Tag: peace

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Full Moon Self Care Ritual

There are plenty of different rituals and beliefs about how to spend your time during a full moon. This is the phase of the moon where you bring in the energy of the Universe to celebrate your achievements for the goals you set for yourself during the new moon, leading all the way up to this time.

For this reason, I take the time of the full moon to reflect and have some serious self-care time for myself. Self care is different for everyone, but I recommend taking it to the next level on the phase of the full moon, doing something a little extra that you don’t normally do.

Self-care is something that we may forget to do in the today’s world, where there are so many distractions that you feel like should have your attention, rather than simply making yourself happy. But you cannot be effective in any of your tasks if you are not aligned with your energy and feeling full.

So here is my self-care ritual that I like to do on a full moon, I feel so peaceful after this ritual and I hope it can help you feel peaceful on this full moon as well. 🙂

The Aura

As you guys may already know, I am huge on creating the perfect aura, every day but especially for rituals. For me, this just keeps me in the zone, keeps me peaceful and makes me feel good about being the space that I’m in.

So first things first, cleanse your space with a sage smudge stick or with palo santo. This gets rid of all the negative energy in your space, cause you don’t have time for that shit tonight.

Light as many candles as you have, light some incense, lay your crystals about (and remember to afterwards put them in the moonlight to be charged).

Meditation

Do a short meditation, just to clear any of the thoughts remaining in your mind from the day and start fresh. Focus on taking deep, long breaths during this meditation and it may be nice to end your meditation by putting some relaxing essential oils, such as lavender or a balancing blend on your wrists and inhaling them in. I will list some of my favorites at the end.

A Flower Mandala

I do not do these often, but every time I do, I feel so aligned and peaceful by the end of it. If you don’t know what a flower mandala is, it’s basically flower petals that you take and create a mandala on your floor, which you can combine with crystals, candles or whatever you wish.

I love doing these because it is so different, but it is incredibly peaceful to do. At first you may overthink it and it may feel awkward and you may second guess yourself, but as soon as you let that go, hours can fly by in what seems like only twenty minutes.

I consider this a form of meditation, because focusing on on some sort of art, really keeps your mind from wandering off elsewhere.

Turn on some slow music or frequencies while you do this or if you prefer silence than do that! And drink some tea, wine or whatever it is you drink to spoil yourself. Take as long as you want to do this!

Here is a quick picture I took of my last flower mandala. I drew this inspiration to partake in these by @sallymustang, I recommend looking up some of her work on Instagram.

Though I feel it’s important to say to not compare yourself to ANYONE else, the point is not how pretty your mandala is, it’s about creating art and creating peace for your mind.

A Bath Ritual

After your mandala, take any extra flower pedals you may have and draw yourself a warm bath, with the flower pedals, essential oils (highly recommended), bubbles, crystals, candles whatever it is you feel would be your best bath!

I put a crystal in the bath water sometimes if I feel the chakra associated with that crystal needs balancing.

During bath rituals I really like to listen to singing bowls, you can find plenty of videos of these on Youtube. I like these because they tend to just echo and vibrate the whole bathroom and of course you can choose a specific vibration that will attract something specific to your life, which for me lately has been abundance.

While in your bath ritual you can read, meditate, do mantras, affirmations, gratefulness practices or even sleep. Do whatever it is you feel your soul needs!

Skin Care Routine

I believe a skin care routine to be a ritual within itself. Today is the day to do your full skin care ritual, your skin has already been being steamed by the bath water, follow it with your face wash, exfoliant, toner, a mask and a finishing moisturizer or skin oil. My favorite skin care brands for things such as this is Aveda, as it’s scents are plant based and smell so lovely.

If you want to put on lotion, do some hair care or whatever, feel free to do so. 🙂

End your night by doing a finishing meditation, this can last much longer as your mind is most likely already cleared. Finish with some mantras for self-care, such as :

I am a goddess, I am abundant and attract abundance, I am loved and attract love, I radiate positive energy and attract positive energy. I am beautiful, I am enough. I am confident and passionate. I am grounded and full of energy. The Universe is in my favor.

You can also partake in some “OM’s” before ending your meditation, I like this as it slows down your mind on a whole other level.

You can end the night by reading a book or journaling, just try to refrain from the tv or your phone before you go to bed tonight. You may find yourself sleeping better and waking up more aligned within yourself. 🙂

Happy Full Moon Loves!

My full moon ritual recommendations :

Full Moon Body Oils: Among The Flowers and Spirit Element

Essential Oils: Aveda Shampure

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Grifford Pinchot National Forest

This is among the most beautiful places to explore nature in Washington. Filled with gorgeous mountains, inactive volcanoes and luscious forests. This place is worth a long camping trip in the summer, or even the long drive to see some of it’s wonders in a day trip. The hikes and waterfalls in this area are endless because of all the mountains in the area.

