Queen Anne News 1-4-2023

Queen Anne &Magnolia

TOP STORIES OF 2022

Construction and future plans dominate local headlines

By Jessica Keller | QA & Magnolia News editor

While 2022 was an eventful year for everyone, with much of the world continuing to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the fallout from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot continuing, Russia invading Ukraine and in ation dominating headlines nationally, e Queen Anne, Magnolia and Interbay neighborhoods each had their own excitement, however, with the top three stories coming from the 21Boston site construction beginning in Queen Anne, the fallout for Magnolia in the City Council redistricting process; and continuation of the Seattle Storm practice facility in Interbay.

Queen Anne &Magnolia ne Queen An olia

21Boston/Queen Anne Safeway

After ts and starts over many years, a signi cant construction project began on Queen Anne. e long-

SEE YEAR, PAGE 2

Photo courtesy Mark Spitzer

e 157-foot crane named Calvin does the heavy lifting at the 21Boston construction site in Upper Queen Anne. When complete the site will feature a new 50,000-square-foot Safeway store and more than 300 apartments and condos built above. e construction project beginning was one of the top stories for the local neighborhood in 2022.

Contemporary dance studio opening in former Queen Anne church

By Jessica Keller QA & Magnolia News editor

With 2023 less than a week in, things are already shaping up to be an exciting year for Whim W’Him, a contemporary dance studio in Seattle.

After years of renting spaces for administrative o ces and practices throughout Seattle, a generous $3.5 million donation from a longtime supporter has allowed Whim

W’him Seattle Contemporary Dance to purchase its own building, at 1715 Second Ave. N., in Queen Anne.

“It really provides a solid foundation for the future of the company,” Olivier Wevers, artistic director, said. e building, which was previously All Saints Church, is approximately 14,000 square feet and was sold to the dance company by the church’s pastor, who converted services to online during the pandemic and is moving to Arizona.

Wevers said the sale closed Dec. 15 and he received the keys to the building Dec. 20. While sta have

begun moving boxes in, before Whim W’Him o cially opens for business, the rest of the building will be renovated and converted into dance space thanks to nancial support by the Jolene McCaw Family Foundation.

“I’m hoping it’s going to be fast because we’re not a big corporation, so sitting on a property like this for a long time is expensive,” he said, adding if all goes well, the building will open in spring or summer of this year.

When renovations are complete, Whim W’Him will have two dance studios, a larger one that is 50 by 40 feet, and a smaller one half that size upstairs. e rest of the space will be used for administrative o ces, a conference room, a lounge and

workspace.

Wevers said the building will be an asset and help sustain the company, currently in its 13th season. Opening its own dance space is not only good news after the last few years have been so di cult for arts organizations, especially smaller companies, it will also allow the company to introduce contemporary dance to the broader community.

“What I’m really excited about is creating a sense of community by having our own space and sharing what we’ll do,” Wevers said.

Wevers added that often when many people think of dance, they think of ballet, and contemporary dance companies get overshadowed

SEE DANCE , PAGE 3

Photo courtesy Olivier Wevers

Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance executive manager Melody O’Neill, left, and artistic director Olivier Wevers help move boxes into the dance company’s new location. With a signi cant contribution from a longtime donor and a grant, the company purchased a former church in Queen Anne.

Queen Anne & Magnolia Worship Services

Sunday Worship at 10am Live Streamed on our Facebook page and YouTube. Simply look for Magnolia Lutheran Church.

Twelfth Church of Christ, Scientist

In Person and Online Church Services

All are welcome & warmly invited to join these healing services

For best audio results, please join by clicking on the link from your computer or smartphone and choose “Call Over Internet”

All Zoom Services Meeting ID: 418 806 2637

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4188062637

Sunday Services 11:00am – 12noon Pacific

Wednesday Testimonies 7:30pm – 8:30pm Pacific

Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons

Our weekly Bible Lesson Sermon may be found here: https://quarterly.christianscience.com/

Additional Healing Resources: ChristianScience.com CSWashington.com SeattleMetroReadingRoom.org

For additional assistance, please contact us at seattle12cs@gmail.com or 206.283.2300

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For a Healthier You

CHIROPRACTORS

Courtesy of ZGF Architects and Shive Hattery Architects is rendering shows what the outside of the Seattle Storm state-of-the-art practice facility in Interbay could look like when complete. Progress on the practice facility was one of the top stories in the local neighborhoods in 2022.

