Earth: Limit raw foods 

To bring balance and wellness to the organs ruled and expressed by the Earth Element, we focus on how to optimize digestion and personalize nutrition, regulate blood sugar and strengthen the muscles during Late Summer as well as the 18 days around each equinox & solstice.

I am a huge fan of fresh food.  I am more skilled at chopping than cooking. I love to chop, so food prep is super fun for me and therefore a strength. I am also aware that food is freshest at soon as I harvest it from the yard, bring it home from the market or buy it from the grocery store. Food prep is critical to those of us that have day after day commitments.  I highly encourage you to chop and blanch as soon as fresh food enters your kitchen.

But……the next step isn’t my gift: cooking. I have, however, for the sake of my digestive system and nutrition learned some short cuts that allow me to care for my precious body.  I hope these tips help you too!

1. Keep it simple
2. Create a fun atmosphere in my kitchen: play some tunes, diffuse essential oils
3. Keep glass storage containers & re-use canning jars for stackable storage
4. Invite the kids to help
5. Consider a mono meal – yup, only green beans for lunch (mono) or green beans with toasted sesame seeds (mono-ish)
6. Cook in bulk & freeze individual meals
   

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Cook or no?

Look in the mirror.  If your tongue is larger or thicker than average, has tooth imprints, and a thick white coat, you have dampness.  Raw foods will generate more dampness. Dampness weakens the body’s ability to digest. Raw foods add cold to the nature of the food. If however, you look in the mirror at your tongue and see a thin, red, dry tongue.  You have the digestive fire to cook raw foods in your digestive center. Enjoy! 

Blanch: key to time management. Try blanching an entire head of broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts for a couple of minutes (retain the bright color). Strain. Cool. Package. Ready to roast, bake or stir fry!

Steam: adds moisture to nature of the food. Check out this chart for steam times of many vegetables.  I also steam tofu, tempeh or reheat protein. 

Pressure Cook: fantastic quick method for grains and legumes. Add broth to increase protein & flavor. Soak overnight in the stainless instant pot vessel to optimize nutrition and denature those pesky lectins.

Stir fry: dries the nature of the food. Try cooking vegetables separately to retain the best flavor. Ginger and garlic are mainstay spices.

Spices: warming and aromatic herbs and spices help to balance the nature of foods – allowing us to personalize our nutrition. For example, ginger and cardamom reduce damp and cold. 

I leave you with two very easy ways to put these tips to work for you right away:

Autumn Bake: Rosemary Sweet Potatoes Recipe Here

Very Simple Soups: Soup Cleanse Recipes Here

The tips are appropriate for seasonal wellness and are helpful all year long for constitutional Element Earth types.

Want to establish or return to care with Dr Cox? Book here!

Mandala for the Earth Season

To create an Element Wisdom Card Mandala

 Create sacred space through ritual.

Design the space. Your sacred expression.

Some of my favorite ways to create sacred space:

Open with prayer. 

Bow to the four directions.

Invite our guides.

Give thanks.

Light a candle, smudge, chant.

Choose 5-8 cards.  Arrange them in a circle within concentric rings of found or precious materials like seasonal fruits/vegetables, flowers, leaves, shells, stones, sticks, feathers, etc.  Choose an elemental center piece:  an earthenware filled with soil/clay, a transparent vase of water or a shell, a bell, a wooden bowl, an incense burner. Cards and objects may also be arranged by cardinal directions.

I created a mandala with intention and drew

3 Jedi mind tricks, 3 suggestions, 1 body self care tip & 1 inquiry

• Change is a constant
• Change directions without losing balance.
• Does your ‘yes’ serve the balance?
• Redistribute & Mobilize
• It’s All Good
• Collaboration is the truth
• Shake into your muscles
• Convert discord into harmony

The center is an earthen bowl with Alabama Red Clay. Placing an earthen vessel in the center of the home or filling a vessel with earth in an area of your home or room adds grounding via feng shui placement during these times of change.

Cotton bags sewn in Georgia. Cards printed in Mississippi. Bags stamped by me. Persimmons grown at Alberta Orchard Wellness. To learn more or purchase element-wisdom cards, visit our website www.drsaritaelizabeth.com

Fun, going with the flow, adventure, excitement, allowing a natural unfolding?

No way, Nope, No. Not for me. I just can’t. That’s crazy. 

From the latin roots: sua – from + sponte – of (one’s) own accord

Recall the last time you had a good belly laugh? True laughter arises spontaneously. 

