I’m delighted to welcome you to The Element Sessions.

If you would like to follow along with this year long gentle exploration of the elements, please subscribe to my Substack beauty and bone.

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. You can check out Gerad's website here, or follow him on Instagram here.

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 and how 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.’ I've taken so much from this concept in recent weeks - gently shifting my perspective on how and who I am in the world!

𖥸 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.

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!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe