Mink Creek at Alberta Orchard Wellness

Winter, according to the wisdom of the elements, is about dreaming, resting, relaxing, restoring, recharging and germinating seeds which will break through the thawing frozen ground of winter come spring when energy naturally moves upward and outward.  Plans made and action taken in harmony with the greater cycles of the cosmos, are much more likely to come to fruition. Over the last few years, I have been observing, studying and syncing myself with the elemental cycles as practiced by the ancients. I often call it ‘re-wilding’ myself. I started with Seasonal Wellness classes in 2015. In 2019 I printed 5 seasonal Element Wisdom Decks – 73 cards for each season totaling 365 days of clinical pearls, lifestyle tips, jedi mind tricks and some deeper dives into traditional medicine, physchology and spirit.

Nourish the water element during the winter season:

•  Go to sleep early and rise with or just before the sun rises. I use an alarm clock only when I have an important appointment.  Natural light awakens me if my internal clock has not.  I am learning to trust this more and more each season.

• Unplug: allow yourself to disconnect from all technology when the sun sets.  Yes, you read that right: read a book, light a fire, make a cup of tea, color, paint, play board games, take a long bath, make music, make love.  Do nothing. Need convincing? Check the research:
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  • Technology, sleep & children
  • Sleep complaints & technology

• Watch every sunrise and sunset possible. Everything has a beginning, middle and end.  Watching the sun rising and setting reminds us as does observing our breath:  the beginning of the inhale, the middle of the inhale, the end of the inhale, a gap or turning, the beginning of the exhale, the middle of the exhale, the end of the exhale, a gap or turning and so it goes.  The most blissful moments as well as the most awkward or difficult days have a beginning, middle and end.  Our breath is like the incoming and outgoing tide of our life’s ocean. Following these cycles develops equanimity; equanimity undoes suffering.

• Be with water as often as possible:  the ocean, rivers, creeks, waterfalls, springs water sound machines, aquariums, you tube water videos. Last winter, I planted 90 ferns in the creek that runs under the screened porch of my off grid tiny house (check back for that blog post).

• Observe how water moves and flows around obstacles. How can we be more like water in our movement in our inner and outer worlds?

• Replace one of your bathroom lights with a red light, so as not to wake your adrenals into a cortisol rise if you need to get up during the night.

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Wolf Bay Sunset, Alabama Gulf Coast

Welcome Fall With Gong Therapy

Gillian Shapiro and Gong at Alberta Orchard Wellness

by Gillian Shapiro

Family Herbalist, Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Gong Therapy Practitioner, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Instructor, Reiki Practitoner, GriefYogaTM Instructor

We have entered Fall season in the Western hemisphere, a season dominated by the vata dosha. Vata is one of the three doshas or constitutions according to the ancient science of Ayurveda, the sister science to Yoga which is over 5000 years old. The word “Ayurveda” means “science of life”. All of us are made up of a blend of the elements of fire, water, air, ether and earth. In Ayurveda. these elements are categorized into three doshas; namely, vata, pitta and kapha and we contain different proportions of the doshas in our physical, mental and emotional bodies. We’ll focus on vata due to the time of year. Vata is governed by the elements of air and space and is characterized by the qualities of light, dry, brittle, subtle, hard, rough, active, clear and cold. It governs movement. The colon is the main organ associated with vata. The auditory channel is the prominent sense, according to this ancient science, which leads me to the gong and its potential as an especially effective therapy given the time of year. If you are interested in determining your own dosha, follow the link to the online dosha questionnaire courtesy of my herbal mentor, Don Ollsin of Grassroots Herbalism: Dosha Questionnaire

Gillian Shapiro & Gong at Alberta Orchard Wellness

The gong, as a form of sound or sonic therapy, is a wonderful way to welcome this transition to Fall as the weather cools, days become shorter, and leaves dazzle us with their technicolor splendor.  The gong is a musical instrument but when played for meditation, it is used to facilitate health and vitality.

Everything is made up of vibration and the gong vibrates the cells in our bodies. In fact, we are made up of 70% water, meaning we conduct sound! Sound has the potential to profoundly transform us on a cellular level.

