Back to My Senses
What happens when a physician takes her own advice
Welcome to the Michelle Seguin MD newsletter! I’m Dr. Michelle, and I’m so glad you’re here. This week’s letter includes a field note inspired by a simple grounding practice, a few seasonal reflections from July, and a look inside our July/August Cookbook Club feature.
Hello friends,
How can it possibly be the end of July? I have to admit that I’ve had a bit of writer’s block with the pace of life lately. Over the past two weeks, I took the opportunity to let the pages breathe and to just be as we begin this new chapter in our home. This week, I’m sharing a special field note inspired by a grounding practice I recommend to patients in my practice and use myself. It’s come in handy of late and I hope it may be of benefit to you and yours.
With gratitude,
Dr. Michelle
I’ve been keeping seasonal field notes for a few years now, brief entries from a specific place and moment. Today’s note comes from one of my favorite sensory-based grounding practices. If you’d like to browse my growing collection of field notes, you can find them here.
June 25th - Temp: 77°F, partly sunny with a WNW breeze at 14 mph
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique is one I’ve recommended to patients for years, a simple sensory practice used to interrupt anxiety and return us to the present moment. The idea is straightforward: name five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch, two you can smell, and one you can taste. By moving attention through the senses, the nervous system shifts out of stress response and back into the body. You can read more about the practice here.
I’ve long believed that field notes do something similar. Today I decided to try both at once and guess what…it worked, yet again! Follow along with me to see what I found:
Five things I saw:
Buckwheat cover crop blossoms in the new garden plot, those tiny delicate white flowers drawing in pollinators while the roots work on soil building below. Borage scattered through the beds like glitter, most of it self-seeded from last season, volunteering beauty I didn't plan for. The first cosmos blossoms opening. A monarch on the milkweed patch, which I had originally sowed along the garden edge, but with each expansion it's now inside the garden and spreading on its own terms. Fava bean blossoms, small and sweet-smelling, black-tipped white petals always bring a bit of intrigue to my decidedly midwestern plot.
Four things I heard:
Chickadees calling from the nearby chokecherry tree. The dry rattle of seeds in collard seed pods. They are a biennial and occasionally overwinter for us. The snipping of greens from the garden for dinner. The whooshing of the salad spinner as I enlisted my son to prep greens for tonight’s salmon salad accompanied by beet and chèvre sourdough crostini from our favorite neighborhood farmstand.
Three things I touched:
St. John’s wort lining the mowed path through the big field, golden and full. Last year I made a beautiful batch of St. John’s wort (Erba di San Giovanni) oil inspired by Dr. Cassandra Quave’s Roots of Beauty workshop in Ginestra, Italy . Thornless blackberries, our first crop this year, coming ripe without those pesky brambles. And Dot’s Little Yellow tomatoes as I pruned the sprawling plants along the trellis. I found myself thinking of everyone affected by the terrible flash flooding in West Virginia this week. These seeds came to us by way of friends at Lost Creek Farm, from the seed stock of well known Appalachian herbalist Dot Montgillion.
Two things I smelled:
Lavender buds just forming and lemon balm crushed between my fingers as I brushed past. Garden-based aromatherapy is a must.
One thing I tasted:
Sun-ripe wild raspberries, warm from the cane. There is nothing else like it in July.
Who I’m becoming: Someone learning that a walk and a little time in the garden are sometimes the surest way back to the page.
What's one thing you've tasted, touched, or noticed this week that brought you back to yourself? Tell me in the comments.
Seasonal Spotlight
I’m adding more seasonal snippets as Notes between newsletters. Here are a few that you’ve enjoyed this month…
From the Archive:
Past letters from July and the abundance of summer…
Last summer, when we featured Cucina Povera, Giulia Scarpaleggia shared that another cookbook was already in the works. I've been eagerly awaiting its arrival ever since, saving it for the height of summer when tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, herbs, and beans begin overflowing from gardens and farm stands. Vegetables the Italian Way celebrates the remarkable diversity of Italy's regional vegetable traditions, with recipes that honor the seasons and let fresh, beautiful produce shine. Like Giulia's previous work, it reminds us that good cooking doesn't have to be complicated. When vegetables are at their peak, a few thoughtful ingredients are often all they need.
Here’s what we’re cooking from this month:
July/August 2026
Cookbook: Vegetables the Italian Way by Giulia Scarpaleggia
If you’re new to the cookbook club, you can learn more about how it works and browse our full directory of past books and features here. Whether you cook along each month or simply read for inspiration, you are warmly welcome at the table.
Thank you for being here. If you're new, say hello in the comments. And if you've been here a while, I always love hearing from you. For my paid subscribers, keep an eye on your inbox this week. I'll be sending out a poll for our August Seasonal Workshop, and I'd love your input as I put together the final details.
With love and care,
Dr. Michelle
P.S. If this note resonates, I’d love if you gave it a like or shared it with a friend. When they subscribe, you’ll earn rewards as a thank you.
Here are my most recent Substack sharings:
Savor the Seasons Cookbook Club #18 - Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison
Garden aromatherapy! Love this. I grow lavender, lemon balm, sage, mint, rosemary, and oregano in my front yard plot and it truly is wonderful to just brush past it, prune it, and take cuttings for the dinner table. Glad you are getting settled into your new place, Michelle. It certainly takes a while to get everything settled and the way you want, doesn’t it? But it looks like you get lovely afternoon sun!
What a wonderful model of a post to engage better with the woo