FIRE RITUALS

Ancient cultures have recognized the power of FIRE with prayer and reverence. Fire has the power to destroy our homes and the life giving, usefulness to cook our food. It is a force of destruction, creation, and purification. In Sanskrit, Fire, or Agni , is one of the five basic elements of creation and is the dominant element of the Ayruveda Pitta dosha. Pitta dosha is composed of a mind and body that are made up of the two elements, fire and water. An out of balance, or out of control fire element, leads to mental and emotional issues such as anger, aggression, and rage. In balance, Agni or FIRE presents as enthusiasm and joy.

Fire is a controversial force in the world and humans. A team of researchers analyzed the history and possible future of our ever-changing relationship with fire in an article published in the Journal of Biogeography. The article is entitled, “The Human Dimension of Fire Regimes on Earth.”

Wherever humans have gone in the world, they have carried fire with them and humans evolved to eat cooked food. I found this article about the history of humans and fire interesting and thought provoking. Essentially, cooking with heat outsourced some of the body’s work of digestion so that more energy is obtained from food and less energy is used in processing food. Cooking breaks down collagen and the connective tissue in meat and releases starch and fat of plants. Cooking freed up time, which allowed the prioritization of the development and the evolution of our intellect.

When early humans discovered how to build fires, life became much easier as they huddled around fire for warmth, light, and protection. They used it to cook, which afforded them more calories than eating raw foods that were hard to chew and digest. They could socialize into the night, which possibly gave rise to storytelling and other cultural traditions.

In the Choctaw language the month of September translates to Haponi Hashi – Cooking Month.  Cooking outside on an open fire is a present and historical tribal tradition.  Haponi Hashi traditionally marks the final summer harvest of the three sisters ~ corn, beans and squash.  Here family and community gather to prepare food stores (traditionally hanging to dry) for the cold season where cooking and eating together ensues.  It typically also marks the time of the year in which the weather has cooled such that cooking outside over an open fire becomes practical and enjoyable again!

Fire Loves Rituals

Fire can enhance our spiritual rituals and support us by purifying and setting intentions in our own lives. For generations, fire rituals are based on ancient ceremonies passed down over the ages. Today, it still has meaning and plays a positive role in our lives to enrich our relationships with our families, ourselves, and the divine in whatever form we hold as believers and practitioners. Examples of fire rituals across several cultures include:

The Hindu fire ceremony, Yajna, translates to “sacrifice, devotion, worship, and offering”. Yajna is any ritual performed in front of a sacred fire, often supplemented by songs or mantras. This ancient Hindu practice helps to heal trauma and connect its practitioners to the spiritual realm.

In ancient India, the vibrations that are produced during a traditional Vedic fire ceremony are thought to represent the most powerful presence of the Divine on Earth. The upward motion of fire is said to be similar to the divine kundalini energy. In the Vedic scriptures, Agni, or Fire, is the messenger between the people and their gods. Vedic Fire Ceremonies are performed for all types of occasions: to let go of patterns and obstacles in our lives, to express gratitude, for healing, purification of the environment and ourselves, or to pray for success with a particular venture. Fire rituals can connect us with the Divine and allow us to express gratitude for this life and all our gifts.

Kontaiji Temple Goma Houyou

Japanese Buddhism practices Goma as a fire ritual performed outside under the sky. Some types of ritual fire offerings include: A Peaceful Ritual Fire Offering is performed to clear away the results of unhealthy actions or to clear away obstacles. Peaceful and Increasing Ritual Fire Offerings are practiced for both one’s own and other’s benefit. A Subduing Ritual Fire Offering may be performed to distinguish harmful forces. 

Smoke rising from burning sage

In Native American traditions, a smoke offering in prayer is at the core of many traditional ceremonies. A pipe ceremony combines the powerful elements of fire to symbolize the balance of life. The pipe ceremony is a sacred ritual for connecting the physical and spiritual worlds. The stem of the pipe represents the masculine, the bowl represents the feminine, the tobacco is an earth offering, and the breath drawn in smoking is the air. Fire unifies the ceremony with a purifying force as it is drawn over the tobacco/herbs through the bowl and stem, creating smoke that rises and delivers prayers to the spirit world.

