HMN Blog

Creating a Vision Board

The new year brings thoughts of goals and and visions for the coming months as well as a reflection on what has past. Spending time thoughtfully checking in with yourself, understanding where you are, what you want and setting intentions for the year can be a powerful step towards manifesting those goals into reality. Making a vision board enables you to visualize those goals and by placing it in a prominent spot that you see everyday can help inspire you to take continual small steps resulting in big changes over time!   You can use a vision board to focus on just one area of your life, the bigger picture, or specific long or short term goals. Get started by […]

Read more »

DIY Bone Broth

A warm nutrient rich bone broth is perfect for winter, simple to make at home and cheaply made from scraps you might otherwise compost or discard. Bone broth has ancient roots. It been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2500 years to support the kidneys and digestive health and Hippocrates, in Greece also recommended it for digestion. Used around the world in different forms, today we recognize it is full of vitamins, minerals, and amino acid loaded gelatin and collagen. Studies suggest this combination can help aid digestion, reduce inflammation, improve sleep, protect your joints, reduce bone density loss and improve skin aging. (sources 1, 2, 3, 4) If you are vegan there are great alternative recipes (here and […]

Read more »

DIY Beeswax Wraps

A great quick last minute gift that is both useful and environmentally friendly is a beeswax wrap! Gather your supplies:  100% cotton cloth – consider upcycling an old button down shirt, cloth napkins or other similar weight fabric Beeswax – pastilles or shavings from a block Pinking shears or scissors Parchment paper Baking sheets Paintbrush Oven Clothesline and pins to hang to dry Preheat your oven to its lowest setting.  While it’s heating up, cut your fabric to the desired size for your beeswax wraps. Pinking shears will help prevent frayed edges but scissors will do!  Small 8” square wraps are great for wrapping a cut piece of apple, avocado or cucumber or covering the top of a mason jar. […]

Read more »

light shining through the pine trees covered in snow

Celebrating Winter Solstice

“The winter solstice celebrates the return of hope to our land as our planet experiences the first slow turn toward greater daylight. Soon we will welcome the return of the sun and the coming of springtime. As we do so, let us remember and embrace the positive, enriching aspects of winter’s darkness. Pause now to sit in silence in the darkness of this space. Let this space be a safe enclosure of creative gestation for you.” Excerpt from ‘The Circle of Life’ by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr The winter solstice, the darkest night of the year, is a time of reflection, looking inward and gathering courage and hope to sustain us through the remaining long nights of winter. It […]

Read more »

Nineteen Years of Gratitude and Community

by Nancy Peplinsky, Holistic Moms Network Founder Parenting can be a lonely job. Raising a child often means putting aside your own desires and choices to dedicate your time to the care of another. In the early days of parenthood the demands can be exhausting. Feeding and caring for your new babe on little sleep and almost no personal space or time can be alienating and exhausting. Among moms we joke that the newborn stage is being “in the trenches”. Showering, ha! Getting dressed? Makeup? Laundry? Nope. “Is it like this for everyone? Why is it so hard?, we ask ourselves. We get enveloped in a fog of sleeplessness and exhaustion. Waves of challenges lie ahead – weaning, schooling, behavioral […]

Read more »

Apathy and Hope

These past few years have certainly been challenging times. Political strife, violence, climate disasters, and the pandemic have all been just too much for many of us. Closing ourselves to the world in crisis is a common reaction, but when we sequester ourselves away we become disconnected and even apathetic, whether that is driven by indifference, overwhelm, or fear. Instead of responding to issues that concern us, instead of taking action, we shut down. The danger of this is that it allows those who seek to continue unhealthy patterns to make progress…

Read more »

Cultivating a Mindfulness-Gratitude Practice

Gratitude, like mindfulness, is a practice. It requires time, effort, and consistent attention to be cultivated. All of that seems near impossible if you are a busy parent, but the practice of gratitude can be sown in the briefest of moments. It starts with being aware and having presence. Being aware of our present moment creates the opportunity for gratitude, even when that moment might be a challenging one.

Read more »