Sunday, January 29, 2023

Heathen Self Healing, And My Morning Routine


Good morning heathens,  Today I thought it would be a good day to talk about routines.  And the best way that I can bridge the subject of morning routines is to walk you through my own personal practice and why I do the things that I do. 
 

For starters I will say that it is not easy to develop any routine, much less a morning routine, and I don't want to make it seem like it is.  I think many people, at least the ones that I have talked to, find it almost impossible to change the routine that they have established over their lifetime.  Let's first understand that everyone has a routine, period. Even someone that wakes up in a new place and situation every morning has established some morning patterns.  One example would be to grab a cup of coffee and pour over social media while catching up on what you missed while sleeping. While this is probably not the best practice, I'm not here to judge.  Think back on what you do every morning while getting ready for work or school.  Now consider when those morning routines were adopted.  It is easy to adopt a new routine when your life has had a major change. As an example when I retired from the Marine Corps I maintained some of my morning routine while easily dropping others, most notably the 5am physical training session and morning formation.    In time I fell into a different habit of sleeping in late and watching the TV news morning shows.  

We could argue that those are not routines but just being lazy.  I suppose that both are correct.  There is some evidence to show that repeating the same action over and over for (x) many times, is how you establish a pattern.  I don't disbelieve that data, but I think it can be much more simple than counting 10k repetitions or whatever the most current study suggests.  I also believe in creative visualization, so if the first phase that routine is to visualize yourself completing the rest of it, you are mentally and emotionally triggering the reaction that you want, which is to say, completing your routine.  

The biggest hurdle to establishing a beneficial routine is to break through the already persistent tendency to do as you have done before.  This does not mean that you are lazy or unmotivated.  There is actually a medical reason why this is hard.  It is called "homeostasis" and it means that the body and mind seek stay in a comfort zone of established patterns. But we can all agree that growth does not happen in a comfort zone.  Those will include an unconscious routine and even poor eating habits.  The act of breaking out of this unrewarding, automatic reactive lifestyle is to break the loop of stasis.  That is why adopting a new routine after a major life change is easier than doing it out of the blue.  This may be the origin of the story of bouncing back from rock bottom.  But I wont go down that road right now.  

The best way to describe the process that has worked for me is to just cover my routine and when I adopted it.  So here is my current wake up routine, and how I keep it going.  

Wakeup is usually around 0600, I get up with the kids for school and usually have a cup of coffee while I write in my journal and visualize the rest of my ideal morning.  I may also take a peek at the socials to see if there is anything urgent that I should address.  Not the best first step but the socials are more than a distraction around here so they do require constant maintenance.  The journaling part is easy because I have been doing it off and on since high school.  I was once in a conversation about my military tour in Somalia and after some points were a little fuzzy, I pulled out my journal from that deployment only to read that I was misremembering a large portion of the events.  This made journaling seem like the most important tool that I had for self reflection, remembering the lessons learned the hard way, and passing on accurate information to future generations.  I do fail to record periods of my life but knowing the importance of it I do come  back to it if I fall off the wagon for a while. I always try to keep an accurate journal, so I can trust the information years down the road when I forget the major details.  It is also important to note that I will return to that journal throughout the day and before bed, to add accurate info as it happens.  It is a self limiting practice to try and remember a whole days worth of information and write it all down at one sitting.  That is a sure fire way to set yourself up for failure.  And if you miss a day or three, jump back into it where you are, not where you left off.  It takes the pain out of the process, and it will eventually become a cherished routine.