YEAR , FROM PAGE 1

anticipated 21Boston project, which will feature a new 50,000-square-foot Safeway store and more than 300 apartments and condos built above when nished, began this past spring with utility upgrades followed by the demolition of the former Safeway building.

Replacing the Safeway and creating additional housing units in Queen Anne has actually been in the works for some time, with changes in plans and developers rst delaying the project that was initially slated to begin in 2019 – the rst time. Construction was then pushed o until June 2021 but a combination of factors a ected the project, including gaining clearance to le the permits, COVID-19 changing the city’s permitting operations, as well as delaying them, breaks in the supply chain and in ation driving up the cost of materials.

en a union strike that lasted more than four months delayed things further, as the 21Boston and construction projects throughout the state could not receive deliveries of concrete. Another consequence of the strike was Seattle Light was short sta ed and they had to put work orders on hold for the duration of the strike.

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the two communities. ose arguments appeared to sway committee members – at rst.

After further map proposals indicated keeping Magnolia and Queen Anne together would create signi cant divisions in other neighborhoods, the committee changed course and ended up approving a plan that kept Magnolia whole but placed the entire neighborhood and a small piece of Interbay in District 6.

With the redistricting of the council districts, voters in Queen Anne, Interbay and Magnolia, as well as the rest of Seattle, will vote for council representatives to re ect the new council districts, which means that all but the at-large council seats will be up for grabs.

Seattle Storm practice facility

e Seattle Storm WNBA basketball team continued with plans for construction of a state-of-the-art practice facility in Interbay this year, with the project in good shape to begin this spring. e Storm rst announced the project in October of 2021, and this past March, Force 10 Facilities, LLC (F10F), submitted a Master Use Permit application for the facility.

Currently, the four-time WNBA champions do not have their own practice facility; instead the team practices at Seattle Paci c University and can only use the gymnasium at certain times.

When nished, the approximately 50,000-squarefoot parcel at 1616 W. Bertona St., in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood will include two side-by-side basketball courts, the “Storm Team Center” with locker rooms, a lounge and a nutrition center for the players, strength and conditioning training spaces. e facility will include room for diagnostics and physical therapy, as well as the franchise’s business o ces.

Darrell Gibson, D.C. • Sarah Gibson, D.C. Graeme Gibson, D.C.

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SERVING THE FAMILIES OF QUEEN ANN E SINCE 1991 1905 Queen Anne Ave N • 206.282.8275 www.QueenAnneChiro.com

Project principle Maria Barrientos, barrientosRYAN LLC, has been involved for about three years and said earlier this year she was relieved to start the project. e old Safeway closed for good in late spring, and demolition of the building began in June. Residents have regularly paused along the fence next to the former Safeway site in upper Queen Anne to watch the progress of construction but even more so when a 157-foot crane with a 267-foot jib was brought to the site to do the heavy lifting. In November, the Queen Anne & Magnolia News, Queen Anne Farmers Market and developer BarrientosRyan partnered together and invited the community to vote for a name to bestow upon the crane. After all the votes were counted, residents had ultimately chosen to name the crane Calvin, after a beloved mailman who retired at the end of the December. e crane will stay up through 2023, with the project slated to be nished in 2024. People who want to follow the progress of the construction, as well as updates, can go to www.21boston. com or read local resident Mark Spitzer’s blog, https:// markspitzerdesigns.wordpress.com/2022/12/27/21boston-09-winter/.

Magnolia redistricting

STAFF

Editor: Jessica Keller, 206-461-1300, ext. 3

Subscriber Services | Circulation: Christina Hill, 206-461-1300

A major story this past year was the City Council redistricting process and what it meant for Magnolia. Charged with redrawing City Council district boundaries based on updated census data, a redistricting committee made signi cant changes to District 7, which up until now included Queen Anne, Magnolia and Interbay and is represented by Councilman Andrew Lewis. Because District 7, and especially the Uptown district, grew the most, boundary adjustments had to be made to re ect that growth and redistribute populations in council districts more equitably.

Early on, the redistricting committee members seemed to support map boundaries that would have split Magnolia into two, putting one chunk into District 6, which includes Ballard, and keeping the rest in District 7, with Queen Anne. Local opponents disagreed with those boundary changes because they would have divided Magnolia’s business district in the village, as well as separated a chunk of Magnolia from Queen Anne, a pairing that has existed for years and has allowed for joint advocacy work re ecting the similarities between

“All the things a professional player would need, we’re going to build those into these courts so that our players will be able to measure pretty much anything they want and need to understand how to make them better,” Lisa Brummel, one of the Storm’s co-owners told the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce in July.

