TEA • MOON • LISTEN

Author: R.R. Shakti

Dear Soul Artist, 
Last night we made our signature CHILL moon tea, wrote poetry, and listened to some of my favorite old records.

The August Moon is about "Big Transformation." And usually a full moon will stir me into brazen creative activation. But after a weekend of road-tripping to the Garden of the Gods and reminiscing with some dear old friends, I felt a deep sort of contentment just staying home last night. With no sense of urgency, or even a plan, I seized a simple moment to bask under the lunar night-light with my daughter. She told me all about her first day of 7th grade. We tried a new recipe of Creamy Feta Beans & Greens, using leafy things from our garden. (By the way, it was delish.) We took turns choosing the music. We listened softly. And that was enough.

Sometimes "Big Transformation" is discovered inside the simple little heart-open moments of delight. Sometimes creative activation feels more like a slow ripening. I'm calling on Pachamama energy this month, to tend my energetic garden with patience and persistence. She reminds me of the seeds I've planted in Love, and to trust in their ultimate fulfillment.

What about you? 
Are you waiting for a "Big Transformation" that never seems to happen?
Are you making "Creative Activation" harder than it is?

Listen for moments of simple contentment?
Learn to patiently, persistently tend the garden of your visionary heart?
At SoulArtist.life you are invited to align with the rhythms of nature and remember your creative freedom–sometimes with a brazen, audacious expression of cosmic power.

Other times, it is more like listening to the soft crackle of vinyl while sipping moon tea.


CHILL: our signature summer blend of herbal delight includes Rocky Mountain Spearmint and cooling Peppermint straight from our Vail Colorado garden. Hibiscus provides calming properties that are found to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation and boost your immune system, while Rosehips are high in vitamin C and provide relief from join pain and stiffness during the active sunny season. *Organic Stevia leaves provide refreshing sweetness. 

Our favorite way to brew is under the moon. 🌒 🌓 🌕

True.
Salad is typically a "spring & summer food" around these parts.
But sometimes you just get a hankerin'. Like today, when Marley said, "Mom, will you make a beet salad for lunch?

So when it comes to salad + winter in the Rocky Mountains, a few ingredients keep our vata mellow and nourished, while stoking our cold, sluggish kapha: 

• 8-10 BEETS (golden & red)
• ENDIVE & RADICCHIO (4 small heads)
• LEEKS (4 large)
• ARUGULA (2 cups)
• SUNFLOWER OIL (3 TBS)
• APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (2 TBS optional) 
• BALSAMIC VINEGAR (1/2 cup) 

Beets and leeks help to ground vata dosha and balance kapha dosha, while balsamic vinegar stimulates your digestion. The bitter/spicy greens are warming and purifying. When the bitter and spice is balanced with little orange morsels, vata stays calm. 

SO MANY exciting flavors make this salad worth breaking a few Ayurvedic rules for:

• ORANGES (two large)
• OLIVE OIL (1/2 cup + 2 TBS) 
• RICOTTA CHEESE (2 oz)
• FETA CHEESE (4 oz) 

​
Olive oil and cheeses are all heavy enough to use sparingly during kapha season, but if you MUST use cheese (and in this recipe we MUST), light cheeses like goat cheese, ricotta, and feta are the most kapha-neutral options.

Ayurveda 101: Kapha flavors to savor include: bitter, spicy, and astringent. 
Vata is balanced by sweet, sour, and salty.  Vata season transitions to Kapha Season between January & February in the Northern Hemisphere. LEARN MORE. 

Quarter the beets, drizzle with Sunflower oil, add a dash of salt and pepper.
​I also sprinkle on a little Jalepeño pepper, to add a touch of warmth. 
Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (or until just tender.

Tear your "greens" and soak them in a "citrus bath" of 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. You can also add 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar for a little extra zest. 

Slice your leeks vertically and drizzle with oil. Salt/pepper and roast for 15-20 minutes.
They can join the beets in the oven at 400 degrees F.

This salad gets 3 dressings. 
The first dressing is the citrus bath for the radicchio and endive (above).
The second is a creamy blend: 2 oz. ricotta, 4 oz. diced feta, and 1/2 cup olive oil.
The third dressing is a drizzle of balsamic glaze made from reducing balsamic vinegar over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until a thick glaze forms. 

ONCE YOUR BEETS & LEEKS HAVE COOLED:
Cut orange wedges into small morsels.
Line a plate with fresh arugula.
Top the arugula with endive, radicchio, leeks, beets, and orange morsels.
Dollop with the creamy cheese blend.
Drizzle with the balsamic glaze.
Top with a bit of cracked black pepper to taste.
ENJOY!

I love you.
You know who you are. 
You are the reason I keep trying. 

You were the first one to trust me with your downward facing dog. 
You were the last person to leave last week's zoom call.
You've seen it all. My tenderness and scars. My triumphs and disgrace. 
You dare to look. You give me grace. 
And I love you for it. 

I love your face. 

You came over to my house that one night, nearly two decades ago, 
when I was lonely for deep company and hungry for the new perspective you would bring...
the wine. the ideas. everything. 
We called it the Goddess Gathering. 
I wanted to know what you know. 
Because I love you. 

Because you believed in me when my confidence wavered. 
I can't even count the love seeds you gave when
​you supported our seva in West Africa and Pine Ridge Reservation...
when you built sets at Yoga Rocks Mountain Fest or the Rocky Mountain Yoga Conference. 
You came. 
You sang. 
You made time for us. 
I found new confidence in your Basic Goodness. 

You brought hope to the Soul Artist Studio when it was build on a broken heart. 
a defiant 
and ambition broken heart
determined to make a new start
to make Soul Art
to sing a new song over old bones. 

I was never alone. 
You reminded me to listen for the beating spaces, 
for the meeting places,
for the meaning in between the gasps for air. 

I love you.
You know who you are. 
You were right there. 

You are the men who helped me build schools. 
who leapt of cliffs into the seven sacred pools
,..the women who formed a wisdom circle around my womb.
You gave me room to make mistakes. 
and I've made many in my day. And I'll make more, 
but you love me anyway. That's what love is for. 
Its for seeing and believing that there's something new in store–
something worth trying for. 

This is for you, over there. 
You there. 
You care to read this letter down to this line. 
May Love flood into your human experience; from mine.
It's just about time to check all our barriers at the door. 
To enter the chamber. To kiss the floor and to sit down at the table of the mystics. 
Those who tried to show us what love is. 

Could you be loved? 
...and BE LOVE? 
beyond the opposites.
without an end.
eternally transforming.
turning and returning again and again
to the guru within, as a student. 
As a teacher. 

​...As a friend. ​