Wood Board Love with Jules Davis

Last week I was invited over to Jules Blaine Davis' house for a healing session. Jules and I have run into each other several times over the past few years but had never had a chance to connect. In a nutshell, she is a kitchen healer.  I had been feeling undernourished since November. I don't know if it was the election, my friend passing away from cancer, so much death last year and just trying to put one foot in front of the other. I was exercising and trying to practice self-care but I was ultimately feeling depleted. Even though I was caring for myself physically, emotionally I wasn't shutting off the 24/7 access into my mind. Everyone's opinions, my own nagging voice, impatience with my girls and husband. I felt a gnawing in my stomach and no food sounded good. As mothers we give so much care to our little ones. The energy output is great but we take no time to restore through sleep, meditation, and just slowing down to notice. Notice where our attention has wandered off to. Where are we half of the time in our minds? This has been a pursuit of mine since I started studying yoga and meditation over ten years ago. How can we be mindful for a while but then all of a sudden we are off the rails? For me, taking care of my girls in some ways does nourish me but it isn't a nourishing substitute for actually making the time for myself. Anyway, ramble. I mentioned some of these thoughts to Jules when I saw her and we made a plan for the new year.

I won't go into detail with what we explored together but I loved her offering to me and I felt that I received some spontaneous answers. Kind of like standing in the shower thinking and then having the A-ha moment. My favorite thing she offers is what she calls Wood Board Love which is such a wonderful way to gather your own family around the table at home. This is what she has to say about it:

wood board love is a conversation with our nourishment, it gives choices for us and our kids to tune into what our bodies need today at this moment. it's also freedom. it's getting ahead of it. sating everyone's hunger. alleviating your stress so that you can be free to enjoy together, create the next meal, take a shower, make a tea, breathe. it's an offering of the simple beauty of food. don't ask if they are hungry. we are all hungry. put out a wood board love and watch it disappear. 

I had already been doing this unconsciously using some bunny boards that we have at home but Jules inspired me to treat it a little differently. Now I have the girls make them. It is their way to draw me and each other in and sit around the table for a conversation. So lovely!

I feel so lucky to have experience her strong cup of milk tea and wood board love first hand (which she has available for Valentine's Day). I had a hard time wanting to leave. 

To learn more about Jules, visit her website here or listen to her heart warming Ted talk here. Thank you for being in service to all of our amazing bodies!