When not in use by the Storm players and sta , the facility will be used to host camps and clinics. As well, the parking lot, which will primarily serve players and sta , will also include room for three-on-three basketball.

Construction is expected to begin this spring and nish by April 2024, before the Storm season begins.

Currently, 85 percent of all project team members across all disciplines are women. e women-led project team includes owner’s representative barrientosRYAN  LLC, a design team led by ZGF Architects and ShiveHattery Architects, general contractor Sellen Construction and landscape architect Walker Macy. Additional project partners include Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Holmes, Prime Electric, PAE, Apollo Mechanical, Counterbalance Consulting, PanGeo, Counsilman-Hunsaker, Bargreen Ellingson, He ron Transportation, RDH, Studio Paci ca and BRC Acoustics.

Maria Barrientos, owner’s representative, and team owners have met with local community organizations multiple times through the year, with an idea to have the Storm facility have a bigger role in Interbay by declaring the neighborhood Storm country.

For more information on the project, visit https:// www.sellen.com/storm.

by organizations such as Paci c Northwest Ballet.

“I think it’s a culture of this country to think that ballet is more elevated than contemporary dance,” Wevers said.

Because smaller dance companies don’t have the larger fan or nancial base as larger ones, they infrequently have their own dance spaces, let alone a “state-of-the-art dance space,” Wevers said.

“It is an incredible feat for any mid-size dance company to own our own space, quite a rarity in this country, and especially at this time with the cost of real estate in Seattle,” Wevers said.

Having a central facility will make it easier for the company’s professional dancers, he said. It will also allow the company to expand its o erings, including workshops and opening a small school with classes taught by the

Whim W’Him dancers.

“We plan on creating classes that don’t exist in Seattle yet,” Wevers said.

He said, for example, one class could have an African focus taught by a dancer with that skill set.

“But we also want to listen to the community and what they want,” Wevers said. “We don’t want to make it a professional school.”

at comes back to the dance company’s primary mission for its school.

“It’s really making contemporary dance accessible and making it accessible for everyone to participate in and enjoy the element of dance,” Wevers said.

He said his dream is for the dance company to have its very own studios and for them to be used and enjoyed by all dancers.

“ at’s what we really want to create for the community, is for people to come in at any time and to just dance and participate,” Wevers said.

In addition to starting a small school o ering dance classes, Wevers said plans include subsidizing space for artists to come in and use the facilities and create opportunities for BIPC dancers to access the classes, studios, school programs and workshops, Wevers said.

He said every day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the second dance studio will be open for the community members, and after the dance company dancers are done for the day, both will be open.

“We’re really inviting people into our space and showing them what

we do,” he said.

According to its website, Whim W’Him was founded in 2009 and is an award-winning Seattle-based contemporary dance company that showcases innovative dance in collaboration with global artists. e dance studio employs seven professional dancers who receive full bene ts and presents about 30 performances a year, with pop-up free performances during the summer throughout the city. Visit whimwhim.org for more information about Whim W’Him Seattle Dance Company.

DANCE , FROM PAGE 1

“It is an incredible feat for any mid-size dance company to own our own space, quite a rarity in this country, and especially at this time with the cost of real estate in Seattle.”

— Olivier Wevers Whim W’Him Seattle Contemporary Dance artistic director

Graphic courtesy Olivier Wevers is

rendering shows what the Whim

W’Him Seattle

Contem-

porary

Dance large studio area will look like when construction is complete at the dance company’s new location in Queen

Anne.

Curious about which books Seattle’s insatiable readers turned to in 2022? Need a little inspiration for that 2023 book list?

The most popular fiction book checked out from The Seattle Public Library from January through November 2022 was “The Sentence,” by Louise Erdrich. It’s a novel about a Minneapolis bookstore haunting and much more set in 2020, a “year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.” The most checked out e-novel was “The House of Broken Angels,” by renowned Mexican-American

ADD OATS TO ANY MEAL

Courtesy Metro Creative Connection

A typical pantry contains a host of staples, including oatmeal. Oats long have been portrayed as simple comfort food that can feed a crowd for less. But there’s nothing simple about the recipes that can be created when oats are in the mix.

