We last met in mid-November, at the height of the Heshvan moon, on account of my anticipated two-week absence spanning Rosh Hodesh Kislev on Thanksgiving weekend. For our mid-month meeting, I borrowed material from the Tevet gathering plan, and we focused on our bodies as temples. We explored some Jewish yoga and used that experience to create some movements to go along with the morning blessings. Have you been trying to do the morning blessings? It only takes an extra minute when you wake up, and it can really give your day a sacred starting point. We also talked about feeling fabulous about our amazing bodies, and getting rid of habits or thoughts that don't nourish our bodies and spirits. We closed by making cards for each other that I sent out last week. Hopefully you've received your card from everyone by now.
Here are a few of the girls giving a physical interpretation to part of the morning blessings.
Our mixed up months will actually work out perfectly though. On account of the holidays, we decided to meet on December 18th (right before the start of Hanukkah and instead of the 25th - which would actually be Rosh Hodesh Tevet - out of respect for interfaith families). So for our December gathering we'll use the Kislev material which focuses on Hanukkah! Then starting in January we'll be more closely aligned to the proper dates of the remainder of the school year.
I look forward to seeing you next weekend. We have some fun craft activities planned for the evening.
