Before we begin, let me extend a warm hello! to all of the new subscribers here at beauty & bone. It’s gorgeous to have you join this wee community. Do feel free to pop a message or hit reply to let me know a little more about you if you like, it’s so lovely learning who is out there in the world reading (& now also listening) to my words. If you’d like to read some more about me, head here.
And now, without further ado, I’m delighted to welcome you to
The Element Sessions.
I’m thinking of these slow, seasonal sessions as small pitstops in our year.
𖥸 Ways to pause, take a breath, take a look around.
𖥸 See what is working for us, reflect on what is not.
𖥸 Connect to different fundamental aspects of ourselves.
𖥸 Be curious about what is challenging for us, absorb what has been good.
𖥸 Be in community with other like-minded people.
During these sessions, I’m going to be talking to people from all walks of life about what each element means to them in their lives. But I wanted to begin this series and this year long journey with a conversation with Five Element Acupuncture master practitioner, author, podcaster and psychotherapist Gerad Kite.
Gerad has been a mentor and teacher of mine for a number of years and I wanted to ask him to join us to give us a bird's eye overview of where the theory of the Five Elements comes from, why they're so fundamental to our lives, and how they can resource us and nourish us.
I found this to be an eye opening, at times perspective shifting and fascinating conversation.
In the couple of weeks since I had this conversation two things in particular have really stayed with me.
𖥸 Firstly Gerad talked about the Daoist philosophy of oneness andhow important the recognition of the oneness of everything, in particular the oneness of humanity - is in Chinese medicine. The vibration of the Wood energy is what makes a tree, but is also the vibration that makes our livers, our skin, our nails. Not only that, he also points out that ‘your liver is my liver, but it's your liver because it differentiates as a unique manifestation within you. But the vibration of life that creates your liver or your heart or kidneys is the same as mine. And that's why we, as human beings and our relationship with animals and nature is very close, and we are totally dependent on each other, because we are one thing.’
A few days later, at a writers workshop with
she read a quote I have heard her read a number of times before, words from Gargi Bhattacharyya’s book We the Heartbroken. This time, I heard a whole new layer of meaning within them, really felt that oneness and the grief of it being lost, which was truly a gift. These are the words Kerri read:What if you were really me and I was really you, if the boundaries between us dissolved … What if we were already as one and have only to see it? and what if the elation and the ecstasy … as each one of us delights in the coming home of being a part in the whole, what if a world made magical again can be lost? Well that really would be a loss … greater than we an imagine … Our fear of heartbreak is used against us so often and in such painfully ingenuous ways. So dreaming a new world requires a reckoning with heartbreak. We, the heartbroken, must help each other to live with heartbreak and the fear of heartbreak.
Gerad also talks about the value of paying attention to what you are uncomfortable with in any particular season and therefore element - because there lies clues to where you may hold an imbalance, and therefore also the clues to potential change or healing.
This season of Earth / Late Summer for me is always both the most delicious time of the year (the berries! the light! the blustery wind! the surprise sun! the light! the light!) but also brings up deep, fundamental challenges and discomforts for me - around being able to really absorb and accept goodness in my life and a constant yearning for and simultaneous rejection of any form of mothering, from myself or from others. These challenges for me, all the time, but in this season in particular, are coping mechanisms I have put in place to protect myself from heartbreak, and, I see now, are ones I need to find ways to open myself up to, to allow in the chance of and/or the reality of the heartbreak in order to dream a new world into place.
There is more to say on these openings in another post, but I just wanted to share how this one conversation has woven its way in to so many other parts of my life… (and don’t even get me started on the next chat I’ll be sharing with
on the Earth Element… !)So dive, in take a listen, and let me know what you think?
Here’s what I have lined up for the next 10 days of The Element Sessions. everything is designed to be listened to and accessed at your own pace ::
𖥸 Tuesday 17 September | Deep-dive newsletter into the Earth Element, complete with journalling prompts. (paid subscribers only)
𖥸 Friday 20 September | Podcast conversation with mother, writer and grower Kerri ní Dochartaigh (free to all subscribers)
𖥸 Tuesday 24 September | Live call (recording available) 10-11am UTC + 1:00 |
E A R T H - reflections on transitions, mothering, harvesting, gratitude & safety (paid subscribers only).
𖥸 Friday 27 September | A wonderful surprise guest post - details to follow!
If you would like to join me for these slow, seasonal pitstops, simply subscribe or upgrade to paid membership below :
If you’re interested in joining, but would like to try out a session first, feel free to send me a message via email or DM and I’ll share access to the first sessions on Earth as a taster gift.
Layla x
Beauty & Bone | The Element Sessions | Episode One