Oats are packed with nutrition, and even in their various forms sold at the store, such as rolled or steel cut, they are minimally processed and almost always in whole grain form. Oats are notable for their ability to lower bad cholesterol and control blood pressure. They contain beta-glucan, which

is a soluble fiber not found in most other grains. It has been shown to suppress appetite and help promote gut health. In addition, oats have antiinflammatory and anti-itching properties, which explains why oatmeal baths are popular for various skin conditions.

But oats are perhaps best utilized in the kitchen, as this assortment of uses for oatmeal in favorite dishes can attest.

Oat flour power: Replace wheat flour with oat flour to deliver feelings of fullness with fewer calories. Ground oats or oat flour also can be used to thicken soups, stews and dips.

Meatloaf magic: When making meatloaf or meatballs, use oats as an alternative to bread crumbs for binding ground meats.

Oatmeal latte: By cooking oatmeal with milk, thinning out the finished product with more milk, and adding sugar and spices, anyone can whip up a tasty beverage that seems tailor-made for the coffee house.

Overnight oats: Oats, when combined with lowfat yogurt, fruit or other add-ins, and left overnight to meld, produce a thick and filling breakfast food that is the best mix of oatmeal and smoothie. Oat-corn casserole: Oats can be mixed with cream-style corn, butter and milk to form the base of a side dish casserole. Grated cheddar or pepper jack makes this an ooey-gooey comfort dish.

To start your oatmeal recipe journey, try this recipe for “Cardamom and Orange Overnight Oats,” courtesy of Oldways Whole Grains Council.

Cardamom and Orange Overnight Oats

Serves 2

• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 1 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk fortified with vitamin B-12

• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon orange zest

• ¼ teaspoon cardamom

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds for garnish

• Orange slices for garnish

1. In a mason jar, mix yogurt, oats, milk, chia seeds, maple syrup, orange zest, cardamom, and cinnamon. Place the lid on the mason jar and shake.

2. Leave in the fridge overnight.

3. Top with pumpkin seeds and orange slices or other fruit.

author Luis Alberto Urrea, the selection for the Library’s 2022 Seattle Reads program. Seattle’s community of e-audiobook listeners checked out “Braiding Sweetgrass,” read by author Robin Wall Kimmerer, more than any other e-audiobook.

Several books by Northwest authors also ranked high in popularity in 2022, including “Secret Seattle,” by Library staff member Susanna Ryan; “Red Paint,” by Coast Salish author Sasha LaPointe; The Final Case, by David Guterson; and “Grains for every Season,” by Oregon chef Joshua McFadden (with Martha Holmberg).

Here are the other most popular fiction and nonfiction books, e-books and e-audiobooks among Library patrons last year. Please note that these lists were compiled from anonymous checkout data collected from Jan. 1 through Nov. 30, 2022.

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT FICTION PHYSICAL BOOKS

The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich

The Maid, by Nita Prose Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel

The Final Case, by David Guterson

The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka Book Lovers, by Emily Henry

One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle

This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub

Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

The Candy House, by Jennifer Egan

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT FICTION E-BOOKS

The House of Broken Angels, by Luis Alberto Urrea

Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr

The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave

Apples Never Fall, by Liane Moriarty

The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles

Anxious People, by Fredrik Bachman

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by Victoria Schwab

The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah

The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT NONFICTION PHYSICAL BOOKS

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping

Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown

The Weekday Vegetarians, by Jenny Rosenstrach

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, by Arthur C. Brooks

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention--and How to Think

Deeply Again, by Johann Hari

Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris

Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Offbeat and Overlooked History, by Susanna Ryan

Korean American: Food that Tastes Like Home, by Eric Kim

Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner

Grains for every Season: Rethinking our Way with Grains, by Joshua McFadden, with Martha Holmberg

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobi-

ography of a Coast Salish Punk, by Sasha LaPointe

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT NONFICTION EBOOKS

Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, by Lori Gottlieb

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown

Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah

Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear

I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jeanette McCurdy

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessell A. Van Der Kolk

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis

MORE INFORMATION

Statistical summaries of the Library’s collections and circulation for the full year will be posted in the 2022 Impact Report in early 2023 at spl.org/impact.

Photo by Metro Creative Connection

Connection in my grocery bag

This is the first time in nearly a month that I’ve sat to write anything but a list. One in the kitchen that had to remember to find its way into my bag before I left the house, and one that was never allowed to leave my bag in the first place. I never keep lists on my phone. God forbid, I should lose my phone.

