You may also enjoy this Alkalizing Seaweed Soup that supports our Water Element.  While the salty taste of salt directs qi and healing to the Kidney, Bladder & Adrenals, it is an easy winter way to add a fermented food into your diet to strengthen the Earth Element’s Stomach, Spleen & Pancreas.  Besides soups, miso is a favorite ingredient in my salad dressings & sauces. I often have a cup of miso for breakfast. The combination of probiotics and seaweeds benefits my gut-brain axis. The medicinal key is to keep it out of direct cooking or boiling, so that we benefit from the probiotics verses denature them with too much heat.

3 Tbsp rehydrated seaweed

1 c shitake mushrooms

2 inches green onions (lengthwise into strips)

2 c vegetable broth

1/4 tsp sea salt, fresh pepper, spices, miso to taste

1/2 – 1 tsp tamari

Cut seaweed into bite sized pieces.  Wash mushrooms, cut off and discard root.  Cut mushroom across into half.  Add pepper, tamari, sea salt (only if needed), mushroom, and seaweed to broth. Heat to gentle boil.  Remove from heat.  Thin miso paste with stock.  Add thinned miso back to soup stock. Garnish with green onions.

What can help us achieve perfect sleep? let’s see what the science suggests

1. Aromatherapy: try a bedside diffuser with relaxing scents or blends or a hand, foot, head and neck self massage before bed.

Benefits of aromatherapy for insomnia.  My favorite sleep oil available for you on Fullscript.

This study suggests single aroma inhalation, lavender, offers the greatest sleep benefit.

Had a long day? Try a reflexology massage bonus if you add aromatherapy.

2. Acupuncture – Get on my schedule book today

A review of studies shows acupuncture, acupressure and herbs enhance sleep quality. Acupuncture also supports your pharma choice for a best night’s sleep.

3. Postmenopausal? Try reflexology, yoga or walking 

Commit to a regular yoga class that works with your schedule. Find a local class, schedule private sessions or discover a you tube instructor.  I invite my friends to walk and talk in the park, downtown or along the river instead of meeting up for happy hour or coffee. 

4. Classical music trumps audiobooks.

In a comparative study between  music and audiobooks, sleep and depressive symptoms improved with relaxing classical music 45 minutes before bedtime.

5. Earthing is amazing.

It’s impossible to count all the ways, on two hands, in which walking barefoot on the earth benefits humans. Yup, sleep improvement is in the count. 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.

6. Try a caffeine free trial

While age and genotype contribute to caffeine tolerance, it’s a safe bet that caffeine is not helping your sleep.  Many of my patients report, after reducing or eliminating caffeine, that they had no idea how much it impacted their ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, sleep quality, feeling rested or their energy level throughout the day.  Remember, black tea, green tea, caff and decaf coffee, energy drinks, chocolate all contain caffeine.  I typically suggest a step down then complete elimination for a 4-8 week trial because dose matters. Patients report enjoying adaptogenic mushroom blends as a substitute. Some patients that tolerate caffeine better or wish to enjoy it on special occasions benefit from waiting several hours after waking to allow natural cortisol levels to rise. Discover a herbal tea that strengthens your constitution or try hot ginger or lemon water upon waking.  Additionally, take that first hit of caffeine with a little food to minimize gastric discomfort.

Try some of my favorite Mushroom Coffees or sign up & search the Fullscript catalog for a full listing.

7. Give up Alcohol

Not only does it destroy sleep quality, but even moderate use encourages snoring by relaxing the muscle tone of throat and neck.  You may be disturbing your bed mate, and who wants that? No one. You may fall asleep faster, but alcohol disrupts REM sleep and reduces overall sleep quality.

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

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

A couple of years ago, a patient shared with me a holy inspired method to temper reactivity and just let it be.

When a situation arises, give three days time: one day for mind, one day for body, one day for spirit. For some reason this trinity of letting it be really, really works for me. So much can change in a few days.  More information may present itself.  A dream may come. The whole situation may fizzle completely. Spirit may whisper in our ear.  