After I get that squared away I sit down for a meditation.  I think mediation is one of those things that most everyone wants to do routinely, says they do often, but barely ever engages in.  The reason is that when people try, no matter how well intended, meditation is boring and uncomfortable. I wont tell you how to sit or hold your hands. I wont tell you what to think or even how to empty your mind.  I can only speak on what works for me to break through that startup phase.   Now, I light a candle on my personal altar to establish a connection with the gods, and I burn an incense, usually chosen for the mindset that I want to cultivate for myself for the day. But often I meditate outside or when traveling without those luxuries.  I like to get my meditation in fairly early in the morning when my mind is not fully awake or engaged yet.  That helps me clear my mind and get into the right headspace, but again I consider that a luxury as well.  I do my meditations in multiples of three minutes, I found that is the perfect increment in which to upgrade or downgrade this activity.  So start by setting a timer for 3 minutes.  Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and start the timer.  If you have an itch, scratch it,  no need to suffer, these distractions will pass in time.  If you are uncomfortable, adjust, no one is judging you, but you.  Three minutes will go very fast and if you do this every day you will eventually be comfortable enough to do 6, 9, 12, 15, etc.  My standard is 15 minutes but in times of instability in my life, I increase this time up to 30 minutes when needed.  Don't be concerned with the benefits, or seeing results, just establish the routine.  Much like switching to a whitening toothpaste, results take time to be noticed, but they are happening.   The last thing I'll say about meditation is that I try to avoid thinking about the topics of the day and instead focus on how I want to feel today.  Focusing on tasks alone, makes me feel unnecessarily anxious for the rest of the day.  I will also down a glass of water to wake up my cells and I put in wireless headphones with some mediation music to block out the external noises.  Once mastered you can do this anywhere just to clear out your headspace and shake off some frustration that is affecting your mindset.  But like any tool, you first have to learn how and when to use it.      


The third phase of my routine is my morning cold water therapy.  There are a great many physical and mental health benefits from an ice bath and that is certainly not the focus of this post.  I will say google is your buddy on this one.  I started my cold plunge routine with a cold morning shower.  I started by blasting the cold water after my showers but I felt that the benefits were diminished by the initial overheating.  So I switched to stepping into a cold shower first, I immediately had flashbacks to the cold morning canteen showers in bootcamp.  Perhaps they actually knew what they were doing after all. Eventually I got lucky and found a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank on clearance because of a cracked rim.  I picked this up and began the morning plunge routine.  By far this is the best way that I have found for me.  I started this practice during the summer to establish my routine, but now it is the dead of winter and I have to break up the ice every morning just to get in it.  My times in the winter usually hover around 2 to 3 minutes but I can do much longer if I want to.  Two minutes is my minimum but it didn't start out there.   It started out with just stepping in, dropping to the neck and getting right back out.  One thing that I do Is when I wake is put on my swim trunks. If I skip the tank I have to change out of my trunks and into work clothes, knowing that I skipped the tank, and that leaves me a little embarrassed, so mentally I try to avoid disappointing myself, and just do it.   After a while the need to challenge ones-self will set in and longer times can be achieved.  I think this desire to challenge yourself and do the hard stuff first is an unspoken mental benefit to this practice.    

I was on a float trip with some veteran friends on the Smith river in Montana and we were doing some holistic healing techniques each morning of the trip.  When the morning came to do the cold plunge I felt a strong urge to challenge myself.  Being that I am the only person in the group that does this routinely, I went in first with the sole intent of staying in until everyone else was done.  Granted there was no ice on the water, but it was still unreasonably cold.  I did of course accomplish this even though some of them caught onto what I was doing and tried to make it as hard on me as they could.  Because that's what friends do, hahaha.  In short, if you feel an challenge internally, go for it,  You might surprise yourself.



If you are considering cold water therapy then I would suggest that you talk this over with your doctor before beginning. For all the health benefits there could be some risks depending on your individual health situation.  Anther factor to consider is the act of getting warm again.  For many cultures these cold water plunges are coupled with a sauna session.  That is a great idea, although, not always available.  I myself have a hot tub that I can escape to after my plunge.  I don't always use it but it is always available.  A hot shower or a steamed up bathroom is also an affordable alternative.  If I am engaging in this activity in a forest lake or stream then I will make sure I have a camp fire and wool blanket ready to go for a warm up, after the dip.  As always, self preservation is always a good idea. The act of moving between hot and cold is reportedly beneficial to blood vessels by promoting elasticity and also increases your bodies ability to thermally regulate its temperature which give you a much wider temperature comfort zone.  