I don’t understand why lists comfort me the way they do psychologically. But if I should misplace one in December, my language can turn a little more Christina Applegate in “Dead to Me” than I like.

I began the month by telling myself that I was too busy to entertain, that it’s too time-consuming and expensive. But by Dec. 3, the scent of basil and garlic filled my home. I’m no great cook; it’s not Renee Erickson’s kitchen over here, believe me. People don’t come to my table to ooh and aah over the food. They ooh and aah over the fact that I have made the food. And so do I.

I think what happens is once the lights are strung, the golden hue that says, “It’s December, have some fun, your desk will still be there in January,” that the best part of the season really does come to light: laughing and eating with people I enjoy.

I started my shift-of-attitude by pre-washing the hand-painted plates from Italy that I found at an estate sale on a day when I was feeling unsettled and homesick because we’d moved to a new neighborhood. Oddly, standing in front of a departed woman’s dishes, I came to life. Those dishes put images in my head of a housewarming party happening clearly in my new home, of saying goodbye to wistfulness and hello to more friends and less lostness. I slid my arm around my husband’s back and said, “We are buying these dishes.” And he, being him, said, “We don’t need more dishes, do we?” and so I looked at him with my I mean it stare, and he bent over to pick up the box.

Needless to say, there were a lot of trips to the market in December.

On one, I stood in line behind a woman wearing six-inch heels. I can’t say that I’ve ever known what it’s like to be that elevated, but it stirred a strong memory: my mother in her black suede kitten heel slingbacks clicking up and down the aisles of the Stop & Shop, click, click, click, a look of mastery coming over her whenever she shopped for food. The sound slid over me like a silk dress in a place warm enough to wear it, reminding me our bodies are stewards of muscle memory. They hold their own stories.

On another, after leaving the store, I needed to repack the weight of my bag. Watching me from the next table was a family from India: a young man who spoke English with a Mumbaiker accent that was, to my ears, nothing short of melodious. His father also spoke English but not as well, and his mother and grandmother (each line etched deep) didn’t speak English at

all. I gathered the three older adults were visiting their successful Amazonemployed son/grandson. The men talked about “the Dow being down three points,” or maybe they said 300. I have never understood a thing about what this means. But the women kept smiling and nodding at me.

A smile and a nod mean the same thing everywhere in the world.

No longer able to contain themselves, they rushed over to help me, or, not to help, really, but to inspect my food. Who was it that said they were old enough to be “In the years of unselfconsciousness?” Both wore colorful saris under their coats. So few women bother to wear anything but leggings nowadays, so the saris touched me, gave me a lift. As did the older woman who admired my heirloom tomato, reaching into my bag to pull out another. Openly, food is what the women knew, what they could relate to. Most people are usually too reserved or cellphone-distracted to give into childlike curiosity about the world around us. It’s moving when you get to see someone be so present and interested and human.

If there is one thing I know about, it’s the magnitude of culture. If the women are here to stay, it might take years for them to find even a shard of a real sense of belonging. For people relocating, it’s a grueling task of what to give up and what to keep.

But we always keep our food. Food is culture.

I have no proof of any of this of course, other than I know longing for connection when I see it. And I know two women in search of something they are not exactly sure of, I know this, too.

By appreciating my food, the women were looking for so much more, a feeling of belonging to a country and its people and the foods we eat. I wanted to talk to them, too, and I did, the son translating my questions (I was right about Mumbai/Amazon/their son/ their visiting), but when he asked, “Do you have children?” and I said “no,” they all looked so sad for me.

They do, always.

And it’s hard to say, “no, wait, I chose my life” to people from such a customary background. So I excused myself, wished them well. I still had to walk home and make dinner. A friend was coming over.

She wore a gray sweater. And leggings.

Mary Lou Sanelli, author, speaker and master dance teacher, is the author of Every Little Thing, a collection of essays that was nominated for a Pacific Northwest Book Award and a 2022 Washington State Book Award. Her first novel, The Star Struck Dance Studio of Yucca Springs, was released in 2020, and her first children’s book, Bella Likes To Try, was recently released. For more information about her and her work, visit www. marylousanelli.com.

Mary Lou Sanelli Falling Awake

ODE TO THE MOON — HEALING IN DARKNESS

“You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will nd that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.”