When was the last time you were spontaneous? A last minute yes to extra concert tickets? a trip to the beach without previous planning? dancing in the kitchen to a favorite song? a walk to clear your head after hours on the computer? chasing a rainbow or sunset? a random act of kindness?

Do you have a great story about a decision you make spontaneously?

Why be spontaneous?

It can contribute to our happiness, expose us to new things and engender adaptability. Life events can turn out better than we could ever imagine (or plan) when we allow natural unfolding verses forcing desired outcomes.

5 ways to encourage spontaneity:

Be present

Be open to new things

Be flexible

Trust your intuition

Connect with your feelings & emotions

Spontaneity v Impulsivity

In short, spontaneity considers the consequences of the decision.  Impulsivity does not.

Today autumn begins in the Northern Hemisphere, while the folks in the Southern Hemisphere are preparing for warmer, spring weather. 

In 2025, the Autumnal Equinox arrives on Monday, September 22, at 1:19 P.M. Central Standard Time. The autumn equinox happens at the same moment worldwide marking the astronomical start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere – the moment when the direct ray of the sun crosses the equator to the South. After the autumnal equinox, nights begin to grow longer than the days until the winter solstice in December, when the days start to grow longer and the nights are shorter. The Autumnal Equinox represents the symmetry between light and darkness, as a balance is struck between day and night.

According to the Chinese Medicine understanding of the cycle of the seasons, we have technically returned to Earth phase, or Doyo, which is the transitional time when the seasons change, four times per year. After this return to earth transition, we will be in the metal phase of the seasons which invites reflection and resonates with breath and sound healing.

The Earth element is associated with times of change throughout the year, which happen between each of the seasons around the two equinoxes and the two solstices. These transition phases begin about 7 days before each equinox and solstice and continue for about 7 days after, which constitute an approximate three-week period of adjustment between the seasons. 

I  embrace and promote the wisdom of seasonal cycles  increasing awareness of and balancing our individual constitutions within dynamic change and to honor repeating cycles throughout our return to our wholeness.  

WHAT IS THE EQUINOX?

The word “equinox” comes from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, “night.” On the equinox, length of day and night are roughly equal.

During the equinox, the sun crosses the “celestial equator”—an imaginary line or extrapolation of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the sun’s center passes through this line. When the sun crosses the equator from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, it marks the vernal equinox.

At this exact moment, the lengths of day and night are approximately equal around the world in the Northern and Southern hemispheres — hence the term “equinox,” which is derived from the Latin phrase meaning “equal night.”

Image credit: NASA

Why the Autumnal Equinox Doesn’t Fall on the Same Day Every Year

Depending on the part of the world and time zone where you live, the equinox usually falls on either September 22 or 23; although it can sometimes occur anytime between September 21 and 24. That is because the equinox is not an exact, daylong event but is defined by the position of the Earth and the sun at a particular moment in time. 

Ancient Autumn Traditions 

The fall equinox has been celebrated by cultures for ages as people track the transitions of the Earth’s paths around the Sun. Indigenous cultures recognized EARTH wisdom and understood that the Winter Solstice, Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, and Autumn Equinox reflect our own inner spiritual journey.

• An ancient stone monument called Intihuatana at Machu Picchu in Peru, which means “Hitching Post of the Sun”, serves as a solar clock to mark the dates of the equinoxes and solstices.  
• In Mexico, the Mayans built a giant pyramid called Chichen Itza. On the equinoxes, a snake created by light appears to slither down the pyramid’s steps.
• And of course, in England, Stonehenge is aligned with the equinoxes and solstices.

An image of the serpent appearing on the side of the Temple of Kukulcan on the equinox at Chichen Itza

SIGNIFICANCE

The Autumnal Equinox is a significant time of year to honor the harvest, which may be an actual harvest of fruits and vegetables from your garden or the harvest of efforts and intentions for your life that you set earlier in the year.  This Earth seasonal return represents the harvest time of year, when we acknowledge the gifts and abundance in our lives. It is a time when we can see, in nature, a reflection of our own lives as we go through cycles of growth, harvest, death, and rebirth.

At the Autumnal Equinox, it’s important to take a moment to go inward. Life is a continuous circle of shifting and evolving, dying, and being reborn again. Because change is a constant, it is possible to identify unbroken patterns within the ebb and flow of life. As we become quiet during this time of transition, we are allowing space for our greater vision to emerge and set in motion the intentions for another cycle. I invite you to take some time September 22 to be mindful of your life cycle, honor your own growth and shine your inner light.

Whole food is medicine.  Processed food steals your vitality. Ultra processed food creates chronic disease, offers pharmacy and invites slow death.