Create Your Own Fire Ceremony

There are many simple ways you can take inspiration from these ancient practices and bring the power of the fire element into your life. You can make physical or emotional offerings for the fire to consume. Write down the things things you are grateful for, the things you want to let go of, and the things you want to set intention for. Light a candle or build a fire, contemplate these things, and hold these thoughts in your heart and your mind. Let the flicker of the flame mesmerize you and you may even make an offering of sage or cedar to the fire. Be creative and make it personal and understand that there have been many generations of ancestors who spent sacred time around fire. Reflect on the fire in a sacred way and create your own ceremony. Let the fire enchant and mesmerize you, purify you, and empower you.

Blooming Lotus

The Lotus Flower or Lotus Plant is a freshwater aquatic plant. Most Lotus Plants are native to the warm climates of Southern Asia and Australia. A Lotus Flower’s roots bury deep in the mud of a still body of water such as a lake, pond, or backyard water garden. A long stem or stalk grows from the roots that remains in the muddy water. The plant’s leaves and bud grow from atop the long stalk. The leaves usually stay under the surface of the water with only the flower bud seen above the water’s surface. As the bud opens, its petals are exposed as they open one by one. Once the petals are all opened, the flower is in full bloom, which corresponds to the fire element- the life cycle of full expression. The Lotus Flower rests until the sun begins to set at which point the Lotus Flower begins to close its petals until it is completely in a “bud” formation and the Lotus Flower sinks back down into the muddy water. Each day, the Lotus Flower repeats this action of rising, basking, and sinking. It is this nature of the plant that inspires so many religions and cultures with meaning. Buddhists believe the Lotus Flower is representative of rebirth.

Here at Alberta Orchard Wellness, we were recently gifted a lotus garden which serves as our new bee watering station! We are excitedly awaiting the lotus bloom, which will look like this one.

The plant has become the symbol of multiple life lessons and ideals such as fertility, honesty, grace, prosperity, knowledge, and serenity. The lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera) is associated with purity and beauty in the Buddhism and Hinduism.

Just like the Lotus, we too have the ability to rise

from the darkness and radiate into the world.”     

-Unknown-

As gratitude is enhanced by a fire ceremony, the Flowering Lotus yoga pose is an excellent posture for meditation because it calms the mind and creates a sense of peace. The flowering lotus pose is an intermediate seated, hip-opener, and balancing posture that prepares the body for deeper stretching poses. From the butterfly pose with the heels touching, the arms reach over the thighs and under the calves. The yogi then rocks back until balanced on the sit bones, and the hands take gyan mudra (thumb and forefinger touching). A variation of the foundational lotus pose, flowering lotus pose is also called blooming lotus pose. In Sanskrit, it is known as vikasitakamalasana.

The pose is known to ease anxiety and stress; stabilizes the body; improve focus and concentration; stretch the ankles, hips, hamstrings, and knees; stimulates reproductive organs; tones the abdominal muscles; boosts immunity; and improves kidney, bladder, and urinary functions.

Watch for our (Part 2) where we will highlight a Blooming Lotus gratitude practice with a demonstration video and offer step by step instructions for creating your own lotus container garden!

HERBAL INFUSED VINEGARS starring pepper sauce on greens!

Vinegar is a health tonic with multiple medical uses.

For centuries, healers and households relied on vinegars to both preserve foods and supplement diet and medicines.  Vinegar is a household staple as a health tonic with multiple medical uses. It is used as a treatment for allergies, flu, sore throat, acid reflux, gout, and other ailments. Some of the more common uses include:

Antiseptic

Vinegar is an antiseptic that is used to treat a variety of infectious and noninfectious conditions including the treatment of boils, acne, and minor cuts, scrapes and burns. Since it is antibacterial and antifungal, taking apple cider vinegar orally or applying it to your skin topically can help to stop the growth of a yeast infection or athlete’s foot. Raw vinegar has a probiotic effect and our skin has its own mircobiome. A second interesting research link here!

Supplements

Apple cider provides supplemental minerals including potassium, calcium, copper and iron. One of the benefits of taking apple cider vinegar, as an iron supplemental is that unlike cooked red meats, vinegar contains no cholesterol, sodium, or saturated fats.