After my morning dip I will enjoy a hot breakfast and then head up to the office to begin my day.  I find that during the day when things get a bit overwhelming I often feel the need to climb back into that cold tank for a reset.  I believe that is my body and brain looking for that endorphin boost to improve my mood when frustrated.  In a lot of cases, since I am so familiar with the feeling and process, If I meditate on it for a couple minutes, I can also receive that mood stabilizing boost.      

In any case the big three of my routine are self reflection (journaling), meditation, and  cold water therapy. All of these together or separate are ancient practices that our ancestors used to maintain a healthy body, mind, and lifestyle.  These are the medicines of our forefathers that have slowly been marginalized, demonized, and  ridiculed by the pharmacological industry, therefore, being pushed to the very fringes of main stream health practices.   Fortunately Sports medicine has once again legitimized Ice therapy and it is finally making a healthy come back.   -þórr viki           



Saturday, January 28, 2023

Northwoods Kindred's Next Trip Around The Sun.

Heilsa Folks, Gothi Bodvarr here.  I just wanted to drop a new post and let you know that this blog, while neglected in favor of all the other online responsibilities,  is now back on the list of priorities for this next trip around the sun.  I want to come in here and say that there is no better time to go follow the Northwoods Kindred on all the platforms.  We have new content coming out daily across the web.  It is all original content and most in tune with the current events of the Asatru community at large.  We get a ton of questions daily and although we might not always answer them directly, they do lead us to produce content that removes the barrier of entry into the Asatru community for everyone that is interested in learning more.  


We have an exciting year planned with lots of new content, rituals, training and kinship in the works.  Just as we did with last year we will be producing high quality videos for each of our gatherings. We will be covering not only the seasonal and household rituals, but also the comradery and kinship that we all share.  In addition we will have a few crafts and other types of bonding events that are sure to foster kinship, and strengthen the kindred bonds and self reliance capabilities of your group.  


We will be doing a story time series just for the kids to help lighten the load on our heathen homeschool families. Our Discord community was discussing some of the issued with homeschooling their young heathens.  In response to this we have decided to produce a simple children story time, with a few other surprises.  While still in the planning phase, this will happen and your input would be valuable in putting this series together.   


In addition we will be introducing a series to enable new or aspiring kindred Gothar to be the best leadership that they can be for their respective kindreds.  In this series I will do the best that I can to mentor the new Gothar by showing resources, and duties of kindred leadership.  In addition to organizing gatherings, holding rituals for the seasons and life events, I will discuss less tangible skills like fostering community and meeting like minded heathens in your area.  Of course we will also go deep into the good and also the dark history of our path in America and abroad.   
 

Of course all of that is in addition to the already growing list of how-to vides on all things Asatru and Asatru kindred related. 


And if that wasn't enough we have also launched a new podcast covering some of the most misunderstood, or requested topics in Asatru by those that are new here.  We already have 5 episodes published so jump right in and get up to date on the conversation.  This allows us go deep into some of these topics for an hour or so without trying to condense every thing down to a couple minutes on a video.  Currently the podcast is only on YouTube, Spotify, and Anchor but I have more outlets in the works so stand by for that.  


I know that I have made quite a few claims in this post and we are moving forward with these and few that I am not ready to fully disclose yet.  It is going to be an exciting year for the Northwoods and everyone that wants to take this journey with us.  

Join our Discord for even more stimulating conversation in one of the only truly, open and inclusive Asatru online communities around.  Below is our link tree along with some useful free downloads and our amazon bookstore for all those hard to get resources.  þórr viki

Our Amazon affiliate store and book store https://amzn.to/3Q3y1hm

Linktree with all of NWK digital products  https://linktr.ee/northwoodskindred




Getting started in Asatru playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtFRJqdu0CbCoIrJsDCy9_9HO5Jg2NbA6

Our Amazon affiliate store and book store:  https://amzn.to/3Q3y1hm

Linktree with all of NWK digital products:  https://linktr.ee/northwoodskindred




Monday, April 25, 2022

Northwoods Kindred April 16th Gathering Report


Day before gathering finally arrived with a flurry of kinsmen ready to work hard and play even harder.  Sindri had actually arrived Thorsday to help Bodvarr and I with any last minute plans before the rest of our kin and our invited guests were to arrive.  Frejyasday dawned and with it came our tribe rolling in from as far away as Montana & the rest from Washington.  Stig and his friend Erik were the first to arrive and Stig's truck was laden with provisions for the weekend.