Here are some of this forests best sites.

Mount Saint Helens Area

This inactive volcano is famous for it’s incredible destruction in 1980, you can see incredible views of this volcano and the effects of it’s eruption and learn more about it. It’s pretty amazing.

Ape Caves

The ape caves are truly unique, make sure to bring a flash light and warm clothing, because it is pitch dark! It’s quiet the adventure to work you way through this two and half mile lava tube, the longest continuous cave in the U. S!

Lava Canyon

This is a round trip, five mile hike, so not too bad. It leads to some spectacular views and Lava Falls.

Windy Ridge Viewpoint

This is the easiest viewpoint to see Mount St. Helens, it’s a stunning view where you can also see Spirit Lake. There is also a hike along Windy Ridge called Loowit trail, a 28 mile round-trip hike that has gorgeous waterfall along the way. Make sure to research required permits for hikes such as this in the area.

Mt. Adams Area

This area is particularly known for climbing Mt. Adams, it is a a 10 mile, round trip hike with a 4500 ft elevation gain, and leads to some amazing views!

Waterfalls

With the Columbia River Gorge being on the opposite site of this area, it has no shortage of gorgeous waterfalls, some of my favorite in the state are in this area!

Lower Lewis Falls

I believe this to be the most beautiful waterfall in Washington, it flows so perfectly and is wide, and it is easy to get to the bottom of the falls for amazing views and a swim 🙂 The long drive is beautiful and it is a short quarter mile hike that allows every viewpoint.

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Panther Creek Falls

This waterfall is simply magical, it trickles down a long wall of rock and you can even explore the river before it falls as well. There is access to the bottom of the falls as well.

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Spirit Falls

This waterfall is a gem, bright blue with a tremendous fall. It’s a little hike, about a mile and can be quiet muddy. All the more of an amazing nature experience!

Falls Creek Falls

There are plenty of views during the 4 mile round trip hike to this waterfall, including a suspension bridge and a partial hike along the river.

This forest is one of Washington’s best, so if you’re looking for a place to explore within the state, you can get the best of both world’s in this green forest between three mountains.

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Exploring The Columbia River Gorge

I’ve drove through this amazing gorge in the past and gazed upon it’s beauty but never really stopped and explored the area, so that’s exactly what we did last weekend and it’s one of my favorite locations in both Washington and Oregon, as it is located on both sides.

We made our way to the Columbia River Gorge from the Oregon side, which has more of the popular views and waterfalls. I recommend taking the Historic Highway, just the drive is gorgeous and you will find many waterfalls along the way that I cannot find the names to, as they are a little smaller, but it is a must do. If you have an R. V, it may not be quiet safe for you to drive it though.

The first official stop we made was Latourell Falls, one of my favorite Oregon waterfalls, you can get right up to where the water meets. It’s so powerful you can feel the spray without being too close, this thing is massive!

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We saw a trail that led further down that I definitely recommend taking, the entire area is gorgeous.

There are many other stops along the Historic Highway, Multnomah Falls, the tallest waterfall in Oregon, was unfortunately blocked off during the season, so we couldn’t get any good shots, but it is still quiet the view. When on the Washington side of the Gorge, you can still see this massive waterfall on the other side of the Columbia River.

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We didn’t get photos of Bridal Veil Falls or Horsetail Falls because that part of the Historic Highway was closed when we were there, but we will be sure to be back to these natural wonders.

When driving along the Gorge, make sure to look onto the Washington side of the river to see an enormous waterfall going down into the river, I’m not sure of the name of this but it is absolutely breathtaking.

As I said before, you will run into waterfalls along this highway every few minutes and each one is worth stopping to see, some even without names. For a full list of the popular waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, click here.

We crossed over the Bridge Of The Gods, which links the Oregon portion of the Gorge to Washington and is a two dollar toll bridge that is pretty awesome.

Once we got onto the Washington side, we found a local secret waterfall that took us on a National Forest Development road all the way up a mountain where it began to snow! By the time we left this area, we had about two feet of snow!

The waterfall we saw was Panther Creek Falls and it was amazing, it was a short hike downhill with an overlook, it also has a little rock climb down to the lower level. It has a rope to help you down and I definitely recommend it.

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Afterwards, we started heading towards our Airbnb towards Washougal and stopped at Cape Horn, right off the highway and it is STUNNING! You can see the entire Gorge and even spot the waterfalls on the Oregon side.