One of the top three outcomes of the lockdowns of 2020/2021, in my opinion, was the return to or beginning of cooking at home.  We can choose better quality products than most restaurants are able to provide on small margins.  We are, therefore, improving our economic health while improving our physical health.

Let food be thy medicine, let medicine be thy food.

~Hippocrates

The Basics: Where? When?  How?

Where? Where we acquire our food matters. Ideally, we hunt and gather or eat from a garden – our own garden or from our local farmer’s or brick and mortar vegetable markets.  When we shop at a conventional grocery store, shop the perimeter. 

In an ideal world, our foods are free from harmful chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals (antibiotics, antifungals, growth hormone). Animal (and animal fats) are raised in their natural environments. Soils are replete with the broad spectrum of minerals and micro-organisms that render our foods nutritious.

When? Foods should be consumed or preserved in seasonal time. In a world which offers food from all corners of the county during all seasons – choose seasonal and buy local. The choices in your neighborhood may not be perfect, or we may not be able to allocate our resources to only organic and farm raised products. But we can educate & inform ourselves of the best options available today. Consume or process the foods for later consumption as soon after acquisition as possible.

How?  Make the best choices possible.  I hope this link will help you make the best choices available to you. This list from the Environmental Working Group is updated yearly: Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen

One of my favorite resource books is Healing with Whole Foods written by Paul Pitchford. Learn more here:

Every felt ‘butterflies in your stomach”? Ever become nauseous at the thought of a situation or seeing a person? Ever had a “gut wrenching” experience? 

These sensations may be fleeting or protracted.  How do we care for this intuitive, reactive nervous system?

Here are two ways to support the gut:

1.My favorite physical support is a yogic cleansing technique, nauli.

2. My favorite nutritional support includes personalized probiotics & herbs.

Gut Roll: the Good Kind!

Nauli is a yoga technique used in Panchakarma to cleanse the internal organs and tone the abdominal by doing a rolling motion using the abdominal muscles. While perhaps more directly impacting the large and small intestines, the spleen, stomach and pancreas get a great massage with Nauli.

Give Nauli a try by following the beginner’s basics below!

NAULI 

• Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and  knees slightly
  bent (about 5 degrees)
• Straighten your spine
• Relax your shoulders, arms and chest; feel the weight of your body
  directed down toward your knees
• Begin the exercise by pushing your abdomen out, feeling a slight
  pressure as if your stomach was full
• Pull your abdomen inward and try to make your belly button touch
  the spine; this completes one full round
• After completing 10 rounds pull your abdomen inward
  as much as you can and hold then allow gravity to release the hold. repeat the series, increasing to 50 by the end of week four.

Attaching a healthy habit to an already existing habit simply sets us up for success

I find it convenient to start my morning with nauli immediately after I neti or brush my teeth.  Try nauli every time you brush your teeth.

Watch a demonstration video here

Herbal Gut Support

Support the Earth element and our guts, by trying Triphala, the “Ayurvedic pre/probiotic.” Triphala contains three fruits with five of the six tastes recognized in Ayurvedic medicine including: Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Pungent and Astringent. Triphala (or a constitutionally appropriate probiotic or a spore formulation) is an excellent supplement for the transitional Earth seasons (four times a year). Two weeks of continual use then as needed or on a rotational basis is my general prescription for folks.

I encourage you to choose probiotic strains, spores, fermented foods and drinks suited for your unique health. Strains of flora should be customized for food allergies, weight loss, constipation, diarrhea, cognition, post anti-biotic care. At times, a triphala enema with sesame oil may be right for you.  Other times a butyrate or coffee might be a best choice for your digestive health concerns. Probiotics and enemas can be used prophylactically in a seasonal rhythm during the 14-18 days around the solstices and equinoxes to support the earth element. Schedule a telemedicine visit to customize your probiotic strains, discuss your health concerns or create a seasonal wellness plan here:

LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL

At Alberta Orchard Wellness in Tuscaloosa, we recommend shopping local when possible and utilizing Fullscript, our professional online pharmacy for specialty products or home delivery and convenience.

Sign up for your free account today to have professional grade products that you can trust the quality delivered to your door. The catalog is open & a discount applied for you to shop your prescription, personal needs and seasonal sales.

Citrine is known as the merchant stone as it attracts prosperity and abundance.