Anthony was up next followed closely by Leif & Aurie.  Nicodemus was the next to arrive along with our kids Egil & Sasha both of whom were picked up at school by Nic. Last but not least Vidarr arrived and we were finally all back together again.  

Once everyone got settled in and dropped their gear in their chosen spots they all got quickly to work preparing for gathering day.  Later in the afternoon Sindri began grilling a stack of bacon jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwiches while Anthony whipped up a tater tot casserole to accompany it.  



While the casserole was baking, Anthony ran back out to the Ve to continue it’s “Spring” cleaning and seasonal beautification.  Sindri tirelessly made sandwich after sandwich with Vidarr hanging out and keeping him company.  



After a very delicious dinner, which I had no part in, I wrangled up the kids and set them to the task of dyeing our Ostara eggs, and then I gave a brief instruction to Erik on how to make & sew a quest hood  for himself. 



While I was running around giving everyone jobs, Bodvarr was making a strawberry rhubarb crisp in his dutch oven for dessert.  While the crisp was baking we gathered the oathed members and began our monthly kindred meeting. 



Once that business was taken care of we all grabbed a warm bowl of steamy strawberry rhubarb goodness and sat down to study the Havamal with as many translations as we could find ( I think we had eight)  and really go in depth with the meanings of each stanza and our interpretations of it, thus ending day 1 of Ostara gathering weekend.



Day 2 began with gallons of fresh brewed coffee, 5 dozen eggs and a couple pounds of bacon and sausage links  Stig cooked up breakfast for everyone with a quick assist by Bodvarr to help cook the eggs on the blackstone and to keep them from running down the back of the grill and into the grease trap.  This lesson was learned at a previous gathering. 



After breakfast was over the guys went back outside to continue the cleanup of the Ve and to begin building up, repairing and decorating our ve fence now that the winter season was over.  I set the girls to preparing & decorating the Ostara offering basket with colored raw eggs and sharpies for the upcoming ritual.  



Soon after breakfast our final 3 guests arrived, they are a local heathen family looking to learn the ways and build their own kindred.  They reached out to Bodvarr and I through social media and after a first meet & greet at a coffee house, we put the vote to our kinsmen as to whether or not they would be invited to Ostara.   Of course we have the most generous kinsmen and they graciously agreed to share Ostara with folk they had not yet met and based solely on mine and  Bodvarr opinions.  Due to being all over social media from Facebook, to YouTube to TikTok among other platforms our kindred is not actively looking for new members although we are never opposed to meeting up for coffee cause you never know where or who the Norns might lead you too. 



Our guests came loaded with an assortment of yummy foods to add to the feast and after a quick introduction to the rest of the kindred and a quick tour of the land, the brothers jumped right in to help us return our beloved Ve back to her previous glory before the harsh winter had beat her down.



  As soon as all  the wood was stacked & chopped and lit on fire and the fence was built up strong again and decorated with evergreen, Sindri did a final rake on the ground before we all headed back to the house to prepare for Sigrblot, a ritual dedicated to Odin & to Victory.



After  brief instructions to our kin & our guests about the purpose of the procession, we all fell in line behind our Gothi as he led us out to the Ve.  

Once offerings were given to Odin and his blessings were shared among the folk, we began the ritual of personally decorating the colored Ostara eggs with runes.  Once everyone drew the runes on their eggs, we buried them in the Ve to plant the seeds of our hopes and desires for the coming year so that they may grow and blossom throughout the year.  Once the eggs were buried and we each threw a handful of dirt on them we got back into the circle to continue on with ritual.



  Sindi had other business than needed attending to and asked Bodvarr to bless his favorite blade so that he may gift it to Nicodemus in gratitude for services provided and in the hopes that it will serve him well in his new and upcoming travels.

