How do you unplug?

In a world ruled by screens, drones, instant messaging, on demand everything, how do you unplug?

And for how long? 

Have you ever noticed yourself becoming less distracted, with a brightened mood, as your mind calms, and your breathing deepens and relaxes as you spend time with nature? A recent study shows positive affect, restoration, connectedness and mindfulness increase during a 2.5 hour forest tour. 

Maybe you’ve tried walking barefoot on the earth or the warm, salty ocean shore, sleeping grounded or oriented to the cardinal directions. There are health benefits to these.

Have you been charmed by a waterfall in the forest? We’ve studied that too!

Is deep breathing, music or guided imagery your go-to? Research concurs.

Do you take a vacation or, better yet, a meditation retreat? That works.

Can you turn off your cell phone for a day? 10 days? Maybe you should.

Do you swear by sunshine to relax and restore?

How about a nourishing winter soup cleanse?

You can find all the getting started tips here & search my Cultivating Wellness Blog “soup cleanse” all the posts.

Do you unplug your wi-fi at night? Yes, I do.

Given each of our unique life situations “unplugging” may look very different. 

The key is to find ways to down regulate our nervous systems and up regulate our natural feel good pharmacy D.O.S.E. (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphin) for our best life.

After many years of healing myself with seasonal wisdom & the Element Wisdom Card deck in a location with four distinct meterological seasons, I am exploring winter residency in latitudes closer to the equator to further nourish and strengthen my constitutional Water Element.

I would love to teach you more about how to heal yourself through mind, body, spirit practices that harmonize you with the dynamic rhythm of the season.   Here we find our most wholesome & unique expression of our health. When we sync ourself with the macrocosmic expression of our external world, our internal microcosmic needs become clear.

I am  available for telemedicine consults now and

offer acupuncture services again January 29 – February 15. 

Special Reiki treatments are available while I am away.  Book all of those services here.

What if is the way forward is backwards?  What if time is a spiral not a line? What if space & time can warp? What if time is an illusion.

Consider our common language: catch up, move forward, climb the ladder, hustle culture, get ahead. Sounds exhausting.

Are there any signs that we may want to step back? Yes, of course. Do any of these sound familiar?

I’ve sent out a hundred resumes but have gotten zero callbacks. I keep messaging but no one replies. I feel sick to my stomach every time I think of it. I wake up grinding my teeth afterwards. I’m board; I’ve lost my spark, passion, creativity for the project. The same conversation occurs again and again with no resolve. I’ve become someone I no longer recognize or like. The environment (internally and externally) is consistently negative, toxic or abusive. My body rebels: I oversleep, I forget important dates, deadlines, I double book, my shoulders are in knots. Technology fails when I work on the project: consistent internet outages, glitches, 404 messages, files won’t load. 

What can happen when we take a step back? A new perspective, an allowing, respite, presence, creativity. Stepping back can allow us to reconsider and reconfigure with newfound clarity. 

Are there any practical tips to stepping back?

• Pause. 
• Breathe.
• Rest.
• Practice compassion.
• Set Boundaries.
• Apply self-love
• Reflect.

Sometimes stepping down is then next step. Sometimes stepping up is the next step. 

When have you stepped back and the result

has been better than you could have ever imagined?

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.

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:

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!