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In Washougal, we stayed at a Treehouse we found on Airbnb, and it was perfect for our lifestyle! I definitely recommend Airbnb for travelers, it allows you to meet new people and discover new creative homes and places.

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Washougal Treehouse. Click here to sign up for Airbnb and get $40 off your first stay.

We are going to be heading back to this area soon, the summer would be more ideal for this area so we wont run into snow again. But after doing some research, we realized that there is an incredible amount of hidden waterfalls on the Washington side of the Gorge that we must see! We already have a wish list.

We used the book, Curious Gorge, to help us find all these waterfalls and it was extremely helpful and will be our guide for our next adventure here.

If you’d like to check this book out, click here.

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Traveling Washington 101 North (Temperate Rainforests, Ruby Beach and Cape Flattery)

Though I’ve lived at the bottom of the Washington coast all my life, last weekend was the first time I drove all the way up 101 North. We’ve just about traveled all of the 101 highway now, and Washington’s coast is not much short of Oregon’s.

We took advantage of good winter weather and traveled from South Bend, WA, up 101 all the way to the most northwestern tip of the United States, Cape Flattery. Of course we stopped at some destinations along the way, and all of them were amazing, where the temperate rainforests of Washington meet with the coastal waves.

Our first stop was Quinault, a beautiful area full of nature trails from a quarter mile long, to full backpacking trips. The largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world lives in this lush forest, as well as many other large trees and some coastal redwoods. There are plenty of waterfalls, some you can hike to and some right off of the road.

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We stayed in the Quinault lodge, though in the summer there are so many beautiful camping spots next to the Lake Quinault. This lodge is gorgeous and relaxing though, with access to trails and the lake right outside. It has a nice restaurant, pool, game room and an overall nice environment.

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The next morning we woke up and started heading further north, our next stop being Kalaloch and Ruby Beach, some of the coastal gems of Washington.

Kalaloch Beach has a famous tree called the Tree of Life or Big Tree Cave. You can see the entire root system from the beach, it grows in the air and the ends connect to the ground, above the beach.

Ruby Beach has lots of giant coastal rocks, easily accessible from the sand. One has a natural arch, others have holes through them, it is quite the site. You can spot some star fish, sea urchins and other marine life as well.

This beach is called Ruby Beach because you can find ruby clusters within the rocks if you look hard enough!

 

After this pit stop, we headed up North towards Port Angeles, I recommend stopping at Lake Crescent along the way, as it is beautiful and has a hike to a waterfall that is lovely. We stayed in Port Angeles for the night and headed west to the northwestern tip of the U. S, Cape Flattery. This is about two hours from Port Angeles and well worth it.

Located on an Indian Reservation, it is a well-kept trail with handmade walking sticks for anyone in need. The trail is wooden and an absolute gorgeous two-mile hike, round-trip. There are several viewpoints along this trail, and every one is worth seeing. You can see coastal rock caves where the ocean meets, many coastal rocks and an island not too far from the edge of the cape with a lighthouse.

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The northwestern tip is nothing short of magical, and every step to get there makes the adventure even more beautiful.

 

 

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Cape Kiwanda – Pacific City, Oregon

Cape Kiwanda is my favorite cape on the Oregon coast, and that says a lot because Oregon is full of beautiful coastal lines.

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The best thing about the Oregon coast is it’s Oregon Beach Bill, which allows you to wander anywhere your heart desires on the beaches, as the beaches belong to the people and are protected from being owned or industrialized. So many signs can say to not go beyond this point or something, but it’s more of a warning.

Cape Kiwanda is located in Pacific City, a small, simple and beautiful town that I love so much! The beach is a very public beach and not hard to find, it also has Pelican Brewing (which has great beer) right on the beach, which is a perfect place with outdoor seating to enjoy the view of haystack rock and the sunset.

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There’s also a good amount of waves to surf, which many people do here. If your entering the beach, you’ll see a huge sandhill to the right, climb this and you will be on top of Cape Kiwanda.

Once you get on top of this sand hill, there is so much to space to wander, and so many views to see, make sure not to miss a single one and to experience it as best you can, ignoring the warning signs!

Also, make sure to take the scenic view to get to Pacific City, which allows you to see two other capes before Cape Kiwanda, it’s called the three capes scenic drive. You’ll take a right about 20 miles before Pacific City to take this route, there will only be one sign, so much sure to keep a look out for it.

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Map location and directions here

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My Daily Routine For The Soul

About a year ago, I started thinking about my life in a completely different way; to notice the positive things in life and realize that they overcame the negative. I chose to be grateful for all the little things instead of complaining about all the small things that weren’t going my way.

