🌲 December feels like the 401

December in Toronto feels a bit like the 401 at rush hour. Everyone inching forward. Pressure as fuel. Capacity as fumes.

Whether you’re in the final sprint to finish strong, or just trying to make it to the end of the year without burning out, and you want to create something special for the people you love.

It’s not about being right or wrong. All this activity just adds up to a lot of traffic.
🚗🚙🚚🛻🚛🚓

And yet outside our windows, the evergreen trees stand strong and steady.
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Even though they stay green through winter, evergreens rest with their deciduous buddies. They look like they’re thriving, but they’re actually not “on”.

Their internal rhythms are slowing down, conserving energy, protecting their resources, and doing the deep invisible work that helps them survive the season.

Funny how we humans light them up during this season. And I wonder if the trees watch us rushing around. Anticipating the traffic jam pileup. Puzzled why we tire ourselves out before we even get to where we’re going.

🌲 I often find myself envying the trees.

I wish we lived in a society that invited humans to rest like the trees. Maybe we’d have roads and highways that moved smoothly. There’d definitely be less road rage.

A culture where we share a collective safety agreement to slow down with the season. To trust the rhythm of life instead of trying to control or outrun it. To honour our needs, our nature, our nervous systems. We would be an enchanted forest!

This Sunday is a small version of that culture. A quiet pocket of peace during this hectic time of year.

A much needed break from the hustle bustle, to regulate your nervous system while in community, and you’ll walk away with tools for showing up vibrantly for the holidays. Like a solid evergreen with lights on! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Cellist Rosy Zhang will play a soundtrack of soothing classics. You will move, breathe, hum, listen, soften, and remember how to hold and be held in community. This is the best kind of rest. Productive, practical, imperfect, and present.

🎟️ Join us - Come as you are, we’ll take care of the rest.
✨ Soul Care Sunday: Pause the Pace, Quiet the Noise
🗓️ Sunday December 7, 10:30am-12pm
🎶 Cello & piano by Rosy Zhang
📍 Society Clubhouse at 967 College St, Toronto

🚪 She shared something I can’t stop thinking about and now seeing everywhere.

At Soul Care Sunday in November, one of our community members Anette shared the Japanese word 間 (ma). Meaning the space between sounds or the pause between actions.

From her newly released, debut book ENSŌ, A Tree Still Grows: How to deepen your roots to find calm, Anette writes about stillness as seasonal intelligence. “It’s a tree listening to warmth before reaching for light.”

I love that for us.

😍 Karen

P.S. Most people find out about Soul Care Sunday through a trusted friend. If you know someone who would thrive from this unplugged communal experience, your invitation might be exactly what they need.

P.P.S. We want to share Soul Care with as many people as possible. If you’d like to bring it to your community, work place, or event, please reach out to me.

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