Diabetes

Studies indicate that regular vinegar consumption may help control diabetes as well as decrease body mass and triglyceride levels. See links below.

diabetes control:

Small study with positive morning fasting levels after nighttime use of ACV

ACV Increases Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake with Type 2 Diabetes

body fat and triglycerides:

Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat & triglycerides obese subjects

Arthritis

Apple cider vinegar may help in the treatment of arthritis, particularly gout. You can try mixing a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar with a teaspoon of honey and take three times a day and notice. This mix of apple cider vinegar and honey can break up the deposits of uric acid crystals that form between the joints and in muscles, which cause rheumatism. Taken over a long period of time, this mixture may also help to dissolve bone spurs. Most gout can be managed with reduction of foods that are high in purines like seafood, wild game, organ meats, red meat and foods that increase uric acid concentration like sugar, alcoholic beverages (particularly beer), fruit juices and fructose sweetened beverages.  The exception being the amazing tart cherry, which can actually lower serum uric acids and offer prevention from gout flares.

Indigestion/Heartburn

Vinegar is commonly used to treat indigestion and heartburn. Because the human body typically produce less hydrochloric acid as it ages, the symptoms of too little acid in the stomach can result in the symptoms which appear the same as too high of acid levels. As such, vinegar can aid digestion of food and relieve the painful symptoms of heartburn and indigestion.

Sore Throat

For the treatment of a sore throat, mix a tablespoon of vinegar with 8 ounces of warm water. Gargle this mixture every hour before being swallowed. Also, to break up mucus in the throat associated with cold and sore throat, swallow one tablespoon of equal parts vinegar and raw honey. This treatment is not for infants as their immune systems are developing and raw honey may (very rarely) contain bacterial spores that cause botulism.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) has become a popular natural remedy during the past few decades. Numerous online articles are to be found that praise ACV as a treatment for a wide range of health conditions including: acid reflux, allergies, strep throat, high blood pressure, common cold, diabetes, obesity, PMS and more.

Natural ACV is brownish in color and is murky with cob-web-like substances that is called the “mother”. The “mother” in ACV is a complex structure of beneficial acids that have great health benefits. The “mother” in organic, unfiltered ACV is rich in proteins, enzymes, antioxidants and beneficial bacteria. Filtered ACV lacks the “mother” and also lacks the health benefits of natural ACV with “mother”.

The most common vinegar on the market is heated through pasteurization. It appears clear and looks like water. It tastes like vinegar but has no health value as it does not contain the nutritional and health values of natural, apple cider vinegar. Pasteurized apple cider vinegar doesn’t have the same benefits as raw apple cider vinegar. Valuable vitamins, probiotics, and enzymes are destroyed by the heating process. Also be aware that many “apple cider vinegars” on the market, are nothing but distilled, white vinegar with added flavors and colors. It is not the same as natural, unfiltered ACV with the “mother”. The distilled, clear vinegar is excellent non-toxic cleaner for your kitchen and home, particularly fabulous for streak free windows and mirrors!

GREENS!

Did I mention that we Southerner’s love our greens? Well it’s the time of year to plant seeds for a fall crop. Fall gardens in the South are often preferred because we don’t have the daily struggle of weeds, bugs, and heat. Try a mix of green seeds including rape, kale, turnip, mustard, swiss chard and collards. Broadcasting with radish seeds deters the bugs! They all grow well through the fall and into the winter here in our temperate planting zone. With increased attention to health benefits of kale, it has become a more important cash crop and increasing levels of pesticides on its green leaves have, sadly, also increased.  It is one of the ‘dirty dozen’.  along with peppers. So it is best to grow your own or purchase organic kale and peppers whenever possible.  Also check out the ‘clean fifteen’ vegetables as ranked yearly by the Environmental Working Group.

This PDF: Garden to Table: Leafy Greens  from NDSU Extension Service offers delicious recipes, crop descriptions and images, crop, soil and pest information.  I highly recommend that you click and enjoy!! You will definitely be inspired and well informed to give seeding a fall crop a go.

Southern pepper sauce on greens is a tradition, and many people take pride in their pepper sauces and share with friends and family. This wise combination actually increases the bioavailabity of the nutrients in the greens. Harvest those peppers left in your summer garden, place them in a pretty bottle or jar, add hot vinegar, and infuse. Homemade kitchen goods make great holiday and just-for-the-heck-of-it gifts!

