Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

I love the fall season, and especially Thanksgiving. (Perhaps it’s because today doubles as my birthday :)).

I hope you're enjoying time with your loved ones. Today, I want to share what I'm thankful for, not just today, but throughout the year. It's the little things that matter, and while we don't have to save the world, expressing gratitude for the small joys in life is important. I appreciate the things I can control, the ones that give me purpose, and even the material things that make life fun and convenient. I love walking my big doodle dog, Duffy, watching a good movie, reading a novel, and savoring quiet coffee or teatime in the morning. Having my two college boys home for the week makes the house noisier and livelier, and they sure can eat a lot! I'm grateful to spend this Thanksgiving with my family, enjoying laughter and silliness. Last night, I watched the 5th season of Stranger Things on Netflix, and the 80s music, combined with the action-packed episodes, was a delight, especially since my sons were the same age as the young actors when the show first aired. I'm thankful for treats like peanut brittle, chocolate mousse, and crème brûlée. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner brings me joy, and I love the smell of the turkey cooking, which brings back nostalgic memories more than the actual eating. If you overindulge today, take it easy tomorrow. Go for a walk, breathe, and if you're feeling too full or uncomfortable, try some natural teas to soothe your stomach. Here are a few digestive tea recipes from my new book, which I'm currently working on. It's actually two books: one for teaching and one for recipes. Enjoy!

"Elemental Nourishment: A Practitioner's Guide to Recipes, Rituals and Remedies for Elemental Balance"

"Recipes for Elemental Nourishment: A Practitioner's Companion for Elemental Balance".

🌼 Hawthorn–Mint–Fennel Digestive Tea

Purpose: Moves food stagnation, reduces cravings, lightens heaviness.

Hawthorn helps move food stagnation and regulate appetite.

Mint clears heat and it refreshes the palate, reducing the desire for sweet, heavy or cloying foods.

Fennel adds gentle sweetness and warmth.

Ingredients: 1 Tbsp dried hawthorn berries, 1 tsp fennel seed, 5–6 mint leaves.

Preparation: Simmer hawthorn for 10 minutes, add fennel and mint, steep 5 minutes.

Resonance: Earth (hawthorn—food stagnation) + Wood (mint—qi movement) + Fire (fennel—warming).

*If you don't have Hawthorn berries this recipe will still work. Just increase fennel to 2 tsp., or add lemon or orange peel. See following recipe below.

🌾 Best for Phase: II–III of the Gut Reset and Rebuild diet for Earth Elemental Patterns.

(you don't need to know this now. It is explained in the book.)

🍋 Digestive Elixir

Lemon Peel + Orange Peel + Fennel Seed

Primary Resonance: Earth (digestion, transformation)

Secondary Resonance: Wood (qi movement, release of stagnation)

Preparation: Steep 1 tsp dried orange peel + 1 tsp dried lemon peel + ½ tsp fennel seed in hot water for 10 minutes.

Strain, sip after meals.

“Bitters and aromatics awaken the center to transform heaviness.”

🌾 Phase II (Rebuild), with continued use in Phase III (Strengthen): This elixir combines citrus peels and fennel to gently move qi, ease bloating, and support digestion. Best introduced in Phase II, when the gut is ready for light stimulation, and continued into Phase III if needed.

(You don't need to know about the phases now. It is explained in the book.)

Excerpt from Elemental Nourishment

The Five Elements in Balance and Disharmony

Since you're here to cultivate your most radiant health, we will explore what may be standing in the way. By identifying your Five Element pattern of disharmony, you’ll gain insight into how your body, emotions, and energy express an imbalance. With this awareness, you can make more aligned choices — in food, lifestyle, and daily rhythm — to gently guide your body back into radiant balance and vitality.

Before we explore patterns of disharmony, let us first define what we’re striving for. Radiant health is not perfection — it is resilience. It is the ability to digest life, metabolize experience, and return to center. It is the glow of vitality that arises when the body, mind, and spirit are in rhythm with nature.

Let me know if you try one of these recipes, and how it made you feel.

Happy Thanksgiving

Dr. Michele Arnold