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In the cooler winter months, we may find ourselves intuitively drawn to the warming and nourishing benefits of a mug of ceremonial cacao. The sacred pause Winter offers with shorter days and our focus naturally turned a little more inward, is the perfect time to intentionally weave more self-care into our day-to-day lives.
Prioritising tending and caring for ourselves at this time, when immune systems can be vulnerable and energy levels low, is necessary to ensure overall health and wellbeing. Plus it improves our resilience to meet all the demands that life offers.
The benefits of cacao for managing stress and promoting relaxation are well documented, so coupling it with sublime self-care practices is not only a beautiful union, but a supportive one too.
We trust that tapping into the spirit of Cacao and her nurturing qualities with the self-care practices shared below will serve you to receive deep soul nourishment over the winter days to come.
Here are seven simple self-care practices that you can enjoy in the winter months with a nourishing cacao.
As a practice, self-inquiry reflection is a great way to receive clarity on a situation and learn more about ourselves. Combining journaling with cacao allows us to access deeper parts of self and draw from our intuition.
The flavonoids and theobromine found in cacao are linked to improved cognitive function and mood regulation. So, these compounds can help create a more conducive environment for journaling - enhancing mental clarity, reducing stress, and promoting emotional well-being. We really love the deeper self-reflection, and self-awareness, that comes through our journaling while on cacao. And with this comes greater healing and personal growth!
Cultivating peace, harmony and balance within the busyness of day-to-day life is critical for our overall health and vitality, and meditation is a practise that supports us to consistently find the calm amidst the chaos.
With roots dating back some 5000 years, meditation comes in many forms. Some use sound, mantra or the breath, others focus on visualisation or philosophy as the focal point. There’s so much research that indicates having a committed meditation practise has a very beneficial stress relieving effect.
We know already about the positive effects that the compounds found in cacao like flavonoids and theobromine have on cognitive function and enhanced focus. In addition to this, cacao's impact on neurotransmitters like mood-enhancing serotonin can promote feelings of well-being, fostering a sense of calm, creating an ideal state for meditation.
So combining your preferred meditation practise with ceremonial cacao (with its chemical cocktail of goodness + natural ability to bring more focus, thank you!) will undoubtedly deepen the experience and enhance the benefits.
Like meditation, breathwork is an ancient practice spanning many cultures and which comes in many varieties. The common theme is bringing focused attention to the movement of the breath in the body, bringing with it a shift in consciousness and a change to our state of being. There can be a host of different benefits depending on the breath technique used. Generally, breathwork improves respiratory function and circulation. Cacao contains antioxidants that support cardiovascular health, so together, they bring complementary physical benefits.
We have found that uniting the heart activating and contemplative properties of ceremonial cacao with intentional breath practice offers space for a powerfully transformative and healing experience, which can facilitate a deeper state of connection and self-awareness.
Self-care is self-love in action - so in essence all acts of caring for ourselves are acts of love. However, if our heart is armoured or blocked from past hurts and trauma, we may actually struggle to tend, care and love ourselves the way we deserve and desire. This is where the heart awakening quality of cacao once again shows its potent value. Allowing the heart to melt and blossom open, ceremonial cacao assists us to access the depth of love that resides within - and for that love to then overflow into our own being through self-care.
You can access our beautiful Self-love Heart Chakra Meditation Ritual here.
Submerging in a bath of beautifully warm water infused with relaxing essential oils and rose petals is in itself a deeply nourishing self-care practice. Adding the calming qualities of a mug of ceremonial cacao to your bath ritual will have you melting into a deep state of inner peace and restoration.
This unique style of yoga truly is medicine for modern life! It focuses primarily on down regulation of the nervous system, and couples the use of supportive props and deeply restful shapes to bring the student into a state of parasympathetic - or rest and digest – dominance.
Cacao’s unique ability to open the heart whilst calming the nervous system makes this union a blissful, calming, transformative and healing one.
Spending time basking in the nourishment that nature offers our whole being is a simple yet deeply profound practise of self-care. It may be going on a hike or a gentle meandering walk, resting on the earth, or even bringing your meditation or breath practise outside. Adding cacao to the mix will only enhance the benefits that time outdoors has on our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Some other beautiful matches to nurture yourself might be combining ceremonial cacao with sound healing, dream work, visualisation practises, oracle cards, drum journeys, chanting or creative endeavours like sculpting or painting etc.
Cacao really is the perfect accompaniment to any self-care practice - nurturing not only your mind and body, but also your spirit on a profound level!
We hope these self-care offerings help reframe old narratives that self-care is selfish and highlight instead that self-care is a necessity, especially in the depths of winter. For truly, the more we give to our Self, the more we shall have to give others!
We'd love to hear what your favourite cacao and self-care rituals are, so do let us know in the comments below!
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