I was making my first batch of Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins this week and I got to thinking about how I use the Elements to guide my eating through the seasons. It’s something that has become second nature to me and a principle that I learned in Acupuncture school thats been invaluable.
With this weekend being the Canadian Thanksgiving, I always feel like it’s the perfect time to hone in on seasonal eating and using food energetics to support you through the Earth and Metal Elements that are occurring at this time. So I thought I would share this principle with you so that you can benefit from its amazingness.
Earth/Metal season, offers us such an abundance of grounding food. We haven’t spent much time on the Earth Element but one of it’s greatest influences on us is with Food. The Earth Element is the Mother, the centre within us, it over-arching goal is to nurture and nourish us.
We celebrate the Earth within when we celebrate the harvest and bounty of the growth seasons. Let me tell you, it makes an Earthy like me extremely happy to prepare food and bring friends and family together to eat and celebrate.
Every-time I host a dinner party, our guests ask me what they bring and it’s not that I don’t want their help or appreciated their generosity, it’s just this loving and genuine energy that comes from within and loves to prepare everything myself and allow my guests to relax and be taken care of.
And when you look to the seasonal foods that are coming available to you in this moment they are earthy, hearty grounding foods (a lot of them actually coming from within the ground) such as:
~Squash ~ Pumpkin ~ Broccoli ~ Brussel Sprouts ~ Cauliflower ~ Cabbage ~ Garlic ~ Onions ~ Fennel ~ Autumn Greens ~ Arugula ~ Radicchio ~ Peppers ~ Sweet Potatoes ~ Mushrooms ~ Apples ~ Pears ~ Persimmons ~ Pomegranates ~ Cranberries ~ Parsnips ~ Radishes
Not only are these foods readily available to you at this moment but they actually help support the body to heal the organ systems with in the Earth Element (the spleen and stomach) which then help build the bodies Qi and Immune system that further supports as the Metal Element is fully expressed and the (Lungs and Large Intestines) take centre stage, which for much of the population calls this the cold and flu season.
Having tuned into this rhythm of the seasons and eating to support myself within it, I have been able to avoid much of the “Sick” that I witness others trying to overcome. It works, so if colds and your immune system are a bit of a sore spot for you, give this a try.
So in honour of many families coming together this weekend to give gratitude and celebrate the Earth, I invite you to head to your local market, or store and make a delicious meal that supports your earth Element and nourishes your family. I would love to hear what you end up making.
XO