— Annie Dillard

Seattle’s winter bathes

us in nearly 16 hours of darkness and eight hours of light daily. During this time, the moon and stars reign. From a Chinese medicine perspective, winter is the season of yin energy, embodied in all things uid, feminine, cooling, heavy, moist, dark, deep and still. It is a time for introspection with a focus on self-care, healing and wellness.

As creatures of the earth, darkness nourishes us as much as does light. We need both. It is impossible for one to exist without the other, as how would we recognize the light of the stars without the night sky for sweet contrast?

ere are myriad ways to embrace introspection and wellness during the cold, dark winter, so as to warm and nourish the body and the spirit.  Warm foot baths, selfabhyanga, moon-gazing and warm yoga, when practiced with presence, are forms of healing meditation all on their own.

Warm foot baths. Chinese medicine advocates that maintaining warm feet in the winter greatly supports health, particularly if your feet are chronically colder than the

rest of you. Don wool socks, pull on cozy boots and slippers and consider warm foot baths. Not only are foot baths delectable, but they preferentially direct heat to and improve circulation of the lower extremities, also. e practice calms the mind, preparing you to relax into a deep, nourishing slumber. Furthermore, Chinese medical theory links chronically cold feet with poor digestion as well as deeply rooted fears and anxieties. Regularly nourishing your cold feet with warm baths often yields positive shifts in digestive health. e practice can also play a role in easing fears, fostering the courage needed to deal with them.

Self-Abhyanga. Abhyanga refers to an oil massage infused with healing herbs. It is a modality rooted in Ayurveda (the traditional healing system of India). In Northwest winters I prefer to use Vata oil from Banyan Botanicals as it is gently warming, deeply moisturizing and grounding to the nervous system. If you’re interested in an herbal oil to balance your speci c mind and body constitution, consult a quali ed herbalist near you! Or you could indulge in a self-massage with a neutral (nonherbal-infused) oil such as jojoba oil. I recommend gently warming the oil. Begin the self-massage at your scalp. Massage all parts of your crown with your ngertips. en massage your entire body, top to toes,

allowing the oil to fully absorb. Massage your arms, legs, ngers and toes with long strokes, and your joints (shoulders, elbows, wrists, knuckles, hips, knees, ankles) with circles. en wrap up in a robe and allow the herbal oils to soak in for 20 minutes before showering o .

Moon gazing. In the winter, the moon shines in clear skies by late afternoon or early evening, sharing her light and enabling us to connect with her daily. Moon gazing reminds us of our connection with the universe and with nature, helping us bring our concerns into perspective. As you gaze, your breath tends to slow and your parasympathetic nervous system engages, prompting a sense of calm, facilitating digestion, healing and intuitive knowing. On my walks home from work, and on my evening walks with my pup, I make a practice of stopping to connect with the moon, observing her and her re ection on the lake. Crescent, to quarter, to full, we can both appreciate her subtle shifts and feel held in her nightly presence; even when obscured by clouds, some of her light often shines through. Explore nightly moon gazing before returning home to darkness, allowing the moon, and perhaps some candlelight to be the last luminescence you see before bed. Observe how you sleep and how you feel when you wake.

Warm yoga. In the depths of winter, it is particularly important to balance the cold environment with movement that warms and invigorates the body. Many movement practices accomplish this, and warm

yoga is one of my favorites. e yang of vinyasa practice (a dynamic ow linking yoga asanas and breath) enables us to better savor the yin of shavasana (rest pose) at the end of practice. It also enables us to delight in and be at peace with the yin (dark, cold, still) of the season. Lately I’ve been appreciating Sol Yoga in Leschi for its gentle warmth and candle-lit ambiance — a cocoon of a space in the winter darkness that invokes a meditative presence. e warm environment enhances circulation to the muscles and extremities, preparing them for safer mobility. e key is balance and gentle warmth. If the space is too hot, or your practice too exertional, excessive sweating may leave you feeling depleted. It’s helpful to begin with a gentler class, and it’s important to listen to your body.

Essayist and poet Annie Dillard, reminds us of the necessity and allure of winter, re ecting: “ e dark night into which the year was plunging was not a sleep but an awakening, a new and necessary austerity, the sparer climate for which I longed. e shed trees were brittle and still, the creek light and cold, and my spirit holding its breath.” Our souls yearn for darkness as much as light, and it is from this darkness and cold that we can shed what is no longer needed, easing ourselves into the promise and newness of spring.

Annie Lindberg is a licensed practitioner and the owner of e Point Acupuncture and Ayurveda in Madison Park

Annie Lindberg e Point