is (en-"joy"-ing) themselves, so make sure each day at the very least you SMILE and GIGGLE a bit!

"Joy is prayer- Joy is strength-Joy is Love, Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
-Mother Teresa

3. Good Food
This is food for the body and food for the soul. It seams as though Thanksgiving is a special holiday for all dieters. On this day it is O.K. to break your diet and because you are so happy eating what you want I bet you don't gain a pound. Give yourself one day a week where you just appreciate all that your body has to offer and give it a dieting break.

4. Light the Candles
Usually at Thanksgiving the tables are decorated with candles. These flames of light should remind us that we have the eternal flame glowing inside our very being. Make ways to contact your light and let it shine.

"The more light you allow with you, the brighter the world you live in will be."
Shakti Gawain

5. Giving Thanks
This is a very important quality to bring into your daily life. Somewhere during the day (each and every day) just say Thank- You. Meister Eckhart said "If the only prayer you say in your whole life is 'Thank- You,' that would suffice."

"What amazes me is that before we can count we are taught to be grateful for what others do. As we are broken open by our experience, we begin to be grateful for what is, and if we live long enough and deep enough and authentically enough, gratitude becomes a way of life."

-Mark Nepo

Speaking of Feasting and Celebrating.

Women's Quest just got back from our "La Dolce Vita" (the sweet life!) retreat in Tuscany, Italy.

We rode our bikes through famous vineyards and medieval hilltop villages, swam in the warm Etruscan sea, hiked along the Ligurian cliffs of Cinque Terra, tasted the wonders of traditional Tuscan foods, wines and oils and drenched our senses in the history and fragrance of Siena. I wanted to stay "Under the Tuscan Sun" forever.

That is why I am going to do two retreats in Tuscany next fall.
I have added a co-ed retreat so that you can bring along your partners.
* Co-Ed Tuscan Adventure September 25 - October 2
* "La Dolce Vita" Tuscan Adventure October 3 -11 (Women's only)

Give And Take

As women we are programmed to give. It's in our fiber and make-up to give, even if it means we sometimes lose ourselves. If we watch the simplest of movements we do, just breathing, we can learn about give and take. We exhale and give away with no problem when we are breathing so we can make space to inhale and take on the new life and vitality of the fresh air. Our core knows how to do it without any problems, so follow your breath on this one and get in on the exchange.

3 ways to help you receive:

1. Praises and Compliments

When you hear a compliment take a moment and let it sink in and let it register with your whole being. If no one around you ever says nice things to you, you can always put up little praises for yourself around the house. I like to start with "I Am" and then end with the praise. I also give my husband a list of praises he can say to me at any time.

2. Eating consciously

When you sit down to eat your meals practice sitting with your food for one minute before you gobble it down. You can do this with the simplest of things, like your morning cup of coffee. Just sit with it and feel it's warmth and allow it to penetrate every cell. In this way you are able to better receive the nourishment because you have taken a moment to be conscious.

3. Spa days or hours or moments.

One good sure-fired way to make sure you receive is to get a massage or some kind of pamper session. If you can't afford a massage you could trade a foot massage with a friend. Get a shallow warm bucket of water and add your favorite essential oil to the water. Then rub away. You can also look up a foot reflexology chart and get really good at hitting all the trigger points.

Roasted Vegetables

I wanted to write about my favorite recipe for Thanksgiving, which is sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top but I thought I should give you something more nutritious.

Since Thanksgiving marks the turning of the seasons, at least in Colorado, it is time to start moving our diets to the warming foods of winter. This means root vegetables cooked slowly and thoroughly to bring their warmth into our bodies.
Start with 1 yam, 1 sweet potato, 1 yukon gold or red potato, 1 turnip, 1 parsnip, 5
carrots, 1 beet and 1 or 2 of just about anything else that comes from or is hearty like the earth
(Jerusalem artichokes, Brussels sprouts, etc.) Cut everyone up into 1 inch cubes and lay them out on a baking dish. Pour a little olive oil onto the vegetables and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper other herbs you like (I'm a Rosemary fan) to taste, and pop them into the oven preheated to 350 degrees. The key is to turn the vegetables every 10 to 15 minutes to make sure everyone bakes evenly. Once the vegetables start to get soft be careful when the turning to avoid breaking them. Remove when cooked through, around 45 minutes and enjoy.

"Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you."
-Frank Tyger

ROAR!!!!

Thank You for being You and also for reading the newsletter this far.....Way to Go!!

We welcome comments and suggestions for WOMENS WEAVE MUSELETTER!
Contact gretchen@womensquest.com.