Metal is the element of autumn. Theme of the season is value, worth, letting go of that which no longer serves, honoring our grief, integrity, magnetism, alchemy.

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. Her card is You are Precious. 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 in season affirmations, wisdoms, questions and health tips. Check our ways to play & purchase a seasonal gift today at element-wisdom.com 

I’ve been at this for more than 20 years – witnessing health in seasonal cycles, feeling pulses, giving healing treatments, guiding folks back toward their best self. I am an expert in mind, body, spirit treatment – more than 10,000 hours.

The metal element rules the lungs. Skin is an expression of the lung. The function of the pores to open and close depends on the balance of our internal metal.

One of the best investments that I made in the last 10 years is a home sauna. I don’t choose to use public saunas for two reasons. It’s a poor use of my time to travel from home to sweat everyday. And I am, by nature, not a renter when it comes to value. I own my wellness.

Regular saunas (4-7/week) dramatically reduce heart disease, dementia, hypertension according to recent studies. No wonder it is a traditional wisdom! It detoxifies our cells and improves our immune function.

In naturopathic medicine and nature cure, saunas are considered hydrotherapy.  Ideally, a sweat is followed by a cold plunge or shower.  Then a rest period and UV sunlight exposure.  We prescribe three rounds of hot, cold, rest, sun.

Dr. Cox has invested many hours into selecting this made in the USA no plastics or glues sauna for home use .  https://www.heavenlyheatsaunas.com/

Please let them know Dr Cox referred you. You will receive $150 off your purchase and we will receive the same! Your sale helps keeps small businesses open.

1-800-697-2862 | info@heavenlyheatsaunas.com

For daily fall wellness tips

purchase my Metal/Autumn Element Wisdom Card decks.

Dr Cox guides your wellness practice with simple tip, health habits, inquiries and jedi mind tricks!

You are your most valuable asset. 

Purchase your Element Wisdom Card decks here

 This tip if from the Metal/Autumn Element Wisdom Card deck.

I invite you to daily wellness journey with Element Wisdom Cards.

Purchase here

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 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 change the way in which we see ourselves and reflects how to accept compliments with grace. Will you accept this November challenge to voice and reflect love to yourself? 

The organs of the Metal season are the Lungs and Large Intestine

Metal: structure, boundaries

The characteristics of metal are hard, strong and precise.

The emotion connected to the lungs and large intestines is being excessively judgmental or stuck in grief or when out of balance and letting go of that which no longer serves and healthy boundaries when in balance.

To learn more about our seasonal self-care card deck visit element-wisdom.com

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.