At first, this wasn’t entirely easy to switch my mindset overnight, it took practice just like any other thing. But turning my mindset around was the best decision I’ve ever made and it has allowed me to see so much clearer and with such gratefulness.

One thing that I started doing when I first decided to think of life differently, still sticks with me to this day and I would love to share it with you all. 🙂

Wholesome Culture

I began practicing meditation in my every day life, it didn’t matter how much time I had before work, whether it was two minutes or thirty minutes, it was better than not practicing at all.

Sit yourself down in a quiet space, where you will not be interrupted. I like to surround myself with crystals, candles and incense (though it is not necessary) and meditated for a few minutes to begin to slow your mind. Afterwards, keep your eyes closed and name all the things that you are grateful for.

Don’t overthink this part, you will soon start to realize that you are grateful for so much, that the list is endless, this is the point. I found myself saying I was grateful for my cup of coffee and just another day to be alive and healthy. Other things I say is that I am grateful for my job and to live in a home, to have loving friends, family and animals.

Name these things until the feeling of positivity starts to sink in, when naming things to be grateful for doesn’t seem like a chore anymore, but rather something joyous.

After this, state the qualities of yourself and of the day that you want, but stating them in a way of how your day is already played out to be.

Sometimes I’ll say, “May I carry positivity throughout my day, may I attract all the good things in life. May I spread light to others. I am strong, confident and positive.”

Affirmation Cards

Sometimes I would go on for longer, sometimes it would be shorter, but try to switch up what you say so that it stays genuine and does not become a routine and lose it’s meaning.

Depending of the time you have set out, you can also send light out to others. You can call it praying for others, but I believe that when you send your light out to others, your light burns even brighter. Send your light out to those you wish to that day, knowing that it will find it’s way back to you.

Afterwards, meditate and leave your thoughts behind you, clear your mind to begin your day. Once you feel at peace, reach your arms up high, gather up the energy within your powerful aura you just created and bring your hands together in Namaste.

Sage +Crystal Cleansing Kit

Practice this regularly and if you will think of your life with much more positivity than you had previously. I sometimes would do this twice a day, it drug me out of a situation where I felt a disconnect with the world and myself and was very unhappy. Therefore, this practice is sacred to me.

Peace.

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New Moon Ritual

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The next new moon will be in our sky this 18th and the time couldn’t be any more perfect the current situation in my life. Though I am so happy to be back home with my loving family, working and earning more money for a future of adventures, I still long for the open road.

Having so much time to travel had allowed me to explore myself so much and I had never been so happy. So I guess a life of 11 hour work days, six days a week has left me little time to continue exploring my spirit and I am in deep need to reconnect.

This next new moon is the perfect time for me, as well as anyone, to reset their paths in the right direction and remove negativity from that path, this is what I will be doing this next new moon.

First off, because of my lack of time outdoors lately, I would like to do my ritual outside (that is if it’s not raining, which it does a lot on the west coast). I feel this is the best way to perform any ritual, as it connects you best to Mother Earth and the universe above.

Before your ritual, write down on little pieces of paper, a word or two describing emotions, habits, actions or thoughts of any kind that you want to let go of. For me, a few are negativity and disconnect. Bring these with you for your ritual.

First, set your surroundings with lots of candles and burn sage and\or rosemary around your atmosphere, to cleanse your aura of negative energies, I like to leave the smudge stick burning in a bowl next to me.

Your choice of crystals are a good choice to keep around your for rituals as well, for mine I chose amethyst and moldavite to help with spiritual connection, vanadinite to promote accomplishment, black tourmaline to deflect negative energies, citrine, as it is my birthstone and gives energies for good luck, clear quartz and selenite.

Sit yourself down and meditate a few moments under the night sky, recognize it’s meaning for new beginnings and about the things your about to let go of and know that they may not come back into your life.

When you feel ready, open your eyes and burn each piece of paper you had written on earlier, one at a time. As the words burn, give yourself time to really understand the words you wrote down and that by burning them, you are ridding them from your life, as they are only harming your spirit.

After you are through burning the negative intentions of your past, meditate with your future intention in your mind. Close your eyes and envision your future with all the intentions you wish your future to withhold. Remember that there is no time frame for this, envision all that you can, as long as you want, as if it’s already in your present.

Meditate with these intentions for the remainder of your ritual and when you open your eyes, know that you have become closer to your higher being, closer to a more positive, spiritual you.

Namaste

Want a custom ritual? Click here.

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Let Us Celebrate The Lives Of The Dead

This October has been such a beautiful one, I’m realizing that it’s one of my favorite months. It carries on the sunshine from the end of summer and still, the color of autumn within the trees.

