To be grateful...

I find Thanksgiving to be a beautiful tradition, especially the idea of looking back and reviewing what we have to give thanks for.

I do have many thanks to give. My wonderful big and loud family, my home, a beautiful 115-year-old house in the oldest part of Hafnarfjörður where I live, all the great and crazy friends I have and finally my good health. As I get older, my health has become increasingly important to me. Your health can really stop you in your tracks if you don’t take care of yourself.

In October I made the decision to start training for a challenge called Landvættir (translates to Guardians of the Land). A race which you have to finish within 12 months to earn the honorable title of a Guardian. 

It starts in May and every sport is in a different part of Iceland. First there is a 50 km of cross-country skiing in the Western fjords, then a 60 km mountain bike race in the Southwest (the Reykjanes peninsula) in June, a 2,5 km swim in a cold lake called Urridavatn in the East in July and in august the last race is a 33 km off road mountain run in the North of Iceland.

I have started the training and it means that I have to do some outdoor movement at least 6 days a week and my body is really feeling it, in a good way. It just means that I've been moving more than I'm used to and I'm grateful for the feeling that I have a healthy and strong body. And of course the best thing for the stiff body is a long warm bath after a scrub of Mjúk Body Scrub, which is full of Epsom salts, almond oil and frankincense essential oil and of course a lot of our wonderful herb extracts.

I saw the following shared  on Facebook and thought it was quite fitting.

Be grateful for…

1. Early wake ups = Children to love

2. House to clean = Safe place to live

3. Laundry = Clothes to wear

4. Dirty dishes = Food to eat

5. Crumbs under the table = Family meals

6. Shopping to do = Money to use

7. Toilets to clean = Indoor pluming

8. Lots of noise = People in my life

9. Endless questions about homework = kid´s brains growing

10. Sore and tired to bed = I´m still alive

I am happy to say that I have all this to be grateful for.

With love

Sóley

xxx

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The story from around 1916, describes the healing methods of my great-great grandmother Thorunn Gisladottir that was a midwife and a herbalist. She was called Grasa-Thorunn, which translates to Herbal-Thorunn. Understanding the harsh realities of that time makes us thankful of modern medicine, but the family's healing balm recipe, still remains a powerful healer to this day in the form of Græðir.

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