I recently read an intriguing research article about grief entitled: Grief, poetry, and the sweet unexpected.

“The sweet unexpected includes the ease with which trauma survivors engage their trauma narrative, the critical insights that emerge in poetry, the beneficial social context of sharing poetry, and the healing benefits of poetry for writers, care providers, and readers alike.”

The metal organ the lung is the seat of the emotion of grief. The large intestine’s facilitates in letting go or letting go into transformation. Grief comes in waves, often magnified by the holiday season and understood to be heighted during the autumn according to Chinese Medicine.

Experiencing the full spectrum of human emotions is living optimally.  When we are stuck in one emotion or cyclically vacillate between emotions, we are imbalanced.

Therapies like poetry, positive affect journaling, dance, yoga, qi gong can be directed to help us transmute the grief so we do not become only stuck in the emotion of loss.

For support for the metal/autumn season visit element-wisdom.com and pick up a deck of wellness cards for yourself or a friend.

Let the sunshine in is a free email service to support your for 365 days.  You can sign up here

https://www.fhnfuneralhome.com/grief-and-healing/365-days-of-grief-support

Soup Cleanse recipes can be found  a few posts back (click here).

Wanna dive deeper into the cleanse with spices, soup toppers and self-care actions?  Check back in for our upcoming posts or follow our blog to have the posts delivered to your email

The soups can be created and enjoyed in any order.  However, the order of the soups as presented journeys you through the 12 organ network in order of energetic flow.  This and upcoming posts provide organ specific self care suggestions as well as spices and toppers to add to each soup to power up the effect of each vegetable combination. 

The winter soup cleanse as a method of preparing the body for a spring cleanse, resetting after over indulgence and a nourishing and gentle act of a self care to resent our habits. Our goal should always be to first optimize the functioning of our bodies to aid elimination when we undertake a detox.  

One of the most important and frequently overlooked areas of a cleanse or detox is to prepare the body to efficiently clear the toxins that are stored in the body. We eliminate waste via our

• lungs via carbon dioxide gas
• large intestine via feces
• skin via sweat
• liver via detoxification pathways
• bladder via urination

The first soup in the winter nourishing soup cleanse series focuses on the elemental metal pair of organs: the lung and large intestine. The onion/garlic base is a pre-biotic with their long fibrous strands of fructooligiosacchrides and insulin that feed the microbiome. Onions are warm in nature, promote sweating, resolve phlegm and act as a diuretic. Do you notice how many of the avenues of elimination just onions hit? Garlic is hot in nature was recognized as an antibiotic long before the advent of pharmaceuticals. In fact, it was a standard item in military ration kits through the ages. It also has anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-helminth properties. If onions and garlic aren’t your thing, visit our post on soup stock variations. If onions and garlic aren’t your thing, visit our post on soup stock variations.

Beyond the base: concentrate your efforts on spicing and topping to enhance the power of the soups.

Spices: 

Black & White Pepper: 

nature: hot, pungent

action: warms internal organs, eliminates phlegm

direction: downward

affinity:  Large Intestine & Stomach

Nutmeg:

nature: warm, pungent

action: warms internal organs, eliminates phlegm

direction: downward

affinity: Large Intestine & Spleen

Toppers:

Avocado: 

nature: sweet, cool

action: moistens lungs, intestines, skin

affinity: lung and large intestine

Self Care:

To support the large intestine add abdominal massage.

To support the lung add breath work and  dry brushing

I hope you enjoy this journey!  Be creative.  Love your body with healthy foods.

xoxoxoxo Sarita

In Chinese medicine we focus on the lungs and large intestine during this season. Our Cultivating Wellness blog is now searchable. You can learn more with the keywords: metal or autumn. If you love our blog click the grey envelope to subscribe. In 2021, we will be offering Wisdom Behind the Cards so you can search you element-wisdom card by title! So join us for simple seasonal wellness tips to keep you (and your lungs) in tip top shape.

Honor Your Grief

I recently read an intriguing research article about grief entitled: Grief, poetry, and the sweet unexpected. “The sweet unexpected includes the ease with which trauma survivors engage their trauma narrative, the critical insights that emerge in poetry, the beneficial social context of sharing poetry, and the healing benefits of poetry for writers, care providers, and readers alike.” The metal organ the lung is the seat of the emotion of grief. The large intestine’s facilitates in letting go or letting go into transformation. Grief comes in waves, often magnified by the holiday season and understood to be heighted during the autumn according to Chinese Medicine. Therapies like poetry, positive affect journaling, dance, yoga, qi gong can be directed to help us transmute the grief so we do not become only stuck in the emotion of loss. For support for the metal/autumn season visit element-wisdom.com and pick up a deck of wellness cards for yourself or a friend

Pressure Forms the Gemstone

Diamonds form from elemental carbon between 237,000 – 1.3 million times atmospheric pressure deep within the earth. Just like us, rocks and minerals are in a constant state of change. By the end of this crazy cycle, we should all have a trove of gemstones in our treasury. What gems are you creating in your life? your community? your family?