In the past, I used the rule of 5.  Will this matter in 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 months, 5 seasons or 5 years? Framing with 5 helps me determine how much energy I want to give the situation.

I leave you with this final inspiration for the earth season.

Mary Altar in Oliva’s garden from our Garden Altars Class

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be

And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer
Let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be

Let it be, let it be (ooh)
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom (ooh)
Let it be (ooh)

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
There will be an answer
Let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom

Writer/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

The work then becomes developing peace within. I was born into the peace and love generation, the peace out movement. These turbulent years brought people together. The year of my birth brought the Tet Offensive in Vietnam and the tragic assassinations’ of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy as well as the Civil Rights Act. Our country needed peace then, our world needs peace now.

How to we seek Peace?

Typically though our habit patterns. Many a young talent of the era – think Jim Morison and Janis Joplin – overdosed on heroin. The promise of peace, freedom from worry and quieting the monkey mind are some of the reasons that people turn to substances to alter their state and blur reality. This response feeds a hungry ghost, and that ghost is greedy. Addiction is Earth Element out of balance. 

Peace is more attainable and sustainable when grounded in practices of prayer, meditation, time spent in nature and even sufficient sleep. Tempering our reactivity with responsiveness, our need to control with ease and flow, our catastrophizing with impermanence will guarantee more peaceful moments throughout the day.

How do you find peace in small moments throughout the day?

The planet does not need more ‘successful people’.

The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. 

~HHDLXIV

Pears are good fall medicine. They are eaten in season to support the lung during the transition to cooler, dryer weather. In Chinese medicine they are revered for clearing heat and reducing phlegm from the lung, while generating necessary moisture. Pears are used for dry coughs and dry sore throats. They are also used to treat dry constipation as the Large Intestine is the paired organ of the Lung.

I experience a certain tranquility in the handling of these late summer crops. My hands enjoy circling the fruit and my eyes delight in seeing the ribbons of golden skin fall into the Tupperware bowl. In my hand is my Mom’s favorite paring knife. The wooden handle is worn and the blade is freshly sharp. While my hands are accustomed to the fine work of acupuncture needling, they fall quickly into the familiar delight of processing food.

In Chinese medicine, the energetic qualities of foods are considered in the treatment of disease.  Pears, for example, have the following profile:

Temperature: cool to cold

Taste: sweet & slightly sour

Affinity: Lung, Stomach, Large Intestine

Actions: Moisten dryness, Clear heat & nourish yin,

resolve phlegm, relieve thirst, detoxify

The way we choose to prepare a food depends on the therapeutic goal.

Raw pears are cold in nature. Therefore they are useful for constipation that is dry  in nature as well as heat conditions like sore throat, fever or red eyes.

The cooking process changes the energy of foods. It renders it warmer and easier to digest. Therefore, cooked food is better suited for those with weaker digestion.

Boiling, poaching or steaming enhances the ability to moisturize and soothe.  This is why steamed pears are a common prescription for dry cough. Baking pears may be used for overall dryness like chapped lips and dry skin. Herbs & spices can also be used in the cooking process.  Often cinnamon is paired with pears due to its warming nature. The warm spice changes the temperature to neutral.

The kitchen is the earth element of the home. It is one of the most important rooms in a dwelling. May it be always be a place of peace & plenty.

When we honor the stillness of winter, love settles.

Winter is the quiescent season.

The season to remember, accept, forgive and heal generational to generation.

This is all work to be done in the deep and quiet essence of spirit.

First we find self love.

Then we find love for the other, the beloved.

Next we expand our heart to those with which we have difficulties.

Finally we can honestly expand our circle of love to the greater community.

This is metta. This is the practice of loving kindness.

It will rock your world.

Have you ever considered your power, your drive or your will like unto water? I was raised up on the Tennessee River. The singing river has been harnessed to provide hydroelectric power to the multitudes at the expense of snails and darters and such.

In our highest, most healthy state our power is like a mighty river determined in it’s purposefulness. In our highest, most healthy state our drive is like a stream flowing around obstacles. In our highest, most healthy state our will is like a singular tributary merging with the ocean great.

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