 


Now that all the work had been finished Bodvarr closed out the Sigrblot and we all filed back inside the house to anxiously await our 2nd annual Ostara Quest.



This year's quest is currently in the editor and will be released soon but in the meantime….here is last year's (2021) Ostara Quest for you to enjoy. 



 While waiting for Bodvarr and I to tie up some last minute secret quest loose ends, Stig began making his lunch board for everyone to enjoy while waiting for the much anticipated Ostara Quest to begin .  Piled high was pepperoni, summer sausage, prosciutto, pepper jack cheese, smoked cheddar, goat cheese, spinach artichoke dip, green olives, habanero huckleberry jam, and assorted crackers.



I don’t want to go into much detail about the Quest and spoil it for you, all I can say is, it was a most epic Ostara Quest!  Here’s a few pictures for you to enjoy and to get your imagination going.  






Once the quest was won and the MVP of the Quest was announced and awarded the coveted 2022 Ostara Quest map, we all shared in the spoils on our way back to reality.  Now that we were all back in the house, we began setting up for a “build your own kabob” feast.  We had 3 different types of unseasoned beef cubes, another bowl with marinated beef, sriracha venison, cajun shrimp, meatballs, smoked sausage and veggies galore.  There were sweet peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, pineapple, mandarin oranges and that was just the food we put on sticks. 



 Also on the table was Mediterranean bean sprout salad, homemade canned baked beans, colored deviled Ostara eggs, cottage cheese, green grapes and farmhouse rolls.  Bodvarr fired up both the Weber & the Blackstone and while the gods' food was being cooked everyone else got busy building their kabobs and waiting for the grills to become available. 



Once that feeding frenzy was over we all got ready for our three rounds of Sumble to begin, both Vidarr and Leif generously brought mead that they had recently bottled, to offer in Sumble. 



Shortly after Sumble ended our guests took their leave as the gathering had come to a close, the rest of us on the other hand devoured the beautiful & delicious apple cupcakes with honeycomb candy for dessert made by Leif & Aurie and then we all finished off the night just being kin.





Happy Ostara,

Skogul Allensdatter 

Gydia of Northwoods Kindred



Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Northwoods Kindred March 19th Gathering Report


With the wet weather, mud and snow still on the ground in some places, we sadly postponed our Ostara gathering until April.  Once we made that decision we threw the word out to the kindred that we were now having a craft gathering.  Stig and his boy showed up Thorsday afternoon to get started on their quest baskets that they were unable to make last year with us.  Stig brought a bunch of ground venison and got right to work making burgers, or as he likes to call them "protein pucks".  We threw them on the blackstone along with a couple of diced onions.  As soon as we finished eating. Stig & Jackson began cutting the reeds for their quest baskets while I dyed a dozen or so reed strips so they could make their baskets unique and colorful.   


They got the bottoms started and a few rows weaved in and then we called it a night and would resume the craft in the morning.  After a quick & delicious breakfast scramble the guys got back to work on their baskets and began adding rows of pretty colors in fun patterns.  


Once the baskets were built we moved them out to the shop to build the straps that would complete their quest baskets. 


 Shortly after the baskets were finished Sindri showed up and began making lamb burgers for dinner. 



 Anthony, David, Kayla and Nicodemus soon followed, with Anthony bringing a bunch of sweet potatoes fries to bake while I whipped together a corn casserole (my sister Gondul's recipe) to complete the meal.  After a great dinner with even greater company, we all went to bed looking forward to gathering the next day. 

 
The next day breakfast was an amazing casserole of leftovers cooked in cast iron by Bodarr.  It was made with sautéed onions, protein pucks, ham, cheese, eggs, jalapenos and sweet potato fries and it was delish!

Leif & Aurie were only minutes from arriving so we held off breakfast until they got here.  After helping them bring in their stuff and with the greeting out of the way we all grabbed a plate.  After we all had our fill of breakfast we scattered to the four corners of the kitchen to prep for feast.  Sindri had brought 3 legs of lamb for the smoker and a lamb roast for the crockpot.  I quickly fired up the Trager while the lamb was being prepared and then got to work throwing together some scalloped potatoes and ham.  




