10 ways to support yourself through the season of Fall
Fall is HERE!
Can you feel it?
Denver had its last sunset after 7pm until April next year. Part of me is so ready for the cooler weather so I can hunker down in cozy clothes and part of me is beginning to grieve the fact that the gardening season is coming to a close.
Soon, the wretched thing called Daylight Savings Time will be here and I'll be cursing its presence and the 4pm sunsets that come along with it.
In Ayurveda, the seasonal transitions are important portals to accessing intuition and resetting old habits, letting of what weighs you down, and fortifying what sustains you.
The transition into Fall is arguably the most important one because it greatly impacts how you feel in the dead of winter all the way through to the emergence of spring and even into the heat of summer.
F. Scott Fitzgerald recognized this when he said, “Life begins again in the fall.”
What's great to remember is that Nature provides the structure, we just need to follow it to live in alignment with the dynamic intelligence tying us all together so we can remember our inherent belonging and innate blueprint of health. She’s inviting us to stop hiding behind the showy foliage of our accomplishments, certifications, titles, and roles and instead, stand in our raw, naked Truth. She’s teaching us to receive the beauty that comes from letting go and to trust that where there is death, there is a regeneration of life because life begets more life.
Less daylight also draws our energy down, just like the leaves that fall from up high to return to the earth, we are being guided in to return to ourselves.
Fall is associated with the air and ether elements. It's dry, erratic, mobile, and cool. These qualities can increase what's known as vata dosha. When out of balance, vata is responsible for depletion and degeneration. When in balance, it's responsible for creativity, insight, vivacity, and the ability to embrace change.
When vata is imbalanced in the body, it leads to dry skin, anxiety, irregular bowel movements, insomnia, gas, bloating, and can cause you to be easily overwhelmed.
One of the cardinal rules in Ayurveda is “like increases like, opposites balance.”
So to establish greater ease in the body and prevent the potentially depleting and degenerating effects of the season, you want to be adding in wet/oily, consistent, stable, and warm foods and lifestyle practices.
Here are 10 ways to support yourself through the season of Fall and support your vital life force
Eat more root veggies. Because the bulk of these foods are grown under ground, they invoke more of the earthy, grounding qualities that help to bring the airy energy down and stabilize it. Make a roasted sheet pan of them and add to warm salads.
Soups and stews. Warm and wet are the two most important qualities when dealing with systemic dryness and frayed nerves. Soups and stews improve your body’s ability to retain moisture and stay hydrated plus they tend to be easier to digest.
Ghee. Ah, the holy remedy for almost everything that ails you. Ghee has the highest concentration of butyrate or butyric acid which plays a major role in repairing the gut lining and improving assimilation. It also helps to build the myelin sheath which is what coats neurons so nerve impulses can move effectively and efficiently.
Warming spices. Add in warming spices such as ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg to support digestion and to warm yourself from the inside out. You can add these to things like oatmeal and broths or make yourself a chai tea.
Functional mushrooms. During Fall, our adrenals tend to be taxed what with the cold air stripping us down, the busy-ness of gatherings and events, and the preparation for holiday celebrations. Functional mushrooms such as chaga, reishi, and lion’s mane are adaptogens that help your body to better adapt to the effects of stress. Add the powder to your favorite warm morning beverage or buy them fresh and throw them into your next batch of bone broth or nourishing soup.
Rejuvenating herbs. Plants are readily available to help us fortify prana, our vital life energy. And some have a particular affinity for balancing vata dosha and support clear thinking, supple tissues, and deep sleep. Tulsi/holy basil, licorice, and brahmi/gotu kola are a few of those allies. I particularly love a tulsi licorice tea on days that I feel frazzled but really need to focus.
Restorative yoga. This practice is not only done on the ground which helps to, well, ground, your energy but it also helps to recover from overstimulation by withdrawing from the senses. The practice of laying on the ground, fully supported by props and covered in blankets, steeping in silence reconnects you with your true essence of bliss and radiance and restores your sense of wholeness and enoughness.
Warm baths. Remember, warm and wet helps to stabilize vata dosha. Warm baths with epsom salt or dead sea salt and essential oils will promote good circulation and calmness to help you sleep deeply, channel your intuitive powers, and hold space for reflection.
Abhyanga or self massage with oil. Follow your epsom salt bath (or anytime you bathe) with a self massage with oil. It’s a deeply healing practice that reconnects you with your body. The word for oil in Sanskrit is sneha which also translates as love. And your hands are an extension of your heart chakra. They’re how you acknowledge others, give high fives, wave, and hug. So by massaging yourself with oil, you’re literally spreading love on your body with your own vehicles of love. It’s magical! Get a bottle of Naked Body Oil here to start (or continue) your practice.
Walks in Nature. Nature is the ultimate resource to help you regulate your nervous system, remember your purpose, and refocus your attention on the good, the true, and the beautiful. If you do go for a walk, be sure to bundle up. You don’t want to catch a chill that negates all the work you’ve been doing!