Among the variety of potential benefits of the gong are:

• A sense of security and grounding;
• Opening the higher chakras (energy centers); 
• Pain management (particularly migraines);
• Especially soothing for high vata constitutions, i.e., calming and unplugging the overactive mind, reducing anxiety, worry and overwhelm and relief for insomnia; 
• Encourages deep relaxation and a meditative state;
• Trauma and PTSD symptoms;
• Promotes emotional release when working through grief, by moving stuck energy, and breaking and releasing emotional and energetic blocks.

Gillian offers one hour gong therapy appointments at Alberta Orchard Wellness on Monday evenings  from 5-8 p.m. Please follow our two step process today to book your session for Fall.

Book Gong Therapy here and  Pre-pay for your session here or contact us if you need help booking via albertaorchard.com or drsaritaelizabeth.com.

The sounds are oftentimes magical and have been described as ethereal, cosmic, like being in outer space and also likened to ocean waves crashing over us.  The sounds can also be loud and intense, at times, to promote a deep release for the nervous system.

The gong activates the parasympathetic nervous system (also known as the “rest and digest” system), nourishing us energetically, thereby reducing stress and soothing the overly taxed sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system that we tend to live in during these busy, stressful times.

A gong therapy session is a one-on-one private session, customized to your specific needs based on an intake questionnaire you complete at the beginning of the session.  A typical session lasts one hour and may also include breath work (pranayama), mantra, affirmations, stretching and/or mudras.

Gong therapy is an ideal companion to talk therapy, yoga/meditation, massage therapy, acupuncture, Reiki and many other modalities as well as conventional medical treatments.

The environment is safe, supportive, non-judgmental and soul nourishing.  No prior experience with Yoga, Ayurveda or the gong are necessary. Come with the intention to surrender to the waves of sound and vibration. Of course, everyone is invited to show up and participate when I offer gong baths, private sessions, classes or workshops around town that include the gong. Follow the “Beech Hills Wellness” page on Facebook to check out the schedule or email me at vegout.gillian@gmail.com to be added to our monthly newsletter to keep track of our wellness offerings.  Gillian

What inspired you to learn gong therapy?  I have loved the cosmic sounds and vibrations of the gong since I first experienced them in a yoga class in NYC, where I ultimately did my kundalini yoga teacher training. The gong’s ability to change our state of mind and our consciousness is so profound, as has been my experience. I initially learned to play the gong during a hands-on module of my teacher training that I specifically requested.  I simply could not get enough of this sacred instrument so I had to buy one when I moved to Alabama six+ years ago, where I actually had the space for it (unlike in my NYC apartment). From then on, I practiced and shared the gong’s amazingness with students in my yoga classes. I was called to go a step further and learn Gong Therapy to deepen my understanding of more specific healing protocols facilitated by the gong. Private sessions are unique in that way; I can play to a person’s specific body system, chakra or emotion that needs support.  

From Dr. Cox:

There is a lot of interest in sound healing from ancient Tibetan metal to New Age crystal bowls, from binaural beats (get a free download: https://free-binaural-beats.com/ ) to tuning forks, from to NASA recordings to Masuru Emoto’s photos of frozen sound portrayed in his The Hidden Messages from Water

For research regarding sound and resonance healing please visit the nonprofit, Sound Healing Research Foundation: https://soundhealingcenter.com/shrf/

Check out this Amazing 17 minute TEDx talk with Music Professor Anthony Holland with drug~less sound resonance healing with Cancer.

 https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-1&hsimp=yhs-1&hspart=iba&p=sound+healing+TED+anthony#id=1&vid=3c71874722106f1a4a78e402e62df285&action=click

Gillian offers one hour gong therapy appointments at Alberta Orchard Wellness on Monday evenings  from 5-8 p.m. Please follow our two step process today to experience sound healing this Fall!

Book Gong Therapy here and  Pre-pay for your session here or or contact us if you need help booking via visit albertaorchard.com or drsaritaelizabeth.com.