Leif & Aurie brought homemade sugar cookies that were to be topped with fresh fruit.  They both began dicing up the fresh raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and Nicodemus jumped in to help them frost and decorate.  Also, filled to the brim in that gigantic bowl sitting in front of them was chocolate mushrooms that they brought for snacking.




After all the food was prepped, the oathed members of Northwoods all sat down for our kindred meeting.  We of course opened the meeting with a swearing of frith on the oath ring.


Once the meeting was over we all found projects to occupy us until it was time for ritual.    Leif & Anthony began cutting out their rune set from the branches of some trees.  


Once all the runes were cut and sanded to their liking they began penciling the runes on.


Stig was finally able to cut out and start grinding on his 1st knife.  He bought a chunk of steel called Thor Damascus  to make Bodvarr's HOG 4.5 knife design that he has with Tops Knives. 



 Jackson picked out his set of runes from a container of glass beads that we keep in the shop and he began painting on them with some red paint.


I of course spent my time running around, getting in peoples faces with the camera and  being a general nuisance so that I could record this for all of you ;)


Finally it was time to blot and honor the gods.  Today was all in honor of Heimdall the patron of Northwoods kindred, the teacher of  crafts and the creator of the race of man.  We all gathered for the procession with Anthony drumming us out to the Ve'.

Sasha opened the four corners by sounding the horn.


Bodvarr lead us in blot and gave out both the external & internal blessings to the folk.


Also given a blessing of mead was this beautiful new idol of Heimdall that was gifted to Bodvarr from Leif  for his upcoming birthday.



This blot was to be even more unique and special because we were giving heathen names to two of our kinsmen. David was given the name of  Vidarr and Leif because he was born already with a heathen name we just added on to it with Leif the longhorn.   Although we have also called him Leif the longbone.....the  longshanks,.....the tall.....and I am sure there will be many more added on to our good natured kinsmen.  Leif & Vidarr were both gifted with a kindred arm ring to commemorate the occasion.


After the naming ritual was done Bodvarr closed out the blot and we finished with a kindred group hug and a few quick pictures.


Once back in the house Stig began putting together a lunch board for us to snack on.  Piled high on the board was dried salami, prosciutto, smoked ham, Chinese BBQ pork with hot mustard,  munster and pepperjack cheese, a cheese ball covered in almonds, venison snack sticks, green olives stuffed with blue cheese, marinated mushrooms, hard boiled eggs and fresh pineapple chunks.  It was amazing to say the least.



After we devoured that mini feast of finger foods we spent the next few hours continuing our crafts and just enjoyed being together again. Many hours later we all gathered in the kitchen for feast so that Bodvarr could bless the food.


Before anyone dug in to the amazing food set before them, a god plate was fixed first with a cold IPA to wash down the meal.  


Unfortunately Anthony had a prior commitment that he needed to honor so he left early but we did manage to send him off with some lamb and cookies to enjoy. 
 


Once feast was over and the kitchen was cleaned up, we pulled out the deck of cards and got into a game of euchre.  About halfway through a game Egil came down and asked if we were still going to have sumble tonight as it was already pretty late in the evening.  Bodvarr gave Egil the decision on whether or not we would have it but Egil baulked at making that kind of a decision that would effect everyone, so instead Bodvarr flipped a coin to let the gods decide.  Heads we sumble and tails we don't.  Of course the gods would never turn down hornfuls of mead raised in their honor and listen to stories of gratitude for their existence in our lives.....so we sumbled. 



After sumble was closed and the ritual tools were taken care of, Leif & Aurie pulled out their sugar cookies for dessert.  



Last but not least, Bodvarr read Sasha's runes as she had pulled out Fehu.


  After the rune reading which made total sense to Sasha and left the rest of us in the dark, Bodvarr, Sindri, Stig and I resumed our card game to close out the evening on another successful gathering of Northwoods Kindred.  


In Frith,
Skogul Allensdatter
Gydia of Northwoods Kindred


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