Each element is associated with a cardinal direction.  

Why? Perhaps the ancients were linking the human experience to the natural world.

We use directions as guideposts: the north star, the compass, the map. Directions anchor us to place.

The south is the direction of fire, the heart. It marks innocence, transformation, passion, the noon day sun, the zenith of our days, seasons, and lives. Summer is the lucky time of year.

Feng Shui places reputation and fame in the south sector of our home. 

Take a look at your home with curiosity. More than just an area, the South sector holds the energy that reveals and manifests as reputation, material success & the capacity to rise like a phoenix.

Outside of judgment, inventory the state of the south sector of your home, your office or home office.  What does it reveal? What does it speak about you?

Feng Shui literally means Wind-Water. It is the ancient art/science of conscious placement to transform energy in our favor.

Want change? The external arrangement impacts us, true. We certainly can and should arrange our working & living spaces to increase our chances of best outcome.

The real change is entertaining awareness of how you react, respond and your integrity growing your reputation or fame.  

• Do you keep your word?
• Do you pass off others work, message, ideas as your own to get ahead?
• Do you collaborate or compete?
• Do you give to receive?
• Do you show up or cancel?
• Commit or quit?
• How do you conduct business?
• Ask yourself.

How did you come to know and love tea?

I grew up with a mom who always created an herb garden wherever she has lived and helped me develop a taste for herbal brews early on starting with spearmint sun tea and catnip.I learned so much about tea in the town I lived for medical school – Portland, Oregon. They actually have tea shops and tea shops within Chinese gardens. My Chinese Medicine teachers always packed their traveling suitcases with tea and spices. The ah too true joke with them is that packaged teas that we drink in this country are the sweepings off the factory floors from their country. I choose bulk tea from high quality vendors and use a tea pot with strainer or french press.  I add hot water until the liquid is near to colorless. Any extra tea can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

What is your favorite tea or tea blend for Winter?
My go to winter tea is chai or a spiced bone broth

Click to learn how to free the medicine in leaves, roots, barks and berries in this week’s Cultivating Wellness blog http://drsaritaelizabeth.com/brewing-teas-free-their-medi…/

Below is an easy Bone Broth preparation for you to enjoy.

Simple Slow Cooker Bone Broth

Crockpot, Pruning shears, Ladle, Skimmer, Mesh strainer, Freezer containers

Instructions

Fill crockpot ¾ of the way full with bones. Add dried spices/herbs. Add salt/seaweed. Add vinegar/lemon juice. Add just enough filtered water to cover the bones. Cook on low 18-72 hours

Add vegetables, skins/ends/stems at any time during the cooking process. Skim fat/gelatin and retain for later use. Fill containers with broth. Freeze for later use.

Soup = cooking liquid for gains, vegetable simmers, tea, gravy

Five Element Analysis

Soups, especially broths are Water Element nourishment. Each type bone directs the energy to more specific Elements

Pork, Deer, Turkey or Duck to Water to nourish the Kidney, Bladder & Adrenals

Chicken to Wood to nourish Liver & Gallbladder

Beef to Earth (and Water) to nourish Stomach, Spleen & Pancreas as well as Kidney, Bladder & Adrenals

Fill your bladder with blue-black light

Each of the five elements of has an associated color, direction, sound, taste, note, organ affinity, etc.

The color of water/winter is blue-black.  The associated organs of the bladder, kidney & adrenals are harmonized, nourished & balanced when we utilize blue-black for healing.

There are many effective means to heal with color.  In my clinic, I utilize color and sound healing with tuning forks and color shields as I was instructed by Fabian Maman of the Tama-Do Academy with children & with patients that are pain sensitive to needling. I painted the doors & walls  to correspond to the elemental direction (Feng Shui).  The doors on the north side of the building are midnight blue. Many people remark that Alberta Orchard Wellness feels healing as soon as you step into the building; this is part of the reason why it resonates peace and harmony.  I also change the curtains, artwork & rugs to align with the season.

Application of color ranges from gross to subtle, starting with the physical use of color on our bodies or in our environment to the visualization of color in our mind’s eye. Let’s explore some practical ways to help you find your own way to healing with seasonal colors of water/winter to restore the bladder, kindeys & adrenals.

• Wear blue-black (black, navy) layers of clothing to strengthen the organs 
• Style your home or office with Navy curtains, duvet, wool rugs, velvet curtains or throw pillows
• Bring in artwork depicting water, especially the ocean at night
• Run a screensaver of underwater life or a dark blue ocean on your computer, smart phone or TV
• In the north of your home or office, set a dark blue bowl, tablecloth, shawl or scarf in a featured area
• Keep a piece of labradorite stone in your pocket
• Drink from a dark blue handcrafted pottery cup
• Breath in shimmering, deep blue-black of the ocean for 5 count. Hold 5 count. Exhale 5 count. Hold 5 count. Repeat 5 times. 
• Place your hands over your bladder and visualize healing blue black light filling your organ 
• Begin and end your meditations with sweeping the body with glistening midnight blue color
• Connect with bubbling spring (KD1) on the bottom of the foot.  Allow deep blue black water to rise up from the earth, flow through your water channels into your bladder. Direct blue black light to fill then clear any imbalance or blockage. Allow the waters of life to nourish your organs.

To support your winter/water organs: kidney, bladder & adrenals, try this Lentil/Cilantro combination

For a complete reference to the soup cleanse: search the Cultivating Wellness Blog for Soup Cleanse

Enjoy these winter wisdom tips, to harmonize yourself into the season.

Let’s combine our Water/Winter wisdoms with a nourishing, gentle Soup Cleanse for the stay at home and stay warm days of ice, sleet & snow.

Ginger Foot Bath Instructions:

Add ginger tea, decocted fresh ginger root or even ginger powder to hot water.

Need herbal tea preparation tips? Click here…midway down the post to learn how to free their medicine.

For a warm foot bath, water is warmed to 92-100F (33-38C). For a hot foot bath, water is warmed gradually and frequently tested with elbow to 103-108F (39-42C). Be particularly careful to test if you suffer from diabetes or other conditions that impair normal peripheral perception of temperatures. 

Soak feet 10-15 minutes.  Adding hot water from a kettle or pot with extra hot water as the bath water cools allows maximum benefit and enjoyment.

For additional benefit add 1 cup of epsom salts.  The taste associated with the winter/water element is Salty. Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) are easily absorbed through the skin. After your soak, wrap your feet in a hand towel to dry. 

Ginger alleviates cold and invigorates circulation. Epsom Salts relax muscles, soften the skin & deep cleans.

Forward this link or post to a friend,  to share our free two week series of Element Wisdoms:

Water/Winter Element Wisdoms & Nourishing Soup Cleanse

FOLLOW IT 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