ACV in Traditional Chinese Medicine

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, vinegar is both sour and bitter and works on the liver system to reduce accumulations of stagnant bile, fat, and toxicity. In contrast, lemon juice also helps the liver but it has a more cooling effect. The warming nature of vinegar helps with the all too common American diet of ‘cold’/yin beverages such as iced drinks, alcohol, and caffeine. ACV’s sour properties stimulate digestion and help to break-down and absorb nutrients including minerals and alkaloids that are often harder to digest. In TCM, vinegar helps to circulate and dry out the “damp” conditions in the body that present as symptoms of a feeling of heaviness, swelling or water retention, distended/bloated abdomen, excess mucus, nodular masses/acne, sluggish energy, inflammation, and weight gain. For nausea and depression, add 1 tsp raw honey (not for infants) into your lemon ACV water. In addition to ACV stimulating the digestive system, it has a draining effect that is similar to an expectorant. For these reasons, ACV is used to clear or cleanse and reduce cholesterol. ACV, infused with a variety of herbs or just on its own, is used as a general preventative.

In addition to being sour, vinegar is also bitter from an energetic perspective of the properties of vinegar, and not necessarily its actual flavor. According to Chinese medicine, rice vinegar is bitter, sour and warm. The Nei Jing states that when bitter and sour come together, the collective function is to drain. Taken as a whole, therefore, vinegar warms and drains, and this explains most of its functions in Chinese medicine and food therapy.

1. Vinegar stimulates the blood, dispels blood stasis, and stops pain. In addition to taking internally, vinegar applied externally can treat external forms of blood stasis. Used alone or formed into a paste with da huang powder, it can help with the early stages of boils. This same formula can be used as a salve for first-degree and second-degree burns. Plain vinegar wash helps to heal bruises and contusions due to external trauma. As a mouthwash, vinegar can relieve toothache pain. 
2. Vinegar supports the liver, regulates qi, and moves stagnation. Pre-cooking in vinegar enhances the qi-regulating and pain-reducing properties of herbs such as xiang fu, qing pi and xiao hui xiang. Combined with cooling herbs, the draining properties of vinegar can be used to treat headaches due to liver fire or ascending liver yang.
3. Vinegar detoxifies the body. Vinegar can be used as a topical wash to prevent insect bites, or as a treatment for insect bites. Boiled vinegar may even clear toxins from the air and prevent colds and flu.
4. Miscellaneous uses: Diluted in water, vinegar relieves the symptoms of a hangover from excessive alcohol consumption. Patients with blood stasis, qi stagnation or liver yang rising should take a little more vinegar in their diet. One sign that your liver qi may be stagnated is lack of appetite in the morning after waking. Consider drinking vinegar through a straw to reduce contact with tooth enamel because of the erosive nature of vinegar.
   

“Vinegar is warming. It creates a temporary warming circulation of energy (qi) in the body, and removes stagnant blood. It can quickly alter emotional stagnation as well, especially in children— bad moods will usually disappear a few moments after taking or eating something with high quality unpasteurized vinegar.”

– Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition

ACV in Ayruveda

In Ayurvedic practice, vinegars, and ACV in particular, is considered rajasic, which means that it contains loads of Pitta or Pitta-stimulating properties. Rajasic foods and medicines are beneficial in small doses to stimulate digestion and heat-up or fire-up the body’s systems. Rajasic foods stimulate the fire element, outward motion, creativity, aggression, and passion. Common rajasic foods include chili peppers and garlic. As a Pitta-increasing food or medicine, ACV helps get the digestive system moving and stimulates the liver and gallbladder, increasing the digestive system’s fire and ability to break-down foods.

SHRUBS

Drinking vinegar was popular during the 17th and 18th centuries, and it has experienced a come-back in recent years as shrubs. A shrub is a concentrated syrup that combines fruit, sweetner, and vinegar.  The vinegar preserves the fruit syrup and adds a tangy taste that, surprisingly, quenches the thirst. Shrubs are often topped with either cold water or club soda, ginger ale, or any clear soda. Combine 1 ounce of shrub with 5 to 6 ounces of water or soda over ice. In recent years, shrubs have become a popular cocktail and mocktail ingredient.

Try drinking vinegar by making your own shrub cocktail

Hot Method

Cold Method

In addition to increasingly locally grown herbs in their tea blends, Johnathan and Becca Gardner aka Tea Town Alabama offer seasonal shrubs for sale at their marketplace booths in various locations like Pepperplace in Birmingham.  They have recently relocated to Rainbow City from Tuscaloosa and you can keep up with their ongoing on Instagram and Facebook. Check out their website for connect and details.