You are Precious

According to recent research “Self-affirmations can successfully increase adherence to recommended diet and health goals in the context of an mHealth app.”(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30026179/) During an acupuncture session, I have a patient choose an element wisdom card or choose one for them. Last week, I forgot to have the first patient of the day choose a card, so I sent it by text. I encouraged her to forward the picture to one or five of her beloveds. This is actually one of our ways to play (for 2 or more) Our element wisdom cards offer 73 daily affirmations, wisdoms, questions and health tips. Check our ways to play & purchase a seaonal gift today at element-wisdom.com

Don’t sweat the small stuff

Don’t sweat the small things. Being able to ‘pick your battles’ and never let little things ‘steal your happiness’ are important skills to ensuring your happiness. You cannot control every situation you are faced with, but you can control how you react.

Hydrate

 It is always important to stay hydrated. In the colder months it is easier to become dehydrated due to the drier air, the use of indoor heaters, and because the colder weather generally makes you desire water to quench your thirst less than the warmer months where you may use cold water to help cool you off. If you are noticing that your skin is getting drier chances are you aren’t getting enough water. While lotions are an important step in combating the drier air, hydration even for your skin begins on the inside (after all your skin is just another organ). For more fun & simple fall wellness tips purchase your own Metal/Fall card deck. 73 cards of inspiration, affirmation, direction and inquiry to help you have your best autumn yet! visit www.element-wisdom.com

Mirror. Mirror.

Today is look for circles day (November 2). In Chinese culture the circle shape is associated with the Metal/Fall season and represents oneness, unity and being fulfilled. Perhaps one of the most common circles we encounter in our daily lives are mirrors. It is in a mirror that we can physically reflect on ourselves, however it is possible to reflect without a mirror as well. Look for circles today, but more importantly, reflect on what makes you whole. One self-care practice that I invite some of my patients to incorporate into their daily lives is looking into their eyes in the mirror daily and speak aloud ‘I love you’ or ‘you, darling, are fabulous’ or some such phrase. It works to lo change how we see ourselves and how to accept compliments with grace. Will you accept this November challenge to voice and reflect love to yourself?

Visualize white light filling your lungs now

Support your lung health today. The lung and large intestine energy peaks during autumn. When out of balance, we may be stuck in prolonged grief or find ourselves excessively judgmental. A simple habit to balance the energy of the lungs is visualizing white light circulating – filling each lobe, and tracing the tree like branches of oxygenation within our internal landscape. Add the healing sound of the lung: shhhhhhhhh. Learn more at element-wisdom.com

Dry brush your skin today

Want a Fall wellness routine that is easy as it gets? Dry brush you skin just before you get in the shower. Brush in long strokes from the extremities toward the chest. This helps move the lymph along it’s pathways and supports your immune system. Brush through the joints not to the joints. Lymph is concentrated in the joints, in the belly, groin, arm pits and sides of the neck. Go on…..love yourself a little more today and brush off the dead skin cells for a more radiant you!

What do you see in the clouds today?

Our perception is everything. Go outside. Look up. What shapes do you see? Similar to the classic Rorscharh Ink Blot test, I’m curious what you see in the clouds this season.

Photo Credit: Pezibear

Food as Medicine for the Lung & Large Intestine

December is Pear Month. According to Chinese medicine, pears are cold in nature and enter our metal season organs: lung & large intestine. This fruit is big dietary in season medicine during the autumn. Pears regenerate body fluids while at the same time dissolve phlegm & mucus. They lubricate the throat, relieve cough and hoarse throat. Pears quench thirst, promote urination and bowel movements. They are detoxifying in nature and improve overall skin health (skin is the expression of the lung). One of my favorite ways to prepare pears during the holiday season is to poach them in chai spices and white wine. You might just fall in love with pears this season if you give it a go!

Invite Pungent Flavors

Pungent foods actually aid the body in relieving dampness, a frequent concern in the Fall months. Dampness is not the same thing as hydration. Dampness refers to an excess of fluid where it shouldn’t be, this may look like an excess of phlegm or swollen lymph nodes. One recipe I absolutely love that combines several of these pungent foods is this one: https://autoimmunewellness.com/turnip-radish-and-fennel-saute/

Tap your large intestine channel

Today is red apple day (December 1) It is said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away but what actual health benefits can be found in an apple? In Chinese Medicine the apple clears heat, eliminates, toxins, and tonifies Qi and Yin by entering through the lungs, stomach, spleen, heart, and large intestine. Rhubarb, licorice root, and hemp seeds are a few more foods you may find in your grocery store which can aid in large intestine ailments. Tapping your large intestine channel is a qi gong exercise to balance the energetic highway that runs from the nailpoint on your pointer (1st phalange – LI1) and crosses the body to the acupuncture LI21 which is located on the face, just below the outer boundary of your nostril.  Tapping 1 toward 21 increases/tonifies energy along the channel, while tapping 21 toward 1 reduces energy along the channel.

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One of our many Ways to Play with element-wisdom card decks.