Summer Break
Taking time to slow down, rest, and be bored
Season: Summer
Element: Fire
Moon: Full
Sense: Sight (Eyes)
External Work: Office / Workout Areas
Internal Work: Anger (Imbalance) & Patience (Balance)
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Next Monday, June 29th, is the Full Strawberry Moon in the feng shui element of fire and the season of summer. This week we are off to Canada and I could not be more excited. Our final destination, after staying with friends in Toronto and checking out a new stop in Rivière-du-Loup, is Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this maritime province, Nova Scotia is a place of slow, seaside towns, amazing seafood, lush farmland, rugged reserves, and friendly communities who tell it like it is. We love Nova Scotia and are especially appreciative of the Annapolis Valley which is filled with vast apple orchards, award-winning cool-climate vineyards, rich Acadian and Mi’kmaq heritage, and close proximity to the Bay of Fundy. I’m very curious how different Canada will feel to America. I don’t know about you, but I have had a constant underlying sense of dread plaguing me since 2024. Every day there is a new depravity in the news here in the U.S. that pulls my energetic vibration down into dread. I am greatly hoping to unplug and see if I can stay on a higher energetic frequency more than a few minutes.
That said, I wanted to let you all know that I am taking a monthlong break from my Substack posts and qigong practices for a month starting after this post. I talk about rest, slowing down, and yin so much, I am really feeling called to practice what I preach. After writing 142 free posts since August 2024, 20 paid posts since the beginning of the year, and putting out 16 qigong practices through Substack Live, I am feeling called to take a break. I also want to have space to learn more, truly put into practice what I already know, and perhaps even be bored. And, I want be the guinea pig for a curation I have been working on for the Cascade Rest Curation that is is comprised of the following:
Rest Curations - guided energy clearing, reset, and meditation for deep rest
Qigong - movement practice for yin and yang energy balance
Feng Shui - consultation for space enhancements through the bagua map and five elements
Sleep Ritual - design of a nightly practice for better sleep
Dark Immersion - guide for a dark practice to bring more yin into daily life
Restful Nourishment - eating planner for restful digestion and healthy nourishment
During my break, I hope to practice all of the above in order to document what transformations occur. Do I sleep better? Do my stress levels decrease? Can I expand my creativity? Can I increase my energy levels? Will I be able to achieve a balance between yin and yang? These are all questions that I am so excited to answer. When I look at the world, I feel like all I am witnessing is the collective swinging more and more to the extremes of yang. People I talk to are overwhelmed, overworked, and at their stress breaking point. I know that we need more yin on our lives to bring this yang energy back into balance. Are people ready for it? I’m not sure if they are quite yet, but I am hoping that there will come a time when every one is ready to embrace slowing down and resting to cultivate yin. Because rest is a sign of worthiness and we are all worthy. So, if you can this summer give yourself permission to REST.
Rest Reading
Check out all of the rest reading recommendations in Resources on my Substack page.
Rest Recipe
Summer is here and I am so excited for the fruits of the season. One favorite of our family is strawberries. Strawberries are often the star of breakfasts and desserts, but we have a family recipe that makes them shine in a beautiful salad that can transform easily into a main dish. So here is the recipe for our Strawberry Salad:
1 head of romaine or spinach
1 pint fresh strawberries*
1 red onion
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Wash and tear the romaine or spinach into bite size pieces. Wash, de-stem the strawberries, and cut into quarters. Finally slice the red onion. Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, milk, and poppy seeds into a glass container with a lid to make the dressing. Shake to combine. To assemble the salad, place the romaine or spinach onto salad plates, add a handful of strawberries and onion, and drizzle on the dressing. You can also add nuts such as pecans or walnuts, fresh herbs such as basil or mint, goat cheese, or grilled chicken.
*Antioxidants in strawberries, including vitamin C, can support your immune system, help curb inflammation, manage your blood sugar, and guard against health conditions like high cholesterol, cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. They are also a good source of melatonin.
Rest Ritual
I recently learned how to play American mahjong and bought a travel set to bring on our trip to Nova Scotia. My daughter also learned Chinese mahjong in school, so she is going to teach us how to play with the same set. I have been amazed how many people are getting into mahjong. It is a great game to build community and bring people together because nothing gets the conversation going or the laughter started like games. If you are not familiar with mahjong, board and card games can also offer a wide array of benefits, including cognitive development, social interaction, and stress relief. They can enhance problem-solving skills, improve memory, and foster critical thinking abilities. Playing board and card games also promotes social skills, reduces screen time, and provides fun with friends and family that often leads to deep belly laughs. Research indicates a positive correlation between laughter and longevity, suggesting that those who laugh more tend to live longer.
If you are looking for some good board and card games recommendations for the summer season and to store in your living room, check out these favorites:
Cards Against Humanity = adult card-based party game in which players complete fill-in-the-blank statements, using words or phrases typically deemed offensive, risqué, or politically incorrect, printed on playing cards. There is also a family version.
Catan = multiplayer board game, previously known as The Settlers of Catan or simply Settlers, where players take on the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources.
Clue = murder mystery board game for three to six players. I love this game and the film inspired by it.
Cribbage = card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points.
Euchre = trick-taking card game played by most Michiganers. I would say this is our state card game!
Life = board game the simulates a person’s travels through their life, from early adulthood to retirement, with college if necessary, jobs, marriage, and possible children along the way. Also called The Game of Life.
Monopoly = multiplayer economics-themed board game.
Scrabble = word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. My personal favorite!
Sleeping Queens = children’s card game where players play cards to awaken sleeping queens and to steal or put to sleep the awakened queens of their opponents.
Sorry = board game that is based, like the older game Ludo, on the ancient Indian cross and circle game Pachisi.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza = shedding-type card game with a dedicated deck that is great for young kiddos.
Please pass this Substack onto a friend or family member to broaden this amazing CRC community and to give the gift of rest to those who need it. As Tricia Hersey writes in her aptly named book, Rest is Resistance.
If you would like to hold a Rest Curation in your local community, please email me at abby@cascadefengshui.com for the script and music information. Or email me if you would like to organize a private pop-up Rest Curation for friends, family, or colleagues.
And if you are interested in my feng shui and interior design services, please see my website at www.cascadefengshui.com and contact me at abby@cascadefengshui.com.
Rest is a sign of worthiness is going to stay with me for a while. I think most of us only let ourselves rest after we've earned it, which kind of defeats the whole point. Taking a full month off right after writing about rest for two years feels like the real test of whether you believe what you teach. What are you most curious to find out about yourself once the doing stops for a while?