February 2018 Newsletter

Things to Do Indoors

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The winter months can often find us spending more time inside than usual.  With those New Year's resolutions, often including things like being more active or losing weight, we can get discouraged quickly.  So here are a few tips to keep you busy and keep you on track with those promises to yourself of letting 2018 meet a healthier you!

• Create a recipe book - Find new and healthier recipes that you know you and your family will eat. Create a recipe book so you will have them handy. This will prevent you from sliding back in to those bad habits when you’re in a rush later. Remember that substituting healthier ingredients into some of your old favorites is also an option!
  
• Reorganize your kitchen cabinets - This will get you up and moving and will also help get you organized to meet your new goals.
•  Window shop - Go to the grocery store and just read labels. You’re walking around and educating yourself about the traditional value of the foods you will be eating. If the kids are with you, you might make it a scavenger hunt to help make it more fun.
• Don’t sit for too long - It’s easy when it is cold outside and you're stuck inside to get under a blanket and sit on the chair or sofa, but moving gets you warm too. Make sure you’re getting up for 10-15 minutes at least every 60-90 minutes. Walk around the house. Sort through old clothes. Organize closets. Clean your tools in the garage. Clean out under the bathroom sink. Air out your powwow clothes and make repairs. This will help keep your activity up during the slow times.
• Fresh air! - On days it is warmer, open up the house for a brief period of time and let in some fresh air. This will help keep you healthier and more energized throughout the winter months.
• Tell stories - The winter months were traditionally a time for telling stories especially about animals. Animals hibernate in winter, and the stories are often comical, so we tell them during the winter while they sleep so we don’t offend them. This is great to do with friends and family.
• Learn or teach a traditional art form to a friend or relative - Activities slowdown in the winter for many of us and we are looking for things to do to fill our time. This can be a good time to learn or teach others to do a traditional art form to pass the time and keep our traditions alive for future generations.
• Learn your language - Even if you are just starting out there are simple things you can do to incorporate your Native language into everyday activities, like saying things similar to  “hello”, “thank you” and “you’re welcome”. Putting up post–it notes around your home on items is a good way to remind yourself daily of your tribes’ words for certain things. If you have family over, you can even play a game like Jeopardy, where you hold up a picture and the first person to slap the table and say the correct word in your language gets the points.

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