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.

This is one of the amazing ways:

Mandala ~ Create sacred space. Choose 5-8 cards. Arrange them in a circle within concentric rings of found or precious materials like seasonal fruits/vegetables, flowers, leaves, shells, stones, sticks, feathers, etc. Choose an elemental center piece: an earthenware filled with soil/clay, a transparent vase of water, a bell, a wooden bowl, an incense burner. Cards and objects may also be arranged by cardinal directions.

Did you know you can search the card titles on the Cultivating Wellness Blog? 

Our real time project for 2022 and 2023 is adding musing about the cards. 

Send us your favorite ways to play and images for 10% off any card deck or the entire collection!

albertaorchard@gmail.com

Spending time in the woods—a practice the Japanese call “forest bathing”—is strongly linked to lower blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones and decreased anxiety, depression and fatigue.

Time in a forest is linked to decreased inflammation, which has been implicated in chronic disease.

After your time with nature, scan your body for sensations. 

Take 3-5 deep and present breaths, expand into your ribs to relax your diaphragm.

Imprint this feeling with gratitude and a positive affirmation. 

Scientists have repeatedly found that human anticancer natural killer cells significantly increase after walks in a forest. In one such study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents, the number and activity of killer cells increased in a group of twelve healthy men after two walks, each two hours long, in a one-day trip to a forest park in the Tokyo suburbs. So did anti-cancer proteins, according to the research led by Qing Li, an associate professor at the Nippon Medical School. Cortisol in the blood and adrenaline in the urine significantly decreased. The effects lasted at least seven days, the researchers found.

 Providing fun and uncomplicated ways to live in dynamic harmony with the seasons has been my focus over the last five years. My clinical pearls are available as five seasonal decks offering a year of daily guidance and inspiration.

Positive Affirmations from the Element Wisdom Earth deck:

It’s okay, really.

Everything I need is already here.

I am.

Click to learn more about Element Wisdom Cards

A study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports in 2019 found the 20,000 participants were significantly more likely to report good health and well-being when they spent 120 minutes or more in nature a week. The good vibe peaked at 200 to 300 minutes a week. Anything less than two hours didn’t make a difference.

There still is a lot researchers don’t know, like how physiologically nature influences health. They are racing to find answers by scanning brains, quizzing people to see how cognition is affected by different environments and planting a full-grown forest in a schoolyard to learn how much and what type of tree canopy is needed to curb air pollution and alleviate asthma.

Clinical trials found that every park visit decreased parents’ stress and increased children’s resilience.

Pediatricians at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, Calif., have been so concerned about the lack of nature in their urban patients’ lives that they write prescriptions for it. Every year, “we ask: Do they have access to outdoors and green spaces? If no, they automatically get a referral to our program,” says Nooshin Razani. One Saturday a month “we invite them to nature outings with us,” she says.

How are you touching the earth today?

The spirit of Christmas invites us to participate in the amazing play of creating a magical and beautiful world knowing that it is simply an eternal moment. Deep appreciation to my family and community that show us how to make this life a little sweeter. Blessing and love and peace in all that you celebrate  Merry Christmas from my family to yours

Return.

In celebration of cycles & dynamic change. In praise of the light. The earth/transition season supports our return. My question to you: to which aspects of your last cycle do you choose to return? Which aspects of your last cycle do you choose to release? Choose wisely beloveds. Inevitably, these bodies return to the earth; live & love fully while here #earth #transformation For support in your dynamic journey of seasonal health & wellness visit element-wisdom.com

Also known as ShaRen in the Chinese herbal apothecary, cardamom enters the Spleen, Stomach & Kidney meridians. Yes, herbs and spices enter meridians. It is one of the considerations for practitioners when prescribing a formula for a patient. This seed is warm & pungent and functions to ‘wake’ the spleen, remove dampness, promote the circulation of qi and warm these organs.

So…….sleepy spleens, imbalanced stomachs and cold kidneys: this spice is for you!

Cardamom is a stellar attraction in my chai tea, delightful brewed with coffee beans and lovely sprinkled on frothed nut milks. If you don’t have cardamom pods or powder in your spice rack, bring it in now – during the Earth season for seasonal wellness support. If it is already in your spice rack – pound or sprinkle up your holy day creations. Your Spleen, Stomach and Kidney thank you!

If you grew up in the south it is likely you have heard the old adage “God made dirt, and dirt don’t hurt,” but is there something really to that?  You many have seen a tv show about individuals with a drive to eat non-food items also known as pica, but when it comes to eating dirt, this phenomenon is often referred to by a more specific term “geophagia.”  When someone is exhibiting geophagia they are most likely struggling with a deficiency.  In some parts of Africa eating the soil is considered a telltale sign of a pregnancy.  One of the most interesting examples of geophagia is the kaolin ingestion common in the Georgia Piedmont region that appears to me mostly generationaly driven.  If you visit many small stores in this region you will come across “novelty” dirt, but the locals all know the dirt isn’t likely to be just a novelty.  If you grew up in this area you may have developed an affinity for the taste of this dirt and crave it like others crave various treats from their childhood.  With all this draw to eat dirt, is there any health benefit to eating dirt?  Let’s dig a little deeper.

In recent years microbiologists and immunologists have been working hard to discover what is causing the great shifts in allergies and inflammatory diseases which have been witnessing an upturn since as early as the 1980’s. A new study from Russia and Finland has found that children who were growing up in the country as opposed to more urban areas experienced fewer allergies and had more Acinetobacter naturally occurring on their skin.  Acinetobacter is one of the good bacteria that you were warned about killing if you kept using so much hand sanitizer.  To test their theories scientists brought out the mice. They took one group of mice kept in clean litter in a laboratory setting and a second set of mice in soil saturated litter and stored in a barn. After 6 weeks the mice in the “dirty” cage were less susceptible to allergens and asthma and had a greater presence of “good bacteria” in their guts. The mice in the “dirty” cage also had higher levels of anti-inflammatory proteins that are known to ward off asthma.  

Perhaps a more familiar form of soil used for health purposes is clay.  Bentonite clay is used internally to bind toxins as part of some detoxification routines.  One of our most popular chinese herbal supplements ~ Classical Pearl, created by my teacher in Portland, Oregon, has a small amount of mineral rich clay that is used synergistically to detoxify while balancing organ systems.  During the recent months we have made several changes to our practice.  One of these is moving all of our product sales to e-pharmacy providers or special orders when the product is not available.  Our patients receive a three month prescription that can be directly ordered and delivered to their home.  This is made possible by Crane Herb Company, whose mission follows:  We are dedicated to empowering Chinese herb practitioners in their lives as healers. To this end, we offer you and your patients the finest herb products, prescriptions, books, and medical supplies that we can find. And boy are we grateful for them during these changing times.

In short, a little dirt probably won’t hurt.  You definitely should keep washing your hands, especially when you have been out in public, but some bacteria is ok.  The bacteria on your garden fresh vegetables might even help you be healthier.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/the-influence-of-soil-on-human-health-66885

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/would-you-like-side-dirt-eating-soil/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10071665