Basmati.com sits down with Ursula, Astrologer Andrea Bryant, and Roger Schwartz to talk about Ursula’s monthly reading and energies coming in.

I’ve always loved that patch of stillness that succeeds the holidays: No work, no school, no parties to prepare for or gifts to buy. The sun doesn’t rise until 7:20 and it sets again just after 5, abandoning well over half of the day’s 24 hours to darkness. For me, this means I can embrace my tendencies toward hibernation without feeling antisocial. The first quiet days of January feel like a reprieve from the tumult of the previous year.

Mallows are great plant allies for our health. You may be familiar with marshmallow root, but did you know that the flowers and leaves are also good medicine?  And that other mallows are equally useful?   These include Hollyhock (Alcea rosea), that beautiful and easy-to-grow ornamental plant; Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea species), a denizen of more desert-type areas; and Wild or Common Mallow (Malva neglecta & M.

Parsnips are a member of the family Apiaceae, commonly known as the carrot family, which contains ninety-one genera and includes parsnips or Pastinaca L. The plant originally was found from the Mediterranean to the Caucasus region of Asia and was cultivated from the wild parsnip.

Boat Pose/ Paripurna Navasana

Benefits:

Strengthens core.

Improves balance.

Can also improve stamina.

Foundation & General Alignment:

Start sitting with legs straight out in front of you. Pull knees towards chest and then lift them straight into air. Arms are extended outwards at sides of legs.

Back is straight and engaged.

Neck is straight and upward, chin is pointing forward.

Arms are extended and engaged with palms facing upward.

Om Shreem MahaLakshmiyah Swaha

Praises to name of the Great Mother of both spiritual and material wealth which lives inside our consciousness. May we, in this moment, access the birthright of abundance which is ours. And so it is.

Have you ever tried using a facial scrub? If not, you should: It's a really powerful exfoliator. Your skin loses skin cells every day and sometimes it needs a little help getting them off your face. By using a gentle (all natural) facial scrub, you'll help your skin shed any dead layers that don't want to come off. This is important if you want to make way for new, rejuvenated skin!

In recent years, more and more people have been talking about yoga as a viable form of both exercise and meditation. There are countless benefits you can enjoy from this style of fitness, and all of them are especially positive for women over 50.

With jingling bells at every corner and cheery lights decking every store, December is a truly happy month. Add to that hot soups, eggnog, cakes and pies, and shopping by the dozen, and you get a season that can make you joyful inside and out.

The Karmic Tools Weekly Forecast covers the current planetary transits which affect people in different ways and to various degrees of intensity.  Take notice when it is a Personal planet (Sun / Moon / Mercury / Venus / Mars) interacting with a Social (Jupiter/Saturn) or Collective planet (Uranus / Neptune/Pluto).  And pay extremely close attention when it is a Social planet interacting with a Collective planet because that means something *big* is brewing that will move large groups of people along their evolutionary paths. Tun