INFUSED VINEGARS

With all of the known benefits of vinegars, it makes sense to increase its use in our daily lives. Infusing herbs and peppers with vinegar not only gives us the benefits of vinegar but also delights our taste buds with a variety of smells, tastes, and uses. It’s the end of summer and many of our gardens are full with an abundance of herbs and peppers. Infused vinegars are a wonderful way to not let our garden’s produce go to waste. Here in the South, we love our greens and a spicy, vinegar pepper sauce is a staple at many Southern tables. I’ve listed several tried and true vinegar infusion recipes. Note that vinegars are corrosive so be sure to use glass bottles with a cork, plastic or glass lids.

Method:

Heat method: heat vinegar in an enamel or glass pot until warm. Pour over chopped or crushed herbs/flowers filling container to top.  Tightly seal container and place in a sunny window for 2 weeks, gently shaking a couple of times each day. When vinegar has reached desired taste, filter through straining cloth. Pour vinegar into clean, sterile container and add fresh herbs and spices for ornament and taste.  Seal bottle.

Sun infused or diluted method: Vinegar does not have to be heated.  This is especially important for raw, fermented foods like apple cider vinegars.  A small amount of the vinegar can be heated to infuse herbs filling the remained of the bottle with raw vinegar. Place in windowsill as above.

Rose Petal Vinegar

2 c (tightly packed) fragrant organic red rose petals

1 ½ c white wine vinegar

Purple Basil Vinegar

1 c (loosely packed) chopped purple basil

1 ½ c white wine vinegar

Lavender Vinegar

3 T  lavender flowers

1 ½ c white wine vinegar

Most herbs can be used to prepare vinegar for salad dressings. White wine vinegar is more  mellow than cider vinegar.  Cider vinegar can be purchased fermented and raw. Try a combination of herbs; add a bulb of garlic and peppercorns.  Make small batches until you find your favorite.  Place finished product on a shelf away from sunlight.

Vinegar Based Dressing

Basil Salad Dressing
2-3 cloves garlic
2 T raw honey
2 cups fresh green basil leaves
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup purple basil vinegar
1 cup olive oil

Other oils and vinegars can be substituted for those listed.
Place all ingredients in a processor except the oil.  Blend until basil and garlic are finely chopped.  With processor running, slowly stream oil into mixture.  Chill a couple of hours, shake well before using.  This makes a great dip for fresh artisan bread.

Grow your Herbs for Infused Vinegar!

GROWING HERBS

Herbs should be grown in a sunny garden, well drained, with good soil.  It should not be necessary to add fertilizer.  Adding mulch (leaf, grass clippings) each season will inhibit weed growth.

Plants with a silver leaf need to be higher and drier (sage, thyme).

A spot for your herb garden should be chosen that is near your kitchen area.  Start with a few herbs that you will use and enjoy.

Annuals:  purple basil, basil, parsley (flat: flavor – curly: garnish), dill, and rose geranium

Perennials: chives (round, flat), sage, thyme, rosemary, lemon grass, lemon balm, lavender, mints, catnip, bay tree or red bay, rose geranium (can carry over and use as edible), marjoram, monarda bee balm

Make your own FIRE CIDER! 

Fire Cider is an Apple Cider Vinegar tonic infused with superfoods.

Also try a homemade oxymel for the upcoming cold and flu season.

Oxymel – from the Latin oxymeli meaning “acid and honey” has been made and used in many ways throughout the ages and it’s a recipe that can be adapted to suit your health and herbal needs. Traditionally, an Oxymel recipe is used to administer herbs that are not so pleasant to take on their own.  Additionally, some of the more pleasant herbs can become even more delightful after a bath in honey and vinegar! 

THE SEPARATOR OF PURE FROM IMPURE

            As most of the planet is enduring and even setting heat records during the peak of the fiery summer season, in the Southern U.S., we are experiencing an unseasonably cool period this week.  Here we continue with our seasonal theme of the fire element and the elemental organ system. The element of fire embodies the bright, light, energetic essence of yang. However, fire without the grounding influence of Earth easily flares out of control.  The 2nd century dictionary Shuowen jiezi defines the heart as an Earth element, predating the concept of Heart as Fire in the modern Five Element construct.  Anxiety, from the perspective of heart, is most effectively remedied with a counterbalance of downward energy and therapy to settle, calm, stabilize and return to its original nature of yin. Think ‘talking some one down off the cliff’, down time’, and even coming back ‘down to earth’.  The earth provides a multiplicity of glorious medicines for supporting our hearts like

HIBISCUS AND HAWTHORN

Click the link above to learn how modern research supports the use of these traditional plants in cardiovascular health by Dr Tori Hudson, ND

Take a couple of minutes and watch this video from Bennett Nurseries in Huntsville, Alabama about growing native hibiscus in Alabama! 