• The crystal ranks 7 on the Mohs hardness scale
• The color ranges from lemon yellow to rustic red-brown
• It is associated with the solar plexus in the chakra system 
• Citrine balances the Earth Element
• Natural Citrine is found in igneous rocks like granite or alluvial deposits
• Citrine forms around 440 degrees 
• Citrine is a gemstone name for quartz with iron in the color center
• Lab made Citrine is an eco-friendly choice

The color gold is associated with the earth element

We, therefore, utilize the hues and tones of yellow to support our center. I have a favorite yellow linen shirt and a gold silk shirt that I find again and again during the earth season. What golden tones do you have in your closet?  Wear them during Earth season. I adorn with amber and citrine during the transition season. Bejewel yourself with gold and golden gems.

Citrine is Vitamin C for the soul

Through Qi Gong principles, we learn that the physical form is a manifestations of the more subtle energies.  Visualization focus energy into form.  I often describe Qi Gong as internal Tai Chi – the medical form of the martial arts.  We can focus our mind’s eye within our organs and highways of energy – the meridians – for wellness. Praying or meditating, visualizing wellness, speaking positivity, chanting or singing can heal our bodies.

In the prosperity area of my office (SE), I have a citrine sun catcher.  This Feng Shui placement invites abundance into my practice. 

Right now, visualize the sparkling yellow light of citrine in your umbilicus.  Allow it to fill your organs, your tendons, your muscles, your skin.

Invite citrine to support you in prosperity, abundance & health.

I hope this series supports your deep dive into the dynamic of seasonal wellness & inspires you to play with the Element Wisdom Card Decks on your health journey.

If you would like to invite a friend to join our late summer series, they can sign up here. 

Be Loyal.

Dogs are our best teacher when it comes to unconditional loyalty.

Beyond loyalty they teach us about unrestrained love & living in the moment.

Is it because they have four feet on the earth all day long? A recent study entitled Grounding (earthing) as related to electromagnetic hygiene: An integrative review discusses inspiring research and anecdotal evidence from patient treatments involving direct contact with the ground. Give it a read by clicking on the title above.

When playing with the Element Wisdom Cards, I invite you to ask yourself what does the card means to you? Does it resonant or no? Does it bring up a curiosity? a feeling? a memory? a story?

I find the same card sparks different responses in a different season of the year or a different season of my life. Today, Be Loyal asks me to be loyal to myself.

I have spent many years being loyal to my education, my career, my finances, personal growth, health practices and so on. Wholesome projects, certainly. I would very often try to give my loyalty to some or even all of these at once. I found myself loyal to professionals that handle my legal dealings, accounts and even to my patients, programs, friends or employees well beyond the season that serves.

The emotional spectrum of the Earth element is worry to faith.  Ask yourself:  am I loyal to worry (the emotion of the lower self)? or am I loyal to faith (the emotion of the higher self)?

2025 is the year of the yin wood snake. The snake asks us to shed our old skins (habits, viewpoints, thinking patterns, maybe even job or locale) that no longer fit.  Yin brings us flexibility, taking it slow while wood garners planning, strategy, vision and certainty. 

May we take a thoughtful review of what deserves our loyalty. Take a fresh look at our dreams, desires, dedications. May we be loyal to our true self.

Jamieson IA. Grounding (earthing) as related to electromagnetic hygiene: An integrative review. Biomed J. 2023 Feb;46(1):30-40. doi: 10.1016/j.bj.2022.11.005. Epub 2022 Dec 7. PMID: 36496151; PMCID: PMC10105031.

Meet Fresh Ginger.

Nature: warm

Taste: slightly sweet, acrid

Action: releases exterior, disperses cold: stops cough, alleviates vomiting, regulates migrating motor complex of Small Intestine

Skin: promotes urination, reduces edema

Affinity:  Lung, Spleen & Stomach

According to eastern dietetics & herbalism – foods, spices, herbs and medicine have a distinct nature, action, direction & affinity with one or more organs.  

As we become more familiar with these qualities in some of our familiar foods, we begin to fine tune our eating & drinking to the dynamic rhythms of the season.  We also eat to support our five element constitution or balance our acute imbalances which manifests as dis-ease. For example, ginger should be used sparingly or avoided when signs of heat are present. Conversely, it is advised when cold signs are prominent.

During this seasonal transition time, I invite you to enjoy some of my favorite ways to spice it up with Ginger and support your digestion.

Preparation Tips: Peel ginger with a spoon & store any overages in the freezer. Microplane rasp is the grater of choice.

Easy Adds: Grate ginger directly into salads or salad dressing, sauces, stir fry or smoothies. Slice very thin into hot water.

Carrot-Ginger soup is ideal nourishment for the Earth/Metal transition.

Find the recipe here!