Hi !

I wanted to send this email before Christmas, but ended up with the flu, so it had to wait until I was a little better, which is now.

The end of the year is near. How has 2022 been for you?

How did you grow in this year?

What did you do that you didn’t expect you would be doing?

What are your thoughts about what 2023 will bring you?

For me 2022 has been really good. I learned a lot about myself and about others and I got certified as a Spiritual Coach, an EFT practitioner, a Ho’oponopono practitioner and a Meditation Teacher. All things that I had wanted to learn more about for some time now.

December month

My family is usually quite busy during the December month. We have several traditional celebrations that we celebrate, some of them because of my Dutch heritage.

During the Advent time we focus on the light coming back and this observance has begun this on Sunday, 27 November. We lit one 1 light and put some crystals with this light. We like the way it is observed in the Waldorf tradition.

I really like the below poem about Advent.

The first light of advent is the light of hope and the stone, stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones

The second light of advent is the light of love and the plants, plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance

The third light of advent is the light of joy and the beasts, all await the birth, from the greatest to the least.

The fourth light of advent is the light of peace and humankind, the light of love, hope and thoughts

We also celebrate St. Nicolas on 5 December as that is important to me because of my Dutch heritage. We have celebrated that on the 4^th this year as that was simply more convenient as it was on a Sunday. We had some gifts for everyone and had some traditional goodies to eat. I also made a traditional Dutch pea soup to have for dinner, as that’s what I grew up with.

The gifts would traditionally be some winter clothing, such as a scarf, hat or socks. That has changed over the years, even when I was a child that wasn’t all that common anymore.

We also love paying attention to St. Lucia on the 13^th, this is something that is more done in Scandinavia, but also done in the Waldorf educational system, so I have stuck with it as the Lucia breads that are baked are the loveliest and it’s also a celebration that involves the light. As it is mostly observed in Sweden, we usually eat Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce on the day for dinner as well.

And from 20 December the Yuletide starts. The 20^th is Mother’s night. The night that mothers go out and have good time. Some years we’ve stayed home, other years we have gone to the pub. It’s fun to just hang out with other mothers without the kids, that’s been rare enough most years. Now that the kids get older it is even less rare.

Then on the 21^st it is the solstice, the shortest day of the year. We talk about that and use some candles that day.

For the whole Yuletide we have a lovely meal plan that only comes out at this time of year. It stretches from the 20^th of December till the 1^st of January and has a variety of traditional nutrient dense meals. Mostly roasts of a large variety. Oddly enough after this season I have always ended up losing some weight. The meals are nutrient dense, which probably helps with that.

Meditation!

From 9 January I’m starting my first meditation group programme. This will take 6 weeks. It’s for beginners and people who have dabbled a bit into meditation but want to level up in mediation. I'm really looking forward to it. There are a few more spots free. I want to make sure it is a small group, so that everyone is able to get the most out of it. In case you know someone who'd love to join, feel free to pass the information on.

Four steps to digestive health programme

I am in the process of creating a digestive health recovery programme as this is something that I am quite passionate about. So many people suffer. The first programme is a short one, which is 4 steps, this will help to feel better.

As it is only 4 steps and doesn’t go in depth into it all, it means that those who have bigger things that they deal with will need more. So after this small programme I’m also going to create a bigger one so that everyone who is suffering has a natural way to improve their digestive health and microbiome.

On my blog I have some recipes that I share, slowly but carefully there will be more and more of them.

Recently I added one of a mix of spices that I use a lot when I do my St. Nicolas baking. Here it is: Speculaas Kruiden

I use this in Speculaas & Kruidnootjes. I'll be adding those recipes as well.

I hope you have had a lovely Christmas time and have been blessed. For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, I hope your December month has also been blessed, whichever way you may or may not have had celebrations in this month.

I wish you an amazing start of 2023 and look forward to meeting you there.

Warmly,

Diana Boskma, CPQC, CIC, CHC, SBD

Life Coach, Mental Fitness Coach, Relationship Coach, Health Coach

Phone or text: +44 07492 864 721

www.connecting-life.net

Helping you create the life you want.

Let's talk!