At Alberta Orchard Wellness, we have successfully grown Red Thai Rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa)  last summer and Gongura (Hibiscus cannabinus) this summer in our hugelkulture mound. Both are edible and showy plants, requiring little water. From our gardens, we save and replant their seeds yearly as these Hibiscus varieties are annuals in our climate . These flowers may look familiar to you as they are in the mallow (Malvaceae) family, like okra and cotton, and thrive in similar climates. So if you already grow okra, also plant Hibiscus next time!

Supplemental HAWTHORNE is available online at fullscript, our electronic pharmacy, that delivers professional grade supplements directly to your doors (free shipping $50+). It just takes just a minute to create a new account or log into your existing account:

My favorite Hawthorne supplement is Wise Woman’s solid extract 

Small Intestine Meridian

The small intestine meridian is the yang meridian paired with the heart yin meridian.  Like the heart, the small intestine is also associated with the emotions of joy or agitation. The heart is responsible for almost all mental functions, including emotions, thoughts, consciousness, and sleep patterns. These mental and emotional activities rely on our ability to make sound judgments, which is controlled by the small intestine. The small intestine is where most of the physical nutrition of our food gets absorbed into our body.  Likewise, the small intestine asks you to be aware of what is surrounding you. What you are absorbing? What company do you keep? What nourishes you mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

Much like references to the heart as an emotional organ, the small intestines are also referenced similarly, such as the common expressions of “having a gut feeling” or “butterflies in the stomach”, which indicate a mental and emotional connection.

The Small Intestine Meridian starts from the tip of the little finger and crosses the wrist. It runs up along the back side of the forearm up to the back of shoulder, traversing our “wings” or scapula then crossing the neck and cheek as it reaches the outer corner of the eye, finally ending at the ear.

Image Sourced from Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation

Examples of acupuncture/acupressure for the small intestine include:

SI17 – Tianrong – Tinnitus, deafness, sore throat, swelling and pain of the neck

SI16 – Sore throat, sudden loss of voice, pain and stiffness of the neck, tinnitus, deafness

SI15 – Jianzhongshu – Cough, asthma, shoulder and back pain

SI13 – Quyuan – Shoulder and scapular pain

SI12 – Bingfeng – Shoulder and scapular pain as well as aching and numbness in the upper extremities

Separator of the Pure from the Impure

As the small intestine is responsible for separating clear from turbid on a physiological level, it also governs the mental ability to separate what is right and wrong on a mental level.  Physiologically speaking, the small intestine

• Receives bile from the gallbladder, fluid from the pancreas which includes enzymes and enzyme precursors: anylase, nucleases and enzyme precursors, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen
• Breaks down and digests carbohydrates and proteins
• Converts fats to fatty acids
• Orders secretions from gall bladder and pancreas
• Kills microbes via lymph follicles
• Absorbs nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and water
• Moves digested food by peristalsis obtaining rhythm commands from the migrating motor complex and mediated by the Vegas nerve during parasympathy (rest and digest)

The small intestine sorts the pure from the impure

When the small intestine is injured with food poisonings or is compromised with low acid,  pharmaceutical acid blockers, weak sphincters, or chronic constipation, parasites may set up housekeeping and we become sick (SIBO). In other instances, the small intestine loses its ability to absorb when the microvilli fingers are flattened as in celiac disease.  Damage or decreased tone of the vagal nerve intervention of the small intestine can manifest as depression, PTSD (gut-brain axis mechanism), as well as inflammatory bowel disease. Hyper reactivity, increased histamine, and food allergies occur when intestinal permeability is present, increasing exposure and response to foreign particles during the digestion process. In my clinical practice, I find small intestine disease very often overlooked and under diagnosed as a culprit of digestive based physical, mental, and emotional symptoms.  So much so that I have categorized these as “mystery diseases” ~ patients still suffer after having been to loads of doctors and yet received no definitive diagnosis or successful treatments.

Ayurveda – Digestive Fire

In Ayurveda, the small intestine and stomach are ruled by the fire element ~ Pitta and is also known as the body’s digestive fire.  While it is the most well known ‘agni’, the digestive agni is just one of the 40 subtypes.  Angi is the divine intelligence present in each and every cell, every process in the body. Agni is any activity involving heat, light, transformation, transmutation, or conversion. Agni is the creative flame of intelligence. Agni is the spark of life, the sparkle in the eye, the light of the heart. The body’s ability to transform external items into fuel, energy and vitality depends on the health and balance of the digestive fire as it physically transforms the food into energy and power.