Halloween continues to be one of my favorite holidays, maybe it’s because during a period of time as a child I was unable to celebrate it because it was “the devil’s holiday.”

I always found the traditions fun, but these traditions go a lot further back than modern day. The day/night of Halloween is known to be the day that releases the barrier between the dead and our world as the world begins to be darker, colder and bounty begins to die, only to begin again.

Originally, people dressed up to convince the dead that they were dead as well, so that they would not be bothered. People also decorated their houses as so and baked sweet goods as a peace offering to the dead to draw them away from their homes.

It is so interesting that this tradition remains nearly the same without the knowledge of it’s meaning.

None of this is necessarily the scary holiday it has turned to be. Halloween is known as a day of celebration to the people who have passed on and the lives that they had; many celebrate it as Samhain, as it was celebrated back in the Celtic age. This wiccan holiday is celebrated on the same day, but as a way to honor the dead in a beautiful way and also to recognize the original day marked as the end of summer and begin the darker days to restart nature’s cycle once more.

Many Pagans and Wiccan’s participate in rituals to honor the dead, if you’d like to participate in any, here are some examples.

The recognition of death is a very important stage within nature and our lives. I believe the more we recognize it, the less grief we would have for people who pass, but instead celebrate the lives that they had. That is what I see within Halloween… but it’s still fun to hand out candy and dress up as something, other than ourselves, under the moonlight.

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

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Cape Disappointment, WA

The Washington coast goes a bit unnoticed when put next to the beautiful Oregon and California coast. This coast is unique in so many ways and gives an entirely new moody feel of the ocean. The Washington coast contains lots of rain, wind and fog but it is also what makes it so different and a must-see experience.

Cape Disappointment State Park is located in Ilwaco, WA, very close to Astoria, OR and has many wonders to see within the area full of beautiful temperate rainforests.

When you first enter into the park, each side of the road are covered in greenery, there are a few lookout spots that tell the history of the area, like Beardman’s Hollow. There are many wooden bridges throughout the park as well that work well for photography!

This cape contains two lighthouses, the first you will see is the North Head Lighthouse, which is only a quarter mile, easy hike. Of course it tells you to not go close to edge of the cape, but many people had already crossed the fence so I found no harm in doing the same. The view is gorgeous and you can walk far out onto the grass-covered cape to see the Pacific Ocean.

The next lighthouse is the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, this trail is a half mile and a bit more difficult. There are many hills, but it is a very pretty hike with access to beaches along the way.

Along the way you’ll run into Dead Man’s Cove, one of my favorite views of the coast, especially when the lighting is just right. You have to walk down to the beach if you want the best view, but no matter how you see Dead Man’s Cove, it is a spectacular view.

Once you get to the lighthouse, the view overlooks all of Ilwaco and Astoria, you can see the Astoria bridge and all the boats coming in from the ocean into the bay area. The view is perfect for some photographs.

Within the Cape Disappointment State Park you will also have the chance to see Fort Canby and many of it’s batteries as well as the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

 

Find the Location here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Tamolich Blue Pool

The Tamolich Blue Pool is one of the Pacific Northwest most beautiful natural wonders. When I first saw photos of this place, I was intrigued right away, but couldn’t decide for myself whether the photos were photoshopped or not.

Seeing this magical place for myself, I can say that you cannot describe it’s beauty, it just must be seen.

The Tamolich Blue Pool used to be a waterfall, Tamolich Falls, but after a nearby volcanic eruption that left lava rock covering the waterfall, leaving the water flowing out the bottom of where the waterfall was. Because of this, it slowed down the water, creating a still pool that allows you to see the beautiful, blue water of the Mckenzie River.

The trailhead was a bit tricky to find. The main trail, called the Mckenzie Trail is about a six mile hike to three different waterfalls, including the Tamolich Blue Pool. With preparation, this would be an amazing hike. Though, if you just want to see the blue pool, it is located off the Mckenzie Highway down NF-730.

The trail is two miles long and is not a difficult hike. Most of the time you will be alongside the Mckenzie River, so the entire hike is very beautiful. The trail is very popular, so if your trying to hike with not too many people, I would recommend not going during the weekend.

Once you arrive where the pool is, it will be below you and it will blow your mind! There are many places to cliff jump into the pool, varying from 20 to 30 feet. The water is plenty deep to jump into confidently, though incredibly cold.

You can also hike all around the pool unto the other side where you can get right next to the water without jumping at all. I recommend both experiences!

If your looking for a new nature trip in the beautiful state of Oregon, travelling along the Mckenzie Highway to the blue pool will never be a regret, as there is so much to see, including Sahalie Falls and Koosah Falls.

Find directions here.