Keys to keeping your digestive fire healthy:

• Eat moderate amounts based on your constitution, mindfully
• Eat routinely with 90-240 minutes between meals to allow a complete cycle of the migrating motor complex 
• Eat fruit away from other foods
• Avoid cold drinks and minime water with meals to allow for best concentration of digestive enzymes and fluids
• Drink warm herbal teas like ginger, chamomile, peppermint, fennel tea to support digestion
• Eat in a relaxed state 
• Use digestive spices in cooking:  ginger, cardamom, cumin, fennel, cinnamon, turmeric and black pepper.
• Eat like a queen/king for breakfast, a prince/princess for lunch, and a pauper for dinner

Nauli Kriya – fire washing the intestines is an incredibly powerful practice to strengthen the digestive fire and release toxins and negative patterning to encourage unrestricted, natural movement of the internal organs. These videos break the exercise into basic steps that can be developed over time. Note:  not for use during pregnancy, with hernias or intestinal ulcers due to increased abdominal pressure. I have linked both a female and male example of the practice with slight variations that may work for you:

youtube.com/watch?v=wYYGj544mPEhow-to-do-nauli-kriya

youtube.com/watch?v=wYYGj544mPE

Three Levels of Sorting

The small intestine sorts on three levels: physically, mentally, and spiritually; 1) physically, it draws out the nutrients from the food we eat by separating the pure from the impure; 2) it mentally sorts the constant bombardment of our modern environment by eliminating aspects of life such as crime, violence, hatred, and aggression that cause our minds to be impure with negativity; 3) on a spiritual level, our small intestine sorts the deep and dark elements of life that overwhelm the essence of love and joy. The small intestine has the power to separate the goodness from the evil and nasty aspects of life.

FIRE OF THE HEART HEATS UP THE SMALL INTESTINES!

The Small Intestine is indirectly affected by emotions such as anger that causes Qi to stagnate. The fire of the heart heats up the small intestine and signs of excess heat in the small intestine include:

   Abdominal pain

   Small Intestine heat

   Tongue ulcers

   Scanty, dark, painful, or bloody urination

   Heated fluids

   Insomnia, mental restlessness, throat pain, thirst

   Sudden hearing loss

   Red tongue with a swollen red tip and a yellow coat

   Rapid pulse

SMALL INTESTINE DEFICIENCY AND COLD

   Abdominal Pain, relieved by warm and pressure

   Cold obstructing intestines

   Diarrhea

   Weak spleen yang

   Pale and scant urination

   Desire for warm liquids

   Pale tongue with a white coat

   Deep, slow, and weak pulse

SUPPORT YOUR Small Intestine BY TRYING BONE BROTH

Follow this link to a delicious bone broth recipe by Dr Allison Siebecker, ND

for her full text article about bone broth click here

Rich in nutrients, bone broth contains protein, cartilage (remove before cooking if SIBO), calcium and minerals. Our bodies easily digest bone broth, its yummy, and brings a calming and restorative energy to our homes and minds all while repairing our gut lining.

Try bone broth to support the small intestine

Fire element ignites life!

Summer, ahh sweet summertime ~ this season of joy is not surprisingly associated with the element of fire. Summer’s fire ignites life! It’s an exciting time of year as our gardens mature with flowers, fruits, and vegetables during these long, hot, summer days. It is the season for adventures and activity; a time when our yang energy is at its peak. Summer’s fire spreads warmth, fosters growth, and expresses itself as life in full bloom. The fire element, in our bodies, governs the heart, small intestine, pericardium, and triple burner. In balance, fire manifests as joy and propriety; while out of balance, it manifests as hatred and coldness. See upcoming summer posts for more about the fire within us. 

Summer superfood:  berries

Berries, generally, are high in polyphenols and anthocyanin providing dense nutrition to our cells with a strong affinity for our heart and cardiovascular systems.  Blueberries, particularly, are a super food with recent research suggesting positive effects in patients with type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and hypertension in addition to blueberries’ antiviral and antimicrobial qualities. They are packed with vitamins C, K1 (a blood thinner), manganese, and fiber. Cooking denatures some micronutrients while some are relatively concentrated by freezing and dehydrating as water content diminishes.  Fresh picked off the bush is the most wholesome and life affirming choice.

Vaccinium sp.

The 4th of July holiday marks the peak season of blueberries at Alberta Orchard Wellness. A plant native to the American woodlands, blueberry (Vaccinium sp.) is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant zones 3 through 10. The bushes thrive on creek and river banks, mountainous terrain, and in slightly acidic soils. In the home garden, seasonal epsom salt applications and pine straw or bark mulching help maintain a slightly acidic pH.

Important Note! At least two varieties of blueberry are required for optimal production by creating healthy cross pollination.

Many of our patients and visitors know about Petals from the Past, a nursery in Jemison, Alabama specializing in native plants and plants that thrive in our native soils. These folks love to share their wealth of knowledge so be sure to check out their educational videos like the one for cultivating blueberries linked here.

We planted the southern boundry of our parking area with several different varieties of blueberries that thrive in our local zone 8 including Tifblue, Rabbiteye, Brightwell, Powderblue, Climax and Premier. A diversity of varieties, which produces fruit at staggered times throughout the growing season, expands our harvest for spring and summer fruitings. This is a plant that we encourage all of our patients to work into their healthy home landscape. Their early spring bell shaped flowers provide pollen to honeybees.  In the summer, their sweet and astringent berries fill our bellies. Not only do we delight in harvesting and eating fresh berries, our feathered and four legged friends also feast upon blueberries ripe off the vine. Their taste is sweet and sour and their nature is warm.  In the fall, their ovate leaves turn firey yellow, rust and red. Plant blueberries against a fence, in a row, or in a clump or grove in a well drained area.  Bear in mind that they will lose their foliage in the winter.  Consider seasonal, companion, under-plantings; we utilize cayenne peppers, potatoes, gladiolas, salvia, parsley, and blue curl as seasonal spots.

Blueberries~a delicious superfood.

A recent study, funded by the United States Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC), found that blueberries may improve joint health by reducing pain, stiffness, and difficulty in performing daily activities due to osteoarthritis inflammation. Another USHBC study of US veterans, in coordination with the Stratton VA Medical Center, in Albany, New York, investigated the effects of blueberry consumption and glycemic control in veterans with type 2 diabetes. It found that daily consumption of 22 g of freeze-dried blueberries for two months results in better glycemic control and lower triglyceride concentrations with improvement in the liver enzymes, all of which are positive effects that may support cardiometabolic health of men with type 2 diabetes. In Chinese dietary medicine, berries are astringent by nature, acting on the  entire qi of the body and rectifying damp pathology. For example, excess dampness or damp accumulations may manifest as chronic sinusitis, yeast or fungal infections, and tumors.  While many fruits are restricted as they are cloying or moisturizing, berries can be freely enjoyed with the assurance that they are quite literally medicine! They nourish the blood and the kidneys, therefore providing support for anemia and all concerns of brain function from ADHA to dementia.

Follow the links below for more research on the superpowers of blueberries.

Hypertension

https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2015-06/blueberries-vs-hypertension

Anti-microbial

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31199652

Antiviral

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31137514

Dry blueberries to enjoy all year long

“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates

Embrace and make the most out of this summer season by rising early and practice movement or yoga that reaches for the sun to nourish us just as its energy and fire make our gardens grow. 

Sunrise yoga:

The Sun Salutation originated as a series of prostrations to the sun, honoring Surya as the source of energy and light for the world. Known in Sanskrit as surya namaskar, Sun Salutation is practiced in several popular styles of yoga, including Ashtanga, vinyasa, and power. Traditionally, it is performed at dawn, facing the rising sun.

Although there are variations and no right way, Sun Salutation generally consists of a sequence of twelve poses, including a symmetrical standing pose (tadasana), lifting the arms, bending to touch the earth, a lunge, the downward facing dog, a prone pose that flows into an upward­-facing lift of the chest, followed by a return to downward dog, another lunge, and once again touching the earth in a forward bend, then lifting the arms, and returning to the initial standing pose. Through each cycle of the series, you move backward, then forward. Use the video below for guidance until you know the Sun Salutation by heart.

If you need more detailed instruction, this video (click here) demonstrates the traditional Sun Salutation.  Brooklyn Yoga School founder, Lily Cushman, gives step by step instruction and no yoga experience is required. 

Sun salutation  (www.BrooklynYogaSchool.com or  www.LilyCushman.com)   

Music “Dawning” by Benjy Wertheimer from Soul of the Esraj album.

Rise early and welcome the sun with a sun salutation.